Reading by ear

Can I learn to love it?

Before we begin…

How does a person who loves holding a book in her hands and reading a book “all by herself” learn to love audiobooks? What advice do you have to help newbies to the audiobook world learn to love reading more books “by ear” ? If you are still a confirmed reader of books-in-print only, what is keeping you from trying more audiobooks?

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Reading While Walking

Every now and then I see my neighbor Cyndi walking about a million miles an hour or at least it seems that way to me since I’m usually slowed considerably by my dogs Frida and Lily who don’t walk so much as charge, stop, meander, sniff, or squat. Turns out, Cyndi is not just walking, she’s reading. Each loping stride takes her further from home and deeper into a novel, memoir or a book of nonfiction piped from a device through the white plastic tubes in her ears. 

It was months before I knew this, of course. I thought she was ignoring me when I waved or called out a hello. Now I just enjoy the sight of a friend lost in a book while she gets her daily miles in, and wonder why I have struggled so much with the idea of audiobooks. 

I’m not alone. Last April, I asked you to fill out a brief, extremely unscientific survey about your preference for audio versus printed books. Most of you said you preferred printed to audio all or most of the time. A small number depend entirely on audio and the rest seem to mix it up. 

Just asking the question opened my mind a bit more. Not only was there a lively discussion on that post, friends who read it have all weighed in, including Cyndi. The day she finished Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, she saw me on the street, ran across, and told me she loved everything about the story and that she could not imagine anyone reading it better than the narrator, Charlie Thurston. Another friend who shifted into audiobooks while waiting for eye surgery may never go back to printed books. She shoots me texts about the books ( Educated by Tara Westover was a recent one) narrators she loves ( Barbara Rosenblatt, Julia Whelan, Barabara Caruso, Frank Mueller, George Guidall)             .

Thanks to them and to others, I’ve been on a slow and easily-interrupted journey into the world of audiobooks. I’ve yet to complete an entire book “by ear” but I’ve listened to short stories and the openings of books I’ve read in the past. I “possess” 16 audiobooks ranging from A Promised Land by Barack Obama to The Year of Dan Palace by Chris Jane, a pseudonym for Kristen Tsetsi. In between there lie The Best American Mystery & Suspense 2021 collection edited by Alafair Burke and Steph Cha, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, A book about dog training audiobooks by Caesar Milan, the Italian version of Anne Tyler’s Coming to America, Vanessa Hua’s short story collection Deceit and Other Possibilities, and Everything My Mother Taught Me, a short story by Alice Hoffman. It’s a haphazard collection driven by impulse, deals, love of an author’s work and the intention/hope that one of them will reintroduce me to the joys of being read to. Lately, I’ve been dipping into chapters of these books and samples of other books online, seeking the right match that will help me commit long enough to really evaluate the fit. 

Here’s what draws me:

• I’m beginning to understand what

  Michael Estrin
  meant when he commented last April that a book, interpreted by one or more narrators, becomes a new entity, a  new piece of art. It is not the same as a movie adaptation – the story and the words remain intact – but I don’t need to judge it against the written book. I can enjoy it for what it is. I listened to a 5-minute sample of a book I just finished rereading, An Unnecessary Woman by Rabhi Alameddine,, and was shocked by narrator Suzanne Toren’s ability to add shadings and a new dimension to the woman I had been living with for the past several days. An entire cast of actors reads Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book: The Full Cast Production. The idea of book-as-performance is thrilling – an private show just for me, at least when I am listening to an audiobook.

•  Theoretically it allows me to do some other task while I am “reading.” I do remember listening to Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing on cassette tapes years ago when I commuted to work in New Jersey. I remember sitting in the parking lot, unwilling to get out of the car until a chapter ended. I also remember that I often arrived at home or at work with no memory of the drive itself, a clear safety issue. More recently, I listened to the opening chapter of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, read by Ronald Pickup while I scrubbed down the deck floor. This worked. I barely felt the ache in my shoulder as I listened, remembering the first time I’d read the book years ago and enjoying how Pickup hammed it up and took command of the prose. It helped that this version of the audiobook was free, meant to entice me into an Audible membership. 

