Listening to my first AudioBook

This is a whole new experience for me … actually started a few days ago, but I am treating it as a ‘New Year’ thing.

Someone on the microbehunter forum recommended the book Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake … but as this is published by Penguin, and the old eyes get very tired these days, I was a little wary [when would I choose to read it, and how physically tiring would it be ?]

Browsing for reviews of the publication quality [as distinct from the quality of the content], I found that it is available as an AudioBook narrated by the Author … just over nine and a half hours, for £7.99

This has been a revelation … Sheldrake speaks gently, but with meaningful intonation and helpful pauses, and his complex story of fungal life is being conveyed much more effectively than it would be if I was physically reading the text … Frankly, I am astonished.

So, the questions are:

1. Have I just ‘hit lucky’ with this particular book, or are there any any recommendations from the forum.
2. Is there something inherently better [or worse] about Audio as a communication-channel, compared to reading text ?

The ability to annotate, and to include illustrations in, a physical document are obvious advantages … but I’m thinking here about the Author’s ability to provide helpful nuance.

Opinions invited

MichaelG.

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Ref. __

https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/book-prizes/science-book-prize/2021/entangled-life/

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 01/01/2023 08:35:06

Michael, you may find this interesting

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/29/listening-reading-audiobooks-podcasts-generational-shift?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other**LINK**

Thanks for that, John

I am quite sure that I am ‘digesting’ more of Sheldrake’s excellent book by listening to him with my morning coffee than ever I would trying to read the text at bedtime.

[ multiple variables there, I know … ]

MichaelG.

I still recall sitting by the wireless with my sister engrossed in the latest episode of Innishbahn Atom Men (spelling?) in the late 50's on BBC children's hour.
As to more contemporary audio books I have been known to use them either on long car journeys or when carrying out tedious jobs on my farm or on the rowing machine BUT the quality of reading is the difference between tolerance and pleasure.

pgk

Michael,

Can I ask where you downloaded the Audio book from? Amazon can supply it as a download but it seems to only be available at "£0.00 'Free' with Audible trial". I'm not keen to sign up for another subscription service.

Failing that I can always download it as a Kindle book - it does look very interesting and it's a subject I know little about, apart from what David Attenborough has told me.

I did listen to a few audio books decades ago when the convenient Compact Cassette arrived in cars. As you note, the reader's talking style can make or break the experience.

Ches.

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Yes … I suspect that it is the quality of Sheldrake’s reading that has enthused me.

It’s rather like listening to a poet recite a difficult piece

“scoring” the text sufficiently cleverly to make everyone read it the way he thought it would be a very difficult task.

MichaelG.

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I downloaded it from Apple Books, Ches.

Like you, I am wary of being lured by Amazon’s free trials

MichaelG.

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Ref. __ https://books.apple.com/gb/audiobook/entangled-life/id1525864618

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 01/01/2023 10:41:20

I've read somewhere that authors get thoroughly "produced" when reading their own books to make sure that the resulting recording is as engaging as possible. Probably if the publisher doesn't think they can do it well enough they would find an actor to do the job. (A "ghost reader"?)

I downloaded it from Apple Books

Thank you. I do have Apple devices but my desktop (where I'd do most of the listening) is Windows. But never say no...

Ches

Interesting comments. I’m a Kindle reader but do get the occasional audio book. Science books read by the scientist who wrote it often works well as the enthusiasm comes through in the right places and top scientists are very used to public speaking in general. A book by Paul Nurse was typical of this.

I’m half way through Papyrus a book about the history of books as it happens and the very first books (scrolls) were read out aloud either by the individual or by designated reader slaves so audio books returns the written account back to its roots. In deed before the invention of writing which was prompted by the need for accountancy and lists of products and property the aural tradition was all there was. Homer for example existed purely as recited verse way before the poems were written down.

regards Martin

Edited By Martin Kyte on 01/01/2023 11:09:57

An old chap I know uses our local libraries for book CDs

(He's an ex LNER fireman)

The 'Complete Ghost Stories of M R James' on CD in two volumes by Craftsman Audio.

Excellently read by David Collings - the clarity, pace, intonation, pronunciation, humour, & pathos are all that could be desired and could not in any way be bettered.

I winced at the price when I first bought mine but since then have listened to them over and over and over again; in this case the stories themselves and the way they are read provide such a nuanced whole that there is always something new to catch.. ..I've genuinely never got bored with them..

