Escape Artists
PodCastle => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Ocicat on June 27, 2011, 06:50:01 PM
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PodCastle Miniature 63: The Trouble In Leafy Green Street (http://podcastle.org/2011/06/27/podcastle-miniature-the-trouble-in-leafy-green-street/)
By Lord Dunsany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Plunkett,_18th_Baron_of_Dunsany)
Read by Steve Anderson (http://sgacreative.com/)
She went to the idol-shop in Moleshill Street, where the old man mumbles, and said: “I want a god to worship when it is wet.”
The old man reminded her of the heavy penalties that rightly attach to idolatry and, when he had enumerated all, she answered him as was meet: “Give me a god to worship when it is wet.”
Rated PG.
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awesome :) Steve Anderson is definitely one of my favorite narrators. going to listen to the story again right now.
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First Howard and now Dunsany... are you guys going all old-school on us while Escape Pod does the Hugo nominees? :)
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What was the Arabic sounding music?
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Steve Anderson is amazing. I'm waiting for another Tim Pratt story to be read by him. Then again, that much awesome contained in one spot might cause backlashes in nature....
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What was the Arabic sounding music?
That's from the end of Shiva in Exile's "Odysseia".
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What was the Arabic sounding music?
That's from the end of Shiva in Exile's "Odysseia".
Thanks.
Reminds me of Enigma
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I liked this one, it left me wanting more while giving just enough information to make it able to stand up on its own. :)
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I am feeling dense right now. What happened?? most stories like this leave enough clues to figure it out, but this one.... This is why I am feeling dense. Did I just miss something? The ending left me clueless as to what happened. And yes, I listened several times. Either i didn't pick up on the clues or they just aren't there. The comments I read focused on the reader not the story, no help there. Like I stated before, most stories of this type leave you with enough info to build a reasonable (or even unreasonable) ending. It might be me, but I am not sure about that.
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Perfection.
You do have a point, Thomas. Dunsany stories are not easy to pick apart. Indeed some seem to be deliberately impossible to pick apart. I may be mistaken, but it may be to do with Dunsany's prose; during certain periods, his writing seemed to be as much about evoking wonder and otherworldliness through style rather than specific plot points or direction. I suspect this is partly what's going on in "Leafy Green Street".
S.T. Joshi sums it nicely thus:
Dunsany was seeking to fuse the naïveté and spirit of wonder that had led primitive humanity to invent its gods with a very modern sensibility that recognized the insignificance of mankind amidst those incalculable vortices of space and time that modern science had uncovered.
Thinking further on this -because I myself could hardly give you a straightforward interpretation of this short story-, I have often wondered whether Dunsany's style makes his writing particularly difficult to convey via when read aloud. For my part, I often linger on certain paragraphs and sentences, and go back several times over them, just simply out of admiration for his exquisite use of the English language. But when I have tried to read some of his short stories to someone else, it just doesn't really work.
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Salul
I enjoyed the story, I am just at a loss as to what he meant by the last sentence. Unless Leafy Green Street has some significance, what is the doom?? does it relate the the rain or worshiping an unknown god or worshipping graven images?? I think I am starting see what he is eluding too. befuddlement is lessening.
I do enjoy these types of stories, the bulk of ending is left to the imagination, i guess i was just slow on the up take on this one.
Podcastle, even in my befuddlement, you ROCK!
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Yay for a story having an ending! ...Of sorts. I personally feel endings of this sort are lazy and cliche. Hooray the main character gets to live/get punished/go on a crazy adventure/pray for months on end to a worthless statue! I've found most of the PodCastle miniatures "end" this way. Maybe because it is difficult to end a really short story sufficiently?
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Yet another "Podcastle Lost Episode". But that's typical for the Miniatures.
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I have absolutely no idea what was supposed to have happened. The concept of going out and ordering a custom-designed god is interesting, but that's all I understood.
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Clearly, the idol looked something like this:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RNrl2Gr0VwI/THh4ZpuzL1I/AAAAAAAADAM/ZrwkWBMBXNM/s1600/Cthulhu_Idol_by_HolyOrphan.jpg)
She was an ideal candidate for consumption as she was close to insanity every time it rained. A week later, the idol is collectde back by the shop owner where he puts it back into storage to remove a future obnoxious and insistent customer.
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Could be anytime, anyplace and anyone. This was almost a poem really and I loved every secound.
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Again, yes, I know I am really late (Escape-Pod Listener catching up)
I can not put in to words how much I enjoyed this short piece without swearing, so...
****** *** ***** **** *** *** ****** **** ***** ****** ****** ****** ***** (twice!)
-Mex
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Again, yes, I know I am really late (Escape-Pod Listener catching up)
No worries, I cought up on the year and just posted all my comments in a matter of a few days
you joined the party, no body cares how late
welcome!
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Again, yes, I know I am really late (Escape-Pod Listener catching up)
No worries, I cought up on the year and just posted all my comments in a matter of a few days
you joined the party, no body cares how late
welcome!
Agreed! I did the same thing a couple years ago, and I'm enjoying reading both of your comments as they come in. :)