Now that everyone carries an audio book player, audio books have grown into a $1.2 billion industry:
Mr. Hewson has discovered that writing for audio requires different techniques from prose writing. Word repetition becomes glaringly obvious. So do unintentional rhymes. Location changes have to be telegraphed at the beginning of the scene, so that listeners aren’t confused.
“Complex sentences, long subordinate clauses — they don’t work, people get bored and confused by them,” he says. “You’re looking for the writing to disappear so that all people hear is the story.”
The rapid rise of audio books has prompted some hand- wringing about how we consume literature. Print purists doubt that listening to a book while multitasking delivers the same experience as sitting down and silently reading. Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that for competent readers, there is virtually no difference between listening to a story and reading it. The format has little bearing on a reader’s ability to understand and remember a text. Some scholars argue that listening to a text might even improve understanding, especially for difficult works like Shakespeare, where a narrator’s interpretation of the text can help convey the meaning.
Less is known about how well people absorb stories when they are also driving or lifting weights or chopping vegetables. Commuters still account for half of audio book buyers, according to a report from the research firm Bowker, which tracks the book business. Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia who has studied reading and listening comprehension, said that multitasking compromises a listener’s attention, unless the task is truly automatic. Jogging on a treadmill would probably be fine, but running on a trail might be too distracting to fully absorb the text, he said.
“Complex sentences, long subordinate clauses — they don’t work, people get bored and confused by them,”
I think complex sentences and fine writing — when done correctly — work even better in audiobooks than in written text.
I suggest the following books on Librivox for those who do like something more elaborate:
The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison
The Worm Ouroboros — different reader
Rosalynde or, Euphues’ Golden Legacie by Thomas Lodge
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft
Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson
People think that e-books are the 21st century revolution, but the real breakthrough is audio books. People who aren’t ordinarily readers are consuming these things like mad while commuting. Nobody’s enthusiastic about e-readers. But people just rave about audio books. I’ve used ‘em to double my reading volume over the past 20 years. And as for complex sentences, some of the best audiobook experiences I’ve had were Middlemarch, Pickwick Papers, and currently the magnificently written books of historian Adam Nicholson. Complex sentences and ideas are perfectly conveyed in the audio format. Down with e-books. Up with audio.
I absolutely hated Shakespeare in high school, until I started reading along with the audio book. It made the archaic wording come alive and I started to understand it. I grew to love that funny British bastard.