Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Irreclaimable vagabonds


Here I am in the midst of packing, when I get an email from Josh with a link Chip D. had sent him. And so what do I do, but drop everything to check it out. Why? It's a youtube vid that uses the voice of Virginia Woolf, reading from an essay in The Death of the Moth, an essay about words, which she characterizes as "irreclaimable vagabonds." Her voice is fuller, richer, and more textured than I'd imagined. It's only seven and a half minutes. Go watch it here.

2 comments:

Josh said...

Some people's voices get fuller & richer after menopause: wouldn't VW have been about fifty-seven in that broadcast? So don't fret--maybe your imaginings were accurate for her voice a dozen years earlier.

Timmi Duchamp said...

Interesting observation, Josh. I've been noticing my own and the voices of others in my age cohort have changed, but I somehow hadn't thought of it as something that happens after menopause. You're probably right that Woolf's voice was a little thinner earlier in her life.