Maria Lectrix

My Podcast Has Moved

2006-02-07T06:07:00.000-05:00

Since I disapprove of Google beginning to do business in China by immediately kowtowing to the Chinese government's desires to spy upon and imprison its citizens for doing the wrong Internet searches, I'm moving this blog over to Wordpress.com, which isn't owned by Google.

(Well, a copy of the old posts will stay here so people don't have to change their links to individual posts. I hate it when old blog URLs are taken over by new spam blogs.)

I hope you will follow me over to marialectrix.wordpress.com. I'm not done with construction yet, but it works; and it's been fixed up so that it has some really good features that this blog doesn't. (Even with the old posts and comments I imported from over here.)

If you subscribe to my Feedburner feed, all should be well.

If you subscribe to another feed, I hope all will be well. (You should have at least two new audiobooks by now. If not, you might want to switch to Feedburner.)

Thanks, everybody. I apologize for the inconvenience, and for the mess over at the new place. But I truly couldn't stand it anymore.

Oh, and if you need a search engine, remember that Dogpile's always been pretty good.

Blog Announcement

2006-02-06T10:16:00.000-05:00

I am currently experiencing technical difficulties in getting my podcast up. (The radiator heat went off this weekend, and my parents decided to drop by this morning. Before work! And I swear I'm coming down with something again....)

A new podcast will be up sometime this afternoon or evening. My apologies for the inconvenience.

#90: "Love Among the Ruins" by Robert Browning

2006-02-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

A Browning poem for Friday. With St. Valentine's Day coming up, it seemed appropriate.

#89: Ch. 2, The Eye of Osiris by R. Austin Freeman

2006-02-02T07:28:00.000-05:00

The Eye of Osiris continues.

Chapter 2: The Eavesdropper introduces us more formally to our viewpoint character, and to the people involved in our little disappearing Egyptologist mystery.

27:12.

#88: Ch. 1, The Eye of Osiris by R. Austin Freeman

2006-02-02T07:20:00.000-05:00

Today's Mystery Thursday. We begin a new Dr. Thorndyke novel, The Eye of Osiris (1911). It was published in the US and Gutenberg under the boring alternate title of The Vanishing Man. (Honestly, why are alternate US titles of mysteries usually so boring?)

In Chapter 1: The Vanishing Man, we learn the basic facts of a very knotty little case of a disappearing Egyptologist, his fortune, and his will.

14:01.

In case you're wondering -- yes, it's Horus' eye, but it's also called the Eye of Osiris because Horus gave it to Osiris after his rebirth, allowing him to rule the underworld. So it's definitely an eerie, borders of death and life symbol here.

#87: "Lecture III: On Baptism", Catechetical Lectures, St. Cyril of Jerusalem

2006-02-01T00:47:00.000-05:00

Here it's still Ordinary Time, but in the early 300's, The Catechetical Lectures are being given during Lent. (Just thought I'd remind you.)

"Lecture III: On Baptism" provides more information, as well as a good dose of the sort of "sweet and gentle pastoral care" combined with "teacher stalking around the classroom engaging people who aren't paying attention" and "resistance leader trying to ferret out spies" that you're coming to know and love from Our Cyril.

Not to mention the local touch, which is easy to provide in a class on Christian doctrine if you're teaching it in Jerusalem. Still, very nice.

26:11

(I've said it before and I'll say it again -- this isn't class notes; this is a transcript. Somebody was a darned good note-taker. Or Cyril was a very overprepared teacher.)

#86: "Lecture II: Repentance and Remission of Sins", Catechetical Lectures by St. Cyril of Jerusalem

2006-02-01T00:40:00.000-05:00

The Catechetical Lectures continue, with more sworn-to-secrecy classes in Christian doctrine! And you thought your teachers were strict.

"Lecture II: Repentance and Remission of Sins, and Concerning the Adversary".

