Oct 30 2012
Confuzzled
It took me awhile before I got my Internet back so I could write this post, so I’ve had a lot of time to internalize listening to the reading and the reading that I read myself.
Although I am personally not a fan of book readings, I’m glad I went. I’m glad I had this experience. It really made me think.
At first, I didn’t enjoy the book reading. I thought Katherine Vaz read slowly and dryly, and this took away from the description, the excitement, of the book. As a listener, I could hardly follow what she was saying, let alone picture the scene and imagine myself in the book, which is something I usually do when I read. Like I just said, I am not a proponent of book readings. I have always thought the reader should have the liberty to imagine the book, create his or her own setting, and use his or her own ability to discern the author’s tone and purpose. If someone is reading this book aloud, that takes away much of the book-reading experience. The listener hears the book from another’s viewpoint, and not his own.
Well, I didn’t like the way Vaz read her book. When I read her work myself, I could imagine myself reading it aloud, only much more louder, stronger, and more emotional than the way she read it. I thought I could have read it better.
But looking back, I have come to realize that I am merely a reader. I didn’t write this book. I am not the one who created the plot, characters, metaphors, dialoge, etc. My interpretation of her book is only my opinion, how I understand the story, and maybe not how it is necessarily supposed to be understood, or how the author wanted readers to understand her book. Vaz is the author, the creator, the producer. Perhaps she read it in that tone for a reason. I’m not really sure why. But she obviously has her reasons for doing so, and I know it had to add some sort of stylistic content that probably enhanced her work in some way. And the more I think about it, the more my head starts to hurt.
It was really interesting hearing the story read aloud. There is always more than one way to hear a story, and maybe one way isn’t better, or more correct than another way. Vaz left me thinking about rhetoric and literature. She left me a little confuzzled.
It was really interesting reading that you felt so strongly but then took a step back and saw it more objectively. I understand what you feel also. I mean, she is a very talented writer and it’s not like I am the world’s best reader so who am I to judge. Your points are different as well as refreshing to read 🙂
And I used to say, “confuzzled” all the time. I totally understand what you mean because at points, I myself, was lost in the middle of the story. I kept trying to catch up.
In an ocean of negativity it’s always nice to see some positivity. I like that you had a little more time to think about this than the rest of our classmates did and that in the end you were able to come to a different conclusion than the rest of them. How do we know that the way she read was the way she envisioned it and what’s so bad about envisioning a piece of art in a different manner? Just because we imagined something else doesn’t make her way of reading any better or worse than what we thought it would be. Art is open to interpretation, and being that literature is a work of art, it too should be equally open to interpretation.
It’s surprising anyone could see the reading with any sort of bright outlook. I didn’t think there was anyone who thought she read it well however what you wrote made me think. What if she wrote it with that tone in mind? No matter what I believe there is always a positive side to something negative and I believe you found it.
I like your title. It summarizes the experience quite well. I too thought her voice was too dry and wasn’t portraying the character as well as our own imaginations. I understand these book readings can give an opportunity for the author to deliver the story in their own perspective but in Vaz’s case I think the book reading was just an addendum to the actual interactive conversations with the author and the readers. I cannot imagine how frustrating it would be if one could not express or deliver as they want to but then maybe that’s the reason we have professional voice actors or other means of delivery.