Dragaera

Music while reading (wasRe: A different Track)

Wed Dec 4 18:04:25 PST 2002


"Ian Jamieson" wrote, probably while listening to Strauss:

>> Anyway, to change the subject, here's a question for Steve, 
about
>> something he wrote in his weblog:
>>
>>    "Listening to music while reading is like putting ketchup on 
steak."
>>
>> What does that *mean*?  I'm a vegetarian, so I don't really 
understand
>> how ketchup affects steak.
>>
>> To the left, I do sometimes listen to music while reading, and I 
find
>> that sometimes what I'm reading is so interesting that I start
>> ignoring the music, and sometimes the music is so compelling 
that I no
>> longer give the text my full attention.  Some people have spoken 
of a
>> particular piece of music being a good "soundtrack" for a 
particular
>> written work, but I have not yet found such an example that 
works for
>> me.
>
>I was thinking of starting a 'track' on this very subject.
>Now usually I agree with Steve, but, I have a particular example 
to
>contradict his statement. I was reading "the Doomfarers of 
Coramond' and the
>'Starfollowers of Coramond' both by Brian Daley and listening to 
'Quiet
>Life' by Japan. This particular piece of music set the mood so 
perfectly for
>the books that to this day I can't think of one without thinking 
of the
>other. The feelings of loss and melancholy in the books were 
accentuated by
>the music.
>Does anyone else have any examples?

_DO_ I!  

I have found over the past five months that I can't read James 
Michener or Dorothy Dunnett without listening to either Yo-Yo Ma's 
Silk Road Ensemble or White Zombie.  IT MUST BE ONE OR THE OTHER, 
although I've noticed that both Michener's _Poland_ and Dunnett's 
_The Spring of the Ram_ seem to require _Rob_ Zombie, not White 
Zombie.  

My mother has suggested that reading Tolkien to Enya is a good 
thing, but that is just _silly_.

...  Paarfi's amazing glompiness probably requires Swedish werewolf 
ballads, but on the whole, Brust!books need silence, especially 
parts with Daymar in them.

>Forgive me if this has already started. I received over 1000 
emails on this
>list in the past week and I haven't read them all yet.

S'all right.  I read most of them, but failed to comprehend more 
than three.

¬
MJ, almost done with her insane bunch of papers on the Sejm