This post is out of sheer reverence for books. Not meaning technical stuff, no office work. Books, books. Read just for leisure.
Of late I could not get time for myself. I was unable to get time to read books. My friend introduced me to audiobooks. I was skeptical about “listening” to books in the beginning and to be honest it did take some time getting used to it. I faced some challenges because of my short attention span. I had to rewind to hear some bits every now and then. But it was not a major hurdle. I have come to believe that, perhaps, resistance to audiobooks was more of a mental block than a real problem.
I realised that I spend 40–60 minutes walking every day. I am student so in my case it is room to university, between the departments, to institute, to grocery store and other such combinations. You know what I mean. Apart from this, I also visit gym 2–3 times a week for about two hours. These bits of time were not productive but un-skippable. These are the times I now fill with audiobooks.
A nicely read book is a treat. It is an experience, pardon me for saying this, but better than reading at times. There are some readers / recorders who have enriched the experience. At times, it is very authentic. At other times, it is very exotic.
For instance, A Tale of Two Cities read by Paul Adams, available on LibriVox for free, is a masterpiece. Do not take my word for it. Check it out.
Then there is Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, where the reader does justice to Haruki Murakami’s work. This, I need not say, is no easy feat.
There are many others, like The Martian and Siddhartha, which deserve a mention as well. Beautifully articulated.
Audiobooks, indeed, open a new realm of infotainment. Various podcasts, of which Freakonomics and Serial definitely standout, add to the variety.
What was once something I was averse to now motivates me to go to the gym! I feel more content now that I know I would not be missing on books even if I don’t get time to read one!
