Switching to Audiobooks

I recently realized that my first choice for books is audio. Nowadays, I only buy the paper version if the audiobook isn’t available. I find this a bit odd since I’m very much a visual person–I am addicted to the visual arts, as proof of my ocular-centricism–but I love the sound of words, their rhythm and even their texture on my tongue as I speak or as they caress my ear as they enter.

Perhaps it was because my mother read Armenian poetry to me as a child to help me sleep and I still remember how soothing the words felt. Or maybe it was all the literary interviews I would listen to on CBC radio or on public television with eloquent authors like Margaret Atwood or Michael Ondaatje who could easily string together a necklace of five-syllable words that sounded perfect, powerful and could even inspire awe.

2 responses to “Switching to Audiobooks”

  1. John M. Avatar

    Sound and vision resonate nicely, but the printed word seems to dominate certain pathways of attention at the exclusion of others.

    I’ve found that when I work on music, my mind has to shift gears dramatically in order to do any serious reading.

    The spoken word, however, seems to work on the mind in a completely different way.

    Also, the only music I can listen to when I read is classical, all other forms divide my attention.

    There are clues here. Your observations seem to support all of this.

    Love your work.

  2. houri Avatar
    houri

    Fascinating, for someone who has used books as a companion, friend, teacher and a lover, I’ve resisted giving up the tactile approach. But your description of the words entering you ear makes me think twice…. Just recently I’ve been looking at Kindle which is not quite the same but the idea that you can carry hundreds of books in your pocketbook on a device the size of one paperback… I suppose your experience is with iphone which is another device I need to befriend, pretty resistant to change…

    More importantly at a time of giving I want to THANK YOU for all that you give me with your blog. I’m not sure how you do it but I look forward to your blog everyday to kick start my creative side.
    Keep on blogging for a creative 2009…

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