Escape Artists

PodCastle => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Heradel on April 18, 2008, 11:18:01 PM

Title: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Heradel on April 18, 2008, 11:18:01 PM
PC Miniature 002: Giant (http://podcastle.org/2008/04/18/podcastle-miniature-002-giant/)

By Stephanie Burgis (http://www.stephanieburgis.com/)
Read by Jonathan Sullivan.
Outro by Rachel Swirsky (http://www.rachelswirsky.com/).
First appeared in Lone Star Stories, 2004 (http://literary.erictmarin.com/archives/Issue%206/giant.htm) (full text at link).

A few words on “Giant,” from Associate Editor Ann Leckie:

Today’s story is a riff on the classic trope of The Giant Who Had No Heart which you can take a gander at on wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giant_Who_Had_No_Heart_in_His_Body -- if you happen to be unfamiliar.

Nearly every culture has fairy tales, and many of them are strikingly similar to tales told by other, very distant peoples.  That may be the long process of transmission between different groups, stories passed along in a game of telephone thousands of years long, or it may be that fairy tales spring from, and engage, something basic in human psychology. It’s hard to say, really.

The tales themselves are stripped down, very concise and economical. Close-in examination of a character’s psyche, or even more than rudimentary character development, doesn’t exist in fairy tales. Even in stories with little or no magic, strange things happen with no obvious reasons, let alone explanation. We may hear of beautiful maidens, perhaps even with hair of ebony or flax, shining dresses of gold or silver, mountains of glass–but without much in the way of detail.

And good and evil are clearly marked. We know which is which–one sister speaks, and jewels fall out of her mouth. The other utters toads. There are no qualifications, no mitigating circumstances, no shades of gray. It’s all very straightforward.

Today’s story is “Giant” by Stephanie Burgis. It plays on a tale that’s very popular, one that, like most fairy tales, has plenty of variants. It’s the story of the ogre who’s hidden his heart–or sometimes his soul–in an unlikely and hard to reach place. His vulnerability is in an iron box at the bottom of the sea. Or in an egg in the mouth of a fish inside a crow that came from a deer. Or else he can only be killed in very specific, very unlikely circumstances. But once the secret is known, he’s vulnerable.

What does it mean to have to hide one’s heart? To never be able to trust anyone — even one’s own beloved — with the secrets of one’s own existence? To always have to be protect your heart from those closest to you within the egg, inside the crow that came from the deer?

But, of course, since we’re talking fairy tales, the ogre must be evil. Surely. Surely, he must deserve his fate.



I’ve hidden my heart in an egg, in a box, in a well at the end of the world. My father taught me that trick a long time ago.

If I’d kept my heart, I would be in trouble now. This princess is too beautiful.


Rated G. Contains a heart, once carefully hidden.



Why PodCastle miniatures? According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_%28illuminated_manuscript%29), the word miniature is derived from the Latin minium, red lead, and is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript. We thought it was a good way to describe very short stories with a fantasy theme: a word that indicates brievity, manuscripts, and a medieval atmosphere.

(http://pseudopod.org/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/audio_mp3_button.png)
Listen to this week's Pod Castle Miniature! (http://media.rawvoice.com/podcastle/media.libsyn.com/media/podcastle/PCFlash002_Giant.mp3)


[Blog text edited by Rachel to reflect revisions on the main site.]
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Nobilis on April 20, 2008, 12:26:32 PM
This story didn't touch me.  I got the idea (on purpose or not) that the giant had hidden away his heart, and was immune to both the princess's attentions and the human's stealthy approach.  He could not die and could not fall in love, so neither of them could get close enough to hurt him.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: stePH on April 20, 2008, 01:54:19 PM
This one completely fell flat.  I just didn't see the point; in fact I want my six minutes back.

Podcastle's 0 for 2 on the flash fiction so far.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Tango Alpha Delta on April 20, 2008, 02:31:03 PM
I liked the way this gave a flip side to so many "giant" stories... mainly thinking of Jack and the Beanstalk.  (Although, sadly, my brain kept seeing friggin' Willy.)

(http://www.mpimages.net/mp/compressed/promotional/MICKEY09FF_23c.jpg)

There was something about the ending that misfired, but I can't put my finger on what it was.  Otherwise, I enjoyed the implications.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Darwinist on April 20, 2008, 03:33:16 PM
I give this story a "meh".  Loved the first Miniature, though. 
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: hautdesert on April 20, 2008, 04:30:51 PM
Just for information--I probably should have put this link in the blog post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giant_Who_Had_No_Heart_in_His_Body

(I've edited it in, and added a paragraph. Changed the heading at the top of this thread to reflect that. --Rachel )
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: ajames on April 21, 2008, 12:27:13 AM
I loved the narration - superb effort!

