Reading Aloud

I love being read to, it's so soothing, a good way to relax. But the author of this article makes it sound like so much more. Tender? Erotic? The breath, mind, and soul? Makes me think of the movie "The Reader" with Kate Winslet- wow, what a movie. Winslet really knows how to choose the ones that are 'out there'.

And have you ever thought about what other people hear when they read silently to themselves? What are the qualities of the voices? Does it sound like the reader's own voice? Does a man usually read silently in a man's voice, and a woman in a woman's voice? I wonder if you can train yourself to have different silent reading voices...

I thought it was strange how the author made it sound like a negative thing that his students were reading for meaning. Isn't that the primary purpose of words, to convey meaning?