“We read to know that we’re not alone.”
–attributed to C.S. Lewis; actually from Shadowlands, a movie about Lewis.

While there is something attractive about this quotation, I’m glad that Lewis didn’t actually say it. While reading can indeed be a wonderful way of communing with others, especially those of past generations, it seems to me that there are a number of better ways of knowing that we’re not alone than by simply reading.

One of them is reading aloud together.

There is something about entering into a story together at the same time. The very fact that others are listening as you listen—or read—adds a whole new layer to the story. Their experience is part of my experience of the story, and somehow the whole thing becomes our experience.

There are many contexts for people to read aloud together. What might be done that teenagers and young adults be drawn to read aloud among themselves? It is a sobering sign of our times that such a thing might seem a bridge too far.

But our focus should be on what is in our power. If you have young children, seize the time! Often children will be happy to do whatever parents are happy to do. There are great books suited to every age group: perhaps a Robert Louis Stevenson story, King Arthur legends, or a classic fairy tale. For newlyweds and empty-nesters, what a rich experience lies in wait: perhaps a Shakespeare play, a Walter Macken short story, a Jane Austen novel, or a Wendell Berry novel. The possibilities are almost endless. Families with older children will require more effort to get everyone together, but the effort will be well rewarded.

It might take practice, and patience. (“Are y’all going to quiet down and listen or not…?”) But summer is precisely the time to give it a try: perhaps once a week? Sunday afternoon or evening? Who knows, people may enjoy it so much that they ask for it serially each evening.

With so many centrifugal forces at work in our home, pulling us away from the center and from one another, at least here is a centripetal force we can unleash, pulling us toward the center and toward one another: summer reading aloud together.

What to Do this Summer Mini-Series

This is the third in a series: What To Do This Summer. Find the other posts below!

I.  What to Do this Summer

II. Sitting on the Porch

III. Summer Reading Aloud, Together

IV. Playing Games with Children

V. Planting Now, for Later

Image: by Leon Lhermitte (1844-1925)

John Cuddeback

Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.