READING BY EAR

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22521, 1 October 1938, Page 20

READING BY EAR

SOME TALKING BOOKS

In a letter to the compiler of “Literary Gossip” Mr P. Jowett says that a few months ago he was reflecting that the last book he had read had been. fThe House of the Arrow”— two years before. Since then he has been enabled to enjoy again a pleasure that his eyes would no longer allow him: he has been lent lour or five “talking books,” among them, by chance, “The Hous" of the Arrow,” brought to him by the “moat pleasant” voice of Mr A. E. Macdonald. Some notes by Mr Jowett on this new experience of reading by ear instead of eye:

The book which I enjoyed the most was “Brazilian Adventure.” by Peter Fleming. As the reader's words came to the ear, one got a vivid mental picture of life on the tributaries of the Amazon. My impression is more recent, of course, but I certainly think that one gets a better picture when one listens to the reading of a descriptive passage than, one does when reading It oneself. For-years I have remembered the description of Huckleberry Finn’s Journey down the Mississippi, and to that memory is now joined Peter Fleming’s description of his adventures on the Amazon tributaries.

Fran Ireland to Gaza Another book from which I derived pleasure and a vast amount of interesting information was “In the Steps of The Master." by H. V. Morton. This book puts life and reality into many of the places mentioned in the Bible, and one realises that the Bible deals not only with faiths but with people who actually existed. For instance, Mr Morton mentions that excavations at Gaza indicate that it Is situated on the site of two ancient cities, the top one having been in existence about 2000 8.C., and the one underneath about 3100 B.C. In one of these cities has been found a Celtic ring of Irish gold, and there has been much conjecture as to how it reached there. By a coincidence, I came across a mention of Gaza in another connexion, when 1 was listening to Professor Adams, of Dunedin, give a reading from Milton a week or so ago. The temple which Samson pulled down about the ears of the Philistines appears to have been situated at Gaza. Ever since listening to Professor Adams I have been wondering whether some traveller from Ireland was present In the temple at the time of Samson's death, or whether the ring belonged to one of the Phoenician merchants who obtained it on one of bis business trips to the West.

Defects of Broadcast Drama One phase of "Revolt in the Desert,” by Lawrence, which I liked was the description of movement and action. It is far easier to get hold of what is happening by listening to the reading of a well-written description than by listening to the jumble of sounds which come across when action takes place in a broadcast drama. When listening to Lawrence’s book, I got a vivid picture of a night attack on a bridge and of the dropping of a rifle, which rendered the attack abortive. In such a situation in a broadcast drama you hear a confusion of noises, know that something has gone •wrong, and wonder what is happening. Even in their context many sounds are unrecognisable, and they often remind one of the illustrations •which appear occasionally in magazines. depicting the photograph of an object from an unusual angle, and asking you to guess what it represents. In description of actual sounds, the written or the spoken word can undoubtedly leave drama, whether stage or broadcast, standing.

Broadcast Readings

To whoever first thought of talking books for the blind and to those who put the idea into execution many thanks are due. The same thanks are also due to the contributions of “Listener," who. in “The Press.” has advocated broadcast readings for the blind and those of weak or failing sight. These readings help to bring the outside world nearer to many who would otherwise know very little of what is going on around them. In addition, they help to create that feeling of being independent of others which we all like to have. Mr Cumow pointed out in a broadcast talk that human desire for news goes back to. and probably before. Biblical days. At the present time newspaoers and books satisfy that desire in those who can see to read. Talking books and broadcast readings will bring to those who cannot the same gratification. In conclusion. 1 would suggest that the broadcast readings now being given from the New Zealand national stations will prove a valuable extension to the service provided by the Talking Book Library. 1 am afraid that the above remarks may in some ways aepear a little disconnected: but then. If I were in a position to edit them, rewriting where necessary, they would never have been written.

*Rlchard Jefferies. By Edward Thomas. First published 1909, The Aldine Library. J, M. Dent and Sons Ltd. 310 pp. (4/6 net.)