Author Topic: PC154: Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Under the Still Waters  (Read 35415 times)

Fenrix

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Wasn't there a time lag between the storm and the levee breaking?

Details like "watching the rain fall sideways" and "driving wind" make me think that first conversation was actually supposed to be during the storm.

I'll pay better attention next listen. This didn't make an impact on me.

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Scattercat

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Wasn't there a time lag between the storm and the levee breaking?

Details like "watching the rain fall sideways" and "driving wind" make me think that first conversation was actually supposed to be during the storm.

I got the impression that the first conversation was in the early parts of the storm, when it's just starting to get bad, and the latter parts took place after the majority of the storm was past.



Calculating...

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Thoroughly enjoyed this one.  I'm a middle aged, upper middle class white man in New England, and this story really brought home to me what the poor souls of the ninth ward(as well as many other locations in the South) went through in 2005, and what that city is still going through today.  It will never be the same city, and it angers me that so many people are intent on keeping out the poor from the ninth ward so they can rebuild it as trendy housing and shopping for rich white people.

That is not what is happening in the ninth ward. Many people who lived there have chosen not to return to the city, they lived in a bad neighborhood in not so great housing to begin with, and the storm took what little they had. They have made their choice to move somewhere else and start over. So a lot of the area is remaining unused and empty. There are houses being built in that area now that are a he'll of a lot better than what was there before, but that doesn't mean it's a shopping mall for rich white people. What pisses me off is the people who come to visit and take 'destruction tours'. What is wrong with people that they feel the need to see the area where the storm was the worst? That is something I will never understand.
The  9th ward will not be anything like what is was before, and honestly that's not a bad thing. People living there now have better houses and the levee will never be faulty again in that area. But trust me it's still not the best neighborhood and 'rich white people' are the minority in this city and none of them are moving initial that neighborhood and would not want to shop there anytime soon. Sucks but it's true.

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Thoroughly enjoyed this one.  I'm a middle aged, upper middle class white man in New England, and this story really brought home to me what the poor souls of the ninth ward(as well as many other locations in the South) went through in 2005, and what that city is still going through today.  It will never be the same city, and it angers me that so many people are intent on keeping out the poor from the ninth ward so they can rebuild it as trendy housing and shopping for rich white people.
What is wrong with people that they feel the need to see the area where the storm was the worst? That is something I will never understand.

I'm assuming they want to have some idea of what these people went though, to get a clearer idea of the devastation than TV or first-hand accounts can provide. I don't think there's anything terribly abnormal about that. I mean I suppose some people are there for the "car crash" factor, but I expect they are the minority rather than the rule.



Gamercow

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[lots of great info]

Thanks for clearing this up for me.  I've heard many versions of what is going on, and yours seems the most sensible.  Part of what colored my view was my experience with South Boston .

I also do not understand the destruction tours, I mean, why not take the money you spent on the tour and give it to a Katrina charity?  I guess what Talia says makes sense, that people want to understand first hand what people are going through, but I don't comprehend that mindset, personally.

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Really fantastic tale that nailed two things I like in a story:major disasters and the casual mixing of the fantastic and the mundane. I wasn't put off by the readiness with which Tookie accepted the talking lizard. Really big storms or disasters of any kind can get pretty surreal. There comes a point where your environment lacks credibility. Your neighbor's SUV can't be buried in snow. The house down the street can't have just been torn in half by a tornado, especially when the two next door are fine. That can't really be Mr. and Mrs. Morgan paddling down the street in a canoe.

In short, this is the right environment to build a fantasy story.

Great reading by Laurice White. Characters' voices were really distinct.


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Devoted135

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Wow. I loved the reading, I thought the mixing of reality and fantasy was incredibly well done, and the characters were all believable, even as they changed over time. I also thought that the slow reveal of the haint was awesome- the first hint of it came and went so quickly I was wondering if I just misheard something, the next mention was a little more explicit and a little more ominous, etc... I think this one will stick with me for a while :)



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Entertaining! The banter between Tookie and the lizard was great, and the casual surreality was surprisingly easy to accept. The ending was pretty well telegraphed, but getting there sure was a fun trip. The moment of suspicion between Tookie and the old woman whom he'd rescued was really telling- the human condition covers a wide spectrum between light and darkness. Like the story says, humans don't need magic to do evil shit. Finally, Laurice's reading really wowed me. I checked out her website, and although I generally find audio erotica trite, if any voice can make it work, it might be hers.

-Dave (aka Nev the Deranged)


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This was a great story.  And, once again, Laurice White astounds!  And it's more than just the authentic accent.  Like the linked website says: "There is power and beauty in the single human voice."

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stePH

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I'm only twenty-one minutes in, but this story had me from the moment the dragon strikes up conversation with Tookie. The reader is excellent (but slow; I guess that's why this one clocks in at an-hour-and-eight.)

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Fenrix

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The reader is excellent (but slow; I guess that's why this one clocks in at an-hour-and-eight.)

The speed is regionally appropriate though. Why you such a hurry, sugar?

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


stePH

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The reader is excellent (but slow; I guess that's why this one clocks in at an-hour-and-eight.)

The speed is regionally appropriate though. Why you such a hurry, sugar?

I've just noticed that Podcastle stories tend toward the long end of the spectrum, even the ones that aren't designated "Giant". Fifty minutes to an hour is not uncommon. Pseudopods tend to be much shorter, about a half hour or less, with Escape Pod stories comfortably between.

