Tag: audiobook

LibriVox: Confessions Of An English Opium-Eater by Thomas de Quincey

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Mentioned in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Crawling Chaos, and discussed in SFFaudio Podcast #138, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas de Quincey was first published in 1821.

Martin Geeson, the narrator, has written this intriguing mini essay about it for his LibriVox reading.

“Thou hast the keys of Paradise, O just, subtle, and mighty Opium!”

Though apparently presenting the reader with a collage of poignant memories, temporal digressions and random anecdotes, the Confessions is a work of immense sophistication and certainly one of the most impressive and influential of all autobiographies. The work is of great appeal to the contemporary reader, displaying a nervous (postmodern?) self-awareness, a spiralling obsession with the enigmas of its own composition and significance. De Quincey may be said to scrutinise his life, somewhat feverishly, in an effort to fix his own identity.

The title seems to promise a graphic exposure of horrors; these passages do not make up a large part of the whole. The circumstances of its hasty composition sets up the work as a lucrative piece of sensational journalism, albeit published in a more intellectually respectable organ – the London Magazine – than are today’s tawdry exercises in tabloid self-exposure. What makes the book technically remarkable is its use of a majestic neoclassical style applied to a very romantic species of confessional writing – self-reflexive but always reaching out to the Reader.

I’ve combined his narration with two different sets of illustrations and placed the resulting video on YouTube:

LIBRIVOX - Confessions Of An English Opium Eater by Thomas de QuinceyConfessions of an English Opium-Eater
By Thomas de Quincey; Read by Martin Geeson
1 |M4B|, 16 Zipped MP3s or Podcast – Approx. 5 Hours 22 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: October 16, 2009
First published in September and October 1821 issues of London Magazine.

|ETEXT|

Podcast feed: http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/confessions-of-an-english-opium-eater-by-thomas-de-quincey.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks also to TriciaG, Ruth Golding, and Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Posted by Jesse Willis

LibriVox: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Metamorphosis (in German, Die Verwandlung, “The Transformation”) is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915, and arguably the most famous of his works along with the longer works The Trial and The Castle. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a giant “monstrous vermin”.

This narration by David Barnes is really terrific! One reviewer put it this way: “Slow, dignified, fitting for Kafka.” Another this way:

“A wonderful recording … Many thanks to Mr Barnes for his wonderful reading … [a] nightmarish and chilling tale of horror and abandonment. It is one of the most powerful texts written by Kafka and quite worth listening to.”

Here are the illustrations, and a brief editorial, from the June 1953 publication of Famous Fantastic Mysteries.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - illustrated by either Finlay or Lawrence

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - illustrated by either Finlay or Lawrence

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - editorial

LibriVoxThe Metamorphosis
By Franz Kafka; Translated by Ian Johnston; Read by David Barnes
3 Zipped MP3 Files or M4B – Approx. 2 Hours 34 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: December 11, 2006
|ETEXT|
“Already he had taken the alien loathesome shape … In all except the still watching mind – the vestige of a soul that still could suffer…”

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3| Part 3 |MP3|

Podcast feed:

http://librivox.org/bookfeeds/the-metamorphosis-by-franz-kafka.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals: AudioGo: Donald Westlake and Richard Stark

Jesse Willis

Aural Noir: Recent Arrivals

AudioGo Hard Case CrimeAudioGo, formerly BBC Audiobooks America and formerly Chivers Audio, has a terrific MP3 download program up and running. It works similarly to Tantor Media, with similar pricing. You can get DRM free MP3 downloads via AudioGo.com after a quick sign up. I just tried it out and found it works really well, almost without a hitch, and doesn’t even require a software download (though that is optional). The files come down as Zipped MP3s, numbered and ready for use. There’s even cover art embedded!

First up, it’s the subject for our next Donald E. Westlake readalong! And apparently the last novel of Westlake’s ever – I have a feeling that Hard Case Crime will dig around until they find a few more – at least I hope they do! That said, this is actually a novel that’s never been published before – and comes from the middle of his writing career. I’m very much looking forward to hearing…

The Comedy Is Finished by Donald E. Westlake; Read by Peter Berkrot – Approx. 10 Hours 44 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The year is 1977, and America is finally getting over the nightmares of Watergate and Vietnam and the national hangover that was the 1960s. But not everyone is ready to let it go. Not aging comedian Koo Davis, friend to generals and presidents and veteran of countless USO tours to buck up American troops in the field. And not the five remaining members of the self-proclaimed People’s Revolutionary Army, who’ve decided that kidnapping Koo Davis would be the perfect way to bring their cause back to life…

AudioGo - The Comedy Is Finished by Donald E. Westlake

I read The Hook, and loved The Hook, years ago. It was first published in 1990 and may have been the first William Dufris narrated novel I’ve ever heard. It’s a wonderful audiobook and a great book about the publishing industry, writing and murder.

