The Politics of Art & Authenticity

Unlike operas, I feel that books are meant to be read, not read aloud, or technically, performed. There’s a special bond bond between reader and text that exists only between the two, and it’s always unique to that specific pairing. The way one person reads the book will never be the same exact way another person will read it, whether it be the way they envision the characters, or which images their mind chooses to expand upon. Now, I had never been to a reading before, but I was curious to find out what it’s like to be read to, as opposed to simply reading on my own. (The last time I was read to was well over a decade ago, and even when teachers would read aloud passages in high school, we had our own copies of the text to read along to. Those standardized test “read and take notes” passages don’t count.)

The reading was an experience in itself, because at the very least, I was able to sit in the same room as an accomplished author who went on to read and discuss passages from a book that she wasn’t done writing yet. People live for events like this, so why shouldn’t I? There’s something vulnerable about an author being brave enough to read something unknown to her audience when she knows there’s going to be a possibility that people don’t like it, and that made the whole night for me. The detail that Ms. Vaz went into when telling us how she decided which passages she was going to read to us, as well as the stories she brought up afterwards about the actual process she went through that lead her to write this novel, made me think of books in a whole new light. Sure, there’s a story within the pages of a book, but what’s the story that created this book? Her stories were hilarious, and I enjoyed them as much, or even more, than I did the actual reading.

A collection of short stories by Katherine Vaz

When I read, it’s more about mental images and developing an imaginary scene than it is about actual words, but when I was listening that night, I felt myself connected to each word that I heard, and I had trouble coming up with a fluid picture in my mind. The first passage that we heard (and I know I’m not going to do Ms. Vaz any justice in trying to recall the exact wording here,) went into detail about how the mother would reassure her son that she would always be with him. To walk through spider webs and to make bandages from webs as well, for she would be in the web. I don’t know if it was because I heard those words rather than simply scanned over them, or if it’s because it’s just that great of a literary metaphor, but it stuck with me.

I feel like I appreciate words more when I hear them, and that descriptive sentences (with tassels hanging off of them,) aren’t as draining when they’re not staring you in the face just waiting for you to trip up and reread them because you get lost. That was “Lisbon Story” for me. Now, I know that it’s a completely different experience from what we heard, but the same level of description applies, but it becomes an issue of voice. When I read Lisbon Story, I was hearing my own voice, or the voice of the characters that I was making up – and I find it very, very easy to find my own voice irritating. Reading a story gives you unlimited creativity in how you’re going to interpret the text, which takes away from maybe really “reading.” Hearing the story spoken to us took that away, and I was able to hear a story the way the author intended it to be read; the only true interpretation.

Hearing a story is great. You have a different voice, a different understanding – and if I can judge other literary readings based off of this one – a great time.

Ever since I was a child, I never liked having books be read aloud.  My parents would always read to me, but I felt like I wasn’t grasping and taking in the entire story as I would when I was reading a book.  When I went to hear Katherine Vaz read some excerpts from her new novel, I had the same feeling.

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Her novel sounded interesting from her description of it, but it was difficult to form a mental picture of the events she was reading.  I’m a very visual person, so I must see what is in front of me to fully grasp the idea.  What I did take away from the reading, though, was that her novel was full of description.  She uses a lot of similes in her work and describes every moment in fine detail.  Sometimes I felt like it was too much detail, especially when reading something aloud, it can make listeners lost.  I know I was lost at times when she was reading.  When Katherine Vaz was reading parts of the novel with dialogue, I felt that she wasn’t capturing the emotions of the characters.  She was just reading the line, instead of taking on the role of the character.  I know I probably sound very critical of the reading, but I feel that way towards anyone who reads aloud.

A week before I heard Katherine Vaz read from her excerpt, I went to Lincoln Center to hear J.K. Rowling speak about her new book, The Casual Vacancy.  Even when J.K. Rowling was reading her novel (with her amazing British accent!) I still felt like I wasn’t fully delving into the story.  There is so much that gets lost between the reader and listener when reading a book aloud.  I feel that reading is an intimate and one-on-one experience with the reader and the book, and is up to the reader’s interpretation.

With that being said, when I read Vaz’s Lisbon Story, I could actually picture what she was describing.  I still think that her writing is very passive and at times too descriptive, but I was now able to get my own experience out of it.  I gave each of the characters their own voice and set the pace of the story to how I thought it would be.  While reading it, though, I could see the same style in the story and the excerpts that Katherine Vaz read aloud.  At least she has a consistent and defined writing style.  Although Katherine Vaz might not be my favorite writer, I did learn a lot from her reading and motivated me to apply for the Harman Writer-In-Residence Program at Baruch.  If I could learn so much from one reading by an author, imagine how much I would learn in a semester!

