What effect does a narrator's voice have on the reader?

Question

Well obviously it changes how the reader interprets the story but what else?

Answer 1

It makes the reader relate to the characters, places, and situations.

He can make the reader feel superior, by being omniscient and keeping the reader well-informed; but he can also make the reader disoriented by giving very little information - if it's an unreliable narrator, he can even make the reader uncertain and confused.

He can add editorial comments, and influence which parts of the story get told, and in how much detail - for example, if it's a first-person narrator, he can only tell of events he's witnessed, or he has to give someone else's report, aking it effectually "hearsay".

Answer 2

The narrator gives shape and color to prose fiction. Without a narrator to describe the world, populate that world with characters, unveil the plot, make comments, give characters ideas and emotions, provide perspectives and points of view, and so on, there wouldn't be fiction.

Specific kinds of narrators do as you say and change how the reader views the text. The unreliable and dodgy narrator of The Catcher in the Rye doesn't affect the reader in the same way as the authoritative and powerful narrator of 1984.

Some narrators limit the reader's ability to read. For example, when a story is told through a single character's point of view, it's impossible to know with certainty what other characters are thinking and feeling. This can make the reader feel trapped inside a character he or she doesn't like. Or perhaps it can help the reader identify with the character more deeply.

Some stories don't even have a narrator. If I remember correctly, I believe Ernest Hemingway's story "The Killers" is comprised entirely of dialogue and no meddling narrator.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I read a lot of audio books and having a good reader is as important as having good actors in a movie.

Answer 4

Yes certain narrator's have better inflictions in their words my fave narrator is Patrick Stewart his voice is so commanding and convincing.