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I used to hate the idea of audiobooks for book club picks
Last month our club debated 'The Night Watchman' and I was dead set against the audiobook version. Then Jenny, who drives 45 minutes each way to work, said the narrator's voice made the characters feel more real. I tried it during my commute to Denver and actually caught details I missed in print. Has anyone else switched formats mid-debate and found it changed their whole take on a book?
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sanchez.ivan17d ago
Oh man, that's a good point but you kinda buried the lede... The Night Watchman's actually by Louise Erdrich, not some random thriller.
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miaprice17d agoMost Upvoted
Okay so my book club friend actually picked up The Night Watchman thinking it was some crime thriller based on the title alone. She spent the first fifty pages waiting for a murder to happen and kept texting me asking when the suspense was going to kick in. Finally she realized it's about Native American history and the fight to protect tribal land and she felt so dumb but also kinda hooked. That mix up actually made her read it more carefully and she ended up loving it more than if she'd known what it was about. So I think your point about burying the lede is spot on because the title definitely tricks people at first glance but the real story is so much deeper than a simple thriller.
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jackson.max17d ago
Yeah totally get what you mean @miaprice, I had a similar moment with audiobooks where my whole take changed once I adjusted expectations. I grabbed "Project Hail Mary" on audio after reading it in print and the narration actually made the funny parts land way harder than they did on the page. That difference in format really does shift how you dig into the story.
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