b1-66er: Have you and I ever talked about audio books?
Solid Goldstein: Not really. You would think I'd listen to them often but mostly I've listened to them on the drive from SF to LA
Do you listen to them?
b1: You know -better than most- how seriously under-read I am.
I mean, sure, I read probably 6+ hours every day, but it's mostly Bazooka Joe level stuff ... Websites, news, TXT conversations...
I got chummed in by a free Audible offer...
... Which I took advantage of to 'digest' the book "Immune," figuring I'd get the feel of it, and get my lazy-ass mind engaged in the world...
... And it was great. I loved it ...
... But it overflows me with questions.
Weird ones:
Like, am I reading when I do that?
And
What's the 'proper' way to read in such a fashion
And
How do you remember this stuff you're reading
And
Why does that matter...
[I've gotta talk to The Accomplice, coming back.]
SG: I think those are really good questions. My own reading has changed pretty radically. I used to read a couple books a week. Now it's more like one a month. I'm not completely happy about it. The internet sucks my reading attention.
<1 hour later>
b1: Weirdly...
... I'm giving a small amount of thought to becoming a narrator.
But the funniest/weirdest/strangest/surprising thing about my audio book experience is I LIKE not running my eyes over the written page (and to a lesser extent, manipulating a physical book)...
... My mind still doesn't think of it as 'reading.'
It's more like story telling.
Right now I have 3 books checked out.
2 Hunter Thompson
and a
Michelle Obama
But there's so many strange knock-on questions...
Like
What makes a good narrator?
And is it okay to listen to a book, then not have it available for reference?
SG: I think book narration would be pretty hard. Especially fiction.
I'm not sure it matters so much how you take information in.
Though it is a good question if you retain it differently if you hear it rather than read it
b1: I suspect I'm going to be following the whole audiobook world for a good long while. (It already appears to be a 'habit' I repeat.)
I'll let you know how it goes.
[I don't think I'll keep paying for Audible, although I DO like their service and the way it's designed...
...I think I'll stay in the free probably-associated-with-library world...
... The way the information and money flows in that system would be interesting to know...
... Like how/if the library pays for the books, and where THAT money comes from.]