Image by VectorStory

Here is what keeps me from being a rabid, passionate audiobook reader:

• Time. I rarely have hours and hours to finish a book. I read in bursts. I find it irritating to start to hit “play” and “stop” – picking up a book is quieter, more seamless, more private. 

• Ears. I am sensitive to sound and avoid using earphones or earbuds which limits how and where I can listen 

• How do I highlight a word, a sentence, a passage? Where do I scribble in the margins? 

• I do not “plug in” – listen to phones, music, or voices – when I walk, interact with the dogs or otherwise need to be present. It’s a rule that has helped me let the world in instead of shutting it out entirely which is my overriding tendency. 

• I tend to “drift” when I am listening to a book or to music or to anyone. It’s much harder to fix my attention on a voice that is unanchored to the page. 

• I still love the intimacy of reading a book I hold in my hands. I want my first encounter with a book or an author to be between us and us alone. If I listened first, I would always wonder.

This last idea has a hold on me. Reading a book “both ways” could be a really rich experience. I realize that I’ve already read 7 of the 16 books I’ve accumulated on Audible so perhaps I already sensed this. But it wasn’t until I joined a conversation started on FaceBook by the writer R.L. Maizes (We Love Anderson Cooper, Other People’s Pets), that reading both ways  is not only done by others, there are people out there who read a book in print, on Kindle, and in audiobook format. Some keep notes on their Kindles. Others read while they listen. One person read a chapter of Amor Towles’ A Gentleman In Moscow and then listened to it because she absorbs the story and its layers more fully. She made her way through the entire book this way. Another person uses her Kindle version for note taking but still listens.

One thing has become crystal clear: reading “by ear” is real reading, not some less serious alternative – just ask any of the folks whose eye problems or other issues make reading a printed book problematic. Listening to a novel or a memoir or a biography or a magical piece of nonfiction like Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass or Ed Yong’s An Immense World can be just as engaging, soul-charging, or disappointing as dipping into a printed book. The words are conveyed into their ears with a little something extra courtesy of the narration. Those who rely on the spoken word have likely developed heightened listening skills, or found new ways to capture the themes and ideas and images that they want to retain and talk about. 

We all had these skills as children when we could not read and had to rely on those around us to read to us. Pictures formed in my head as I listened. I remember both loving the magic of that and wanting desperately to read those words “all by myself” – a desire I continue to indulge as often as I can. I am just now realizing that in satisfying that desire, however, I may be missing out on the magic that can happen when I am captive to a voice in my ear, bringing words alive in a way I cannot. 

What about you?

Do some books lend themselves better to an audio experience than others? What makes that true? When you’ve tried listening to a book, what have you noticed about your reaction? What keeps you from reading more this way? If you are a devotee and passionate reader of audio books, what can you tell someone who is new to them about the draw and how they can start out? 

A few links 

• Chevanne Scordinsky
  recorded a 7-part speculative fiction story, “ Ithaka,” that I listened to last winter. The story is like some of her other writing over at The Flare: raw at times, sparkling at others, very much the work of someone who is evolving as a writer in public. Her ideas and insights about life and her visions and thoughts for a future were seeded in this story and inform much of the writing she’s done since. Listening to “Ithaka.” made me realize that a voice can make the story. Chevanne’s reading voice is a rich contralto. Her pacing is instinctively good. Her story was interesting to me but if she ever wanted to read out loud for a living, I would sign up no matter what she was reading. 

• Back in 2020

  Laura Sackton
  listed seven authors whose narration of their own work is so good she will not read them in print anymore, only “by ear.” There are some fun links at the end of her article that will take you to more authors and narrators to love. 

