Are Physical Books Superior to Audiobooks?
From the perspective of a book lover — which medium is better?
I have always been a fan of books, but when I say a fan of books, I mean I love everything about them. Yes, I am an avid reader and have been since childhood, but I also love books themselves. I love the smell of books (yes, I know, it's actually the smell of mold, let me enjoy it in peace). I love owning books, looking at them on my shelves, and browsing used bookstores. Needless to say I was a late adopter of the audiobook. So how has my opinion of the two formats changed?
You May be Using Audiobooks Wrong
The first audiobook I tried was I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong. I brought it with me on a summer trip to Europe intending to listen to it on the airplane and traveling between cities in trains and cars. But I kept falling asleep. This was no fault of Ed’s book. It was a very well written exploration of the function of microbes. The fault was in how and when I was using the audiobook.
I was trying to replace a physical book with an audiobook at times I would normally be reading, such as on a plane. I was sitting, not doing anything aside from listening. This caused me to keep falling asleep. For me, I have found that audiobooks and physical books are best employed for different scenarios.
I enjoy reading a physical book when I have time to focus solely on the book. When I used to commute to work and school, I found it helped prevent me from dosing off on the subway. Now that I have some more time on my hands, I try and sit outside relaxing and reading my book. I will opt for an audiobook when I am physically doing something that does not require too much mental focus. I listen to audiobooks often when driving, getting ready in the morning, or cleaning. For this reason, I will often be reading both an audiobook and a physical book at the same time. Currently, I am listening to Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker and reading Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman’s Prison by Piper Kerman.
Allowing yourself to figure out during what activities you most appreciate, audiobooks may help you better incorporate them into your daily life. For some people, this may be listening to a book before bed. You may find that listening to a book helps you relax. Many audiobook listening apps such as Audible or Libby allow you to set a sleep timer. This feature will stop the audiobook after a pre-set period of time so that the book does not continue playing all night, leaving you missing the entire middle and end of the book.
The Benefits of Audiobooks
Audiobooks are a fantastic resource for many people. They allow for those who have disabilities that make reading difficult, such as visual impairments, dyslexia, and many other developmental and physical conditions better access the information and enjoyment gained from books. Besides those with disabilities, audiobooks can be beneficial to many other groups of people. For example, for those who are trying to learn a new language, listening to a book, rather than reading it allows them to hear how words are pronounced. It also provides practice in listening to someone fluent in the language speak, thus strengthening auditory comprehension skills.
Additionally, auditory learners make up 30% of the population. There is still an outdated belief that knowledge only comes from text is somehow superior. I may not be one of these 30%, but for those who learn best and comprehend more from listening over reading, audiobooks seem like an obvious choice.
Audiobooks are also great in that they allow for multitasking, provide a screen-free pastime, and can have a calming effect.
The Medium is the Message
This often overused quote by Marshall McLuhan rings true during the discussion of physical books and audiobooks. Audiobooks are a completely different medium from physical books, allowing them to incorporate features impossible through a physical book. For example, I recently listened to the book Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell. This audiobook utilized the medium to its full potential. It is a non-fiction book that highlights the miscommunications that can occur between strangers through case studies. It includes sound clips of interviews, reenactments of court cases, and the repetition of a protest song, Hell You Talmbout.
I have not read the physical copy of Talking to Strangers, but I can safely assume that the audiobook version provided what the psychical book could not. Hearing the voices of these strangers allows you to better connect with their stories. Although still faceless, they are no longer voiceless. This is something that could never be achieved through text.
I also think audiobooks are a great format for personal essays, memoirs, and autobiographies when read by the author. Similar to the sound clips included in Talking to Strangers, having the author of a personal account read you their own story allows you to better connect with them. It feels like they are telling you their story, in a very personal way. I have listened to We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Becoming by Michelle Obama, both read by their powerful, black, female authors. Hearing their stories and their messages straight from their mouths are much more impactful than hearing it from a randomly chosen narrator, or even from the text on a page.
How do I Feel About Audiobooks?
I have grown to really enjoy listening to audiobooks. I have never been much of a music listener, and much prefer to be listening to voices, often in the form of talk radio or YouTube videos when doing activities that do not require my full attention. I have now added audiobooks to this mix. I also believe they can be great resources to a variety of people to help learn a new language or to allow access to books for those who have difficulty reading. In some contexts, they can provide what a physical book cannot, and enhance the experience of reading.
So yes, I am a fan of audiobooks. I am still a physical book lover, and always will be so do not expect me to convert to an e-reader next!
