S. LEE MANNING
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HEARING IS BELIEVING

7/13/2023

2 Comments

 
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Do you listen to audiobooks? If you don't, you're missing out on a great experience.

I've always loved hearing books. There's something about hearing a book read to you, even if you love reading yourself. One of my fondest early memories is of my mother reading me Heidi, a book I'd already read. Nevertheless, I loved listening to her voice reciting the words. And in my turn when I became a mother, I read books to my children, forming a bond through love for books and stories.

I started listening to audiobooks maybe twenty years, when I realized that audiobooks made it possible for me to do all I needed to do in my busy life while still consuming novels. At that time, I was driving around the state of New Jersey, lobbying legislators to replace the death penalty with life without parole. Hours on the road were made tolerable because I was listening to thrillers and mysteries. I could listen to books while I cooked, washed dishes, while I exercised, and before going to sleep (although listening to a thriller right before bed is not generally a good idea).

But it's not just the fact that audiobooks make it possible to "read" while busily engaged in other activities - multitasking being the all the rage in the 21st  century. Audiobooks are a different kind of experience than reading a print book.

I just finished listened to the audiobook of my own novel, Nerve Attack, read by the talented Pavi Proczko, and I loved hearing it. Yes, I wrote and know the story, although I haven't re-read it for almost two years. And yes, part of the enjoyment of listening to one's own work is certainly the ego boost - the this is a damn good story and OMG - I wrote it kind of moment.

But what I really loved about hearing the book was the bringing to life of characters whom I created and love. When I write a novel, the characters have a reality in my mind - although I'm quite aware that they are fictional. But listening to the book, when read by a gifted actor who creates different voices for each character, takes those characters out of my imagination and gives them a solidity.  Kolya, Alex, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Dmitri are no longer just in my mind. They've become real. (Yes, I know it sounds a little crazy - but I'm a writer, so by definition, I live in imaginary worlds with imaginary friends - so sanity isn't a given.)

And that's what I get from any well read audiobook - experiencing the characters as real people with individual voices. It's a joining between the reader and listener.  It's creating a life for those characters outside of my mind. And while I still treasure the individual and private pleasure of reading a print book, I also treasure that coming to life that I get from an audiobook.

How about you? Do you listen to audiobooks? 



2 Comments
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt link
10/24/2023 11:09:56 pm

I don't often listen to them, but I do love reading my own books - I've forgotten a lot of details.

And find the occasional typo, which I mark to be included in the next update, if there is one.

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1/29/2025 01:42:07 am

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