Let’s All Read Aloud - The New Yorker

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data-src-mobile="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/moore39-thumb-465x240-81264-290-150.jpg" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/moore39-thumb-465x240-81264.jpg" class="post-load horizontal attachment-large" alt=""> </a> </figure> <a class="tny-slot" name="/2" data-total-words="0"></a><a class="tny-page" name="/1" data-total-words="0"></a><p word_count="88" data-wc="88">A friend recently told me that she and her husband read aloud to each other on long car trips, for “our own little version of books on tape.” Perhaps not coincidentally, this friend is a very happily married person—emphatically not one of those semi-happys we’ve been <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43197697/ns/today-books/" target="_blank">hearing so much about lately</a>. In fact, I think one could argue that the read-aloud factor is not only a strong indication that things are going well for this couple, but one of the reasons <em>why</em> things are going well.</p> <p word_count="154" data-wc="154">It’s possible! We have proof (in the form of scientific studies) that reading aloud is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/http://adc.bmj.com/content/93/7/554.extract" target="_blank">good for children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/TESL/article/view/2917/2691" target="_blank">E.S.L. students</a>, and (in a way) <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/feb/28/dogs-listen-to-children-reading" target="_blank">dogs</a>. So why not grownups? It’s true that these days reading aloud isn’t a large part of our communal experience (aside from official author readings and other formal gatherings), but perhaps it should be reinstated. A few examples illustrate the variety of ways we’ve used it in the past: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/literacy/reading3.htm" target="_blank">medieval monks</a> ate most of their meals while listening to scripture readings; Victorians read novels aloud to each other in the drawing room as a mid-afternoon or end-of-the-evening treat; and since the nineteenth century <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160401011420/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8406641.stm" target="_blank">cigar-factory workers in Cuba</a> have had daily doses of news and literature read aloud to them by a designated reader (the benefits in this last case are more than social or spiritual: the experience of being read to actually increases efficiency). </p><div class="content-ad-wrapper first"><div class="advertisement" data-ismobile="true" data-name="yrailTop" data-sz="320x251" data-kw="topBox"><div id="yrailTop320x251_frame" class="displayAd displayAd320x251Js" data-cb-ad-id="yrailTop320x251_frame"></div></div><div class="advertisement" data-ismobile="false" data-name="yrailTop" data-sz="300x250" data-kw="topBox"><div id="yrailTop300x250_frame" class="displayAd displayAd300x250Js" data-cb-ad-id="yrailTop300x250_frame"></div></div></div> <p word_count="0" data-wc="0"> <span id="more-1961031"></span> <p word_count="113" data-wc="113">Lovers, too, have long read aloud to each other, and this seems to be one practice that hasn’t entirely faded. In addition to the happy car-tripping couple I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I spoke to a couple who gets through illness or a sleepless night by reading aloud; another who shares alarming news stories (thus simultaneously keeping abreast of current events and lightening the burdens of <em>weltschmerz</em>); and a pair who saves the best sentences from their recent reading for each other, to read aloud again together when they have a chance—it’s a bit like bringing home flowers for your sweetheart, but it lasts a lot longer. </p> <p word_count="135" data-wc="135">I don’t think reading aloud needs to remain a couples-only activity. It’s true that we have to contend these days with a variety of other storytelling media, much of which can be enjoyed socially (perhaps when your friends come over, it’s to watch a movie or a game, which tells a story of sorts), but reading aloud is a softer, more meditative, and ultimately more participatory experience that is worth rediscovering. So why not give it a try? If monasticism and factory life are unappealing and your apartment is too small to throw a dinner party, you can practice for the future by starting small, like a friend of mine, who reads aloud to herself “just to make it more interesting.” Pick up a book, clear your throat, and see what happens.</p> <p word_count="4" data-wc="4"><em>(Albert Moore, “Reading Aloud,” 1886.) </em></p> <section id="newsletter-signup"><p class="preface-text"><em class="mobile-only">Sign up for the daily newsletter.</em><em class="non-mobile-only">Sign up for the daily newsletter: the best of The New Yorker every day.</em></p> <div class="newsletterContainer"> <form action="/web/20160401011420/http://www.newyorker.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" method="post" name="newsletter-form" id="newsletter-form" novalidate="novalidate" class="newsletter-signup-form"> <input type="hidden" name="action" value="newsletter_subscribe"> <input type="hidden" name="formName" value="newsletter-form"> <input type="hidden" 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