Escape Artists
PseudoPod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Bdoomed on August 22, 2008, 04:47:29 AM
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Pseudopod 104: The Book in the Earth (http://pseudopod.org/2008/08/22/pseudopod-104-the-book-in-the-earth//)
By Lavie Tidhar
Read by Ralph Walters (http://frequencyoffear.com/)
“Excuse me,” said the old man by the door. He was hidden from view behind the bookshelves, and though Gerald had seen him come in, he couldn’t see who he was talking to. “Does the presence of this chapter make it the true first edition or the second state? I can never remember, you see, whether ‘Fathers’ is the missing chapter or the correct one.”
“The pulped version, of course,” said a gruff voice behind the books.
“Ah, of course. Thank you.”
Gerald sat behind the counter, wrapped up in a coat, wondering what on earth they were talking about. He applied for the job at the small bookshop just off Charing Cross the week before, and to his surprise the owner — a short, stocky man who looked more like a bare-knuckle boxer than a bookseller — hired him.
“You start on Monday,” he said. “And don’t let the bastards steal anything or spend too long in the basement. If they start tapping on walls, or doing any other strange shit, kick them out.”
Mr. Mendoza seemed to have a low opinion of his customers. After a week of being left in charge of the shop, however — Mr. Mendoza having left for an unspecified length of time on what he called, in his strangely accented English, a “trade trip” — Gerald began to wonder.
This week’s episode sponsored by Audible.com, who has extended their generous offer of a free audiobook download of your choice (http://www.audiblepodcast.com/pseudopod) from their selection of over 40,000 titles.
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Listen to this week's Pseudopod. (http://media.rawvoice.com/pseudopod/media.libsyn.com/media/pseudopod/Pseudo104_TheBookInTheEarth.mp3)
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A good story, although I would have liked a little more at the very end there.
The read was awesome, I am jealous of that voice.
One little thing, I always thought it was pronounced as "Lester" square, have I always been wrong on this?
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A good story, although I would have liked a little more at the very end there.
The read was awesome, I am jealous of that voice.
One little thing, I always thought it was pronounced as "Lester" square, have I always been wrong on this?
I fell a bit quiet at the end too, wondering if I had missed something. So I went back a few minutes in time (I can do that...) but my understanding of the ending had not changed a bit. So, as the story had a very nice pacing and it spoke to my imagination, I did not get the ending and now I'm just very confused. Which is okay too, because I love being confused.
And speaking of confusion: I had exactly the same with 'Leicester'. Isn't that pronounced 'Lester' instead of 'Lea-che-ster'? Wikipedia says it's pronounced lɛstə (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester). So, Void Munashii, you have always been very right on that!
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And speaking of confusion: I had exactly the same with 'Leicester'. Isn't that pronounced 'Lester' instead of 'Lea-che-ster'? Wikipedia says it's pronounced lɛstə (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester). So, Void Munashii, you have always been very right on that!
Well it's good to know that I can now say I've always been right about something ;)
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Well it's good to know that I can now say I've always been right about something ;)
Void, you and I are going to be a HIT at parties! Impress tha ladies with that one. Or tha boys. Or tha dogs. Tha flowers. Just go and impress, man! I know I will ;]
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I caught the Leicester Square thing too.
Awesome reading.
The story was very interesting... I like the literary horror stories (that is, the ones that take place in bookshops). I think it fell apart toward the end there, but not so much that I didn't enjoy it overall. Best PP in a few weeks.
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I don't know that I caught the 'horror' of this story, but who cares, because I liked it.
What struck me the most interesting, and tossed me deeper into the story, was when a giant and a dwarf walked from the bookshelves, and Gerald didn't even double take or anything, it was completely normal to him.
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Overall, Great story. Not "scary" exactly but well put together. VERY well read. A lot of amazing imagry. The ending left me, also, in the dark. But.. the echoing "there's a book in the floor" line was at least creepy-ish. I liked it!
Madam Z,
Your time traveling abilities baffle me. :) You are my hero of the day!
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Score for bringing some Lavie Tidhar. Haven't heard this episode yet, but I read it a couple months ago in an anthology. Looking forward to revisiting it.
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A great episode for the first 90% of it, then it veers into ambiguous-muddleland for the ending. It's not *too* bad, mind you - but the set-up deserved more.
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I'll have to agree with eytanz and chivalrybean. I felt like this story could use another edit. I had a hard time following what was going on once the narrator fell asleep in the basement. Things seemed to move too quickly from "Hero tries to figure out what's going on" to the conclusion.
