READIN

🦋 Reading out loud

Having a lazy morning and I thought I would pick up and look at A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.... This is a book which I read and loved when I was 14 years old, but which has over the years resisted efforts at rereading. I picked up a copy at a garage sale recently and was enchanted again by the opening paragraphs.

Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo...

His father told him that story: his father looked at him through a glass: he had a hairy face.

He was baby tuckoo. The moocow came down the road where Betty Byrne lived: she sold lemon platt.

This morning's discovery is, this is a great, great read-aloud book. I haven't enjoyed reading anything aloud so much since The Hobbit. Try reading this aloud, in an even, relaxed tone:

They all laughed again. Stephen tried to laugh with them. He felt his whole body hot and confused in a moment. What was the right answer to the question? He had given two and still Wells laughed. But Wells must know the right answer for he was in third of grammar. He tried to think of Wells's mother but he did not dare to raise his eyes to Wells's face.

You know what book this is reminding me of in its opening pages, is Boy by Roald Dahl.

posted morning of Saturday, August first, 2009
➳ More posts about A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
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inspiring. i read PotA way back in the before time in the longlong ago; and with the gentle guidance of my English teacher, i think i enjoyed it. but i've always wanted to try it again, to see if i could read any Joyce without the threat of a bad grade prodding me along...

posted evening of August 4th, 2009 by cleek

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