Monday, May 28, 2012
Bryson's voice
How did the experience of reading Bryson compare with the experience of listening to him?
(When I went online to buy "Notes From a Small Island," I ended up buying the abridged version as part of the Bill Bryson "collection" because the unabridged version was narrated by someone else and I didn't want to listen to someone else read his stuff.)
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2 comments:
I love the way he writes, so I would enjoy his books regardless, but I'm so glad we listened to "Walk in the Woods." I could definitely hear his voice in my head as I was reading "Sunburned Country." He has such a distinctive way of talking, I assume from being a Midwesterner who's spent so much time in Britain. He's so deadpan -- it fits his humor perfectly.
I almost bought the "Short History of Nearly Everything" audiobook but didn't because the unabridged one was read by someone else. Unacceptable!
Exactly! I heard his voice too while reading. It so enriches the experience. He's sort of like Sarah Vowell, in that the distinctiveness of his voice meshes perfectly with the tone of his writing, like the inner voice and outer voice are one. I think I could write something funny but couldn't read it aloud in a funny way, and I might be able to read something that someone else wrote in a funny way. I just can't imagine having that perfect harmony of speech and thought like they have.
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