Glassworks
  • home
  • about
    • history
    • staff bios
    • community outreach
    • affiliations
    • contact
  • current issue
    • read Issue 25
    • letter from the editor
    • looking glass fall 2022
    • interview with Yuvi Zalkow
  • submit
    • submission guidelines
  • looking glass
    • through the looking glass
  • editorial content
    • book reviews
    • opinion
    • interviews
  • flash glass
    • flash glass 2023
    • flash glass 2022
    • flash glass 2021
    • flash glass 2020
    • flash glass 2019
    • flash glass 2018
    • flash glass 2017
    • flash glass 2016
    • flash glass 2015
  • media
    • art
    • audio
    • video
  • archive
    • award nominees
    • read and order back issues
  • Master of Arts in Writing program
    • about Writing Arts at Rowan University
    • application and requirements
  • newsletter
  • home
  • about
    • history
    • staff bios
    • community outreach
    • affiliations
    • contact
  • current issue
    • read Issue 25
    • letter from the editor
    • looking glass fall 2022
    • interview with Yuvi Zalkow
  • submit
    • submission guidelines
  • looking glass
    • through the looking glass
  • editorial content
    • book reviews
    • opinion
    • interviews
  • flash glass
    • flash glass 2023
    • flash glass 2022
    • flash glass 2021
    • flash glass 2020
    • flash glass 2019
    • flash glass 2018
    • flash glass 2017
    • flash glass 2016
    • flash glass 2015
  • media
    • art
    • audio
    • video
  • archive
    • award nominees
    • read and order back issues
  • Master of Arts in Writing program
    • about Writing Arts at Rowan University
    • application and requirements
  • newsletter
Glassworks

To Read or Not To Read: Audiobooks vs. Traditional Books

11/1/2021

0 Comments

 
by Georgia I. Salvaryn
Picture"open book pages" by Jo Naylor CC BY 2.0
It has long been debated whether audiobooks are better than traditional books and e-books, but it is an argument that has no end. While some people believe audiobooks are eventually going to take over the reading world, others believe traditional books and e-books will have a long-lasting existence and influence on the book-loving community. Eventually, one’s use of audiobooks or print media comes down to two factors: ease and enjoyment.

In Dina Folgia’s opinion editorial
Why the Future of Writing is in Audio, she discusses the revolutionary addition of audiobooks and storytelling podcasts to the literary world and the growing popularity of this form of “reading.” She argues that readers will eventually turn to audio for better entertainment and for convenience (i.e., a reader can listen to their favorite actor read their memoir while driving to work.) Her conclusion:

It’s no secret that print media is on the out. It will never go away, not completely, but the shift to the digital sphere has removed the emphasis from physically published content. Audio has already begun to breathe new life into old genres like horror, and is extending far beyond the conversational sphere and into the world of narrative. Writers would be foolish to overlook this massive new platform for creativity.
While I agree that this electronic medium is on the rise, I do not believe that it will kick print media to the curb.
Picture"Audio Book Concept (for iStock)" by dalydose is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
There will always be a need for print media and that group of people that prefer traditional books over audio and digital platforms. I find it much easier to learn and concentrate when I’m holding a book in my hands rather than staring at a tablet or listening to an audio recording. Also, there is nothing better to me than the feeling of smooth book cover, the joy of turning the pages and reaching the end; I imagine it is similar to the feeling of climbing the top of Mount Everest after a long and laborious journey.
 
I have read about some of the benefits of audiobooks: the cadence of the reader, the inflections of their voice. In Time Magazine’s article Are Audiobooks As Good For You As Reading? Here’s What Experts Say, Markham Heid writes: "Listeners...can derive a lot of information from a speaker’s inflections or intonations. Sarcasm is much more easily communicated via audio than printed text. And people who hear Shakespeare spoken out loud tend to glean a lot of meaning from the actor’s delivery.” It makes sense when I think about the difference between watching a movie adaptation of a book and reading the book itself; the actors and actresses sometimes give scenes a whole new tone and meaning in the movie than how I read it in my head.

At some point in our lives, we all probably have had a text read to us, whether it was a bedtime story from a parent or a classmate reading from a textbook in class. In Audiobooks VS Reading: The Rules Are, There Are No Rules, writer Dana Lee suggests listening to comedy audiobooks and memoirs to warm up to the medium. And while I haven’t tried listening to Bruce Springsteen’s audiobook, Born to Run, (yet!) I would still prefer to read the book at my own pace and in my own time.

