Reading and listening

[chickenfeet]

Since I got my iPod shuffle I've been mostly listening to audio books when I work out or run. I'm discovering that I like different kind of books in the two media. When I'm reading I tend to prefer non-fiction and only read novels occasionally. (That said, I just read Patricia Finney's Gloriana's Torch which I recommend highly to anyone who likes historical mystery/spy thrillers). On the other hand I tend to prefer fiction on the iPod and, oddly, fiction that I wouldn't necessarily much care to read. For example, I've been listening to a lot of Terry Pratchett. The lovely jupitah kindly sent me a copy of Guards, Guards which I read and thought was the sort of thing that I might read on a long flight but couldn't really get worked up about. I liked it enough though to pick up some torrents of other Pratchetts as audiobooks and I find I like them much more that way. Currently I'm listening to Going Postal which is quite fun, especially as it's read by Tony Robinson. I've tried listening to the kind I really like both as books and as audio. I have Perfume, The Name of the Rose, Heaneywulf and A Dance to the Music of Time in both formats and I love them!

Comments

[ironed_orchid]

I'm really glad you found a way to enjoy Pratchett. I agree that his style of humour has been done before, but his characters are quite endearing. I find myself needing books I can read without too much effort, probably as antidote to scholarly stuff, and he filled that void.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I can see how he might fill that role.. If I had to read some of the stuff I choose to read I might feel differently about it!

[itchyfidget.livejournal.com]

I'm just getting into the idea of audiobooks, particularly for running (50 minutes on a treadmill is pretty dull otherwise). So far been fairly unadventurous and stolen all Mr Itchy's Bill Bryson, but I must invest in some proper stories.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I listened to A Short History of Nearly Everything and Notes from a Small Island while working out. Must say, the old alma mater has had some pretty cool chancellors.

[itchyfidget.livejournal.com]

Which is your alma mater?

[eiramanit.livejournal.com]

I love listening to audiobooks while exercising. And like you, I tend to listen to things that I wouldn't normally read. I've been able to expand my reading horizons that way...

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Wasn't the user pic enough of a giveaway? Durham.

[itchyfidget.livejournal.com]

Sorry, no! I mean, it might be, if you're in the know, but I'm not. Heh.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Do you think the narrators make a difference to what you like to listen to? I listen to the radio a fair bit, but I generally don't like audio plays or book reading (with one major exception... the Archers, I'm afraid!). It seems to me that how one reacts to the voice reading could influence how one feels about either the book or the medium.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

The narrator (or the cast if it's a dramatisation) does make a huge difference. The guy reading Perfume is just brilliant for example. I've listened to some of the Vox Libris recordings, which are amateur, and they tend not to be so good. I certainly can't imagine anyone other than the man himself making such a fantastic job of Heaneywulf either.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

I've tried my best to get into audiobooks, but it doesn't really work for me - I think the author's voice sounds better in my head than in my ears. On the other hand, time-shifting radio works really well for me, and the BBC podcasts of "In Our Time" tend to get played in my car or hotel room when I'm travelling. Not on the treadmill yet, though.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

You like The Archers too? Hmm, we should keep quiet about this...

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I do try to keep it quiet, but occasionally I out myself. I have to listen to the Sunday repeats, because my wife takes the theme music as her cue to start a conversation every evening!

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Ah, this is why I stay in the office until just before 7, then I can listen on the way home.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

Having just bought a nano, if anyone has any extra audiobooks ... especially Pratchett, whom I love (ooh! are there David Lodge and Ben Elton books available? Must check) ...

I also like the Archers. There's some good Alan Bennett available at the BBC site, too, if you like Alan Bennett.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I have versions of Wyrd Sisters, Small Gods, The Last Hero and Going Postal.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I would be grateful for a transfer and would be happy to send something in exchange ...)