Escape Artists
PodCastle => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Heradel on August 29, 2009, 02:01:27 AM
-
PC Miniature 37: Hall Of Mirrors (http://podcastle.org/2009/08/28/pc-miniature-37-hall-of-mirrors/)
By Bruce Holland Rogers (http://www.sff.net/people/bruce/).
Read by Barry Deutsch (http://www.hereville.com/).
One afternoon during his lunch hour, Emory wasn’t feeling particularly hungry. It was the monthly free-admission day at the art museum, so instead of getting a sandwich he went in to look at paintings. “This one,” he said to himself, “makes me think of flying, except that the blue is not right for the sky. It is more of a painting about sorrow, I think. Of flying through sorrow.”
Emory was in the habit of mumbling his thoughts aloud, but usually he was so quiet, his words so indistinct, that no one knew what he was saying. This time, however, a woman who stood near him said, “Interesting. Then what do you make of the companion piece?”
He looked at her as she stood waiting, an earnest expression on her face. He nearly apologized, nearly told her that he knew nothing about art. But then he glanced at the second painting and the words were out of his mouth, clearly and distinctly this time. “All that whiteness makes me think of hospitals. The jagged line there, the bucket that is tipped over but isn’t spilling a drop — it must be the psychiatric ward of the hospital. The yellow corners, the dead flies make sure that I know not to take comfort in the whiteness. Fear of insanity. That’s what I see.”
Rated PG. for reflected nihilism.
-
I liked this one. I really enjoyed how he got droves of adoring fans by saying random things. I'm not quite sure how the multiplication connects with that (I was probably laughing too much when that detail came up), but that was funny too.
-
I liked this one a lot. Clever, well-written, and perfectly paced.
-
Didn't suck! :)
-
Cute. Ended rather suddenly, though -- felt to me like the author didn't quite know how to finish off what they'd started.
The narration was a little too "mannered" or "staged" for me.
-
I liked how self-reference and breaking the fourth wall is mocked(breaking the fifth wall?). ???
-
This one is one of my favorite BHR stories. The premise is interesting, the ending is a bit surprising, it's exactly as long as it should be and no longer. Plus I like that you could view it as a just-so story about the origin of the internal critic.
-
I did enjoy this up until the end. I still can't put together how he multiplied himself with mirrors. Although this is a perfect example of how people will believe any crap if they think the person is knowledgable. I am surprised the followers didn't ask Emery to comment on their farts. The mob checks their brains at the door and let's Emery do all the critical thinking.... Hmmm... I wonder if that was the intention, I better find Emery and ask his opinion.
-
I did enjoy this up until the end. I still can't put together how he multiplied himself with mirrors. Although this is a perfect example of how people will believe any crap if they think the person is knowledgable. [...]
Magic is knowing one more thing than your audience.
-
I made the mistake of listening to this twice while very tired from moving, and fell asleep, through no fault of the author or reader. I amended the situation by listening a third time in my car (and obviously NOT falling asleep) and enjoyed the story quite a bit. The multiplying Emorys seemed logical, as I felt that just as his audience was affected by his interpretations, he was affected by seeing himself over and over, and "worked the magic" on himself. I wondered, once the story ended, how long it would take to fill up the rest of that world with copies of him.
-
I remember this reader from "On the Banks of the River of Heaven," and he still doesn't work for me. It feels like he's taken the advice to read slowly TOO much to heart -- I kept thinking the story would have been three minutes shorter if it had gone at a more natural pace. I almost stopped listening because the pauses. were driving. me batty; had it been a full-sized piece, rather than a miniature, I probably would have quit.
-
I really liked this. The tie up was odd.. but good overall
-
Cute story. I didn't get how he started multiplying at the end, but it was still funny. In fact, I think there's an Emory in my head now, telling me to rewrite that last sentence...
-
Meta-fiction!!! Yeah, I like a good piece of meta-fiction and this was one of those. I loved how one of the multiples was standing behind the writer commenting on the ending of the story, which ended up being incorporated into the ending.
The characters aren't really deep, but that didn't bother me in something so short. It's a great premise for flash fiction. Good show!