Thursday, September 22, 2016

Literary Links: Book & Music Pairings

Fairy wren song, wavelet graph. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 25 May 2016.
http://quest.eb.com/search/132_1322646/1/132_1322646/cite. Accessed 10 Sep 2016.
The art of pairing seems to be on everyone's mind recently. We keep going into restaurants and finding our menu suggesting a particular beer or wine to go with our entrée. A cursory search of pairing in the library catalog brings up books about wine and cheese, tea, plantsBobby Brown (because, until recently, "pairing" was more often used to describe an interpersonal relationship), and musical rivalries. Which brings us to the point of our post - in honor of our favorite local music festival, ¡Globalquerque! (itself a music and film festival including a global fiesta, September 23-24), we're considering how does music intersect with with other cultural activities? For instance, what books do people like to pair with music? How about Sigur Rós with The Martian? High Fidelity with LCD Soundsystem? The Shining with Béla Bartók? Marissa Nadler with Flannery O'Connor's short stories? Have you ever read a book while listening to a movie score? It's been said that "listening to music while reading can enhance the literary experience, adding another dimension to our beloved words on the printed or digital page." Author Steve Almond might have put it best, though: "What songs do — and what great books do — is bring us to unbearable feelings. They access our emotional life in a way nothing else can."

We've scoured the internet to find some articles about book and music pairings for your perusal. Do you like to listen to music while reading? Have you heard some really successful pairings? Let us know in the comments!

The best books-and-music pairings [Guardian]

For Your Pleasure: 10 Inspired Book and Album Pairings [Flavorwire]

The soundtrack to your favorite book: Pairing novels and music [MPR]

Scoring Your Reading: Pairing Books with Music [Book Riot]

10 Cold Weather Book and Music Pairings for Deep Thinkers [Flavorwire]


Related Links

Ten Musicians Who Could Be Novelists [Literary Hub]

Read 'Em and Steep: Tea and Book Pairing Recommendations [Book Riot]

Is music a miracle drug? [Headspace]

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