# Stories you MUST read out loud

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-you-must-read-out-loud/148025>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 11, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-you-must-read-out-loud/148025 "2003-01-11T22:20:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-you-must-read-out-loud/148025/41 "2003-01-16T15:23:49Z")

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Two books to be read aloud, for two different reasons.

_ **Feersum Endjinn** _, by Iain M. Banks - very long, and I wouldn’t normally choose to read a book that long aloud. However, sections of the book are written from the POV of a character who can’t spell - so the spelling is phonetic, and unless you read it aloud (or at least subvocalize), it’s really difficult to understand. I enjoyed the book, but it killed my reading speed on that one.

At the other end of the spectrum: _ **A Rose for Ecclesiastes** _, by Roger Zelazny. Zelazny routinely has beautiful prose that comes to life when read aloud, but it really shines here. And Zelazny novels are short enough to make this practical.

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**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-you-must-read-out-loud/148025/42 "2003-01-16T15:30:30Z")

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Mark Twain - my grandfather read me Tom Sawyer. His short comedic pieces are a scream, even better out loud than silent.  
Jack Prelutsky’s poems - I read them every night to my son when he was young.

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