As someone who has struggled with dyslexia all my life, I have tried different techniques to help improve my reading abilities. From CliffsNotes to ebooks to audiobooks, I couldn’t find a medium that felt “more comfortable” to work with. At one point, I was using an app called Learning Ally (made specifically for people with dyslexia and learning disabilities) that would read the text aloud to me, while simultaneously displaying the highlighted text on my Kindle screen so I could read and follow along. While this app was somewhat helpful, I found myself getting easily distracted and constantly having to rewind or reread the text (or the battery on my device would die and I would have to wait for a significant charge before I could continue listening and reading). Sure, it is exhausting and frustrating to get through texts sometimes, especially when I’m tired, but I find old-fashioned reading to be more helpful and rewarding.
Picture"Headphone" by nSeika CC BY 2.0
So which is ultimately better: reading books or listening to audiobooks? The answer is: it depends. According to Daniel Willingham’s New York Times article, “Is Listening to a Book the Same Thing as Reading It?,” “examining how we read and how we listen shows that each is best suited to different purposes, and neither is superior.” Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, infers that, when reading for pleasure, the process in which the reader experiences the text is no different. The only difference Willingham points out is prosody in audiobooks, “the pitch, tempo and stress of spoken words.” However, when it comes to what he classifies as “difficult content,” reading still the preferred mode, as it “supports readers through difficult content via signals to organization like paragraphs and headings, conventions missing from audio.” In the end, Willingham concludes that “audiobooks won’t replace print because we use them differently.”

In “Why Listening to a Book is Not the Same as Reading It,” published in Psychology Today, Ph.D. student Cody Kommers argues that Willingham doesn’t address the biggest difference between the mediums: engagement. When comparing reading to listening, Kommers explains that reading is the act of engaging with the text, while listening to a text is something that happens to you: “The words on the page aren’t going to read themselves...Audiobooks, on the other hand, make progress with or without your participation.” This reason is exactly why I don’t favor audiobooks: I will eventually zone out and miss, if not pages, chapters of a book that I’m supposed to be listening to.

Both articles mention the fact that when a reader uses the auditory option, they are likely multitasking while listening, whether it’s driving their commute to work, working out in the gym, or cooking dinner in the kitchen. While this is acceptable and convenient for many people, it is not as “convenient” for me. I am a poor listener when multitasking and prefer the personal experience of reading; sitting quietly and comfortably in my bed while the voice in my head creates the voices of characters, my imagination painting vivid pictures as I slowly make my way through the pages, the chapters.
PictureSuzy Hazelwood via pxhere.com
Over the years, as I have read more and pushed myself to read faster, I have seen a great improvement in my reading ability. While it does take me a great deal of time and effort to make my way through a book, I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment at the end. Listening to audiobooks and storytelling podcasts is easier and more convenient for some, and according to Dina Folgia’s op-ed, they will eventually dominate traditional reading in the literary world. But printed text is my preferred medium, and traditional reading will live on through people like me.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    March 2013
    February 2013


    Categories

    All
    Art
    Audio
    Bestseller
    Bibliotherapy
    Books
    Bookstores
    Career
    Cartoons
    Censorship
    Characters
    Cliche
    Code-switching
    Comedy
    Comics
    Controversy
    Culture
    Dyslexia
    Dystopian
    E-books
    Editorial
    Education
    Emoji
    Encyclopedia
    English
    Facebook
    Fandom
    Fanfiction
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Film
    Future
    Gamebooks
    Gender
    Genre
    Google
    Grammar
    Habits
    Halloween
    Health
    Identity
    Journaling
    Kinesthetic Learning
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Library
    Literacy
    Literature
    Manga
    Marginalia
    Media
    Mental Health
    Multimodal
    Music
    New Media
    New York Times Best Seller List
    Nihilism
    Nonfiction
    Normalcy
    Nostalgia
    Obscenity
    Op Ed
    Opinion
    Pandemic
    Podcast
    Poetry
    Politics
    Process
    Pronouns
    Publishing
    Race
    Reading
    Rebuttal
    Research
    Rhetoric
    Rules
    Science Fiction
    Search
    Self-publishing
    Sequels
    Series
    Sexism
    Social Media
    Spoken Word
    Sports
    Standards
    Storytelling
    Student Writing
    Superheroes
    Teaching
    Technology
    Television
    The New York Times
    Trigger Warnings
    Trilogy
    Video Games
    Visual Novel
    War
    Wikipedia
    Workshop
    Writing
    Young Adult
    Zines


    RSS Feed


Picture

glassworks is a publication of
​Rowan University's Master of Arts in Writing
260 Victoria Street • Glassboro, New Jersey 08028 
glassworksmagazine@rowan.edu
​All Content on this Site (c) 2022 glassworks
Photos used under Creative Commons from RomitaGirl67, ** RCB **, George Fox Evangelical Seminary