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Katherine Vaz came to Baruch College to read one of her stories. Of course the story she read was completely different from the Lisbon story that I read, I experienced a different feel through Vaz’s work. Reading her story, I felt as if her descriptions and the way she wrote her stories made me feel as if I was part of the story. I felt as if I could picture myself viewing this story first hand, and that everything that she described within her story was right in front of me. However, I was not able to depict emotions well through her writing. Therefore, the one thing I noticed while I read her story was that I could picture whatever she was trying to portray in her story, but could not put emotion towards the story. So I was basically reading a story without emotion, sort of like a documentary. I view it as a documentary because I can hear what the person is trying to portray to the audience, but there is no emotion to the story, just pure facts.

However, during the reading, I received a different feel compared to when I read her story on my own. When I read her story on my own, my mind was focused more on creating the scene through the descriptions and details of her story. However, during her reading, it was more about the emotions that she was trying to portray in her story rather than the setting. Her writing was so detailed that when I read her story I was able to create a scene and feel as if I was part of the story, but as an outsider in the story. When she was reading her story, I didn’t really picture the scene as much as I did when I read alone. Instead, I received more of the emotion towards her story. The way she read her story and her tone reflects the emotions that Vaz tries to portray in her writing. I feel as if that when a person reads their story or their own writing, that they feel personally attached and bring more of the emotion to the audience so the audience feels what the author felt when writing. Therefore, when Vaz was reading her story, I was able to feel the emotion that her character was feeling at the moment and even her emotion towards the story as she read.

In my opinion, I can’t really read a story without having to picture the scene and feel as if I’m part of the story. Therefore, I prefer to read the story on my own and have my own mind create the idea or the emotion that the story brings. I feel that author’s write stories to portray a certain point or emotion, however, the reader is the one that interprets the meaning. Therefore, I feel that if I read it myself and picture the story through my own thoughts, I have my own personal view on the story. Although, having the author read her own work and provide her own emotions through her reading for the audience is wonderful, I feel as if it takes away from allowing the reader to depict what he/she feels is the emotion that the author is trying to portray in the story. Even though I prefer to read a story on my own rather than having someone read the story to me, to experience the author herself read her own work to me was truly an experience that made me realize that I need to depict the story myself in order to understand the meaning behind the story.

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After seeing Katherine read in person and after reading her works I have concluded that her words were meant to be read not to be spoken. This remark is unfair as it is not only directed at her but of all works of literature. I feel that any book being read out loud cheapens the experience and somehow waters down the literature. Even if the person reading is the author. However, this book reading did allow me to appreciate new aspects of writing and reading that I had not previously appreciated, and it was great to gain an insight and perspective from her point of view.

The main difference in reading her works or being read to was obviously that it was Katherine reading the novel. I felt strange and out of place by having literature read to me in a voice that was not my own. I am an avid reader and have grown quite accustomed to the voice in my head. Especially the way it will mimic the tones of the characters and where it will place emphasis. However when Katherine read I felt trapped in her interpretation of the characters. I was stuck with her monotone raspy voice reading me literary works that were quite complicated to follow. She did not read with any vocal variety or emphasis and it sucked the soul out of her stories. I found this to be quite ironic because I thought her reading would add to the story.  Unfortunately her voice and lack of excitement caused me to start spacing out after the first fifteen minutes.

The weirdest part of this event was that when I read her works I truly loved her writing style. I found her stories to be intriguing and even quite humorous. I could not stop reading and I enjoyed all of her elaborate and complicated metaphors. I did not find them distracting or overdone but rather interesting and it really allowed me as a reader to put myself in her shoes. It enabled me to connect to the story and relate to the situation. I felt as though I had known her better after reading one of her works as opposed to when she actually read the works.

The connection between the author and the reader is one of the most important aspects of literature. If not the most important aspect of literature. For that reason I found it necessary to read her works on your own in order to fully understand her literature and the message she was trying to convey. Reading it for yourself, allows you to internalize the information and add your own interpretation and input into the story. This helps establish the reader/writer connection because you immediately insert yourself into the story. The problem occurs when she reads her works and it made me feel as though there was only one true and correct interpretation of the story. Once that happened I felt I could not relate to it and it created a chasm between me and the story. The only way I was able to bridge that gap was by reading her novels and experiencing her stories through her amazing use of language and metaphor. It’s funny how I could have such opposite experiences of the same person but I guess that is what art and literature is all about.

