Census Does listening to an audio book count or is it “cheating”?

I think there's also something to be said in listening to audiobooks that are read by the people who wrote them. Particularly true of people writing about their lives. For example, Norm Macdonald's Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir when read by him is great.

 

Honestly this is way more 1 sided than I thought. I thought at least 1 or two people would vote yes.

 

I think it's the overlap it being a dumb take but it's about books, which is not a topic people frequent to dumb takes are often involved in. So it skews participation.

 

Audiobooks count, of course.
But it is interesting when someone says "I read that book." when they listened to the audiobook only. It's not just choice of word, as the two activities are inherently different.
It seems more accurate to say I listened to the audiobook instead of I read that book. That just sounds a bit odd.
But audiobooks aren't cheating at all, and may be the only option. I get distracted with audiobooks, so reading is a better option for me and I enjoy the whole process of settling in with a book and being in charge of the pace.

 

I think they're equivalent statements because the audiobook is generally reflecting the same content as the book. Plenty of other people say "I read that book" but they didn't read a book, they read a digital file on a screen. It'd seem more accurate to say that they read the contents of a file.

 

Listening is not reading. Plus, there are so many activities you can participate in while listening to an audiobook.

Reading a book in the traditional sense as an activity usually involves being seated comfortably in one place.
You can't lie on your back in bed, arms resting at your sides, in the dark and read a book. Or drive a car etc.
The activities are so different.

 

Language is way too colloquial for the constraints you’re attempting to impose to make your argument work.

 

What I'm learning from this is that Tunes is a jerkface!

 

Books are meant to be read.

 

Can’t stand all those blind cheaters relying on the audiobook version of War and Peace. Don’t they know books are meant to be read? They should simply acquire fourteen expensive volumes of specially arranged braille text.

 

The one true exception.

 

Unlike the case of those lousy cheats who can’t physically hold a book. Who do they think they are, wanting to enjoy things despite their handicaps?

Face it, you picked a really **** position.

 

Life goes on.

 

Or, you know, people who don't know how to read or do it well.

Or just... People with long commutes. Or people who just want to listen

 

Incidentally by admitting there are any exceptions, as you did previously, you have to implicitly acknowledge audiobooks can’t be “cheating” (whatever that even means) and therefore I kind of have to conclude that your primary concern is weird gatekeeping so, uh, have fun with the weird gatekeeping I guess.

 

@Jedi Knight Fett
I feel like the way you framed the question leads to 1 sided answers.
If you asked "what's the most efficient way to absorb information, books or audiobook?", then perhaps we'd have a discussion.

Reading tends to be faster for most people, but audiobooks allow to do something else meanwhile, so there's a tradeoff.

 

I don't think the efficiency is particularly relevant. Though that would open up the divide between print and digital, as there's been studies about how people don't process digital as well.

If this has to be in a "traditional sense", that does mean that it doesn't really count as reading a book if it takes place on a phone or an ipad or a kindle or what have you.

I mean, I don't do any audiobooks lying on my back in bed with my arms resting at my sides, so presumably that means I'm in the clear? I've also read physical books while driving. Though the ease depends on the binding and time of day.

 

I guess it depends on the content of the book and the goals of the reader.

 

"Cheating" implies that audiobooks are the easier option. For me, personally, that would not be the case.

 

It depends entirely on the usage. If all you are doing is taking up time during a long car ride, it's fine. But I wouldn't count it the same thing as having read a book. Nor, if I really wanted to read a book, would I do it that way. I usually reserve audio books for things I have moderate interest but not very much commitment to.

 

True enough.

 

And you can also…sit on a chair with headphones on, and just listen to the book. Which is very, very similar to the experience of sitting on a chair and reading a book. Only your hands get less tired and you don’t need light.

If we wanted to actually accept your argument, we could even flip it on its head and say that you haven’t fully read a book if you’ve read it yourself, but rather, you have simply attempted to interpret the book, and hopefully pronounced all its words correctly.

The only way to truly and completely experience a book is to have the author read it to you at night by your bed.

Audiobooks aren’t just for people who want to do other things while reading. It’s for people who are: blind, have a physical disability that makes holding a book or a device to read difficult, that like listening to a book read aloud, that are auditory learners, who don’t have chairs that make it comfortable to read a book on, who want to lie down and read without having to twist into crazy and painful positions, who want to read in the dark but don’t want to read on a screen, who like oral storytelling, who have poor eyesight, etc. There are myriad reasons for listening to an audiobook outside of “I’m driving.”

Interestingly enough, this topic is the only one on JCF that’s actually inspired me to consider blocking people. If you think listening to audiobooks is lesser than reading, you’re just a huge idiot who thinks they are superior. And…There’s nothing worse than an idiot with a superiority complex.

 

I like it especially if it's dramatized in a way besides just dry reading. Something I'm used to when my dad played all those old Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes cases on tapes, and the Star Wars ones too. But I've been listening to a dramatic reading of Anne of Green Gables, and started listening to the Magnus Archives.