Mortaine’s Blog

I’m listening to Ralph Ellison’s book Invisible Man during my commute these days. Yeah, I know books-on-tape are considered a cop-out, but:

1. It’s the unabridged version, so I’m not missing more than I would if I read it silently.
2. I have a 2-hour commute every day, and the local news station gives me inaccurate traffic reports every 10 minutes, and at least one story about a goddamn dog every hour (it’s a frickin’ news station– tell me about something important, for crying out loud! I love my dog, but unless he becomes President of Cuba, he’s really not news-worthy!!!)
3. I have the MA exam in November, and I have to study– if I can grab an extra 2 hours every day, then I will.
4. Ellison’s prose is like poetry. Man, his words are so musical, so playful– and I would never have realized that if I hadn’t heard them.

In related commentary, I’ve been tempted many times to yank the tapes out of the car and bring them inside to listen while reading along in my print copy. When I was 3 or 4 years old, I taught myself how to read with those read-along records. It was basically a record that had a little book; the record told the story that was inside the book. I had a bunch of Disney ones, and loved them all. I think I finally stopped listening to them when I was about 8 or 9.

Now, here I am, age 27, and I’m listening to a book on tape and thinking “Gee, I’d love to be reading along with this!” What a goofball! And yet, I know how much richer the experience would be if I had something visual in front of my eyes besides a highway-turned-parking-lot when I’m experiencing this book.