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I've only listened to one audiobook in my life-Raptor Red- but I really like radio dramas.
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Feb 3, 2024 00:03
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My problem with audiobooks is that podcasts exist. There are too many good ones that only require me to pay attention for, say, 40-90 min rather than many many hours. I generally prefer to just read something if there's that much material to consume. And also, I mostly am interested in nonfiction and want to take notes or highlight or re-read difficult sections. Those things are either impossible or much more of a hassle with audiobooks.
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Feb 3, 2024 00:17
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Zugzwang posted:My problem with audiobooks is that podcasts exist. There are too many good ones that only require me to pay attention for, say, 40-90 min rather than many many hours.  you don't have to pay attention to an audiobook for many hours though? most of them have chapters. just like a typical podcast (or tv show) has a season divided into many episodes. there are quite a few that have a season-long narrative, but you still listen to each episode one by one. audiobooks work the same way, you can easily just listen to one chapter at a time.
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Feb 3, 2024 00:53
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Earwicker posted:
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Feb 3, 2024 11:36
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I can have trouble with long/complex audiobooks and prefer reading. Listening to short stories can be a nice compromise ime. There's some extremely talented actors out there reading public domain works for free.
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Feb 3, 2024 11:49
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Audiobooks are great, but there are definitely books that need to be read instead of listened to. I read Ulysses last year and it would have been unmanageable as an audiobook. However a good narrator can bring a book to life that might otherwise be dry. I had resisted reading more F Scott Fitzgerald for a while, but the audio version of The Beautiful and Damned was fantastic.
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Feb 3, 2024 14:40
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One great use case of audiobooks is where a comedian writes a book in character, like Alan Partridge or Garth Marenghi, and their delivery can really help.
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Feb 3, 2024 15:16
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Doctor J Off posted:Audiobooks are great, but there are definitely books that need to be read instead of listened to. I read Ulysses last year and it would have been unmanageable as an audiobook. i would never sit and listen to the entirety of Ulysses but i will say that hearing recordings of Joyce reading passages from that and from Finnegans Wake really helped me appreciate both books and contributed a lot to the voice my head adopted while reading them. (but also the recording quality it's hard to stand more than a few minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8kFqiv8Vww
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Feb 3, 2024 16:02
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Earwicker posted:i would never sit and listen to the entirety of Ulysses but i will say that hearing recordings of Joyce reading passages from that and from Finnegans Wake really helped me appreciate both books and contributed a lot to the voice my head adopted while reading them. (but also the recording quality it's hard to stand more than a few minutes) Thanks for the link, it's really interesting to hear it from Joyce himself. I've been putting off reading Finnegan's Wake because of it's reputation as a challenging read, but this could be a way to break into it. I can imagine setting up to take on the reading with a computer with an annotated text, the audio version, and the book in hand.
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Feb 3, 2024 17:04
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I'm reading the forums I like getting to post about it
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Feb 3, 2024 17:05
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I'm still reading Cum Meridian.
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Feb 3, 2024 17:07
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One of Cumsack McGirthy's greatest works
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Feb 3, 2024 17:18
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he's alright
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Feb 3, 2024 17:25
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I read the Mars trilogy as a teen but was weirded out by the dirt-eating sex cult thing they had going on. Wonder if it'll go down more smoothly as an adult. I've been reading Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson also, and luckily that has less sex in it (so far). kiminewt fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Feb 3, 2024 |
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Feb 3, 2024 17:28
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kiminewt posted:I read that trilogy as a teen but was weirded out by the dirt-eating sex cult thing they had going on. Wonder if it'll go down more smoothly as an adult. that book starts out  but it fades out pretty quicklyhella want an airship tho
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Feb 3, 2024 17:34
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Doctor J Off posted:I've been putting off reading Finnegan's Wake because of it's reputation as a challenging read, but this could be a way to break into it. I can imagine setting up to take on the reading with a computer with an annotated text, the audio version, and the book in hand. it's definitely better with a guide and there are a few good ones. i prefer a guide in book form rather than online since there are less distractions that way. A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake by Joseph Campbell is great and very thorough. there are also some great essays by Robert Anton Wilson that explain how FW works and are very helpful in understanding it from the outset. i think they are collected in the volume Prometheus Rising or maybe in one of those Cosmic Trigger books unfortunately there is no full audio version of FW read by Joyce himself, just a few small passages. i've never looked for another audio version. but i will say it's very helpful to try reading certain bits out loud yourself. most words in the book are actually multiple words sort of fused together - sometimes from different langauges - and reading passages out loud helps figure out all the different things he's trying to say at the same time. there's also multiple puns in almost every sentence of the book. re: Kim Stanley Robinson, the only book ive read by him is The Memory of Whiteness which is about a composer/conductor touring the solar system in some kind of orchestra-ship. it seemed to take place concurrently with the Mars trilogy, as there are a couple chapters that take place on Mars and mention some of the political movements from those books. overall the whole thing felt very thin, some interesting ideas but not a lot of meat when it came to character or story, and it didn't seem to really end up... anywhere or say much. so i wasn't very motivated to read more of his stuff. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Feb 3, 2024 |
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Feb 3, 2024 18:28
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I listened to Clan of the Cave Bear as an audiobook, it was fine. The narrator was not great, she almost sounded like a female version of some of those AI scripts readers you hear on Instagram. Even 3 years later, I can still clearly hear her voice in my head.
