Hearing voices

   

   

     The election coverage (and the effects of only three hours sleep) mean little reading is likely to be done here today, but I have two books on the go which will suit whether it's pepping up I need or perhaps calming down after too much caffeine.

    For excitement, intrigue and a many-faceted puzzle, Patricia Duncker's The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge is proving quite gripping, but I've noticed that it's often non-fiction which I turn to when tired, and my current book at bedtime is Alberto Manguel's A Reader on Reading, an essay at a time, that quieter, more personal voice a pleasant contrast to the dramatic one of Duncker's novel. 

   Voice, I think, is crucial in any book - pitch, pace, rhythm, the timbre of the prose - is it a voice you can listen to comfortably, or is it one so defined by its colour, range or depth that you can hear only so much before you feel inclined to 'switch off'. Mood tells in voice, of course, from the 'vocal smile' to the dark notes that bespeak the sombre countenance, and that's more or less audible according to the volume at which the writer is speaking. I'm labouring this, I know, but I do read books rather as I listen to music or tune into a speaker's accent or particular vocal emphasis, so 'voice' in books is key (no pun intended) and very powerful.

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After that thought for the day, my thanks to everyone who has left a comment on last week's 'In profile' post. I've yet to analyse or properly compare all the answers to the three questions (and do, please, add yours if you haven't already done so), but there does seem to be a large area of common reading ground and many interesting divergences. The multitude of books listed there could keep us busy - and no doubt happy - for quite some time.

Comments

[Simon (Savidge Reads)]

Hopefully you might get one or two more comments on your In profile post as I have sent people in that direction today, so hope you don't mind?

Patricia Duncker's The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge is one that I have my eyes on, going to wait and see how a few other people, like your good self, get on with it!

[Dark Puss]

I don't find "voice" to be as important in reading as you do and thus the music analogy is not one I would subscribe to so strongly. I have, you will not be surprised, a question. Are you only really attracted to books in which the "voice" is in some sense comfortable (you describe a particular type of voice very eloquently)? There are many fine/interesting/worthwhile books in which the voice is, deliberately, grating, antagonistic, certainly one that might weary the reader were you to be stuck on a long train journey with a real speaker. Are these, then, books you would rarely choose to read?

Apologies if I have completely missed your point. My greater tolerance (if that is what it is)for a dissonant "voice" probably makes me less able to appreciate your point than most of your readers.

[Danielle]

I've been trying to read more essays lately and had completely overlooked Alberto Manguel--I think I will have to search him out now--a Reader on Readings sounds something I might like very much.