The SFFaudio Podcast #050 – READALONG: The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #050 – Jesse and Scott discuss The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James.

Talked about on today’s show:
An excerpt from the lecture: Masterpieces Of The Imaginative Mind (Lecture 6: H.G. Wells: We Are All Talking Animals) by Professor Eric S. Rabkin, James thought novels ‘must explore an individual’s psychology’ but H.G. Wells asserted novels ‘must explore the great social forces that shape all of us.’, The Teaching Company, The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James, Blackstone Audio’s version, PaperbackSwap.com, The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast show on The Invisible Man and More Invisible Men, LibriVox.org, LibriVox’s FREE version of The Turn Of The Screw, Stephanie Beacham, War Of The Worlds, The Time Machine, Donald E. Westlake, John Irving, James Lee Burke, Pat Conroy, literary fiction, ambiguity, deliberate ambiguity, the framing sequence, Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, outlining the plot, country estates, England, governesses, orphans, corruption and contamination, ghosts, Christmas, Why is it called The Turn Of The Screw?, Is this a double ghost story?, if the governess is crazy doesn’t that make the story pointless? sexism, solitary decisions may not be wise, what happens to Miles? The Innocents (1961), sexuality, James called The Turn Of The Screw “a shameless potboiler”, adaptations and interpretations, The Turn Of The Screw (2009), The Others (2001), Marlon Brando’s prequel The Nightcomers (1971), Thomas Kuhn, incommensurable literary paradigms?, Margaret Atwood, literary Science Fiction, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Handmaid’s Tale, governess stories, tutors, teachers, surrogate parents, William Makepeace Thackeray‘s Vanity Fair, Johdi May, The Turn Of The Screw (1999), is the governess an unreliable narrator?, The Adventure Of The Copper Beeches by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Mystery and Science Fiction are very closely aligned, tales of ratiocination, Edgar Allan Poe, The Turn Of The Screw in comics, Pocket Classics, Oscar Wilde, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: The Innocents, Blackadder II, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow as read by Martin Jarvis, RadioArchive.cc, The Turn Of The Screw BBC radio drama, Saturday Night Theatre.

The opening of The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James – Pocket Classics edition (ISBN: 0883017393):

Pocket Classics - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James (ISBN: 0883017598)
The Turn Of The Screw - illustration by Lynd Ward
The Turn Of The Screw - illustration by Lynd Ward
DELL - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James

Posted by Jesse Willis

A 1975 interview with Leigh Brackett

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

I’ve updated our LEIGH BRACKETT page to include a few new finds – including this cool 1975 interview…

TonyMaklin.NetA 1975 Interview With Leigh Brackett
Interviewer Tony Macklin
1 |MP3| – Approx. 70 Minutes [INTERVIEW]
Provider: TonyMacklin.net
Posted: June 2009
“My interview with author Leigh Brackett took place in Kinsman, Ohio. I drove with my young daughter on a hot, humid, blazing July 1975 day to Leigh’s rural farm house. She was a gracious hostess and introduced us to her husband, fellow science fiction author Edward [sic] Hamilton. A lot of heady imagination was born in that rural locale. I vividly remember Leigh’s making us lemonade to help cool us — it was pure sugar. My teeth still cringe when I think of it. On the way home we stopped in the woods by a lake and took a refreshing dip in the warm water. The whole trip was like a trip to an alien world, where we were welcomed by a fairy godmother.”

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Gathering, shindig, or hootenanny? You decide!

Science Fiction Audiobook - The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer SmithThe Game of Rat and Dragon
By Cordwainer Smith; Read by Matthew Wayne Selznick
32 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Wonder Audio
Published: 2007
Themes: / Science Fiction / Space Travel / Telepathy / Cats /

Cordwainer Smith (Paul Linebarger) was an interesting guy who wrote very interesting fiction. He was an American intelligence officer during World War II, he traveled the world, and was an advisor to President Kennedy. In science fiction, his most famous work is probably the only novel he ever published: Norstilia. His short fiction is rich and creative.

