June 14th, 2006
Poems on your Ipod
The whole concept of listening to an audio book has passed me by. I don’t have anything against them per se, but it just never occurs to me to buy one/borrow one from the library. Perhaps it’s the same reason why I could never see myself wanting to read a book online. Books deserve to be curled up with, or read in bed. I like turning the pages, the feel of paper, marking a page. I like the smell of old books; their mottled spines and cloth covers. I love that books are so portable; that something so small can be carried around and transport you far away, whether you’re sitting on a beach or on a bus.
I’m assured that an audio book on a long drive is an essential, but maybe it’s the length that gets me. So I like this this idea via The Guardian’s Culture Vulture blog. A new website is hoping to offer poems for download for just 50p. The company is called 57 Productions, but the Culture Vulture post says they’re called iPoems but has “nothing to do with iTunes or Apple”.
I might pay 50p to hear Richard Burton’s version of Do Not Go Gentle In To That Good Night or an unabridged version of Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’ but not for Pam Ayres doing ‘I Wish I’d Looked After Me Teeth’. Not even if I got a discount.
June 14th, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Audio books on the iPod are great for long journies in the car, or on the train - short stories in particular. I have a few on my own iPod, and have been entertained particularly by a series of HP Lovecraft stories… I’m surprised this kind of thing hasn’t been marketed more. The poetry idea is good, especially if read by the actual poet, but I personally wouldn’t be listening to poem after poem on my iPod, and ‘57′ is a terrible name for a company in my opinion.
June 14th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
I was similarly sceptical about audiobooks and ipods until I was forced into buying the CD of Karen Hughes’ book “10 minutes from Normal”, as there was no proper book copy of it in the bookstore I was in in the States.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it, especially on a train trip where I didn’t get a seat and had to stand up hugging someone else’s luggage - but Karen Hughes Texas drawl made her ancedotes about her life leading up to and in the White House as well her relationship with the Bushes much more real.
At the moment I’ve ipodded Lady Chatterly but have yet to listen to it.
Poems don’t seem quite the same for me unless it’s something like Seamus Heaney reading Beowulf.
June 15th, 2006 at 1:34 am
Yes, they’re great for long car rides or walking on the treadmill.
June 15th, 2006 at 9:13 am
hmm I don’t know to be honest - i always find I drift off when Im listening to my mp3 player and can often be daydreaming for a couple of songs and not even remember what was playing! Therefore I’d hate to miss out on a vital chapter of an audiobook…! However, the poetry idea does sound good - Sinead, is it anything to do with the America’s favourite Poem project thing from a while back??
June 15th, 2006 at 11:51 am
What a great idea! Poetry was originally meant for the ear not the eye.
June 15th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
I sense a lawsuit coming on! Surely no one would dare make use of the letter i before a name except apple??
June 15th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
I’m a bit sceptical about the whole audiobook thing. I like holding a book when I’m reading it. But listening to poems on an ipod might be an interesting way of experiencing poetry.
June 16th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
I never could do the audiobook thing, but I swear by downloading hour-long episodes of the weekly radio show This American Life, not that you have to be American to appreciate them or anything…the idea is that they pick a theme, then do stories on that theme, both fiction and non-fiction. They’re absolutely captivating, which is sort of the point of my using them for car trips, especially those I have to do without spouse to keep me entertained. And David Sedaris pops up quite often, which is always good.
June 19th, 2006 at 12:03 am
Audiobooks are wonderful, I think. I’m listening to “Finnegan’s Wake” which I could not read. Audio has made a transformational difference and made FW accessible to me for the first time.
I couldn’t face “Oliver Twist”, so I listened to an unabridged audio version by Myriam Margoleese (not spelt right). She brought it all to life.
I find poetry more difficult because I usually read poems out loud while reading them, in order to experience the words in my mouth.
There are too many books to read. Let another reader take the strain.