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Listening to Katherine Vaz read from her new novel was my first time at an author’s reading. And for most of what she read I was getting nothing of what I thought I should. When hearing an author of fiction read I want to feel motivated, inspired to do literary things, to read more or write the next great American novel. But I didn’t want to write. I wanted to leave. Vaz likes to, as she describes, “put a tassel on every sentence.” It’s fair to extend that description of her writing to her characters’ backstories. She read excerpts that went into Bronte-esque character history; I was totally lost. It was a headache to follow and made me think her five hundred-page novel would be tedious to read. Granted, it must be tough to pick short passages from a five hundred-page book that will make sense out of context, but all the details about characters I am unfamiliar with mean nothing. This first time experience was, for the first twenty minutes of a thirty-minute reading, a bust.

Then came the “Romeo and Juliet scene.” This described one of her characters, I have no idea who, climbing up to his “Juliet’s” room. Nothing I could write about this scene would do it justice. I didn’t know who the characters were; I didn’t need to; I didn’t care. This was the first time I felt something special coming out of Vaz’s mouth. Though she kept her speaking level at a disinterested storyteller’s tone, I felt everything when she said in the midst of a classically-romantic, romantic scene, “He discovered happiness is never wanting anything else.” All of Vaz’s tassels made sense and she finally delivered what I think needs to be the focal point of an author’s reading– emotion.

When I actually read some of Vaz’s work, the details and tassels made sense. I was able to appreciate the rich character histories she creates. These give meaning behind emotion delivered when two characters meet, or the reasons why something simple is affecting a character so deeply. Her writing is very rich, often times metaphoric, and is best appreciated on the page. I have found it is best to sometimes read a page a second time before moving onto the next because it is easy to miss something important betwixt all her flowing detail. But this isn’t to her discredit because every word on the page has a purpose.

There was a lot to be desired in Vaz’s reading; this does not discredit her as a writer. Her style unfortunately diminished what I got out her performance. But the last few minutes gave me an insight to her work. Ultimately reading what she wrote allowed me to understand Vaz as a writer. I don’t think one can fully appreciate the skill of a writer just by a reading. After all, novels should be read not performed. And I almost missed how great a writer Vaz is. But I would say readings are worth going to, even if its for one “Romeo and Juliet scene.”

I’ve always loved reading and disliked being read to. When reading, I can go at my own pace, and I am able to create my own image and interpret the writing without any outside influence. I just don’t enjoy listening to someone reading a book that I could just as easily read myself. It usually takes longer when others read, I get confused, and I can’t even go back to the previous page to remind myself about something or read it again. It also limits my imagination in a way, because the emotions and feelings the reader puts into the reading influences how I feel towards the subjects of the book, too.

Of course, then, it makes sense that I never attended a reading event, and that I probably wouldn’t enjoy it, if I did. So I wasn’t too excited for the reading event with Katherine Vaz either.  After attending it, I can’t say I hated it, but I surely didn’t love it as much as I enjoy reading a book.

Vaz read with emotion and feeling so I was drawn into the story of the lives of John and Mary. I sympathised with them, and felt their pain and their hope, their anger and their love. Vaz explained that her family’s background in similar to that of the characters. Because I understood the context of her writing and what inspired her to create the fictional story I was able to appreciate it more. The picture I got of the story was clearer because of I knew the framework for her writing. Therefore, I think listening to the author read a book is different from having a random person read a book. The author has a special connection to the book, and that transfers over when you hear the author read his/her book.

However, my feelings and emotions towards the story were limited by Vaz’s. The way she read influenced how I felt towards the characters and the story. When I read something, there is nothing that impacts how I feel or react towards the story and characters. I hear only my voice reading silently in my head. I love imagining how the characters look by the minor descriptions that I interpret for myself. It’s for the same reason that I’m not one to watch the film adaptations of books I read.

“Lisbon Story” wasn’t clear, fluid writing. But then, I didn’t expect it to be, after hearing Vaz read a different piece of her writing. Vaz uses many metaphors in her writing. Both when she was reading, and when I was reading, I noticed comparisons and analogies, which can be confusing in writing. When I was listening to Vaz read, I often lost her in midst of a deep metaphor. It was much easier to follow when I was reading myself because I was able to re-read certain parts I felt necessary.

