Pseudopod 254: The Blood Garden

[Umbrageofsnow]

This is my first published story, and I basically wrote it with Pseudopod in mind.

So, Pseudopod editors, why no "Pseudopod Original !" like Podcastle and Escape Pod do?  It's helpful to know what stories are reprints and which ones are not.  Either way, thank you for the clarification, Jesse. 

Any thoughts on why you quote such a long section of Kubla Khan instead of more of the original?  "His flashing eyes, his floating hair" is probably my favorite line of Kubla Khan, so I don't begrudge you that, but why include the bit of actual pleasure dome stuff?  Just for the whole air/there/Beware/hair ryhme?

It's a great poem, but it stood out from the rest of the story in a weird way for me.  The one original "she was alone when she died" line mixed in is neat, but with just under 2/3 of the original poem quoted, it jumped out.  The garden isn't terribly pleasure dome related, and Matthew wasn't talking about Kubla Khan, Liz was. 

I've been forcing this story on people lately, and pretty popular among my old literature-arguing college friends.

[Sgarre1]

So, Pseudopod editors, why no "Pseudopod Original !" like Podcastle and Escape Pod do?  It's helpful to know what stories are reprints and which ones are not.  Either way, thank you for the clarification, Jesse.

(scratches head) I don't know - because lots of authors skip that part of the questionnaire and so we don't think of clarifying it until too late? If we do get the info, Al will usually state it in the intro and if there's a link to the previously published story, we try to provide it.  Hanging on by the fingernails sometimes....

[JesseLivingston]

Any thoughts on why you quote such a long section of Kubla Khan instead of more of the original?  "His flashing eyes, his floating hair" is probably my favorite line of Kubla Khan, so I don't begrudge you that, but why include the bit of actual pleasure dome stuff?  Just for the whole air/there/Beware/hair ryhme?

It's a great poem, but it stood out from the rest of the story in a weird way for me.  The one original "she was alone when she died" line mixed in is neat, but with just under 2/3 of the original poem quoted, it jumped out.  The garden isn't terribly pleasure dome related, and Matthew wasn't talking about Kubla Khan, Liz was. 

That's a good question, and I'm not sure I have a satisfactory answer for you. That section was something I threw in at the last minute, because it felt right. You're right, Matthew wasn't talking about "Kubla Khan," but it was the last thing he heard the others discussing before he left, so it was kind of floating around in his subconscious. It was supposed to be an example of poetry and real-life clashing. The statement "She was alone when she died" is just one line, but it eclipses the meaning of all the other lines, because it's real and it actually happened (of course, here we get into a grey area, because it DIDN'T actually happen--but in the story's reality, it did). Basically, it was supposed to represent how the reality of that one event is more profound in Matthew's emotional life than all the beauty of all the poems in the world. However, I also liked the contrast between the gardens around the pleasure dome and the garden appearing in the suburban neighborhood. So, the short answer is, it worked for me, but who knows if it worked for anyone else.

I've been forcing this story on people lately, and pretty popular among my old literature-arguing college friends.

Ha! Awesome. Thanks for telling people about it. I hope they get a kick out of it.

Jesse

[Unblinking]

So, Pseudopod editors, why no "Pseudopod Original !" like Podcastle and Escape Pod do?  It's helpful to know what stories are reprints and which ones are not.  Either way, thank you for the clarification, Jesse.

(scratches head) I don't know - because lots of authors skip that part of the questionnaire and so we don't think of clarifying it until too late? If we do get the info, Al will usually state it in the intro and if there's a link to the previously published story, we try to provide it.  Hanging on by the fingernails sometimes....

I thought the reason might be is that Pseudopod Originals are less rare than Podcastle originals. If I remember correctly, Podcastle has had about 2 originals "Smokestacks Like the Arms of Gods, and one other that isn't coming to mind).  Pseudopod published previously unpublished stories much more often, so that was my guess at the reason.

[Milk]

Having been a grad student, that section of the story really rang true.  Don't get me wrong, there were friends who truly cared about you, but there were a lot who had no real empathy, and used people as an excuse to sound their academic opinions. Exactly the wrong people to count on during a serious crisis in one's life.  While the second seems like it follows from the disconnect the protagonist feels from the world surrounding him.