“The Game of Rat and Dragon” was written in one sitting in 1956, according to J.J. Pierce (writing in another one of those Ballantine Best Of’s). Long distance space travel in this future occurs with the help of telepaths, but there’s a catch. Once a telepath is “out there” skipping along toward a destination, or “planoforming”, the telepath is in danger of being touched by entities called dragons – insanity is the usual result. The solution? Partners. Partners fly alongside ships in football-sized ships of their own, telepathically connected to the pilot. They are quicker than humans, and are able to destroy dragons before they make contact with ships – almost every time. Who are these partners? Purr.

The idea that there’s baddies living in some kind of hyperspacial plane has been visited often. Babylon 5 leaps to mind as a recent example. But Smith’s descriptions of “pinlighting” are poetic and uncommon. There’s not a heck of a lot of conversation in this one, but Matthew Wayne Selznick is up to the narrating challenge. The combination of Smith’s prose and Matthew Wayne Selznick’s voice worked very well – never a dull moment!

Wonder Audio (along with all their audio short stories) can be found: |HERE|

If you want to buy these stories on Audible (this one costs only $2.37), find the whole catalog |HERE|

Want to see the cover of The Best of Cordwainer Smith? Me too!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Review of The Scarecrow’s Boy by Michael Swanwick

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

7th Anniversary Festivus! For the rest of us.

Science Fiction Audiobook - The Scarecrow's Boy by Michael Swanwick“The Scarecrow’s Boy”
Contained in We, Robots, edited by Allan Kaster
By Michael Swanwick; Read by J.P. Linton
19 Minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Infinivox
Published: 2010
Themes: / Science Fiction / Robots /

When a robot spends too much time alone, like the Scarecrow in this story, it asks questions like: “Do you think good and evil are hardwired into the universe?” If you are a veteran reader of robot stories, you know that when a robot starts to ask such questions, it’s about to buck its programming. A nice addition to the robot subgenre, and well narrated to boot.

“The Scarecrow’s Boy” is the first story is the almost-available We, Robots collection from Infinivox, edited by Allan Kaster! It will be released on March 23, and be assured that we’ll remind you on release day.

Infinivox releases excellent short fiction. Some of the latest:
“Guest Law” by John C Wright – |REVIEW|
Aliens Rule, edited by Allan Kaster – |REVIEW|
The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction, edited by Allan Kaster – |SFFaudio Podcast #036, in which we discuss all the stories with Allan Kaster|

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Short interview with Eric S. Rabkin

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Eight Forty-EightHere’s a short 2007 interview with Professor Eric Rabkin. It was broadcast on the Eight Forty-Eight program on Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ). In it Rabkin talks about the typically less than predictive relationship between Science and Science Fiction. |MP3|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of “Pop Art” by Joe Hill

Scott D.

SFFaudio Review

Take THAT, Reviewapalooza!

Horror Fantasy Audiobook - 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill“Pop Art”
Contained in 20th Century Ghosts
By Joe Hill; Read by David Ledoux
12 Hours, 14 Mins – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: 2007
Themes: / Fantasy / School / Mortality /

My best friend when I was twelve was inflatable.

This is a wonderful story. If I describe it you, it sounds absurd, and I guess it is. But through the absurdity, Joe Hill tells a poignant story. Arthur Roth is inflatable. Being inflatable means almost dying a dozen times by age 12. It means staying away from sharp things, including pens and pencils. Best to stick with crayons. Being inflatable also means that you are going to be picked on at school, because the bullies enjoy tossing you in the air like a balloon. None of this keeps Art from thinking big thoughts.

But then Art meets a friend who shares his bizarre life, and he lives fairly normally, except that death is always one puncture away.

Often science fiction uses aliens as a way to shine a spotlight on some aspect of humanity that the author wants to examine. This is fantasy, certainly, but the inflatable boy does the same sort of thing. He’s more vulnerable than the rest of us, but lives in the same cruel world. That the way he’s treated rings true lets us look at humanity from a slightly different angle than we would if the characters were all human. His finding a good friend rings just as true, and is perhaps the best thing the story gives us.

“Pop Art” stands out in a very good collection called 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill. It’s read by David Ledoux. You can buy the whole collection at Audible, or you can buy just this story.

This was made into a short film. I found it |HERE| but I’m getting the old “not available in your area” block. Anyone know where I could watch that?

Posted by Scott D. Danielson