Although I’m not going to resort to listening to people read, I’ve explored the concept and I’m not so opposed to it anymore. I see the benefits and how the reading experience can be so improved. Nonetheless, I am still much more content with cuddling up in my bed to a great book, reading it on my own.

I’m not sure that I enjoyed hearing Katherine Vaz speak before reading her story. Because I had some idea of her writing style from her book excerpt, I mentally prepared myself to be unsure of what was going on in the plot. While the two experiences of listening versus reading were vastly different, both stories contained the extensive metaphors and confusing personal relationships that I assume are typical of her work. The act of being passively or actively engaged in the reading however, put a different spin on the writing. I find it very hard to follow a story that someone is reading to me, while I get intensely engrossed in the books that I read.  So I found myself dozing off during the reading, while the story kept me contentedly busy on the train.

In terms of the plots of the two stories, the one that Ms. Vaz read to us has a male protagonist, while the one I read on my own has a female one. Though this is an obvious contrast, I don’t feel that it overly affected the styles of the two stories. But I applaud her for being able to do this. Also, the two were set in vastly different locations and time periods, which is something I really enjoyed. Each one is its own complete journey through the life of someone completely unique.

This is the first time that I’ve ever been to a book reading, but it was exactly as I’d pictured it. Meaning to say it was slow and a bit pointless. I really cannot understand what purpose it serves to have the author read her work. Though I appreciated the backstory of all the research that was involved, as well as the question and answer session, I did not find hearing the author read her story enjoyable. I would much rather have read the actual work myself and then, if I liked it, go to some sort of meet and greet with the author to ask her questions after I’ve read it. Are there any book readings like this? Or are they always arranged to introduce new books? Though I guess book readings are meant to be a sort of promotion technique, this is my idea for a more enjoyable experience to be had by all:
The author sends out excerpts of her book for the audience to read, and then, if the audience is intrigued, they can meet the author to ask questions and find out more about the book. I think that this would combine the best of both worlds – I could read the book myself and also get the interesting backstory.

All in all, though the book reading was a first time experience for me, I think I’d like to stick with reading books myself instead of having them read to me. I like to imagine things on my own and not have the author’s voice inflections and overall tone affect my opinions about what’s going on. The truly remarkable thing about a book is the singular form of communication it uses, which allows the reader a part in determining the characters personalities. A book reading ruins this.

It was such a privilege to hear Katherine Vaz read excerpts from her new book last night. I am happy that it was a mandatory event, because otherwise I probably would not have gone- and I would have missed out- big time!

The experience was especially interesting to me because on the way home, I read another piece of her work, LISBON STORY.

I really dont like Vaz’s writing style. I think she sounds like she is trying too hard to be good, purposely putting in extra words that sound complicated and fancy but dont really make any sense. What was up with eating the sounds of birds, anyway?

It was easier for me to understand Lisbon Story, because I was able to re-read the parts I didn’t get the first time. And its actually a great story! I enjoyed reading it, and I liked getting to know the characters. I think Vaz developed the relationships beautifully and had a real story to tell.

When Katherine Vaz was reading, I kept finding myself thinking, wait- what did she just say????

At least with the written story, I ended up finding the story amidst all of the words. Vaz should take a page out of William Zinsser’s advice.

“Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful? Simplify, simplify.” (Zinsser, 16)

So, why am I grateful that I went to the reading? What would I have missed out on, you ask? A great experience. Listening to a writer give over her work is an extremely intimate experience. She is so vulnerable. All of the years she spent working on this are being handed over to a potentially ruthless audience, who may laugh in her face. I heard Vaz’s fear in her voice, and it enhanced the experience for me.

Although I may not condone her writing style, Vaz certainly has a clear one. The novel is written more abstractly and elaborately than the short story, but both gave over a certain rawness and honesty. Vaz uses countless (literally) metaphors and similes in her work, and that makes her writing understandable on many levels. Even though you might not know where the story is going, you know exactly what the mothers wrinkles look like- a musical staff. The imagery she employs is beautiful.

I truly enjoyed listening Katherine read her book. I did not understand what she was saying, but I understood what she must have felt like reading it. I truly enjoyed reading Vaz’s short story. I did understand it, and I think about the complex relationships that I got to witness. Both were enjoyable, albeit in very different ways. I wonder how i’ll feel about the movie 🙂