It depends on what I’m reading. Reading for work, this message board, magazine articles - no voice. But when I settle down for enjoyable reading, the big screen and surround sound are definately activated. Mr. singular and I frequently discuss what actor we are picturing as a character in book book we’ve both read. I enjoy doing the accents in my head, and they’ll often linger with me after I’ve put the book down - I’ll be talking to my self (internally) in an irish lilt while doing dishes and cooking for almost an hour after reading Angela’s Ashes.
Of course, if I’ve seen a movie version, the actor’s coice stars in the book as well.
I usually get a voice that can do all sorts of neat accents. I find that the voice help with comprehension, if I have the time to use it. But I can choose not to hear it when I’m under alot of time pressure to absorb the information quickly and spit it back out, as opposed to gaining a deeper understanding of it.
For me it’s usually a neutral-sounding voice, neither male nor female. Sometimes that changes if I’ve seen a movie or listened to an audiobook, and for some authors who have very, very distinct characters, I can ‘hear’ the distinct voices. I do hear accents, though – the author doesn’t need to write a Cockney accent with all the apostrophes and such for me. I can hear it just by the cadence and word choice.
The scenes themselves are always painted in absolute clarity. Especially with audiobooks, perhaps because I can close my eyes and keep ‘reading’. Just this morning I was listening to Night Watch –
[spoiler]
It’s at the point where Vimes/Keel and the others are in Lobsneaks near the end of the book, and as he’s looking down the alley he can see the lilacs spilling over the fences of people’s back gardens. And I know exactly how it looks and feels and smells – the scent of flowers mixed with the sewagey smell of an alley, the warmth of the day with a very slight breeze. The ground beneath was once decent enough brickwork, but it’s been so weathered for so long and patched here and there with concrete, perhaps. I can see the potholes. I can see the tall wooden fences and the lilacs spilling over the tops of them. I can see the crumbling brickwork of the buildings. I can see the knot of men, afraid and angry and outraged. I can hear the muted sounds of the city.
In other parts of the book, I can – for example – see with absolute clarity the interior of Cable Street (though I have no idea, somehow, what the Treacle Street watchhouse looks like), how the outside of the Ramkin estate looks, what the Oblong Office looks like, exactly how the Patrician’s last ball looked…
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Though I think this incredibly ready imagery might just be a result of how well Pratchett writes. I could draw you floor plans of some of these places.
Oh freakin –
Yeah, my spoiler tags win. :smack:
I hear a voice, but ones tied with the chars. im reading. I am very visual when reading, and after a page (if its a good book) I dont even see the words really. of course this is just for recreational reading. if im reading a text book I just hear myself in my head reading.