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Feb 3, 2024 19:58
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I'm reading Bram Stoker's Dracula, and it's interesting to read a chapter about blood transfusion where the most suitable donor is a strong young man who loves his wife the most, and women are never considered. It's not a surprise or anything, the theme of men trying to care about and provide love to their partners in the face of unquestionable evil is a strong theme - the incredible power of bravery in the face of unimaginable evil is treated almost like science fiction.
TheMostFrench fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Feb 4, 2024 |
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Feb 4, 2024 01:14
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Earwicker posted:it's definitely better with a guide and there are a few good ones. i prefer a guide in book form rather than online since there are less distractions that way. A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake by Joseph Campbell is great and very thorough. there are also some great essays by Robert Anton Wilson that explain how FW works and are very helpful in understanding it from the outset. i think they are collected in the volume Prometheus Rising or maybe in one of those Cosmic Trigger books I guess back when Joyce was living it would be impossible to store the full readout of Finnegan's Wake. My library has an audiobook copy, so maybe I should read the book with the audio along with it to pair a supplement. Anyone else on the Libby app by the way? It's the one that replaced Overdrive that connects to your local library system so you can rent ebooks and audiobooks from your phone. It's a handy little app for readers
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Feb 4, 2024 23:16
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Doctor J Off posted:I guess back when Joyce was living it would be impossible to store the full readout of Finnegan's Wake. My library has an audiobook copy, so maybe I should read the book with the audio along with it to pair a supplement. I use Libby, can't complain, it does the job. Syncs well between devices Ive been mostly reading library books for a few years, I like history and I'm not too fussy about subject so long as its well written.
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Feb 5, 2024 09:32
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I've heard about Libby before, and did some research this morning. I could pay for access it looks like (that is, pay for a library card in a town that participates), but I am so rural and my town is so small, my library (for what it is, open like 4 hours a week) is not included in anything I can find that participates. Seems like a great program though, more people would probably find it useful if they knew about it. Speaking of books I've read recently, any Sci-fi fans read "Children of Time"? I see it get mentioned a lot, not sure though how well known it is. This was another book I reread almost immediately after finishing. Just a great sci-fi book that both tells a great, page turning story, but is also filled with incredible concepts and ideas, stuff that is made for sci-fi. Loved it. The sequel was good(very good), but could not live up to the original by light of comparison.
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Feb 5, 2024 14:02
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Libby would probably be killer if you lived in NYC or something. I have access to the Carnegie library in Pittsburgh, so it has a pretty good selection. Not everything I've ever searched for, but enough.
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Feb 5, 2024 15:15
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I have access to 3 libraries from different local government areas I've lived in around Melbourne, they all use Libby so I have a pretty good selection of ebooks to choose from.
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Feb 5, 2024 23:21
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Picked up some new books thanks to this thread McCarthy - Sutree Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James - The Wings of the Dove Mostly read on the Kindle but it’ll be good to sit down with these in paperback and dig in.
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Feb 6, 2024 01:18
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I've been slowly working on a book I picked up at a thrift store called Arctic Dreams. Its a hard book to describe but a lot of it is about how the artic landscape affects people's dreams and how those effects have appeared in indigenous arctic cultures via their art and folklore and stuff. also a lot of quotes of people musing about the arctic landscape from the golden age of arctic exploration which is a bit of history that's always fascinated me. Its neat and I need to just sit down and go through it
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Feb 6, 2024 04:05
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As an audiobook enjoyer I’ve found a big factor is the narrator. Some are masterful like for Robert Caro books & I listened to a Dune adaptation that had a full cast that was excellent, but every once in a while get a dud that isn’t worth sticking with. When I had a higher tolerance for trash, Wil Wheaton reading Ready Player One was particularly egregious, as despite being a professional actor he cannot do voices. Currently listening to The Gone World and enjoying it.
