Escape Artists
PodCastle => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Ocicat on March 19, 2011, 05:49:22 PM
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PodCastle Miniature 60: Cranberry Honey (http://podcastle.org/2011/03/19/podcastle-miniature-cranberry-honey/)
By Amal El-Mohtar (http://tithenai.livejournal.com/)
Read by Marguerite Croft (http://albionidaho.livejournal.com/)
Originally Published in The Honey Month (http://www.papaveria.com/the-honey-month/)
There is fire in his wrists, fire in his walk, fire beneath his fingernails. He is red, redder than rowan berries, for rowan doesn’t bleed as cranberries do, and it is cranberries that he gathers and stews and crushes, cranberries in which he steeps his skin.
It is not white, he says, that is pure. It is not black. It is red, because it moves, it changes, and it keeps itself always. It is not static as fossilized wood, not delicate as new-fallen snow. When red seeks to be its truest self, it is in motion. It fears no change.
He has shrugged at Paracelsus, at Tarot cards, at accusations of devilry. Red is his religion. He squeezes berry juice onto his eyelids, swallows it nine times a day. He wants the redness to spill from him like a scent, that sleeping creatures might dream in garnet tones.
Rated R: Contains Adult Themes. And Lots of Red
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I've not finished listening yet, but I want to say, Yay! more Amal Mohtar!
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I think I would have enjoyed this more if I could have heard some of the other "honey" stories...
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As with the Flash contest, I found this story very rich with imagery, but I didn't really enjoy it all that much from a personal perspective.
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Hey everyone - for anyone interested in The Honey Month, you can go to Amal El-Mohtar's blog and check it out (http://tithenai.livejournal.com/tag/honey%20month%20reruns).
Specifically, Cranberry Honey can also be read here (http://tithenai.livejournal.com/183519.html) :)
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I really loved this story. It was brilliant, dreamlike, and beautiful. It definitely succeeds in making me want to read The Honey Month.
And, also, to eat some honey.
Mmmm...
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Thanks for posting the link Dave! :)
I must say, Amal always creates such wonderful atmosphere with her pieces. The story itself kind of bemused me, but wow, the atmosphere of it! To me it's much closer to poetry than prose.
*SPOILERS Begin*
Speaking of which, can I request some help in interpreting the end? This part:
He is in all they do, their most precious drone; they love him like a fine day. They look after him in their fashion. In turns blessed as the seasons the bees go out, burrow into their sisters’ bodies, sing their gladdest thanks against his lips. They go bearing their darkest honey, the densest, the best, the closest to the red they can never quite achieve, the redness that is his, only his. One by one, they place a drop on his tongue like a sacrament.
really sounds to me like they are bringing him blood? Or is it just honey that they've managed to dye red? I've listened twice and read it carefully and I still can't decide... :-\
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Thanks for posting the link Dave! :)
I must say, Amal always creates such wonderful atmosphere with her pieces. The story itself kind of bemused me, but wow, the atmosphere of it! To me it's much closer to poetry than prose.
*SPOILERS Begin*
Speaking of which, can I request some help in interpreting the end? This part:
He is in all they do, their most precious drone; they love him like a fine day. They look after him in their fashion. In turns blessed as the seasons the bees go out, burrow into their sisters’ bodies, sing their gladdest thanks against his lips. They go bearing their darkest honey, the densest, the best, the closest to the red they can never quite achieve, the redness that is his, only his. One by one, they place a drop on his tongue like a sacrament.
really sounds to me like they are bringing him blood? Or is it just honey that they've managed to dye red? I've listened twice and read it carefully and I still can't decide... :-\
Am I wrong to think the guy died and they were incorporating his cranberry corpse into the honey?
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Halloo! I just wanted to drop in and thank you guys for listening, as well as point out that the version of "Cranberry Honey" you hear has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit the parameters of the contest. :) But that said, the version that Dave linked was the very first draft; in re-running the initial blog entries that made up The Honey Month, I commented on how that version changed to what's in the book, which, minus about fifty words, is what you've heard on PodCastle. This (http://tithenai.livejournal.com/310626.html) is the post where I talk about the changes.