I enjoyed the story too, though the ending left me feeling that I had missed something. I suppose we saw the fatal moment, and the rest was inevitable. And it is interesting to consider why a giant without a heart would make a mistake, well, of the heart. So it challenges some conceptions. Not bad for less than 6 minutes.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Kaa on April 21, 2008, 04:05:41 PM
I liked this one. It was, in fact, one of the few flash pieces on Escape Pod, Pseudopod, or Podcastle that I have liked enough to want to post and say "I liked it."
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: eytanz on April 21, 2008, 04:46:42 PM
I really liked this one, especially when I try to take it on face value - I was thinking about it earlier and my thoughts went down some uncomfortable paths (this is a story, in a way, about a mentally disabled serial rapist who does not understand the import of his own actions), so I stopped, backed off those paths, and decided to enjoy the story as it is.

it is interesting to consider why a giant without a heart would make a mistake, well, of the heart. So it challenges some conceptions. Not bad for less than 6 minutes.

Good point.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: ChloeH on April 22, 2008, 01:37:33 PM
I really liked this story. I think though that the reason that I liked it was I have actually heard the story of the "Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body."

If you'd like to hear it their is a very good audio version from Dale Jarvis' website.

Hear is a link. (http://dalejarvis.blogspot.com/2007/04/world-storytelling-day-concert-2007.html)
This is from World Storytelling Day Concert 2007. It is the second story told.
Enjoy!
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: gelee on April 22, 2008, 03:02:52 PM
Nice short piece, and good reading, too.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: sonata on April 23, 2008, 09:39:14 PM
I really enjoyed this one, majority of it because the narration was done so well!

Please invite Jonathan Sullivan back sometime soon to read a longer story.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Tango Alpha Delta on April 24, 2008, 12:03:19 AM
I really enjoyed this one, majority of it because the narration was done so well!

Please invite Jonathan Sullivan back sometime soon to read a longer story.

"Sully Dog" is great... I just listened to him reading Escape Pod #14 today, by coincidence.  If you're not already an Escape Pod fan, you can find a lot of Jonathan Sullivan over there.  He has read a number of stories, done several movie reviews, and even wrote the first Escape Pod episode!

Welcome to the forums, by the way.  :)
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: DKT on April 24, 2008, 03:27:17 PM
Wow, I forgot what a great narrator Sully Dog is.  That was a fantastic reading.  Great story, too.  Very compelling writing that drew me in right away.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Rain on April 24, 2008, 04:06:40 PM
I kinda liked this one, i say kinda because it feels like half a story and it expects you to know the other part in advance, but still it wasnt bad, the flash fiction has been the best part of podcastle so far
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: JoeFitz on April 26, 2008, 03:45:25 AM
The story of a violent, abusive man abducting a helpless woman, raping her, raising their child and teaching the child how to abduct, rape and father a new generation fell flat for me. It does not help the story that the child may decide to break his father's "rules" and tell his rape victim that he has a heart so he can get _killed_ for having a heart. So then we are supposed to feel sorry for the giant?

Next please.

Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Tango Alpha Delta on April 26, 2008, 01:39:00 PM
The story of a violent, abusive man abducting a helpless woman, raping her, raising their child and teaching the child how to abduct, rape and father a new generation fell flat for me. It does not help the story that the child may decide to break his father's "rules" and tell his rape victim that he has a heart so he can get _killed_ for having a heart. So then we are supposed to feel sorry for the giant?

Next please.



Does it make you feel any better about it that Doom Is Approaching for the rapist?  What IS that smell, after all... it's Jack!   :o
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: multikay on April 30, 2008, 06:39:03 PM
I listened to this story on the subway on the way to work. Shortly after that disturbing news came from Austria. Once again, life imitates art in all the cruel ways.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Heradel on April 30, 2008, 07:44:47 PM
I listened to this story on the subway on the way to work. Shortly after that disturbing news came from Austria. Once again, life imitates art in all the cruel ways.

I don't think Giant was quite that dark. I'm not saying it wasn't dark, but the Austria thing was several shades past black hole black.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Unblinking on January 11, 2010, 06:00:07 PM
I've gotta agree with JoeFitz on this one, not much to like in the character, which makes it hard to like the story for me.

The heart separated from the body is a cool idea, but one I've heard before.  I hadn't seen the source material before, but the Davey Jones character in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies has a similar situation, and I've seen phylacteries elsewhere.  Phylacteries are a cool idea, but I still want to care about the protagonist.


AND this marks the end of my threadomancy here on Podcastle, as I've run out of things to comment on.  Now to board the mothership!  Off to Escape Pod!
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Unblinking on January 11, 2010, 06:01:00 PM
Also, I find it amusing that the 2nd Miniature was titled "Giant".  If only the 2nd Giant had been titled "Miniature" to close the loop.  ;)
Title: Re: PC Miniature 002: Giant
Post by: Malapropos de Rien on May 27, 2010, 06:06:50 PM
I see no stickies forbidding a new subscriber from commenting on old stories which are nevertheless new to me (and really, why would one want to discourage commenting on a story, however long ago it was posted?), so here's what I thought:

I was not familiar with the particular story "Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body" (though I am familiar with the concept of phylacteries), so this story left many unanswered questions for me, such as the actual identity of the smell of rotting meat.  I read the linked story afterward, so I believe I understand that bit now.

My interpretation of this version of the story is as a total inversion.  The princess really did fall for him, murdered her would-be rescuer, hiding the body, and she will not use his trust against him, all unlike what happened in the original version.  Thoughts?