34:13

#85: Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour, Ch. 33

2006-01-31T12:28:00.000-05:00

Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour continues. Apparently, it is universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a pack and a good fortune requires a huntsman. Or at least, that's what's believed by the snobby huntsman whom Mr Puffington's about to meet.

Ch. 33: A Swell Huntsman.

18:40

#84: Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour, Ch. 32

2006-01-31T12:27:00.000-05:00

Continuing to take Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour, we meet Mr Sponge's new host-to-be as he is now -- Mr. Puffington, a man of wealth, leisure, avoirdupois, and absolutely no interest in foxhunting. So why is he the Master of the Hanby Hounds?

Chapter 32: The Man of P-r-o-r-perty.

13:26

#83: Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour, Ch. 31, by R.S. Surtees

2006-01-31T12:23:00.000-05:00

Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour continues.

Chapter 31, "Mr Puffington; or, The Young Man about Town", contains a flashback to the days of the Regency. (Even funnier if you read a lot of Regency romances and are familiar with the Corinthians, dandies, and Bond Street beaus.)

17:11

#82: "How I Lost My Gravity" by Fitz-James O'Brien

2006-01-30T07:25:00.000-05:00

"How I Lost My Gravity" is today's cute little story from Fitz-James O'Brien. I know he's not noted for cute little stories, but there you go.

18:17.

#81: The Imitation of Christ, Part 22

2006-01-29T18:44:00.000-05:00

The end of this week's section of The Imitation of Christ.

Part 22 deals with what to do in times of trouble and temptation.

6:43.

#80: The Imitation of Christ, Part 21

2006-01-29T18:40:00.000-05:00

More of The Imitation of Christ.

Part 21 deals with the basis of Christ's peace.

10:32.

#79: The Imitation of Christ, Part 20

2006-01-29T18:36:00.000-05:00

The Imitation of Christ continues some more.

Part 20 includes an invaluable list of four simple things that will bring peace to us. Unfortunately, it's "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master".

5:38.

#78: The Imitation of Christ, Part 19

2006-01-29T18:28:00.000-05:00

The Imitation of Christ continues. (I actually had this up on archive.org yesterday, but I was too tired to put it up on the podcast. Sorry.)

Track 19 talks about putting God first.

9:28.

Blog Announcement

2006-01-28T23:24:00.000-05:00

I've decided I don't like numbering posts A, B, etc. So I'll just number them separately. Sorry for the inconvenience.

#75B: "Lecture 1" of the Catechetical Lectures by St. Cyril of Jerusalem

2006-01-25T07:47:00.000-05:00

Part 1 continues.

"Lecture 1" is on proper preparation for Baptism, particularly giving up sin and praying more.

15:03

Read it here.

#75A: "Procatechesis" by Cyril of Jerusalem

2006-01-25T07:18:00.000-05:00

I've decided to read Cyril of Jerusalem's Catechetical Lectures, because they are by far the coolest RCIA lectures ever. But because back then they were given three a week for the six weeks before Easter, and that's a bit of a heavy schedule unless you really are a candidate, I'll mostly just be doing two a week or so. Here's Part 1.

The Catechetical Lectures are transcripts (somebody must have been a court reporter or an awesome notetaker) of classes given to candidates for initiation to the Church sometime during the early 4th century. They were given by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, archbishop/patriarch of Jerusalem. (The bishop was and is chief teaching authority in a diocese.) The classes, and indeed the lecture transcripts, were presented under the veil of secrecy called the "Disciplina Arcani". The class members were forbidden even to fill in people who missed class, much less catechumens not ready for Baptism or non-Christians. The candidates have no idea what is going to be taught next. They've got no clue as to the true mystery of the Mass, because they've never been allowed to attend past the Gospel readings. Everything is new.

And back then, you got exorcised every time you went to class, which certainly would have its uses.