That's all! I am now happily leaning back to read more commentary before weighing in on any ambiguities. :)
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Time to go check out my fresh downloads. This was my favorite from the flash contest (Fetch was a close second). I'm looking forward to hearing it.
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So you won't feel alone, Listener, i'll chime in here and echo your opinion. It felt much more like poetry than prose. Perhaps that was the point. As much as i hate to admit it, i've just never been a huge fan or poetry.
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Time to go check out my fresh downloads. This was my favorite from the flash contest (Fetch was a close second). I'm looking forward to hearing it.
Blasphemy!
(Actually, I'd have voted for this over "Fetch." In fact, I did vote for it over "Fetch.")
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Time to go check out my fresh downloads. This was my favorite from the flash contest (Fetch was a close second). I'm looking forward to hearing it.
Blasphemy!
(Actually, I'd have voted for this over "Fetch." In fact, I did vote for it over "Fetch.")
Blasphemy!
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(Actually, I'd have voted for this over "Fetch." In fact, I did vote for it over "Fetch.")
Blasphemy!
Or classy. :)
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voting for yourself is all kinds of narcissistic.
Nice story. As usual with fantasy flash i wanted more to sink my teeth into. Probably one of my favourites that I've listened to so far. I'm usually a fan of Amal El-Mohtar's work.
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voting for yourself is all kinds of narcissistic.
Or just good gamesmanship :) With the flash contests, it wasn't like the general populace could see your votes. Only you (and maybe the mods) know who you voted for. I seem to recall some lively debate of this topic during the last Flash contest.
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I actively hated this thing in the flash fiction contest (and still do). It's the fiction equivalent of confetti.
Funny enough El-Mohtar also wrote one of my favorites, "Sparrow and Egg." :)
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I actively hated this thing in the flash fiction contest (and still do). It's the fiction equivalent of confetti.
Funny enough El-Mohtar also wrote one of my favorites, "Sparrow and Egg." :)
*buffs nails*
*has range*
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I actively hated this thing in the flash fiction contest (and still do). It's the fiction equivalent of confetti.
Funny enough El-Mohtar also wrote one of my favorites, "Sparrow and Egg." :)
*buffs nails*
*has range*
Gaaah! If you mention her name she is summoned! :o
I just found it funny that you were behind two stories which I reacted to at completely opposite ends of the love/hate spectrum.
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I SEE ALL!
It's totally cool! I really am sincerely kind of pleased that I've written two things that have provoked such opposite reactions. :)
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I actively hated this thing in the flash fiction contest (and still do). It's the fiction equivalent of confetti.
Funny enough El-Mohtar also wrote one of my favorites, "Sparrow and Egg." :)
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I just found it funny that you were behind two stories which I reacted to at completely opposite ends of the love/hate spectrum.
I had exactly the same reactions in the flash fiction contest, and also found it interesting when the authors were revealed.
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I actively hated this thing in the flash fiction contest (and still do). It's the fiction equivalent of confetti.
Funny enough El-Mohtar also wrote one of my favorites, "Sparrow and Egg." :)
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I just found it funny that you were behind two stories which I reacted to at completely opposite ends of the love/hate spectrum.
I had exactly the same reactions in the flash fiction contest, and also found it interesting when the authors were revealed.
I was the other way around. I didn't hate "Sparrow and Egg," but it was very, very far from my favorite. Just a bit too twee and heart-warming for my bitter, blackened soul to swallow comfortably.
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I SEE ALL!
Yeah, that "notify" button is pretty useful... ;D
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I SEE ALL!
Yeah, that "notify" button is pretty useful... ;D
When it works, at least...
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I SEE ALL!
Yeah, that "notify" button is pretty useful... ;D
When it works, at least...
Yes. It hasn't worked for me for months.
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**HAPPINESS**