The first 5 pages or so of Lolita.
Lewis Carroll - much of his writing is excellent for the tongue, most especially “Jabberwocky”…!
Brillig brillig brillig!!
As a side note, what is the term again, meaning one who loves the sound of languages? I’m sure there must be one - and if not, there should be!
Is it Philology/Philologist? (or is that just a love of languages in general?)
An Audiologist?
Shakespeare, certain passages, at least, can be great fun to expound upon at volume, when you’ve got the place to yourself.
(as JessEnigma mentioned, plays in general really need to be)
The Lord of the Rings is, despite its ponderous length, excellent orating material. Over the past, oh, 7 or 8 years, our cats have heard most of it, usually while I’m fixing dinner for m’self, on nights that Mrs. Skeezix is working late.
I’ve always had the idea in the back of my head to read it to our little one, voices, accents and all, as well. I do a middling decent John Huston for Gandalph (and most of the narration), but having the movies now in my head, I think all my previous accents are gonna slide away in favor of Sir Ian and the gang.
The Hobbit, on the other hand, we’ve got in a child friendly, “big text and illustrated” edition, so we’re gonna sit and read that one together, sooner or later.
[sub]Of course, right now we mostly read “Little Toot” most nights, so we’ve got to work up to the classics gradually.[/sub]
Roald Dahl’s short stories seem to be meant for reading aloud. Particularly “Man from the South,” if you don’t try to actually DO the old man’s accent.
I’m also impressed by Crinklebat reading aloud to siblings, that is so cool.
Agree with SolGrundy about the start of Lolita.
I just started Faraway Places by Thomas Spanbauer, and I was getting a bit annoyed at some of the repetition. He describes people and places and feelings in the same way, over and over.
But after seeing this thread, I realized that Spanbauer is telling a story, and when I read it that way, like he’s talking to me, it works.
A good storyteller can repeat important stuff, it becomes rhythmic, and you start to expect that certain words will come in these particular places.
So now when he’s talking about Sugar Babe I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t say “that woman Sugar Babe.”
Dr. Seuss. Especially Green Eggs and Ham.
Grim’s Fairy Tales.
O.K., I’m being really obvious here.
The Princess Bride
The Giving Tree
The Little Prince
Twas The Night Before Christmas
…and hundreds more!
As a younger child I lived in a very mundane world. I mean, I read fiction but it was all hisorical type stuff. And I read a lot of “real” history too. Then, in sixth grade, I had a remarkable teacher, Mr. Charles Bradbury. It was his first year teaching, he was young and enthusiastic, and he liked fantasy and science fiction. So he started reading aloud The Hobbit to the class. I just knew it was going to be dumb, but at some point I realized I was looking forward to tht next chapter. From there I went to the LOTR trilogy, and to science fiction(and this was the very first year ST-TOS was on TV too!)
Because of that out loud reading I have learned things, traveled to places, and met people I wouldn’t have otherwise. Damn, I’m glad I had Mr. Bradbury as a teacher!!!
Of course last year he retired, after thrity-five years as a teacher and principal. Damn, now I feel old!!!
Leaves of Grass, especially “Song of Myself,” by Walt Whitman. In the Preface to the 1855 Edition he exhorts his readers to “read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life” and I think he’s right.
Oh, anyone else ever heard Dylan Thomas reading A Child’s Christmas In Wales? Perfect. Mr. Lissar can do about the first seven minutes of it by heart, and with Thomas’s intonation and everything.
A lot of G. K. Chesterton’s essays are splendid aloud, as are Annie Dillard’s nonfiction books. The Selfish Giant is good. Some H. P. Lovecraft would be fun, and good exercise for the jaw muscles. I think I read… what’s-it-called… Cool Air aloud to a friend once. I’ve read the aforementioned Anne Of Green Gables, and Anne Of Avonlea aloud to my husband. And Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper, which was lovely. Oh, and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. We’re in the middle of Anne Of The Island.
