Thursday, March 17, 2005

Aural Pleasure - in my car!

Because my new(ish) day job is located on the city fringes, I get the dubious priviledge of driving to work each day in my car instead of catching the bus. Having been a long term user of public transport - I actually didn't mind catching the bus. Unlike Handsomest Husband, I never get motion sick and I can happily read for hours on end on the bus, the train, or the ferry. A 40 minute bus trip each way adds up to a lot of reading time every week.

So while I'm rather enjoying driving to work - I am seriously missing my reading time. So I borrowed an audio book from work. My god, why hasn't anyone told me about these before! What a fantastic thing the audio book is - I'm completely addicted. I've become a totally different person in the car - red lights, train crossings or just being really late don't matter anymore. Sure, cut me off, don't bother to indicate, tailgate all you like - I am completely calm about it all. Because I'm listening to literature.

In fact, I think that I actually prefer the audio version of some books. At the moment I'm listening to Kate Atkinson's "Human Croquet". I've read a few of her books and find that I don't really get into them. But listening to her work is a totally different experience. I'm absolutely rivetted. She has such a wonderful turn of phrase which I have never appreciated before. And her stories are so beautiful crafted. I've also thought that she was too wordy but I now have a completely different impression.

2 Comments:

Blogger Craig said...

I like audiobooks, but there are a few problems I have found with them. First, many companies tend to abridge books that are recorded. I've never understood that. The author wrote those words for a reason, and now some fool company is going to cut it because it takes too many CDs? Second, I have occasionally encountered problems with the person reading the book. Listening to books while driving is wonderful, but when the narrator's voice puts you to sleep, people tend to get upset.

10:44 am  
Blogger Laziest Girl said...

You're right about abridging books - I don't understand the point of it. Honestly, if I wanted abridged, I'd read Readers Digest.

8:15 am  

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