/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.21604034]

What's wrong with audiobooks?

[Anonymous No.21604048]

>>21604034
It's just background noise. Like leaving the tv on when you do house chores.

[Anonymous No.21604058]

>>21604034
Nothing, if you use them for their intended purposes and not as a replacement for actual reading. Want to listen to a history book to absorb some facts while you do other things, like commute? Sure, go for an audiobook. Want to listen to a performance of some fantasy/sci-fi novel by talented VAs? Audiobook. Want to cozy up in bed with blankets and listen to a narrator reading Lord of the Rings? That's a pretty great use of an audio book. But when you actually want to read literature, and focus on the prose and how its written, obviously you need to have a physical (or electronic) book in front of you.

When you're studying Shakespeare, you don't just watch the play performed and forego reading it. You watch or listen to the play to supplement the reading

[Anonymous No.21604082]

>>21604058
>or electronic
Retard detected

>>21604034
It activates a different part of your almonds than reading, so you shouldn't use it instead of proper books. I'll generally only listen to audiobooks of books I've already read. Otherwise it's like cheating yourself out of reading the book normally.

[Anonymous No.21604091]

>>21604034
I don't know. For most of human history, most people were basically illiterate, and stories were told orally. It makes sense that most people would have an easier time listening to books rather than reading them

[Anonymous No.21604101]

>>21604091
>wanting it to be easy

[Anonymous No.21604171]

>>21604034
Nothing wrong's with audiobooks.

[Anonymous No.21604253]

>>21604034
I think I have ADHD but I zone out while reading / listening to audiobooks and completely skip over parts and end up having to go back.
With paper books I just pick up where I left off when I started zoning out. For audiobooks, I have to rewind, listen, lose focus and start daydreaming, snap back, rewind, and so on.

But if it works for you then there's nothing wrong with it.

[Anonymous No.21604368]

>>21604034
it's slow
clunky
cannot rewind or skim easily and effectively

this is when you consider this is a hands free and eye free medium and youre doing something other than paying 100% attention to the book with your fingers on the navigation button.

if you are paying 100% attention to it, why are you using an audiobook, read instead.

if you are multitasking like learning random bullshit at work, learning stuff that could come in handy later, give me blinkist or something similar, where interesting books like the Power Broker is broken down into skippable 15 minute bulletpoints clearly labeled in a Table of Content Tree where if I zone out, I'm not lost, and I can skip around and find out more.

[Anonymous No.21604710]

>>21604034
Nothing, they are fine - it just not the same as reading. I like to listen to audiobooks of novels that I have read previously. I also enjoy listening and reading at the same time. Currently, I am enjoying the kindle whispersync function. It lets be switch between audiobook and ebook. That way I can actually finish books in a reasonable time.

[Anonymous No.21604717]

>>21604034
As far as I'm concerned, nothing. I use the medium a lot, while commuting or painting.

[Anonymous No.21604773]

>>21604034
You came here and made your simpering, whining little thread because you found an opinion in another thread that did not match your own. It shook you to the core, this discovery that you might differ from consensus, and it made you run here at beg for everyone to tell you it's "okay" that you do this thing.
Frankly you're a worm. No backbone, no spirit, no brains. And it's no wonder that you're an audiobook listener (not reader, LISTENER), because that's all you do all day, is let noise through that hollow cavern you call a skull as you wonder blindly through life waiting for others to tell you what to do and how to do it.
You miserable creature.

[Anonymous No.21604802]

>>21604034
My first thought seeing this Pepe was to figure out whether he had central or peripheral facial nerve palsy. Upvoted.

[Anonymous No.21604820]

Nothing. I find audiobooks are good for a number of things.

1. Genre fiction books where I don't care if I get every last word so long as the main plot points get across.

2. Giant tomes of history, science, memoirs, etc. Most science books tend to repeat their main thesis over and over and beat it to death with evidence so even sped up you don't miss much. You can always rewind.

3. The Great Courses. Sure, some are more visual if they are math heavy, but I find plenty are listenable. I've done like 40 of these now and if is very helpful for the field I do work in to have had undergrad intros to upperclassmen work in all the major natural sciences since they often touch on one another. Obviously doing actual coursework helps solidify things, so I do take advantage of online classes too. Oxford has quite affordable ones with live classes.

4. Actual literature. This depends on the person. I know a lot of people who say they can't listen to complex prose. I still enjoy it. Some styles are easier than others. War and Peace is great on Audiobook (listened twice, read twice). Dostoevsky is quite tough because of the page long paragraphs. For very difficult stuff, I slow it down and rewind a lot. It lets me get through a ton of material I otherwise wouldn't have time for since I listen during chores, drives, cardio, etc. Even Hegel's Philosophy of Right is listenable if you pause to reflect and rewind often (don't bother with the Phenomenology, it feels like chalk screeching on a board in your brain because the writing is so bad).

The biggest problem is that, without a certifiable disability, you can't get readings of academic books and papers. LibGen + a speech to text reader (Evie works on) works surprisingly well. What I do is listen to tons of papers that might be useful, and then I go back and read the ones that actually had stuff I need in detail and copy out parts to use later.

Main problem is that it will read equations, every symbol, bit by bit, and you need to just look at those to get them.

[Anonymous No.21604826]

>>21604368
I can't listen to an audiobook if doing nothing else. I do fine if I am doing something mindless like running or washing dishes, even if it is quite complex.

An advantage of speech to text is that you can skim and rewind on target.

[Anonymous No.21605087]

>>21604091

People had servants who would read to them