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Feb 6, 2024 04:53
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Live action actors are always a gamble for audiobooks, some of them knock it out of the park, but a lot just fall flat. And then there are the weird ones that I assume are plays for name recognition - Willem Dafoe reading The Langoliers was one that just made me laugh. Dude's a great actor, but he can't help playing every character as Willem Dafoe, which particularly doesn't work when one of said characters is a little girl 
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Feb 6, 2024 05:01
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Captain Hygiene posted:One of Cumsack McGirthy's greatest works lol
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Feb 6, 2024 05:05
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TheMostFrench posted:I'm reading Bram Stoker's Dracula, and it's interesting to read a chapter about blood transfusion where the most suitable donor is a strong young man who loves his wife the most, and women are never considered. It's not a surprise or anything, the theme of men trying to care about and provide love to their partners in the face of unquestionable evil is a strong theme - the incredible power of bravery in the face of unimaginable evil is treated almost like science fiction. This was my wife's first english language novel that she finished and we wound up naming our daughter Mina.
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Feb 6, 2024 05:05
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Yeah, Norm MacDonald was an exception as his reading of his autobiography added another layer of delight. Bailed on Nick Offerman reading Lincoln in the Bardo although that wasn’t really his fault, the book was just too odd for me to listen to and I needed to get a printed copy.
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Feb 6, 2024 05:07
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kiminewt posted:I read the Mars trilogy as a teen but was weirded out by the dirt-eating sex cult thing they had going on. Wonder if it'll go down more smoothly as an adult. Ministry has some great stuff in it. That opening chapter is incredible. I re-read the Marses this year and, yeah, the areophany people come across as, somehow, even less sympathetic on a re-read. Have you read Aurora? It's gooooood.
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Feb 6, 2024 08:01
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I'm reading Snow Crash for the first time. It's killing me.
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Feb 6, 2024 08:21
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Dark Imperium by Guy Haley. It's a Warhammer 40K book. I like all the parts to do with Roboute Guilliman, everything else is a bit poo poo.
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Feb 6, 2024 10:09
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Hyrax Attack! posted:Yeah, Norm MacDonald was an exception as his reading of his autobiography added another layer of delight. Bailed on Nick Offerman reading Lincoln in the Bardo although that wasn’t really his fault, the book was just too odd for me to listen to and I needed to get a printed copy. I loved Lincoln in the Bardo, but it is a weeeird book. And, one of the only book experiences I can remember in recent memory where I really didn't like it all for the first 20-30 pages, seriously considering putting it down (it was for a book club), and then something clicked (I think I figured out how the narration was actually working), and then tore through the rest, then immediately read it again.
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Feb 6, 2024 12:57
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DicktheCat posted:I'm reading Snow Crash for the first time. i can't imagine reading that book now. i read it in the mid-90's and loved it but after everything the internet has turned into since then it would read so completely differently. and also im no longer a horny idiotic teenager. i read cryptonomicon somewhat recently and it was fun but parts of it were pretty cringe and it really could have used some editing. like you could tell stephenson was at the height of his fame and they were just letting him do whatever the gently caress he wanted. there's literally three entire pages describing how a guy eats cereal at one point. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Feb 6, 2024 |
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Feb 6, 2024 18:10
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Well, I'm finishing up Jurassic Park today, and it mostly held up very well. It put me in the mood to re-read Lost World, which I have essentially no recollection of. I'm really curious how it will fare in comparison, I remember reading that Crichton was at least somewhat pushed into it by the first Jurassic Park movie being such a megahit, rather than being something he did out of his own interest. For what it's worth, I don't like the second movie, but I have a general idea of it not having much to do with the book. I guess I could just pull up Wikipedia and find out, but y'know, 
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Feb 6, 2024 23:17
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Captain Hygiene posted:Well, I'm finishing up Jurassic Park today, and it mostly held up very well. It put me in the mood to re-read Lost World, which I have essentially no recollection of. I'm really curious how it will fare in comparison, I remember reading that Crichton was at least somewhat pushed into it by the first Jurassic Park movie being such a megahit, rather than being something he did out of his own interest. For what it's worth, I don't like the second movie, but I have a general idea of it not having much to do with the book. I guess I could just pull up Wikipedia and find out, but y'know, I ended up reading something else between Shogun and Jurassic Park, so the grandkids just got to the island. The Lost World is, in a lot of ways, a retread of the first book, and doesn't share much in common with the movie. It's good, though, if you liked the first book. Some really neat sequences in it.
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Feb 6, 2024 23:28
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Oh, that sounds good, I'm fine with it just being a fun enough follow up. More dino times to look forward to, then 
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Feb 6, 2024 23:36
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Currently enjoying another great psychological murder case, featuring Inspector Maigret The Little Man from Archangel. Well written by Georges Simenon.
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Feb 7, 2024 05:36
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Shiney McShine posted:Currently enjoying another great psychological murder case, featuring Inspector Maigret The Little Man from Archangel. Well written by Georges Simenon. simenon is great, but i think his romains durs (non-maigret books basically) are even better. he is brutally efficient with character and plot in a way where you're like, yeah, that's the exact minimum to get a good story and he nailed it
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Feb 7, 2024 10:29
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