When you consider that it allows you to ‘read’ a book whilst working at your lathe what’s not to like?

regards Martin

I have the 13 part BBC radio adaptation of the Lord Of The Rings. It is on cassette but I copied it onto my PC because cassettes are not a great format for repeated listening or future use. My experience of audio books is, unless you know the book well to start with, you have to concentrate to hear everything, any distraction and you have to go back to an earlier point and start over. As such I don't think I would ever try listening to one when working with machine tools.

Martin C

Perhaps you need to practice with Radio 4

Back in the days when I used to walk 2 - 4 miles every day, I played fiction book-tapes on a Walkman for company. The quality was generally pretty good - mostly read by actors with good speaking voices. I got most of them from the library.

I guess these days they would be audio files played from a phone which would probably overcome the disadvantage of the Walkman: it was difficult to skip back a bit to overlap after a break.

Slightly off topic regarding the quality of audiobooks, more to do about the content of the book mentioned, Entangled Life.

Here's a recent example of what the little devils get up to... 'Cruise ship barred from docking in Australia due to fungal growth on hull' - https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/australia-cruise-ship-fungus-intl-hnk/index.html

'The DAFF National Maritime Coordination Center was notified of "small amounts of biofoul" on the hull of the Viking Orion on December 28, DAFF said, adding that biofoul is a common accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals on vessel hulls.
According to DAFF, the management of such biofoul is common practice for all incoming international vessels.'

I wonder how the growth is spotted - are there sensors/cameras onboard, or do divers inspect the hull before she gets too close?

Ches

I do the same out walking with blogs, news and drama downloaded from the BBC and other sources.

However, what I can listen to depends on hugely on what else my brain is doing, or supposed to be doing.

I can listen to drama whilst walking or driving, but not whilst working a machine, writing programs, or doing tax returns etc. But I can listen to music whilst doing those things, and it often helps me concentrate - better than working in silence. Not always though: anything needing deep thought demands quiet and above all no interruptions! I can do arithmetic whilst listening to music, but not algebra. Learning new tricks with 3D-CAD requires silence, but I once learned, I can apply them with radio on. Unless several CAD commands need to be applied in sequence - seems I can't plan whilst distracted by anything.

All this is a clue to which parts of the brain do what. Walking is almost automatic, leaving the brain free to concentrate on other stuff. Other activities bring other parts of the brain into play, and deep thinking seems to need minimum distractions. I was nearly in a motorway pile up once. In three lanes of heavy traffic, at 70mph, a loaded roof-rack came off four or five cars in front. As the debris landed in the road, all three lanes swerved and braked to avoid it and each other. Total chaos, and I remember a caravan high on one wheel weaving along the hard-shoulder. A miracle no-one collided. Truly terrifying, and the effect on my brain was striking. Everything switched to black and white in slow motion. Apparently, the brain stops processing colour in an emergency to free up brain power to analyse fast moving disasters, which feel as if time has slowed down. Extreme terror can cause loss of bodily functions for the same reason; managing sphincters is low priority compared with reacting to a fast moving death threat!

For learning audio is good for grasping principles and learning languages. Video is even better. But neither is a good way of assimilating detail. I find textbooks, ideally supported by a mentor who cheerfully answers stupid questions, to be essential as soon as I get beyond the basics. Trouble with textbooks is they're often imperfectly written, and most mentors have a short fuse! If I can I use all these methods to support each other. A few things come easily but learning is mostly hard work!

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 02/01/2023 10:34:17

I go to sleep listening to audio books or podcasts - they are great for managing anxiety I experience when I wake up in the middle of night and tend to overthink previous bad experiences.

Exactly by Simon Winchester is on an engineering theme. Recommended.

I also used text to speech - you have to learn to get used to it but eventually my mind can ignore the robot speech. I enjoyed listening to books by J E Gordon this way. (I read them as well). Although it is now old, the New Science of Strong Materials is a great foundation.

Podcasts can be great. I would recommend looking through those by Lex Friedman to see if any take your fancy. There is an excellent one on economics and Marxism that equipped me with some new bluffing skills.

I can borrow audiobooks free from Borrowbox via Hertfordshire Libraries.

They download onto my iphone.

The service is free for Hertfordshire Library members

The same may apply in other counties

My very best wishes to all for a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful, Successful, Prosperous, Stress- and Covid-free New Year.

MC