What are the differences between reading and hearing stories?

“Now when the child of morning, rose-fingered Dawn, appeared…”

This line is the first of Book II of the Odyssey and our introduction to the hero Odysseus, however, it will repeat itself over and over to a laughable extent as one progresses through the epic tale.  It seems to be the classical equivalent of “He awoke to his alarm clock buzzing…”  The repetition, which is also seen heavily in The Epic of Gilgamesh. was very common for these classic myths as most were conveyed orally.

This idea of the spoken word story as professional entertainment is still alive and well today.  Of course, there are the audio books which bring the written page to the ear, but more in line with the tradition are podcasts and stage shows.  One such show/podcast is The Moth.  These are live shows where “true” stories are told by storytellers, writers, comedians, etc where they are allowed no notes or prompts.  They control the beats of the story, how quickly the words are said, the comedic timing, the suspense.  This is something that is lost when simply reading the words on the page.  Some authors are masters of making one read frantically or to slow down (James Joyce comes to mind), but the spoken word story teller has the unique position to do this for the listener.  It makes for a more engaging experience especially in a crowd of others laughing or crying alongside you.  The reaction of the crowd can also change how the story teller decides to proceed.  Perhaps a big laugh was received or a stunned silence at a shocking moment.  These events can be used to ad-lib additional lines or maybe reign in some of the language that is not being so taken well.  There is a freedom to cater the story to the audience for a unique experience that just does not exist in the rigidity of the written page.

The spoken story, however, does not allow for reflection in the moment.  Reading a novel allows for breaks in the narrative to happen where one can take the time analyze the prose or dissect a phrase.  Maybe a particular line sparks a train of thought and the mind starts to wonder.  Everyone has gone back and read a page or two over again after they realized they didn’t absorb any of the information.  If you are listening to a spoken word story, these distractions can mean missing integral parts of the story.  Fortunately, everything is being recorded so at least you can hit that 30 seconds back button on your Podcast app to go back and figure out what you missed.