Just the same, I still enjoyed the story. It was a fun listen, and I'd love to hear more from this writer.
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Madam Z,
Your time traveling abilities baffle me. :) You are my hero of the day!
Woooooo!!! Always great when someone notices my wonderful abilities. Escpecially such a nice lady as you!
Madam M, I have noticed you once flew... What happened?!? And how do you cope?
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Got a chance to listen to it this morning and really enjoyed it. I do agree with the sentiment that it goes weird toward the end, in a very confusing manner. But overall, I enjoyed it. Creepy and weird. I really need to read Hebrewpunk (http://www.amazon.com/HebrewPunk-Lavie-Tidhar/dp/0978867645/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219853052&sr=8-1).
I was a bit worried about the reading initially, but in the end, I really dug it. There were a few spots where Mendoza's accent seemed to disappear, but other than that, I was totally sold.
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Add me to the list. The end confused me and left me going, "huh?"
Up until then, I loved it. I was looking forward to the conclusion, but wasn't in a hurry to get there.
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I'm glad not to be alone in being lost by the ending to this story. I enjoyed the story overall, but I'm not sure it was horror. More of a grim fantasy story.
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Z,
Hanglider- but the closest thing to honest flight I've ever experienced. Coping? Wish I could really really fly dernit!
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This one had me confused. A second listen didn't help. Wonderful reading and nice atmosphere. I wanted to like it, but sadly, couldn't follow the story.
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A great episode for the first 90% of it, then it veers into ambiguous-muddleland for the ending. It's not *too* bad, mind you - but the set-up deserved more.
I agree with eytanz, I felt like I was stuck in the muck at the end. The reading was fabulous though..
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A great episode for the first 90% of it, then it veers into ambiguous-muddleland for the ending. It's not *too* bad, mind you - but the set-up deserved more.
I agree with eytanz, I felt like I was stuck in the muck at the end. The reading was fabulous though..
Yeah, completely agree with these comments.
I loved the story, I don't know what it is but books (or stories, movies,..) that deal with books or people who LOVE books or bookstores or book artists, binders, sellers, restorers (such as Inkheart (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0439531640/escapepod-20), just read that and can't wait for the film) just really resonate with me. I know, that says nothing about the quality of the writing, the characterization, plot or anything, it is just a big plus if stories feature book(s) (..lovers, stores, etc.).
...so yeah, I loved the story ...
BUT ... only up to a certain point, the ending did not fit and felt incredibly dissatisfying.
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I love Jewish fiction, and this one was no exception.
I only wish I were able to catch more of the cultural references that were used.
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I love Jewish fiction, and this one was no exception.
I only wish I were able to catch more of the cultural references that were used.
I know what you mean. I like it, so long as the inside references don't get so thick I can't follow along any more.
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I didn't finish this one. Even though bookstores are a great fantasy setting, the story just fell flat to me. The reading was also overdone with too many accents that weren't mentioned in the text Was that Miracle Max in the basement?
The part I did hear sounded like a new incarnation of Pratchett's L-Space, which I always thought was a cool concept.
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This one gets a positive response from me. A good example of how to achieve a "slow boil" story, yet retain the reader's interest.
I loved the unsettling dimensions of the bookstore - but I am a sucker for effective, horrific architecture. I loved the underground passage and the bizarre underground sea (guess what? I loved "The Festival" by HPL too).
Only gripe might be that certain words were very close to one another (within a sentence or so) "wall" and "wall" or "face" and "face." Also, the story slowed down a little in the middle when some of the exposition reared its ugly head.
I actually felt things were a little too explained, the exact nature of the book could be left a little more mysterious. But then, I hate vagueness too so I was pleased with the direct nature of the explaination. Sorry to be schizophrenic about this point.
The story as a whole reminded me hugely of "The Horror at Red Hook," and "The Festival" by HPL and (a little) of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and, of course, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (the immortal guardian part, anyway). I suppose I would have liked a slightly more grotesque ending, but that's really just a personal thing (and would have invited waaaaay too many comparisons to "The Festival" anyway).
Ultimately, I really liked this one. It might make the top 10.
Oh, EXCELLENT narration by the way.
EDIT: Mein Gott in Himmel! I just realized who the author of this one was. I swear it was not a coincidence. Anyway, I just want to say that, of the two stories, this one is definately my favorite.
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Tidhar's definitely a regular here :)
Hopefully, you'll enjoy some of his other stuff, too :)