In the "Procatechesis", or prologue lecture, the groundrules for class (including the secrecy ones) are presented, and the class is told just how special this opportunity to join the Church as an initiate really is. The archbishop also warns those who've come for frivolous reasons that they should either stop now, or get serious. Long, but full of historical atmosphere and thoughts to chew on.

41:18

(BTW, I read the footnotes just in case somebody's dying to know something about the early Church. But if you're not interested, feel free to regard the word "Footnotes" as equivalent to "End of Lecture." Especially since I'm obviously mispronouncing the Greek stuff, and you could always just look this stuff up on the Net.)

#74C: Ch. 30 of Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour by R.S. Surtees

2006-01-24T07:51:00.000-05:00

Part 6 continues.

In "Chapter 30: Bolting the Badger", Mr. Sponge accedes to the dictates of Necessity, but not without a little struggle.

15:55.

#74B: Ch. 29 of Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour by R.S. Surtees

2006-01-24T07:43:00.000-05:00

Part 6 continues.

In "Ch. 29: The Cross-Roads at Dallington Burn", Lord Scamperdale attempts to go hunting far enough away on a bad enough day that Mr. Sponge won't attend. Ooooops.

19:14.

#74A: Ch. 28 of Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour by R.S. Surtees

2006-01-24T07:29:00.000-05:00

Part 6 of Mr Sponge is up, which includes...

"Chapter 28: The Faithful Groom." Mr. Sponge commits a slight error in his labor relations with Mr. Leather.

13:53.

2006-01-24T07:16:00.000-05:00

Blog Announcement

Apparently, my current format is not friendly and happy to the iPod owners. (Since I don't use any of these modern conveniences and just hop around and download things, I wouldn't know. Heck, RSS still seems way too newfangled to me.) So I'm going to change the format to make it easier on them.

Apparently, the desired format is to only have one soundfile per post. (Which basically means these expensive iPod things don't work very well, I'd say, but nobody consults me about this stuff.) This will of course mess up the looks and organization of this podcast blog, but apparently improve the functionality.

I'm not sure why I care, since there's never been more than 4 people subscribed to this podcast and we're apparently down to one plus me. But I guess I have to do something to justify my keep over on archive.org, where all my real readers are.

So from now on, you can just click on the title of an item and get the single download per post. I'll continue making the archive.org page available as well, just for reference. Also, some of my archive.org posts will now include "cover art", since I now know how to do this. (Which is good, because the art in Surtees' books is half the fun.)

Sigh. (*hating necessity of change*)

2006-01-22T23:34:00.000-05:00

#73: "The Skaters" by Fitz-James O'Brien

It's almost time for the Winter Olympics. Here's a poem about pairs skating that's even more suspenseful than watching the competition!

And yeah, I know the direct link for manual download doesn't seem to be working real well. I wish I knew what to do about it.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"The Skaters"

2 minutes, 43 seconds

2006-01-16T20:50:00.000-05:00

#72: Sheer Dunsanity -- Week Three!

The final third of Lord Dunsany's Fifty-One Tales. (Sorry for the technical difficulties which prevented me from posting this before.)

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!

"The City"
"The Food of Death"
"The Lonely Idol"

"The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)"
"The Reward"
"The Trouble in Leafy Green Street"

"The Mist"
"Furrow-Maker"
"Lobster Salad"

"The Return of the Exiles"
"Nature and Time"
"The Song of the Blackbird"

"The Messengers"
"The Three Tall Sons"
"Compromise"

"What We Have Come To"
"The Death of Pan"

2005-12-30T21:50:00.000-05:00

#71: The Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Part 2, by Thomas a Kempis

I'm finally starting up again on The Imitation of Christ.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18

2005-12-30T12:29:00.000-05:00

#70: Sheer Dunsanity -- Week Two!

The second third of Lord Dunsany's Fifty-One Tales.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!

