I have just started listening to a new book on Librivox, The Three Musketeers. I do enjoy listening to an unabridged version of old classics. Nowadays everything seems to be so rushed, condensed and pre-digested in order to cater to our so-called brief attention span that it is nice to be able to take the time to appreciate the book in it´s original form. I´m sure most people are familiar with the story but I doubt many have actually read the book - I admit I haven´t. The same goes for Moby Dick and The Count of Monte Cristo, we know the story, often the Holliwood version, but have never read the book.
It must have been a real marathon for the reader as there are over 26 hours of recording. Ideal listening for cooking, knitting or making pottery as I can really lose myself in the story.
I think I would fall asleep listening. I listened to radio during lockdown and considered it helped me a lot to get through the first period of Covid when I felt very alone. I have gone back to peace and quiet now. I read Moby Dick recently having struggled with it as a teenager and still struggled with it this time. I think to have it read to me would probably have made it easier, as Sarah said on her blog recently. The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Muskateers I associate with children's tv in the 1960s and the BBC, Sunday's at 5pm .
ReplyDeleteI´d probably fall asleep if I listened in bed, but I am always doing something while listening. I find, especially in the kitchen, that it helps to distract me when doing boring chores.
DeleteI have not tried audio books as I love reading from the page or ebook too much. Have you read my favorite novelist, Anthony Trollope? A good book of his to start with is Barchester Towers.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I´m addicted to my Kindle and read in bed every morning and night, audio books are for daytime listening. Thanks for your suggestion, I have read Anthony Trollope, years ago, and enjoyed Barchester Towers, the type of book I really enjoy. Time to renew my acquaintance with him perhaps?
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