Author Topic: EP610: The Sweetness at the End  (Read 4600 times)

eytanz

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 6109
on: January 20, 2018, 05:19:34 PM
Escape Pod 610: The Sweetness at the End

AUTHOR : Jenny Rae Rappaport
NARRATOR : Diane Severson Mori
HOST: Mur Lafferty

---

Tony and Ma are in their seats in the skimmer, strapped in and grinning at us. Daddy and I kiss them good bye; take a photo of them in their spacesuits for posterity, and wave at them. We stay behind at the Kennedy Space Center–there’s a viewing room that has live GPS tracking available for suborbital flights.

This is a huge thing for Ma. Positively, absolutely huge. She’s wanted to go to space since she was a little girl, and watched that old space shuttle explode on TV. The one with the teacher and all. Way before I got here, of course.

No one takes you to space when you’re old. Or if you take a medicine or two, here and there, because again–old. Old rules you out of almost everything fun. Money can overrule some of the old, but we don’t have that much money.

But then, Tony got his suborbital license. And no one regulates who you take up in a SubOrb plane; as long as you file your flight plan in advance, the government can’t really say anything. So Ma was going to get to go up as far as they would let her, all without having to pay anything to the expensive SubOrb tour companies. Tony had managed to snag the use of a plane from a guy he knew from training; otherwise, it would have still been way too expensive.


Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!



Frank Evans

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 537
    • All of Algonquin
Reply #1 on: January 24, 2018, 05:30:07 PM
I thought this was an interesting idea. It didn't quite land with me though. I found the MC's voice to be much younger seeming than their supposed age, to the point where it was distracting. I kept thinking I was listening to a character who was at most 8-10 years old, which, if I was understanding things correctly, was at least 10-15 years younger than she actually was. (This isn't a comment on the narration, which was top notch, but on the character voice). 



Scuba Man

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 353
  • Drabblecast, Pseudopod, Escapepod, Podcastle
    • Black Cat Bed And Breakfast (proposed start up 2024)
Reply #2 on: January 25, 2018, 10:08:35 PM
I’ll try listening to it again later. It’d didn’t catch my interest in the first 5 or so minutes. Pity.

I'm a stand-up philosopher until 2024. Then, I move onto my next gig. I'm a gentleman forester and farmer. I also enjoy jumping into Lake Huron and panicking the fish.


CryptoMe

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1146
Reply #3 on: January 26, 2018, 04:15:02 PM
The point of the multiple outcomes was completely lost on me. If anyone could explain that to me, it would be greatly appreciated.

My biggest take away from this story was the edible sugar soda bulb. I am so ambivalent about this. On the one hand I love it. It's a total environmental win!! On the other hand it's a terrible idea. More sugar in addition to what's in the soda? Don't we already have an obesity epidemic?



Katzentatzen

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 212
Reply #4 on: February 07, 2018, 03:05:55 PM
I really loved this. The unreliable narrator spinning could-have-beens, this is what happens in your brain when you lose someone.

"To understand a cat you must realize that he has his own gifts, his own viewpoint, even his own morality."
--LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN


bckinney

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 18
    • Benjamin C Kinney
Reply #5 on: February 25, 2018, 03:53:38 AM
The point of the multiple outcomes was completely lost on me. If anyone could explain that to me, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here's my take on it: The story structure is evoking the grief of unexpected death. It denies you (the listener) closure, preventing you from getting endings that make sense, leaving you unsettled and unanchored - just as the narrator is. And because this is a first-person story, "story structure" means "the narrator's experience." It's not just a writing trick (though it's an excellent writing trick!), it's a way to push you headfirst into the narrator's grief and disquiet.

Escape Pod assistant editor, SFF author, neuroscientist.
http://benjaminckinney.com
@BenCKinney


CryptoMe

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1146
Reply #6 on: March 09, 2018, 04:46:02 PM
The point of the multiple outcomes was completely lost on me. If anyone could explain that to me, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here's my take on it: The story structure is evoking the grief of unexpected death. It denies you (the listener) closure, preventing you from getting endings that make sense, leaving you unsettled and unanchored - just as the narrator is. And because this is a first-person story, "story structure" means "the narrator's experience." It's not just a writing trick (though it's an excellent writing trick!), it's a way to push you headfirst into the narrator's grief and disquiet.

Thank you for the insight, bckinney. Interesting idea. Though I don't think it worked on me.