The Hook by Donald E. Westlake; Read by William Dufris – Approx. 7 Hours 17 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

Bryce Proctorr has a multimillion-dollar contract for his next novel, a trophy wife raking him over the coals of a protracted divorce, a bad case of writer’s block, and an impending deadline. Wayne Prentice is a fading author in a world that no longer values his work. He’s gone through two pseudonyms, watched his book sales shrivel, and is contemplating leaving the writing life. Proctorr has a proposition: If Prentice will hand over his unsold manuscript to publish under Proctorr’s name, the two will split the book advance fifty-fifty. There’s just one small rider to the deal…

AudioGo - The Hook by Donald E. Westlake

Also by Westlake, but written under his Richard Stark pseudonym, The Seventh is the seventh book in a long running series of terrific crime novels about a heister named Parker. This new audiobook edition features a new narration by Westlake veteran Stephen R. Thorne! The old one, recorded for Books On Tape by Michael Kramer, is long out of print. The only thing lacking from this edition is the Luc Sante introduction (which is even advertized on the cover art below).

The Seventh by Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake); Read by Stephen R. Thorne – Approx. 4 Hours 26 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The robbery was a piece of cake. The getaway was clean. And seven men were safely holed up in different places while Parker held all the cash. But somehow the sweet heist of a college football game turns sour, Parker’s woman is murdered, and the take is stolen. Now Parker’s looking for the lowlife who did him dirty, while the cops are looking for seven clever thieves-and Parker must outrun them all. When hunters and hunted meet, some win, some lose…

AudioGo - The Seventh by Richard Stark

Posted by Jesse Willis

Hypnobobs: Imaginary Friends (includes Thus I Refute Beelzy by John Collier and Mr. Lupescu by Anthony Boucher)

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Hypnobobs PodcastMister Jesse has lots of friends, and they all do something you wouldn’t ever think of, not in a squillion years.

One of Mister Jesse’s friends is named Mister Jim Moon. He is one of Mister Jesse’s very good friends, though Mister Jesse has never really seen Mister Jim Moon.

Sometimes Mister Jesse thinks that Mister Jim Moon isn’t real. But because Mister Jim Moon is so fun to play with Mister Jesse doesn’t want to think too hard about it. He doesn’t want Mister Jim Moon to disappear!

Mister Jim Moon’s podcast, Hypnobobs, is full of wonderfully terrible stories of the weird and the macabre.

Mister Jim Moon’s latest podcast is a short collection of weird poems. But the one before that, Hypnobobs #68, is entitled “Imaginary Fiends” and includes two short stories with imaginary friends at their center.

Here is the episode: |MP3|

Podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hypnobobs

One story is named Thus I Refute Beelzy. It was written by Mister John Collier. And the other is called Mr. Lupescu and was written by Mister Anthony Boucher.

It seems likely to Mister Jesse that Mister Anthony Boucher’s story inspired one of the characters in Mister Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.

Mister Jesse has tracked down the accompanying illustrations from the print publications and made PDFs too!

Thus I Refute Beelzy by John Collier |PDF|

Thus I Refute Beelzy by John Collier
Thus I Refute Beelzy illustration by Virgil Finlay

Mr. Lupescu by Anthony Boucher |PDF|
Señor Lupescu por Anthony Boucher |PDF| (a Spanish translation)

Mr. Lupescu by Anthony Boucher
Mr. Lupescu illustrated by Boris Doglov

Senor Lupescu - illustration by Lisa

Senor Lupescu - illustration by Lisa

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Releases: Tantor Media has the first chapter of A Princess Of Mars available FREE

Jesse Willis

New Releases

Tantor MediaTantor Media has a new recording of A Princess Of Mars and it’s narrated by the very popular Scott Brick. They’re offering the first chapter as an MP3 download for account holders.

And the sale price right now is just $9.99.

On a side note, isn’t it nice to see that Phobos has grown out of it’s awkward potato shaped adolescence and blossomed into a nice Mercury shaped moon?

TANTOR MEDIA - John Carter in A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Posted by Jesse Willis

New Releases: Upon the Dull Earth and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick

Jesse Willis

New Releases

Available through OverDrive, NetLibrary, and Audible.com – or you can request your library get a give them this “ISBN 9780983089872”!

ELOQUENT VOICE - Upon The Dull Earth And Other Stories by Philip K. DickUpon the Dull Earth and Other Stories
By Philip K. Dick; Read by William Coon
Digital Download – Approx. 4 Hours 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Eloquent Voice, LLC
Published: January 31, 2012
When an interviewer asked Phillip K. Dick “What is the most important quality for a writer to have?” he replied “A sense of indignation… A writer writes because it’s his response to the world. It’s a natural process, like respiration… The capacity for indignation is the most important thing for a creative person. Not the aesthetic capacity but the capacity for indignation… And especially indignation at the treatment afforded other people. To see some of the things that are going on in the world and to feel indignant…That is the basis of the writer.” Whatever it was that stimulated his creative juices, we are the lucky beneficiaries, as demonstrated in this collection of five stories, all first published in 1954. In “Exhibit Piece” a long-suffering museum worker becomes a little too attached to his display of mid-twentieth century lifestyle. In “Upon the Dull Earth” a young man refuses to let go of his soul mate, and he creates a chain reaction that he couldn’t have anticipated. In “Progeny” one man’s idea of how to raise a child is challenged by new, more scientific techniques. “The Last Of The Masters” explores a post-apocalyptic world, where anarchists don’t just occupy Wall Street, they occupy the entire planet. Finally, in “Breakfast At Twilight”, a family awakes to find theirs is the only house left on their street, and they are forced to make the most important decision of their lives.

Posted by Jesse Willis