I feel like the terror of reading aloud in class is one of those experiences that people thought only happened to them, but it turns out is pretty much universal across the board. I know that I was so nervous reading aloud that they stuck me in the remedial reading group for a session. Which, apparently, haunts me to this day.
The New York Times has an interesting op-ed piece bemoaning the dying art of reading aloud that targets audiobooks as a lonely medium partly responsible for the demise. As much and I prefer actual books, like, seriously? You’re gonna beat up on audiobooks? It feels like whining about electricity because candles are so romantic, when people are really just in it for the light.
In any event, there’s actually a Web site out there, LibriVox.org, that seems to address a number of concerns raised in the article. A happy medium if you will. Here’s how it works: free audiobooks, read by volunteers. You can read aloud to your heart’s content or, if you prefer, listen to audiobooks that aren’t read by stodgey professionals with their fancy voice over credentials. Look technology is connecting us again! The world is flat and small and a wide web! yey!!