"The Latest Thing"
"The Demagogue and the Demi-Monde"
"The Giant Poppy"

"Roses"
"The Man with Golden Ear-rings"
"The Dream of King Karna-Vootra"

"The Storm"
"A Mistaken Identity"
"The True History of the Hare and the Tortoise"

"Alone the Immortals"
"A Moral Little Tale"
"The Return of Song"

"Spring in Town"
"How the Enemy Came to Thlunrana"
"A Losing Game"

"Taking Up Piccadilly"
"After the Fire"

2005-12-30T12:09:00.000-05:00

#69: Sheer Dunsanity: Week 1!

That's right, folks! A whole three weeks' worth of nothing but short-shorts by Lord Dunsany! I'm reading all Fifty-One Tales in the book. Death! Time! Poetry! Fame! Small gods! More bizarre ideas than you can shake a pen at!

The regular schedule of blogging will resume in seventeen days. Just hold yourself to three tales a day, and you'll get through.

The first week:

"The Assignation"
"Charon"
"The Death of Pan"

"The Sphinx of Gizeh"
"The Hen"
"Wind and Fog"

"The Raft-Builders"
"The Workman"
"The Guest"

"Death and Odysseus"
"Death and the Orange"
"The Prayer of the Flowers"

"Time and the Tradesman"
"The Little City"
"The Unpasturable Fields"

"The Worm and the Angel"
"The Songless Country"

2005-12-28T12:59:00.000-05:00

While Light Holiday Blogging Continues....

Remember that you can visit some of my other audiobook podcast links.

I've just started listening to Tom Corven, an audiobook about a boy who finds himself alone and amnesiac in a strange world, with an uncanny power within him. It was inspired by the wild landscape of Arran, and the author reading it has a great accent! So I think you'll enjoy it.

BBC 7 as always has some awesome books and book dramatizations to listen to, right now including C.S. Lewis' Perelandra and some Lord Peter Wimsey detection. But I'm excited about Whisky Galore, the saga of a fictional Scottish island faced with a real WWII problem. What to do when whisky is sternly rationed, but a whole boatload going to America gets shipwrecked on your barren isle? I mean, it'd be a sin to let it all go to waste, as even the priest and the preacher agree....

(The book (and the awesomely fun movie, shot on location!) also features a sweet subplot about how an English soldier sets about marrying his island sweetheart, complete with advice from the local bard. It's by Compton Mackenzie, the same gifted and hilarious Scottish writer who came up with Monarch of the Glen, and so there's a bit of a crossover in it. Highly recommended, if you can get ahold of a copy.)

2005-12-22T05:48:00.000-05:00

#68: "A Christmas Mystery: The Story of Three Wise Men" by William J. Locke

Three Edwardian wise men are called to the wilds of Cornwall at Christmas.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"A Christmas Mystery: The Story of Three Wise Men"
34 min.

2005-12-22T05:36:00.000-05:00

#67: "Homily 5" from Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, by St. John Chrysostom

An interesting homily on what the angel said to St. Joseph. I'm not golden-tongued like the sainted bishop/patriarch of Constantinople, but give it a listen!

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Homily 5
33 min.

2005-12-22T05:27:00.000-05:00

#66: "The First Christmas Tree" by Henry Van Dyke

In this story set in medieval Germany, we meet St. Boniface evangelizing the wilds of Germany. And yes, you'll see the first Christmas tree. Another fine Christmas story from the author of "The Story of the Other Wise Man". Enjoy!

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 1: The Call of the Woodsman
Part 2: The Trail Through the Forest
Part 3: The Shadow of the Thunder-Oak
Part 4: The Felling of the Tree
55 min.

2005-12-21T08:26:00.000-05:00

Blog Announcement

Archive.org is taking its own sweet time again. (Hey, it's a volunteer organization and it's almost Christmas. No big huhu.)

When they process the next couple of podcasts, I'll put 'em up.

