I have a passion for fiction in all
forms of media. In decades now passed it was popular for someone that
loved fictional stories to read A LOT! Well, I can't do that for an
extended period of time. I just don't have the patience for your
average work of fiction. It is a testament to my lack of literary
refinement that as a boy I was in love with the Goosebumps books by
R.L. Stine. Those books are criticized for being overly formulaic and
“too easy” to make it through. On the other hand that's kind of
the point of that series. Produced quickly so that they are read
quickly and you are ready to buy the next one when it came out.
That's the subject of a different article so I digress.
I did manage to make it through several
of the works of Shakespeare and Poe. Perhaps that keeps some of my
academic pride intact. At any rate as an adult I tend to avoid
reading fiction. I can read pages upon pages of non-fiction so it
isn't a case of laziness. I love watching television and movies so
maybe that is a contributing factor. After all a popular fictional
book written in modern society is made into a movie fairly quickly.
In some cases the movies are made without thought as to whether the
book would make a good movie … and it still sells.
Anyway, I have discovered the platform
that allows me to enjoy fictional works and I wanted to share it with
you. Audiobooks! When I first discovered audiobooks they were in
medium sized cases stored on cassettes. There was no way I was
lugging those plastic cases around. Now, in the age of portability, I
can download an audiobook onto my mp3 player and slip it in my
pocket. That's perfect for me! I can do some serious multi-tasking
with audiobooks. In fact, at this moment I'm listening to an
audiobook of one of Jim Butcher's books from the Codex Alera series.
As I write I'm becoming more and more engrossed in Jim's fictional
universe. Don't worry, I take out the earbuds when it's time to
proofread.
Before I re-discovered audiobooks I
tried using an e-book reader. Really, I tried. I wanted it to work
for me because my inner technophile wanted it to be a happy marriage.
I love the technology but it just wasn't meant to be. I have a few
friends who swear that their e-book readers are the greatest thing
since the invention of the wheel. It feels no different to me than
reading a book except that I tended to strain my eyes even more than
I do reading books.