Does listening to an audiobook count as reading?

Reading time: About 2 minutes

This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world for material to help other writers. Today I discuss a post about the question: does listening to an audiobook count as reading?

I don’t usually listen to audiobooks. I have nothing against them, of course! But when I’m too busy to hold a book and I want to listen to something, I usually default to a podcast.

But one of the number one questions I’m often asked is, “does listening to an audiobook count as reading?” And I always answer yes.

It interested me therefore to see a raging debate on the pages of Nathan Bransford’s blog. Here is part of what he said:

“Listening to an audiobook is not reading.

“I’m sorry! It’s just not! Consuming an audiobook is a fundamentally different activity than reading. We already have a word for it: LISTENING.

“When you read a book, you place yourself in a very unique mental state where you’re taking symbols on a page (and yes, that includes Braille) and fusing your consciousness to the author’s to co-create every single element of the book in your own head. Including the inflection of the characters’ voices.

When you listen to an audiobook, there’s a third party involved: the narrator. Even when an author reads their own book, they’re adding a great deal of interpretation to the story, which results in a very different experience. I’m not necessarily saying it’s a lesser experience, one might even argue that it’s closest to the most ancient forms of storytelling, but it’s different! Which is why we have a different word for it!

“You don’t “read” a story told around a campfire. You don’t “read” a movie. Just because you’re consuming a story doesn’t make it reading.”

Some readers were quick to pile on the hate. Here’s how one of them put it:

“I usually really love your takes, but as someone who is disabled, I do find this particular take to be ableist. There are plenty of people who very much struggle to read a physical book or can’t read a physical book due to a disability, and revoking audiobooks as a form of reading is both not taking disabled people into consideration and overall elitist. You’re failing to consider the realities and perspectives of people who aren’t as privileged as you.”

In any case, I find the argument about whether it’s possible to “read” audiobooks kind of pedantic. People who enjoy audiobooks are clearly engaging with literature, and I’m prepared to see that as close enough to reading. (Particularly since we’d never say “engaging with literature” in a casual conversation.)

You do you and I’ll do me. I’d rather read books with my eyes and listen to podcasts with my ears. But let’s celebrate our differences instead of complaining about them.

 

 

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