Author Topic: PC153: The Ghosts Of New York  (Read 23440 times)

Gamercow

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Reply #50 on: June 10, 2011, 06:50:26 PM
I'd get defensive/annoyed rather than acknowledge any point you made.

This.  Due to forum rules, I will not say what I really want to say.  But, seriously, have some tact and class.

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Atras

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Reply #51 on: June 13, 2011, 08:31:48 PM
Talia, thanks for the head's up.  Gamercow, I edited it so that my feelings don't get in the way of my message.  Feel free to PM me what you really want to say, I can handle it.



Wilson Fowlie

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Reply #52 on: June 14, 2011, 05:45:21 PM
I edited it so that my feelings don't get in the way of my message.

I like it much better now. Thanks for taking the time!

One thing you might consider (if not this occasion, then if you find yourself editing another post in the future) is a short note to indicate the nature of your edit, particularly if you change/excise something that someone refers to downstream.

Also, in case no one has already pointed you in that direction, here's a post that says more about tone in posts, though I think Talia did a really good job of getting the idea across.



Edit: Added the link, plus this illustrative example.  ;)
« Last Edit: June 14, 2011, 05:52:33 PM by Wilson Fowlie »

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LaShawn

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Reply #53 on: June 15, 2011, 05:03:09 PM
I'm listening to this story now, but wanted to make my comments while it's still fresh in my mind.

I had the advantage of reading this story first a couple of weeks ago when I bought a copy of Dark Faith, which is a collection of horror and dark fantasy stories exploring the nature of faith. This was the first story in the anthology, and when I read it, I wondered, how is this considered horror?

The extent of my 9/11 experience was living near O'hare Airport and having all the planes grounded. For me, the terror and fear of that day was looking the sky and seeing no planes at all. I remember fearing for my boss, who was traveling overseas. And I remember watching the planes hit the buildings and the towers fall, but through the remove of the TV screen.

In some ways, hearing this brings back those feelings, but putting it in a more meaningful context. While I was reading the story, I still felt a little removed because it's easy to skip over the passages that make you uncomfortable. Not so in audio form. I'm finding it very hard to listen to the story, even though I was fine reading it, even thinking arrogantly, "Well, that was a tame story." (and trust me, compared to some of the other stories in the anthology, it *did* feel quite time. Get Dark Faith if you like to get scared out of your wits. Brr.) There is something about the audio form of a story where you hear the emotion, and its all the more stronger. Two weeks after I read this story, I had a chance to do a reading with K. Tempest Bradford at Wiscon, who read a story of hers that also deals with 9/11. Although the setting isn't in New York, more of an Ethiopian setting, it was so strong and visceral it left me devastated. Devasted. And it was quite the powerful story.

So I'm not surprised that this story brought out a lot of strong emotion. Personally, I thought it was very well done. Oddly, in listening to it, I can't help but now think, "Man, why wasn't this put on Psuedopod?"

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Sgarre1

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Reply #54 on: June 15, 2011, 10:24:45 PM
Quote
Oddly, in listening to it, I can't help but now think, "Man, why wasn't this put on Psuedopod?"

And the answer is...ding! ding!  "Wasn't submitted to us"!



justenjoying

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Reply #55 on: January 24, 2012, 05:58:54 AM
I liked this take on tramatic deaths. It was obviously a story that started with the twin tower attacks and got expanded from there. It was tasteful and ultimately uplifting, even if butal in some areas. I really enjoyed and it will stick with me. It gave me a new perspective on a topic I may have spent a little too much time thinking about.



Fenrix

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Reply #56 on: February 18, 2012, 06:37:09 AM
I'm not unhappy that I listened to this story, but I'm not going to share this one with the wife. I'm pretty confident that she would be on the viscerally negative side of the feedback.

Something that I see recurring in the feedback here is folks mistaking that the only ghosts were of jumpers. That's all the protagonist saw at the beginning, but I recall other ghosts from other tragedies (floods and fires) becoming upset because they had almost been forgotten.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


Scattercat

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Reply #57 on: February 18, 2012, 08:31:13 AM
The other tragedy ghosts explicitly told the protagonist that only people who died of jumping stayed as ghosts.  Those ghosts jumped from burning buildings, boats, bridges, etc.



Fenrix

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Reply #58 on: February 20, 2012, 03:08:12 PM
The other tragedy ghosts explicitly told the protagonist that only people who died of jumping stayed as ghosts.  Those ghosts jumped from burning buildings, boats, bridges, etc.

There's a good chance I misremembered or misinterpreted what I heard. But I'm not engaged enough to relisten to the story to confirm one way or the other.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


danooli

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Reply #59 on: September 11, 2014, 03:58:33 PM
I'm planning on giving this a listen today...