Recent Arrivals: Simon & Schuster Audio: Total Recall: My Unbelievable True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

This just in!

Simon & Schuster - Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger

The unabridged, 20 CD audiobook of Total Recall: My Unbelievable True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The narration is done by Arnold himself, and Stephen Lang. Lang, besides being a terrific narrator, appeared as the villain of the latest Conan movie – maybe he’s been tasked with reading the evil chapters of Arnold’s autobiography?

Maybe. Chapter 1 is read by Schwarzenegger and Chapter 2 is read by Lang.

Here’s a sample |MP3|.

I’m well into the book now, and so far here are my thoughts:

-Hearing about little Arnold in childhood will provide a reminder of his role in Kindergarten Cop, indeed who else could pronounce “poo” as well as the real Arnold?

-There’s something of an ideology thrown in here and there in this autobiography, and the remembrances Arnold is sharing, though detailed greatly (as advertized in the title) seem to be clouded by metaphors that can’t quite be literal. Early on Arnold says that both he and his brother thought a local shopping area, in his late 1940s early 1950s country town, was as big as “The Mall Of America” (that’s something that wouldn’t exist for a few decades).

-The many photographs in the hardcover are of course absent, oh well.

-The little entrepreneurial Arnold made money by delivering groceries, selling ice-cream cones, and panhandling (grifting actually) with sob stories (he’d tell nice old Austria ladies that he’d lost his all his money so needed money for the bus).

Simon & Schuster Audio - Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Back)

Posted by Jesse Willis

Out Of The Storm by William Hope Hodgson

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Out Of The Storm by William Hope Hodgson

Here’s a terrific unabridged ten minute short story that’s the subject of an upcoming podcast. It was first published in Putnam’s Monthly, February 1909. Never before audiobooked, it is a William Hope Hodgson gem, a sketch that allows for two different readings (naturalistic and supernaturalistic – and both horrific).

Out Of The Storm is read for us by Brian Murphy.

|MP3|

And here’s a |PDF| version.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Nine Billion Names Of God by Arthur C. Clarke (from Dercum Audio, 1991)

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

This recording of Arthur C. Clarke’s The Nine Billion Names Of God was produced by Dercum Audio – it’s that signature opening, that terrific, haunting music that begins at the ten second mark – that’s the giveaway. Produced in 1991, it is long out of print and a real treasure.

Part 1 of 2:

Part 2 of 2:

Posted by Jesse Willis

Commentary: The Adventure Of The Mysterious Sherlock Holmes Audio Dramas In The Thrift Store

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Recent Arrivals

I had an exciting Friday a few months back. I’m calling the events of June 1st, 2012 The Adventure Of The Mysterious Sherlock Holmes Audio Dramas In The Thrift Store

The story begins with me visiting a thrift store. I first found this vintage 1975 box of Lego (with the original Woolco price tag still on the box) – I got it for just $4. Then I picked up a $2 game called Isaac Asimov Presents Waddington’s SUPERQUIZ.

Then, in the audiobook section I spotted three two-cassette collections for $4 each.

And they turned out to be the big winner.

Entitled simply “The Sherlock Homes Collection“, at first I thought they were audiobooks, something I’ve seen many times before. But the price stickers obscured the details. Then was a shock, an instant of recognition for the actor pictured on the back covers was none other than Roy Marsden of The Sandbaggers fame – I covertly peeled back one of the stickers and investigated further.

They were audio dramas!

According to Grant Eustace’s website (he adapted them) only 6 of the 24 dramatizations produced were broadcast (on BBC World Service). But that may not mean they were no well received as it appears that they were actually produced for British Airways in-flight audio entertainment. One thing seems clear, I didn’t know they had even existed before that Friday, and I think that probably meant they wer’e not very well known.

I got “Collection Three” (ISBN: 0773305033) which features adaptations of:

The Red Headed League
The Solitary Cyclist
A Scandal In Bohemia
The Blue Carbuncle

“Collection Four” (ISBN: 0773305041) which features adaptations of:
The Speckled Band
Black Peter
The Golden Prince-Nez
The Man With The Twisted Lip

And “Collection Six” (ISBN: 0773305068) which features adaptations of:
The Devil’s Foot
The Bruce Partington Plans
The Cardboard Box
Thor Bridge

There are two different companies credited with publication, BFS Audio (and BFS Entertainment is still in business) and Talking Tape Company (which I have no data on). The tapes themselves all have the BFS Audio logo on them.

Here are the details:

Cover of Collection Three:
BFS Audio - Sherlock Holmes Collection Three

Interior details from Collection Three:
BFS Audio - Sherlock Holmes Collection Three - interior details

Cover of Collection Four:
BFS Audio - Sherlock Holmes Collection Four

Interior details from Collection Four:
BFS Audio - Sherlock Holmes Collection Four - interior details

Cover of Collection Six:
BFS Audio - Sherlock Holmes Collection Six

Interior details from Collection Six:
BFS Audio - Sherlock Holmes Collection Six - interior details

Now, after listening to the twelve dramas over the last few months I can happily report that these are really excellent productions. Very swift, but dialogue driven, with uniformly excellent acting.

If you’ve got a source that has the other three collections please let me, and everyone else, know by commenting. This series should be much better known.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Tony And The Beetles by Philip K. Dick

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Tony And The Beetles by Philip K. Dick

This 4,712 word story may not be among Philip K. Dick’s best, but it is certainly worth looking at, and hearing!

Tony And The Beetles is a bit unusual too, having an almost juvenile or YA feel to it. Maybe that’s because it’s not nearly as horrific as many of Dick’s fantasy tales – there are some frightening elements, but the general tone is that of an ungroundedness. I see Tony And The Beetles as a kind of historical allegory and I’m not the only one. Phil Chevernet, the narrator who recorded it for LibriVox, wrote “I think [Dick] was commenting on imperialism in the 40s and 50s.” I think he’s right, but I think the comment is somewhat ambiguous, rather depressing, and almost wholly unhopeful. Dick grew up during World War II and little PKD was a very sensitive fellow, kind of like Tony.

Here’s the setup:

Young Tony Rossi has grown up on an alien world. As a child he’s known little else than bubble helmets, pressure suits, and robot pets. His playmates and schoolmates have all been the non-human children of the planet, but around him swirl the forces of history and when news of the ongoing war breaks Tony’s parents don’t seem to hold the same opinions of what it all means.

Tony And The Beetles by Philip K. DickTony And The Beetles
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Phil Chevernet
1 |MP3| – Approx. 34 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 16, 2012
A ten-year-old boy grows up fast when history catches up with the human race. First published in Orbit, volume 1 number 2, 1953.

And here’s a |PDF| made from it’s original publication in Orbit.

Posted by Jesse Willis