Listen...do you want to know a secret?

 

Virtually every culture on this planet (and probably others) has a rich history of story telling.  Before the written word, story telling was the vehicle by which information was passed from generation to generation.  The recital of one’s own lineage and the remembrance of the great feats of ancestors is often a rite of passage and the telling of cautionary tales and the use of object lessons has a history older than we upright walkers can know. 

In western cultures, it’s a rare child who can make it to adulthood without having been read aloud to at one point or another, whether it be by a teacher, a parent, an older (or sometimes younger!) sibling, or caretaker.  It’s a common evening event that the word “again” is met with a sigh and the turning of pages back to the beginning rather than a refusal.   Don’t get me wrong, even the most patient of readers must gently close the book for the sake of a decent bedtime or a meal about to become char if not tended to. 

I, too, remember being read to fairly often.  One teacher had a penchant for the work of Roald Dahl, and in her honor I have a vintage copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on my shelf.  However, it seems that at the point I became a proficient reader and could take up the task for  myself, I came to find listening to someone else carrying the story along tiresome.  Suddenly, it was up to me how fast I could devour the story.  And devour them I did. 

However, to read a book means to be still and these days, I do not take to “still” well.  Even now, television watching for most means just that.  Television watching.  On a given evening, I usually have something going on with my hands and something going on in my head, which sometimes makes the television a mute bystander though in fact it does continue to chatter on. 

I just don’t have it in me to sit and read for very long.  I just don’t. There’s much else that needs to be done and I can’t do it reading a book.  So, I didn’t. Therefore, my knowledge and consumption of literature has suffered for a long time.  That is, until I discovered audio books.  

Suddenly, I could “read” and I didn’t have to sit still.  What. A. CONCEPT! 

I can walk ten miles.  I can do the dishes.  I can clean out the car, fold the laundry, dust the bookshelves, take a stroll with the dog,  crochet a doily, sew a button back on, upload and manage my photos, inventory my yarn, and vaccum out the dog’s crate…all while enjoying a classic or following the events on a new world.   

There are die hard paper and glue fans who believe that the only way to “read” is to read.  I have a couple of arguments to the contrary for them.

1)       Studies show that while you're reading comprehension continues to improve after you learn to read for yourself, your listening comprehension falls off.  Listening to audio books can bridge the gap even into adulthood. It also helps you build vocabulary to hear an unfamiliar word pronounced and used in context at the same time.   

 

2)       It is just as rich an experience, perhaps richer. Let me tell you why.  When reading, it is natural to skip over descriptive and narrative portions of a book that do not interest you in favor of the more meaty stuff.  With an audio book, you are a captive audience to every word the author wrote so you’re hearing it exactly as the author intended the material to be presented.  Nothing is lost.  No parts are skipped.  If you’re REALLY lucky, you can find an audio book which is read by the author, an experience I have never found disappointing.   

Audio books are also green.  This is a downloadable world we live in which means that no plastic was used to create a cassette or CD and no paper used in the packaging for the audio books and no paper used to print the book.    (And you can still enjoy jacket art in most cases.) 

Think about this above all.  No boxes of books sitting around. Remember when you moved last?   

Now, before you think that I am anti-paper and glue please know that I believe that there is room for every medium.  Book, tablet, audio book, it doesn’t matter as long as you are actively engaged. 

As long as you are hearing what the author has to say and enjoying the tale, it’s all good.   

It’s all storytelling, man’s finest tradition, and its how we can pass on to our children the stories our grandparents told to us, along with some new ones.  You will read, and I will listen and we will all know the tale if we keep sharing the story.

Again.