At least, that's how it seems to my memory.

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DKT

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The reader is excellent (but slow; I guess that's why this one clocks in at an-hour-and-eight.)

The speed is regionally appropriate though. Why you such a hurry, sugar?

I've just noticed that Podcastle stories tend toward the long end of the spectrum, even the ones that aren't designated "Giant". Fifty minutes to an hour is not uncommon. Pseudopods tend to be much shorter, about a half hour or less, with Escape Pod stories comfortably between.

At least, that's how it seems to my memory.

This is actually a good example of how a reader's own pace impacts the story. There's about 7,400 words in this story, so it is kind of long (although yeah, it seems we tend to prefer longer stories to shorter ones). Anyway, it's still a couple thousand plus words shorter than Giants. Those are 10,000+

Some narrators read faster than others, and they both have their uses for different types of stories. That said, I wouldn't trade Laurice's reading for anyone else's   :D


stePH

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Some narrators read faster than others, and they both have their uses for different types of stories. That said, I wouldn't trade Laurice's reading for anyone else's   :D

Agreed; I was hooked almost from the first, with the voice characterizations of Tookie and the dragon.

Have I said "Cool story, bro!" yet? <skim upthread>. Nope, guess not... Cool story, bro!

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zoanon

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I was bored, maybe it was the mood I was in but I couldn't finish this boring story.



eytanz

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Not too much to say about this one - it's length meant that I took a while before I found the time to listen to it comfortably, but I'm really glad I did - I enjoyed it very much. And I'd like to agree with all the praise put on the narrator - it was a perfect reading for this story and really elevated it.



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This story was splendid and could not have had a better reader.  Laurice's voice took the story to a whole new place.  Masterful!!!



mbrennan

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Oh, that was lovely.

Normally I chafe a bit at slow narration (especially when the story is as long as this one), but in this case a faster reading would have really destroyed the atmosphere.  There's such beauty in different ways of speaking; I wouldn't want a New Orleans narrator to be going at the pace of a New Yorker.  So include me in the chorus of praise for Laurice White.

And a beautiful story, too, both on the level of the idea and its telling.  People with that kind of strong connection to their city are one of the tropes I go squish for, so Tookie's fierce devotion to New Orleans at the climax, and his awareness of how it had shaped him, got me like an arrow to the heart.  I also very much appreciated the story framing the post-hurricane ugliness as coming from inside people, not being imposed on them by the Plot Monster (though the monster can bring it out of them).  A wealth of wonderful details, too, from the phrasing of the dialogue to the well-observed detail of the environment.  Lovely, lovely stuff.



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::in the middle of listening::

Tookie: I got some Vienna Sausages....

::DIES::::DIES::::DIES::::DIES::::DIES::::DIES::

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You know, I can't remember: Did Laurice say that in the proper southern way? "vie EE na" (or possibly vie EE ner) :)

I invent imaginary people and make them have conversations in my head. I also write.

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LaShawn

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Okay. Finished listening.

Man, I swear, Laurice was channeling my great-grandma Vashti. That was such a beautiful narration. And the story! This will be my favorite story from NK so far. Loved Tookie, loved the storm lizard, LOOOOOVED the "old biddy"! And Laurice's reading put it way over the top. I really did feel like I was five years old again listening to my great grandma tell stories (though, to be honest, I have more memories of her yelling at us kids to quit jumpin on her furniture).

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rusticstudio

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I've never posted about a story before, but this one was so enjoyable, that I am moved to comment.

I echo much of the praise above. The story was completely engaging and the reading was fantastic!

I am not from New Orleans, but it does hold a special place in my heart.  I can imagine that anyone
born and bred there would have a fierce loyalty.

I found the relationship between Tookie and the lizard to be quite charming. It seemed to me that
the mutual respect between them was a rare and welcome thing. I got choked up when they had
to say goodbye.

I don't have the words to adequately describe how I felt about this story and how much it touched me.

Thank you to the author, the reader, and to Podcastle for sharing it with us!
"I'm gonna go eat my thanks right now!"

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Paranatural

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I got a backlog of podcasts to get through and just started making my way through the ones on podcastle. Got to this one last week and was kinda nervous about it. I'm from the red stick myself but I've spent a lotta time in NOLA and lived there for a while. I love it there. The author, she did a pretty decent job. Got some stuff right, which I thought was nice. In all, I liked it.



Fenrix

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Listened to this again with the wife. She wanted me to pass along that she thought this was the best story any of the 'casts has ever run. Also, it made her cry. Again thanks for sitting on this until you had the perfect narrator. This will be in my top stories to suggest to folks to sell them on listening to EA.

Quote
Quote
Wasn't there a time lag between the storm and the levee breaking?

Details like "watching the rain fall sideways" and "driving wind" make me think that first conversation was actually supposed to be during the storm.

I got the impression that the first conversation was in the early parts of the storm, when it's just starting to get bad, and the latter parts took place after the majority of the storm was past.

Upon the second listen, I concur with Scattercat's assessment here.

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


Fenrix

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For those of you who loved Laurice's reading here, go check out the latest at PseudoPod. She really elevated the reading of The Eater. If you like the dungeons in the 'Castle you'll like that dark tale.

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