• I loved this argument by Gaby Hinsliff of The Guardian against those who find reading by ear somehow less legitimate or “lighter” than reading from the printed page. Towards the end, she muses about the pros and cons:

“There’s an intimacy too to listening, a confessional air that suits soul-baring interviews and taboo-busting discussions about sex or menopause or parenting. And to hear a book read by its author is sometimes to understand, by the inflections of their voice, a meaning you wouldn’t otherwise have picked up. Voice notes suit the perennially anxious young in much the same way because they’re less intrusive than a phone call, and harder to misunderstand than texts; people can hear when you’re being ironic, lessening the risk of accidentally causing offence.

What troubles me most about listening, I suppose, is that it’s harder to share. You can recommend a podcast to a friend but you can’t leave it on the train seat for the next person when you get off, as I’ve done all my life with finished newspapers (well, who knows what may spark a lifelong Guardian habit?). You can’t give your goddaughter your dogeared, spine-cracked copy of an audiobook that meant everything to you when you were her age. You’ll never buy an old audiobook from a secondhand store and find somebody else’s faded notes scribbled in the margin, or a long forgotten postcard used as a bookmark that makes you want to know more about the life of the person who sent it.” - Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian

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The Voice Behind The Book: Interview with Bernadette Quigley

A recurring theme among readers of audiobooks: the importance of the narrator. Sometimes the best reader is the author. More often, it is an actor or professional who exerts their own power over the reader. I’ve heard from more than one audio-book lover that they follow narrators almost as often as they follow authors they love. The right voice can attract readers to a story they might have missed otherwise. This was behind an ill-fated hunt for the right voice to narrate Casualties when my publisher opted not to arrange for an audio version. I couldn’t swing it at the time but never lost touch with the person whose voice I wanted for that novel: Bernadette Quigley. 

Bernadette, an actor who discovered this line of work around 2008, has been a member of the Spark community almost from its inception and agreed to answer a few questions about her work as a narrator. You can learn more about Bernadette and her work here on IMDB and you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Wikipedia. You can find books she’s narrated here.

Ironically, Bernadette prefers to read the printed word although she has been known to start reading out loud when she is inspired by the book in her hands. Here’s our interview:

How did you come to find yourself narrating the novels you've worked on in the past? Is there an audition process? Who gets to make the final decision on who narrates an audio book?  

A friend, the late great Dick Hill, who was an extraordinary award-winning narrator, recommended me to Brilliance Audio. Dick and I had worked together in a couple plays when I was a young actress (in my 20's) and he and his wife Susie Breck (who often directed him), and I kept in touch over the years. I had never recorded an audio book before my first one (Helen Fielding's Cause Celeb) in 2000, but I had quite a lot of experience in theater, film and television, and Dick thought I'd be a natural fit. I DID audition for that first book. There is usually a head of casting and/or a producer at these audiobook companies who make the decisions. After my first book, Brilliance offered me narration work for a number of books (which I didn't audition for).

In some of the books I listened to online, you slipped into different voices for different characters including a British accent for Helen Fielding's book. How do you prepare for your audio performance of a book? How do you decide on how you will approach it? 

I absolutely loved working on Helen Fielding's book. I was a nervous wreck tho' as it's such a different art form and I basically learned mic technique in that recording studio. I had prepped quite a bit in terms of figuring out the various characters and dialects/pitches I thought each character should possess but there's no rehearsal. So being in the studio and just flying with it, is quite challenging, until one gets the experience. After one full day in the studio, and breaking down in tears (when I got back to my hotel)!, I was able to come back the next day with much needed confidence. It's not that I didn't have confidence in my character choices. It was more about learning how to put all of that creativity in my voice and not move my body, etc! How to be intimate or loud when needed without popping 'p's etc.  Ironically, that first book I narrated is probably one of the best ones I did. There were so many characters to wrap my voice(s) around, and I loved the challenge of all those different dialects, genders and ages, while also being in sync with that unique Helen Fielding-humor.  With this one and every book I narrated, I would spend a week (prior to recording it in the studio) reading it aloud to myself, and jot down or underline and highlight directions that I thought would work. 

