Joelle has another major project in the works right now as well. As president of AT&T Tennessee, she and Mayor Dean have recently announced the rollout of AT&T’s gigabit service in Nashville, currently in progress.
Joelle will get in the weeds with you if you want to talk technology. She admits that her “happy place” is in the weeds! But she’s always happy to talk about books as well. Today, she thinks about the difference between reading and hearing a story. For her wonderful post last year on finding the humanity in technology – and an introduction to Joelle – please click here.
From Joelle, today:
Tell me a story.
Whether it’s a news article or a novel, that’s what I want from the author. I want a story. I want the story to hold my attention while I read, and I want it to linger after I finish reading.
After the story ends, I want it to provoke new thoughts and ideas – just the way she would close the book and talk with me about the story.
My family read aloud long after my sister and I were old enough to read on our own. My mother is especially good at it. The gifts that make her a great singer also make her an excellent narrator. Her voice has range. Her diction is precise.
One summer, my father asked her to read To Kill a Mockingbird to us. Our family listened together as Scout’s story unfolded. The story became a shared frame of reference for our family, a shared source of helpful examples and comparisons. We asked each other to “pass the damn ham.”
In the many times I’ve read the book since that summer, I always “hear” it in my mother’s voice.
Hearing it read aloud still helps me to connect to a story.
Reading aloud also connects me to the reader.
My husband and I read to each other. When Brant chooses fiction, he usually prefers short stories to novels. His favorite is Fitzgerald’s Babylon Revisited. He read it to me while we were on a trip, and we talked about it the entire drive home. The parts of the story that moved him most were not the same things that resonated with me. His impressions and ideas about the story deepened my appreciation for the story but also provided insights into Brant.
Last weekend, I sat on the screen porch and listened as The Brothers’ story came to a close. Alyosha shares this insight with the schoolboys gathered for their friend’s funeral:
Listening to a story told – consuming it through the sound of a human voice instead of silently reading the text – enhances the power of the story. That’s something I learned in my childhood home, a sacred memory from the house filled with books where my mother still lives.
Sweet!!!
Like Joelle!!
Thank you always, Betsy. xo
Robert Penn Warren — “Tell Me a Story”: https://shenandoahliterary.org/blog/2012/01/tell-me-a-story-by-robert-penn-warren/
Wow – I love that. Joelle will too. Thank you so much for the link, Matt! xo
Really nice! Love the photos. And I must recommend Johnny Depp reading Keith Richards book “Life” –especially those few chapters when Keith does himself
That sounds terrific, Betsy! Thank you for the great recommendation! I love the dear photos as well. xo
A memorable post! Love this line: “People talk to you a great deal about your education, but some good, sacred memory, preserved from childhood, is perhaps the best education.”
Joelle’s post is a beautiful meditation on those memories. Thank you so much for your kind comment, Judy! xo
I recommend Stockard Channing reading the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary – I so understand what Joelle means when she says her mother’s voice can still be heard when she reads the book again. I always hear Channing’s voices when I pick up a Ramona book! Thanks for this Bacon story – makes me want to plan a reading with my mom and youngest for our upcoming beach trip!
I always think of my little sister reading the Ramona books… she always liked them more than I did. I fear that she was Ramona and I was Beezus. 🙂 Thank you so much for the recommendation on Stockard Channing, Patricia! xo
It’s such fun to be a Bacon guest!
I should have included Brant’s feedback on Constantine Gregory’s narration – I sometimes use my little Jawbone portable speaker to listen. Last weekend when I was listening on the porch that way, Brant walked out there and commented, “It’s like having C3PO tell us story.” High praise!
Great to hear from a fellow Alabamian who loves books & listening to words read aloud! Lovely post, Joelle!
I love you Alabama girls who bring it to Nashville! Xo
Love this post so very much. I’m going to give The Brothers K one more try (it will be my fourth attempt to finish)–maybe Constantine can pull me to the finish line. Thanks for sharing these sweet memories. xoxo
Let us know how it goes, Elizabeth! So glad to hear from you at Bacon! Xo