Let’s talk audiobooks.
I’ve posted a couple of times recently about The Levee, the novella I wrote during the pandemic, which Simon and Schuster will publish as an original audiobook on February 28. I’ve had quite a bit of feedback from readers who are less than thrilled with audiobooks. Me, I love audiobooks, and I want to explain some of the reasons.
First of all, think about this: Storytelling is an oral tradition. For millennia, before the invention of written language, stories were passed down generation to generation verbally. Storytellers were honored, not just as entertainers, but as the conduit for so many elements of a culture—values, norms, common practices, spiritual guidance. Even when written language evolved, only the very few had access to the tablets or the papyrus or the carefully transcribed texts before Gutenberg and his printing press came along. So, for common people, storytellers and their oral stories were still paramount in most lives.
When writing a story, I read that story out loud, both as I’m composing it and when it’s completed. To me, a good story ought to flow easily off the tongue. And when I listen to the words, the sentences, the paragraphs, I hear not only the clunk that ought not to be there (so that I can edit it out) but also the beauty in the cadences I’ve created, the truth of the scenes I’ve imagined, the reality of the characters I’ve created with nothing but words.
I travel a good deal for events in all parts of the country. My preferred mode of travel is by car. Whenever I’m taking off on a drive, I download two or three books to listen to on the road. A good story, engagingly read, makes the miles fly by for me.
I know lots of people who listen to audiobooks while they work out or do housework or yard work. Their alternative, I suppose, to whistling while they work.
I understand the preference for holding a book in your hand. We have love affairs with books. But there are times and places in which a good old-fashioned story offered in the voice of a fine reader hits the spot nicely.
I’d love to assure you that The Levee will be available in print form down the road, but I’m not certain of its future. This is an experiment, a kind of adventure for me and my publisher. Only time will tell.
So, what do you think?
I love you’re explanation. I also think maybe you’re tired of the written word because you see it and do it so much. You have encouraged me to try an audio book when I travel, but I still think all great authors like you should publish both.
Thanks,
Renee
I thank you for the explanation and completely understand why you would prefer this. That being said, when I have a chance to read, I want to hold the book in my hand, turn the pages and absorb every written detail. I appreciate when a story is “told” but for me working in surgery for 8-15 hours a day, I prefer silence and getting lost in the words. Either way, I appreciate your way of telling a story and making me absorb every single word/story. I look forward to reading more of your incredible stories.
I love audiobooks, I have a hearing loss, and listen through my hearing aides. I also walk every morning, 3 miles minimum…and the whole walk I’m listening to something. I bet I listen to 3 books a week, way more than I’d have time to read…Thanks for the great “reads”.
I love listening to your audiobooks. Your narrator reads Cork O’Connor perfectly and I like to know the correct pronunciation of the words in the Indian language. Sometime I download both the audio and the e-book and listen and read alternately or some parts over again.
I liked “The Levee” very much. Also loved “Ordinary Grace” and “This Tender Land”. So much depth to characters and themes that leave me thinking of them long after I have finished reading.
Thank you!
I’ve loved books from before I could read them myself. I love the feel and smell of books, both old and new. When I began to have vision problems my sons bought me an audio book subscription. I am now in love with this medium. When there is a great narrator, as in the Cork O’Connor series, they can enhance the story. I hope you never stop publishing your audiobooks! They are some of my favorites!
I understand audiobooks to be an alternative way to enjoy a story. I have zero interest in them, but they have allowed more people to “read,” and/or to “read” more comfortably because the verbal style of storytelling is more compatible with who they are, and/or lets them “read” in diverse scenarios rather than only in a chair or bed. IMO this flexibility is a great thing for authors, readers, and publishers.
As I become older and find it is hard on my eyes to read as much as I used to, I delight in a good audiobook. I”ve listened to all the Cork O’Connor books. The narrator is excellent and as another reader mentioned, it is great to know the correct pronunciation of the Ojibway
words.
THank you for your entertainning and heartfelt works.
Sarah
The reason I wish your books would come out in a printed form is that I can’t concentrate for long with the spoken word . When written, I can go back if I need to.
Thank you for your audible books. My husband hasn’t been able to read in 7 years, boating injury leaving him a quadriplegic. I finally convinced him to listen to you Iron Lake series, he is loving it. Thanks again!
While I understand some readers preference for print, I think there are just as many, or almost as many, who prefer audiobooks. I like them because I can be productive with everyday tasks while enjoying a good book. And The Levee is a great, well-read, audiobook. The length is perfect.
I might have made Cassidy’s demise a bit more torturous – maybe drown him in the river or blow him up in the boat.
Thanks for the hours of listening.
i love audiobooks, too, but sometimes the connection to a good book loses it strength when the narrator/reader is not the right one for the job. i think david chandler is the best voice for your audiobooks. apart from his occasional mispronunciations of words of spanish origin or the inconsistencies i hear when between something pronounced a certain way in one book and differently in another, he projects well the characters you create. i can almost see them. i am listening to cj wilson’s interpretative reading of “the river we remember.” i am halfway through it and i am not sure if i will be able to suffer him much longer. i may just have to get the book from the library. please stick with chandler. he serves you best!
I am so thankful for your audiobooks. My husband is blind and he is enjoying listening to your stories. When you enjoyed reading and then you lose your sight it’s a different world.
Time to get the print version of The Levee on the market. Most of my reading is print. I do understand audiobooks are an option and I do listen occasionally, however, “reading” is not listening. Please release The Levee in print.
I love audiobooks. I listen to them as I walk, drive, cook. I also read my own audiobooks. Thank you for your excellent description of oral storytelling. There is a place for print books and audiobooks and each of us can decide which book to appreciate in which form.
For THE LEVEE, high marks on every score! It was another WKK triumph set against a river in meaningful ways. Bravo!