Nancy Wolfson emailed me an article this evening that is published by the New York Times and can also be found here on the Education News web site. The author of the article, Verlyn Klinkenborg, offers some sobering thoughts about what we’ve lost in the last century plus as society has abandoned the practice of reading aloud to one another.
As a narrator of audiobooks, I’m grateful for the business opportunities presented to me by the explosive growth of audiobooks. I find there is something truly wonderful about telling great stories, finding ways to bring the words to life. (Not just with audiobooks, of course. I love voiceover work in all its various aspects.)
It’s not possible to unscramble the eggs and thus society isn’t going to reverse itself and go back to the way things used to be; but I do understand that some things are gained and some are lost with each such turn in the direction of life and civilization.
(edited to fix typos and add some clarificiation)