When I was a wee lad, I only read a book here or there. All of my siblings and I were home-schooled at one time or another. We were responsible for all of our coursework on our own, save the lesson plans which my mother would set up; we also did literature class with her in the morning to give a start to our day. I really enjoyed this part of the day, mostly because it wasn’t math. I do appreciate math, in fact I love it, but only when I understand it. It’s difficult teaching yourself algebra or calculus, but I didn’t do that bad all things considered. I scored high enough on my SAT and ACT to test out of entry-level college math and I started taking Finite Math and Chemistry- I’m pretty darn proud of that.
To curtail this already rather wordy introduction, I really enjoyed reading out loud for school. I still really enjoy reading out loud. My girlfriend and I spend a lot of quality time reading to one another. It’s cathartic because it is so enjoyable and stress relieving. This is a common theme for me, but hey, we should all be trying to develop or foster interest in hobbies that help us relax and relieve stress, I just like to emphasize that in my life. At times I feel like I’m stuck in a Dr. Seuss book reading out loud- on a log, to a frog, in a park, with a shark.
Very early on in our relationship, my girlfriend shared a book with me she had gotten for a Maid of Honor gift, entitled Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader. It is an excellent read. Its pithy chapters are everything you didn’t realize you experienced until you had someone spell it out for you. The chapter entitled Sharing the Mayhem is particularly telling about the joys of reading aloud. In fact, that’s exactly what the chapter is about. As I said before, reading aloud is just fun!
I do feel a swell of pride when sharing a book I’m passionate about, and, if I’m honest, it’s really nice to be able to speak the words of Gandalf or Bilbo out loud (or especially to voice Smaug with my bass voice, sorry Cumberbatch but I say the lines from the book better). I am currently reading The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchmann to my girlfriend (while she reads HP to me), and I especially enjoy the rise and fall, the emphasis that you can’t help but place on certain aspects of the story. Some stories are just tedious, and why waste your reading time on them, and though this book may seem like that at first glance it’s anything but tedious. It outlines the socio-political, militaristic, and economic issues prior to and in the first years of WWI. Sounds fascinating right? It really is actually.
Any book can be tedious or just something that I would describe as a “bad read” if not read with the proper energy and tempo. It grates my nerves, for example, when someone reads something with a lot of dialogue at a breakneck speed- slow down Usain Bolt; I get the same nausea and annoyance from someone monotone and slow not changing inflection or energy when reading, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” You don’t need to be a trained voice actor to give it your own beautiful energy and excitement.
I’m not saying that it’s going to come overnight. It doesn’t necessarily take practice, but it does take frequency of reading out loud to find your tempo, or the tempo of the story (which I will talk about soon), to get good at reading out loud. You may retain less of the story at times, at times more- just like with reading to yourself, but I love sharing my favorite tales aloud. The other added benefit of sharing your stories aloud is the dialogue that follows. One of the things I love about being an ICU nurse is all the patients and family members I meet and their perspectives. I’m definitely an introvert and don’t do “small-talk”, but I love talking to people in small groups. Reading aloud and having a dialogue about different elements of the story is one of my favorite things.
The other thing that I love about reading aloud is that it is an intimate thing. In reading Ex Libris this is one of those things that Anne Fadiman talks about, not in a lot of detail, but it’s a definite theme. I love reading to my girlfriend, and I love when I visit home and my dad is reading to my mom over lunch or while she’s working on the dishes. Their love for God is very strong and they spend time over lunch reading about Catholic church history, or saints, or even such books as The Scarlet and the Black about a Monsignor at the Vatican during WWII who saved thousands of allied flyers and Jews from Hitler’s SS in Rome. Dad does a really good job of reading. His elocution is excellent, as is his tempo (I don’t like his volume, but what do you expect from someone who’s worked around power tools all his life- love you dad!)
Lastly, reading aloud isn’t for everyone. I need my “me time” which is where I just get through a lot of books in a quiet corner, by myself, no interruptions; just read like a fiend. I enjoy reading aloud with my girlfriend and nieces and nephews though. Challenge yourself- try it! It may not be for you, but what if it brings you closer to your family? What if it encourages a dialogue about something you and your spouse or children disagree on? What if it provides a perspective that neither you nor your loved ones have talked about? Maybe you’ll find that what you were so convinced of, you were wrong about, and it will give you the courage to admit you were wrong just as the author you’re reading about.
I hope you enjoy reading as much as I do, and I hope that reading out loud is as stimulating for you as it is for me. If it’s not that’s okay, as long as you’re reading what you like, when you like. Don’t forget that reading has health benefits- it’s just good for you, and maybe give reading aloud a try.
Tune in next week for a perspective on story tempos (that’s right, I actually thought of a topic in advance for a change, instead of writing whatever comes into my silly head).