What are the best aspects of narrating a book and what are the most challenging or difficult? How does it compare with other acting jobs in terms of challenge and fulfillment for you as an artist?  

What I love most about narrating a book is delving into the roles, plot and language from an actor's point of view...and embodying the characters solely through my voice. I think what's most challenging is being able to record hundreds of pages in a limited amount of time and not get worried about flubs. The more one records, the more one is adept at going for many many pages without mistakes but it's par for the course that mistakes will happen and they can be fixed! I love the art form because at the end of the day, it's all about the art of acting and storytelling. I feel really lucky that in my acting career, I'm  able to go back and forth and work in all mediums (stage, film, tv and voice work). It's hard to compare them, in terms of fulfillment. It really depends on the project and the collaboration.

How long does it take for you to read and narrate an entire novel? Are there lots of stops and starts? Is there a point at which fatigue sets in? How do you handle it?

Usually 5 full days. 9-5 for a 300 or 400 page novel.  Are there lots of stops and starts? YES. Haha! Some narrators, however, don't have a lot of stops and starts. Dick Hill for example hardly EVER made mistakes! Not sure how he did it!  Is there a point at which fatigue sets in? Definitely.  How do I handle it? Tea (caffeinated), more water and lemon..or a bite of an apple...stuff like that -- and/or another quick break. Stare at the sky or close my eyes and rest or stretch for a bit.

When you read a book for your own pleasure, how do the voices sound to you in your own head? 

I love that question. I never thought about it until you asked!...But I think I must do that, even subconsciously. I think there's a deep correlation from my love of books (as a child) and young adult to becoming an actor.  My dad was an avid reader and encouraged me and my siblings to read "the classics".  I'm pretty sure if I'm reading a novel that takes place in NYC, or one of the Southern states or Boston, MA, or a different country altogether, I would read the book with the musicality or rhythms of those specific places/people in my head.  

Have you ever caught yourself narrating/performing a book as you read it? 

Yes, just the other day, I was on the last chapters of the stunning memoir, Educated by Tara Westover, and I started quietly reading the last pages aloud to myself. I think I wanted to savor the experience of that book and her last words.  

Do you listen to audiobooks yourself? 

I don't! I prefer reading and/or recording a book myself than listening to a book. Although when I first started recording books, I would listen to samples of different actors I loved and respected. How they approached the text and the consistency of their characters.  

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Let’s talk some more

What are you reading ( by ear or on the printed page) ? What do you want to read? Share a book rec, a poem, or just let us  know what you’re thinking about here in the comments or other meeting places such as Notes here on Substack or the new Threads offering over on Instagram, or IG itself. You can find me on either of those social media sites under the handle of @egmarro_spark. 

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Ciao for now! 

Gratefully yours, 

Betsy

P.S. And now, your moment of Zen…this wild and precious life

Lately, in an effort to cut through the static in my brain, I have been reading a single Mary Oliver poem each night and, sometimes, another in the morning. My copy of the collection, Devotions, is rapidly becoming dog-eared, and scarred by underlinings and brackets. I’d never heard her read. I found this. A summer day and a question that calls me back to myself and the world with a thump. 

Calling for Your Contribution to “Moment of Zen”

What is YOUR moment of Zen? Send me your photos, a video, a drawing, a song, a poem, or anything with a visual that moved you, thrilled you, calmed you. Or just cracked you up. This feature is wide open for your own personal interpretation.

Come on, go through your photos, your memories or just keep your eyes and ears to the ground and then share. Send your photos/links, etc. to me by replying to this email or simply by sending to: elizabethmarro@substack.com. The main guidelines are probably already obvious: don’t hurt anyone  -- don’t send anything that violates the privacy of someone you love or even someone you hate, don’t send anything divisive, or aimed at disparaging others. Our Zen moments are to help us connect, to bond, to learn, to wonder, to share -- to escape the world for a little bit and return refreshed. 

I can’t wait to see what you send!

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