While I was listening to Scott read the texts of Blert, I followed along with him. The main point of interest that I noticed is how when I read the copy of Blert; I understood what Scott was trying to tell us. When I listened to Scott’s performance of the book, I became confused because his stutter made the text seem flawed. Listening to Scott made me think of a child trying to learn how to speak. It seemed strange to think of a child when reading all of the sophisticated words that Scott wrote for his books. Throughout the video, it seemed like everything Scott tried to say was said by someone who is trying so hard to get their words out. It makes the whole reading different when you know it was written by someone who can’t read their own text fluently. To Barthes, this non-fluent speaking would not bother him because he cares about “the encounter between a language and a voice.” (p 505) This to him is known as “the grain,” or as he calls it “the grain of the voice when [a voice] is in a dual posture… of language and of music.”(p 505) So, according to Barthes, Scott’s “grain” can be seen as the reason as to why reading and listening to Blert fascinates people.