I shouldn’t have opened this thread. I’m one of those merciless types who loves to pin people down and read or recite poetry to them, whether they want to hear it or not, dammit! Fortunately, I have lots of poetry-and-story inclined friends. I think I heard The Love-Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock recited about a dozen times over New Year’s.
I’ve never done it, but the pacing and the beauty of the language in The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde almost instantly made me wish that I was reading it aloud to someone the first time I read it. I love that book.
Whenever plays are assigned to be read for English class, I always read them outloud with the inflections and feelings and emotions for each part. Plays are meant to be seen and heard, not read.
Also, whenever a particularly boring book is assigned, I’ll read it outloud. Keeps me awake, and if the dog is acting up and has an energy surge, it’ll make her fall asleep in no time.
It’s even better if it’s Christopher Walken doing the reading.
“Scooch closer, children…”
Eonwe, I’m not flirting with you here, but I can’t believe someone wouldn’t want to listen to The Hobbit all the way through. You can read it to me! Except for not really, but that would be great.
Ahem.
I read the first three Harry Potter books to a friend of mine in college. The third one over the course of two nights. My voice was sore for days. They’re pretty fun to read aloud, and with not-too-many characters, so you can really work up good voices. I’ve always enjoyed reading Agatha Christie aloud, too, especially the Poirot short stories. The Hitchhiker’s Guide can be fun, but the most fun I’ve ever had reading aloud was in college. We did a marathon reading of The Iliad, moving from dining hall to dining hall.
I want a job as the book on tape woman.
Hell, I’d buy a recording of Dylan Thomas reading the Brooklyn phone directory. I can’t read Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan” without hearing “…and Agamemnon DEAD” in that plummy Welsh accent.
When I was in college my lit-major buddies and I used to use the “Dylan Thomas Voice” on each other all the time. One of our profs had been responsible for Thomas when he came around to do a reading years earlier, and he told us about Thomas stomping out into heavy traffic and screaming drunkenly at the cars, “You can’t hit me! I’m DYLAN THOMAS!”
Ike, is it possible to buy cd recording of Dylan Thomas reading other poetry than his own? I’ve got audio files of him reading a lot of his own stuff- A Child’s…, And Death Shall Have No Dominion, Fern Hill etc, but I know he became famous for reading other people’s stuff, and I haven’t found any copies of it. I want him reading Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Edith Sitwell’s Still Falls The Rain, and as many other pieces as possible.
(slight pause)
You know, between your liking Dylan Thomas, and your being a cook who loves to read John Thorne, you’re practically perfect. 
Agreed, and his children’s novels, too. I came in here to suggest Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG. Both are utterly hilarious read aloud-- I’ll always remember fondly reading them aloud to my little brother. We’d both get the giggles and I’d have a hard time getting through whole pages at a time for laughing.
Other great books for reading aloud are any of the James Herriott books, beginning with All Creatures Great and Small; Cheaper by the Dozen, by Ernestine Gilbreth Carey and Frank Gilbreth; and Owls in the Family, by Farley Mowatt.
Yes! Cheaper by the Dozen! My sister (not the Tolkien one, a different one) and I worship that book. We’ve memorized passages, everything. I come from a rather bookish family.
I agree with the person who mentioned Joyce. I can never do a convincing Irish brogue if I’m not reading some good Joyce.
Any of the short stories of Lord Dunsany lend themselves to reading aloud. They make great bedtime stories; you get really odd dreams.
Oh, and the book that was read aloud to me that first got me reading: The Borrowers.
Lot’s of great suggestions so far. I guess I’ll have to throw in some "me too"s, but I will add The Chronicles Of Narnia. This is actually one of the first sets of books I ever read aloud, my oldest brother and I started taking turns reading a chapter and then handing off through these books. I still have the same set and the slipcase, though they are looking a bit worse for wear.
Though it’s already been mentioned, I think Jabberwocky and most of Through The Looking Glass are impossible to read without catching yourself reading aloud. Since my SO is not a big reader, I get plenty of chances to read aloud. A couple of books already listed in this thread sound like great candidates.