Distracted by Voices...Then Not

On 2/6/10 I wrote about enjoying audio books while driving. I mentioned one of my favorite readers, Flo Gibson, who has read dozens of books on tape. At first I didn't like her gravelly voice, but I got used to it and then fond of it. I was reminded of this a few days ago when I started listening to Alice McDermott's novel "After This," read by Martha Plimpton, whom I like and respect as an actor. But her voice as a reader -- at least on this recording -- is rather sibilant, and the "sssssss" and "shhhhhhhhh" sounds were distracting for the first half hour or so. Then, somehow, magically, I started not to notice them any more; they either went away, or I got used to them, as I got absorbed in the novel. Now I am enjoying her reading, and happily looking forward to my commute each day.