Audible

Long, long ago, when I went from evening (swing) shift (3-11P) to days, (7-3P) --- in the summer(!), I had to take measures to get myself asleep early enough to get a full night in before 6A. Training myself to fall asleep before I usually got home from work was not a whole lotta fun, srsly. I closed the blinds, put up window coverings, and put on the talk radio (NPR).

As a child, I often had to go to bed to my loud family playing cards, so people chatting - even loudly, will put me right to sleep. Not that I usually had a lot of trouble once I drifted off. But I especially loved the sensation of hearing voices clearly, then soundless, then hyper-clearly but without meaning, then fading as I lost consciousness. So, the idea of listening to radio had a definite source. Eventually the stories on the radio repeated, and I roused and had to shut it off, but by then it was late enough, and I just fell back into dreams. Now, I am drowsy and wanting to get in my pjs and brush my teeth at 8PM. Fully converted to lark. Not that I ever liked staying up late. Mostly I just loved sleeping a lot.

My dear D has always had insomnia issues, so has his father- it's apparently genetic. Long ago, he decided to try my method, and to a certain extent, it helped him quiet his hamster-wheel thoughts - as well as mine. We started off with tapes of Shelby Foote reading excerpts from The Civil War, and John Le Carré reading his own books. Added in the Winnie the Pooh read by Richard Briers - which D had never been read as a child. Then Pratchett books, mostly read by Steven Briggs. Other books from Audible* have appeared. Now, it is a nightly ritual, and still works beautifully on me. To the point that it is sometimes difficult to sleep on vacation without being "told a story" first.

I used to ask D, long before the day shift issue, when I was having trouble settling my mind to "tell me a boring story." He usually came up with something so boring I wound up laughing hysterically. The recordings, the more often listened to the better, work rather more effectively. D also now takes recorded books and podcasts and radio shows to listen to while at work - which is largely a manual job so that's ok. He's shared a lot of the Mitchell & Webb, Stephen Fry, and various quiz shows with me. As well as the Welcome to Mars series. Actually, I put him on to that, from an article in the Fortean Times. Anyway...

Listening to books repeatedly in a prodromal state of mind sometimes means I know them more deeply. I've heard Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy more often than I can count. I finally figured out an essential plot point, hidden but not hidden at all.† I still laugh at the line about betrayers "Jesus Christ only had twelve, and one of them was a double." Details that I, as a fast reader, would not have paid much attention to. Listening has forced me to slow down, and take the journey with the characters, in all it's richness.

Audiobooks will never replace reading, but it has it's own charms. Like radio, which requires a particular kind of attention.




Just reading Un Lun Dun by China Mieville, and so far, I'm fascinated. I'll let you know... .




*Yes, this is a plug. Audible been very good to us.



†Spoiler Alert! Although, I knew the ending before I started, and that never subtracted from my enjoyment of the book. Bill Hayden already knew Karla - when he took Jim Prideaux to hear him lecture, on their first "date."