Escape Artists

PodCastle => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Heradel on July 19, 2010, 06:53:37 PM

Title: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: Heradel on July 19, 2010, 06:53:37 PM
PodCastle Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts) (http://podcastle.org/2010/07/18/podcastle-miniature-52-the-sphinx-in-thebes-massachusetts/)

by Lord Dunsany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Plunkett,_18th_Baron_of_Dunsany), who is dead.
Read by Steve Anderson (http://www.sgacreative.com/), who is not.

There was a woman in a steel-built city who had all that money could buy, she had gold and dividends and trains and houses, and she had pets to play with, but she had no sphinx.
So she besought them to bring her a live sphinx; and therefore they went to the menageries, and then to the forests and the desert places, and yet could find no sphinx.

Rated PG: Contains Riddles, Greed, and Death
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: eytanz on July 19, 2010, 10:21:02 PM
Oh, a Lord Dunsany story is always a treat, and this one was no exception. Great reading by Steve Anderson.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: Unblinking on July 21, 2010, 01:18:40 PM
Quote
by Lord Dunsany, who is dead.
Read by Steve Anderson, who is not.

 :D

I generally like Lord Dunsany, but I feel like I missed the point of this one.  And the POV character I had no idea about, halfway through the story she started taking supernatural traits.  The time period was completely unclear unless you take the title into consideration.  Ultimately not very memorable for me.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: ElectricPaladin on July 21, 2010, 05:43:33 PM
I love Lord Dunsany's sense of drama and naughtiness, and I feel that both were expressed brilliantly by the reader in this case. Dunsany often has a slightly self-conscious sense that he is playing with the myths; screwing them up, messing them around, and generally making a delightful mess of things. It's one of the things he has over Tolkien, who usually takes himself more seriously.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: stePH on July 21, 2010, 08:00:18 PM
My reaction to this story:

"um... what?"  ???
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: LadyofFate on July 28, 2010, 01:55:28 AM
Totally failed to see the point of this story. I once heard a short song that is these words sung very slowly "I... just wasted... ten seconds of your liiiife...."

That's more or less how I felt at the end of this story.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: Scattercat on July 28, 2010, 02:37:31 AM
Man, hatahz gonna hate, but Lord Dunsany still be up in the hizzouse of flizzash fizziction.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: ElectricPaladin on July 28, 2010, 02:43:52 AM
Man, hatahz gonna hate, but Lord Dunsany still be up in the hizzouse of flizzash fizziction.

Peace.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: DKT on July 28, 2010, 03:51:13 AM
Man, hatahz gonna hate, but Lord Dunsany still be up in the hizzouse of flizzash fizziction.

If only we did feedbacks for miniatures.

*Sigh*
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: Unblinking on July 28, 2010, 02:12:13 PM
Man, hatahz gonna hate, but Lord Dunsany still be up in the hizzouse of flizzash fizziction.

If only we did feedbacks for miniatures.

*Sigh*

Why can't you?
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: DKT on July 28, 2010, 04:10:30 PM
Well, technically, we could. I'm just doubtful people want us to take up airtime talking about a prior flash fiction story - especially when the feedback/credits/etc. would be longer than the story it's running with. But I could be wrong.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: Scattercat on July 28, 2010, 05:03:43 PM
All I'm sayin' is the boy got skillz. 

If you liked this story, then there's not much to say 'cause it's barely a drabble.  If you didn't, then you come in and say so.  Thread was all like, "Thpppt" and I was like, "Hey, but woot too, mang, you know?"
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: ElectricPaladin on July 28, 2010, 05:27:52 PM
All I'm sayin' is the boy got skillz. 

If you liked this story, then there's not much to say 'cause it's barely a drabble.  If you didn't, then you come in and say so.  Thread was all like, "Thpppt" and I was like, "Hey, but woot too, mang, you know?"

Word.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: FireTurtle on August 18, 2010, 10:23:45 PM
Yeah, I just listened today. I'm getting so far behind! But, (and I wish I was as eloquent as Scattercat) I love me a fast paced tale with just a soupçon of naughty. Mmmmmm.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: LaShawn on October 04, 2010, 04:45:00 PM
When I first read this, I was like, "Dude...why wasn't this submitted to the Podcastle contest? This would've ROCKED! That last line...sheer brillance."
Then I learned who it was from...and his current state of non-existance.

...

Well. That's still no excuse.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: girlwithsixarms on October 05, 2010, 01:24:55 AM
I found this a little mystifying - sounded cool, but I couldn't get much more out of it.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: Unblinking on October 05, 2010, 01:32:15 PM
When I first read this, I was like, "Dude...why wasn't this submitted to the Podcastle contest? This would've ROCKED! That last line...sheer brillance."
Then I learned who it was from...and his current state of non-existance.

...

Well. That's still no excuse.

I don't think any of the rules prohibited entries from the formerly living.
Title: Re: PC Miniature 52: The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)
Post by: Fenrix on November 22, 2011, 08:47:01 PM
All I'm sayin' is the boy got skillz. 

If you liked this story, then there's not much to say 'cause it's barely a drabble.  If you didn't, then you come in and say so.  Thread was all like, "Thpppt" and I was like, "Hey, but woot too, mang, you know?"

Thpppt