Layers Of Earth

I know this may sound funny, sad really, but I am spending much of my free time lately catching up on some of the literature standards that I should have been exposed to long, long ago. It is almost embarrassing to say this, but the school system of which I was a product didn’t seem to have any standards when it came to literary classics. Ok, I remember reading Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein in Mrs. Parker’s class in High School, but that’s about it. There were no basic studies of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or anything of the sort, at least not in the classes I was in.

So I must confess. Here I am, at the age of 42 finding a rekindled interest in the classic novels I should have read long ago. I get them on audio book, which is not to say that this is how I would prefer to absorb them. In a perfect and visually acute world, of course I would get the paper variety and enjoy them as they were intended to be. As that isn’t possible, I have surrendered to the audio book. It’s really kinda fun, especially if the person reading the novel is dynamic and gifted.

To this end, it seems I am following the career of the late Frank Muller, who voiced lots of audio books ranging from Charles Dickens to Stephen King. But it is in his voicing of Dickens that he is amazing. Accents, regional variances and everything. You have to hear this guy read A Tale of Two Cities… such talent.

Dickens is where I began my journey. I remember some of the movie adaptations as a kid and that era is interesting. So I moved through A Tale of Two Cities to Great Expectations and now onto Oliver Twist. In order to make something of a study out of it, I have also taken to doing research on the novel after I read it, historic frameworks and even old critic’s reviews. Interesting. Honestly, I really feel as if I am enjoying these novels more and that I am getting more out of them as an adult that I ever would have as a kid. So there. Take that, Dade County Public Schools!

I read Old Man and the Sea today by Hemmingway – pretty quick. Interesting. A fish is just a fish, I guess. But next up, I am embarking on something thick: All Quiet on the Western Front. I have no idea what I am in for. I never even saw the movie.

But I have the voice of Frank Muller to guide me. I wonder if he ever voiced The Adventures of Tom Sawyer…

This entry was posted on Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 10:05 pm and is filed under General.