PseudoPod 676: Things My Father Taught Me

[Bdoomed]

PseudoPod 676: Things My Father Taught Me

Author: Rhoads Brazos
Narrator: Hollis Monroe
Host: Alasdair Stuart
Audio Producer: Chelsea Davis

PseudoPod 676: Things My Father Taught Me is a PseudoPod original.


Content Warning:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bigotry, genocide

Show Notes
This story is based upon Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” though it’s set in modern-day Nigeria rather than colonial times. Beyond the locale, it has a few deliberate parallels. I loved how Achebe qualified the characters’ actions with wise sayings, which is something we’ve all seen before, but I have a soft spot for the device. The characters use the voice of tradition to give their actions weight, and so that’s an idea here too. Even the title speaks to it. With all the Shakespearean suffering in the original, I was convinced Achebe would focus on a father’s loss of a son. I’m still surprised that that was just a background detail, and so “Things My Father Taught Me” is the separation I wanted to see. It’s that same loss with a new family.


My father taught me old knowledge, not all of it useful. It was mostly platitudes that sounded profound until you realized that they were just the logic of one’s own wits. But I hold to this: If a man wants to go quickly, he travels alone. If he wants to go far, he travels with friends. Simple, direct, useful. I wanted to go far.

I was with Bwambale when he found the grenade amongst the scrapyard’s refuse. His uncle owned the business, an acre of steel skeletons rising from rust scale sheddings, and we often rooted about the new collections. His uncle was not a generous man, but if he didn’t know what it was that we had found, like the grenade, then we might pick it up cheap. Which is what happened.

And so afterwards, the three of us–Bwambale, myself, and our friend Godfrey–crouched in the dust behind the Soroti central market, looking as if we were throwing dice in its scant shade. The grenade sat between us like a squat little god.


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[davidthygod]

Seriously, one of the best readings ever.  Great voice for podcast.  I enjoyed the story a lot.   Quite disturbing, very up my alley.

[Fenrix]

Seriously, one of the best readings ever.  Great voice for podcast. 

Hollis is phenomenal. All his narrations are worth listening to, but make sure to not miss "The Comet." http://pseudopod.org/people/hollis-monroe/

[Marlboro]

His work on episode 531: Gleed was also excellent.