I had read that Augustine was surprised that Ambrose did not read aloud, and we have concluded from that that the ancients did not read to themselves. It seems plausible because volumes were rare and we know that people read aloud to groups more often than we do now. Alas, I learn today from Ann Althouse that
this is not so.
I can remember the moment in my childhood when it first dawned on me that one could read silently. I was trying to get some grownup, perhaps my grandmother, to let me read aloud to her, but she was busy. She suggested that I could read silently to myself. I was thunderstruck. It was convenient, but somehow I felt let down. It always had been a social experience before.
ReplyDelete