Author Topic: PC638: Slipping the Leash  (Read 1545 times)

Ocicat

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on: August 05, 2020, 10:45:08 PM
PodCastle 638: Slipping the Leash

Author: Dan Micklethwaite
Narrator: Austin Malone
Host: Setsu Uzume
Audio Producer: Peter Behravesh

PodCastle 638: Slipping the Leash is a PodCastle original.

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Show Notes
Rated PG-13.



It is 1958, and Aloysius Proctor has survived a war, and survived the clap, and he is married to Delilah, with whom he has fathered two beautiful children, both of them sons, and he is the second-ranked salesman in the premier automobile showroom in town, and he should be happy with life, shouldn’t he, or at the very least content. He should have put this behind him; buried it deep with his friends from the Corps.

You’re thirty-five, for Chrissake! — what his daddy had told him. You’ve got to grow the hell up! You’ve got to be a good family man, just like I’ve done.

The belt-buckle scar tissue burns Louie’s torso, scorches his forearms, singes his back. The shrapnel scars too, on his upper right thigh. He tries not to laugh. He tries not to cry. Tries not to think that he should have stayed home, and spent time with his kids just to prove that he loves them. Shouldn’t be toting this battered black case, with the scratch-marks tattooed on the stainless steel clasps.

Shouldn’t.

Should not.




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Languorous Lass

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Reply #1 on: August 06, 2020, 12:54:18 PM
It took me a bit to realize that the story was told in poetic meter (not sure which one, except that it’s not iambic pentameter).  Once I noticed, though, I listened with increasing delight.  A real tour de force, especially in the subtle way it was done — both by author Micklethwaite and narrator Austin Malone, who could easily have overemphasized the rhythm and made it clunky.  Bravo to all! 



cwthree

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Reply #2 on: December 06, 2020, 03:08:35 AM
The poetic meter creeps up on you. It's not there at all in the first paragraph, but by the time Aloysius enters the club, it's undeniable, and it gets stronger from there. The slow transition perfectly matches Aloysius' transformation. I love that the reader never knows for sure if he's a literal werewolf or if he's only figuratively transformed during his periodic forays into this other life of his.

On a technical note, I'd describe the meter as a double dactylic tetrameter. That is, each line is a pair of four beat phrases, where each beat is a triplet (strong-weak-weak or short-long). As the story builds, the meter becomes more pronounced AND each pair of phrases become more clearly related or complementary (think Beowulf, or the Psalms).

All in all, beautifully done.



Bushmiatias

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Reply #3 on: January 08, 2021, 06:55:26 AM
Once I noticed, though, I listened with increasing delight.  A real tour de force, especially in the subtle way it was done Omegle Online
« Last Edit: January 09, 2021, 04:57:09 AM by Bushmiatias »