You can look forward to a Christmas adventure by the author of "The Story of the Other Wise Man", "A Christmas Mystery" in the wilds of Cornwall, and a sermon from St. John Chrysostom. And more of The Imitation of Christ, which I need to catch up on. Also more Surtees, if I can fit it in; I'm moving Mr. Sponge to Fridays.

Sorry for all the light blogging. I'm in two choirs, and I was not only tired but desperate to save my voice. But hopefully things will settle down a bit. I will be away after the holidays for a while, but I'm going to try to leave folks some kind of backlog to fill the time. (These will probably be much shorter pieces, of course.)

After that, I plan to start in again on Dr. Thorndyke with The Eye of Osiris. I feel much in need of Egyptology and cunning criminals.

2005-12-19T06:29:00.000-05:00

#65: "Three of a Trade" by Fitz-James O'Brien

I actually managed to get a little podcasting done! So here's another New Year's story from Fitz-James O'Brien, because back in his day in New York, Santa and Kriss Kringle came at New Year's. (Apparently back in his day, midnight was quiet except for bells, too.)

This one is about two street children who are still awake at midnight, waiting for Kriss Kringle to come. Yes, this is O'Brien. Yes, it's gonna be sad. Hankie alert!

Please note that archive.org's audio pages have changed. The only streaming link is over to the left side, and so are all the file-playing ones. You can still access individual soundfiles by going to the "individual files" or "http" links on the page. This will produce a pop-up window. I am going to keep providing links from here, which should also still work. (They've also changed their editor for file information, so I may actually be able to fix some problems that have been bugging me.)

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"Three of a Trade"
15 min.

2005-12-16T17:28:00.000-05:00

Blog Announcement

I still don't feel up to snuff, so no more audiobooks for the rest of the week. Sorry, folks.

2005-12-14T04:29:00.000-05:00

#64: The Proto-Evangelium of James

The Proto-Evangelium of James is almost certainly not by James or entirely factual. The early Church mostly didn't think it was inspired, either. (All of which are excellent reasons why you won't find it in your Bible.)

However, this second century tale has survived in over 130 mss. That's popularity. It's an interesting blend of Bible fanfic and oral tradition. The Church has traditionally accepted it as containing a few grains of truth, such as the names of Mary's parents. Just don't take it too seriously.

Caveats: At times, the translation is jumbled because the manuscripts are pretty jumbled, too. Also, there's a tiny bit of Part 2 that's not work-safe. When the story mentions Salome, you're almost there.

(Btw, you'll notice that the author of this piece took the Eastern view that James the Less was Joseph's son by a previous marriage, not the Western view that James was Jesus' cousin. However, since Joseph and Mary were apparently cousins, and Aramaic uses the word "brother" for every sort of cousin there is, both interpretations could in fact be true. Ah, the joys of Middle Eastern tribal life, in which marrying some cousin is almost unavoidable, if you marry inside your tribe.)

UPDATE: If you've just been reading Time magazine's cover story about Joseph, and you're looking for The Protevangelium of James... well, The Protevangelium of James is a typo. "Proto-Evangelium" is the search term you want.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 1 (from Mary's conception and birth to Mary's pregnancy)
Part 2 (Jesus' nativity to the flight to Egypt)
34 min.

2005-12-14T04:28:00.000-05:00

#63: Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, Part 5, by R.S. Surtees

Mr. Sponge's epic continues, and we learn more about Mr. Sponge's determined and bespectacled foe, Lord Scamperdale, and his disgruntled sidekick and almost-twin, Jack Spraggon.

'Love me, love my dog,' being a favourite saying of his lordship's, he fed himself, his friends, and his hounds, on the same meal. Jack and he were busy with two great basins full of porridge, which his lordship diluted with milk, while Jack stirred his up with hot dripping... His lordship did not eat his porridge with his usual appetite, for he had had a disturbed night, Sponge having appeared to him in his dreams in all sorts of forms and predicaments; now jumping a-top of him -— now upsetting Jack —- now riding over Frostyface -— now crashing among his hounds; and he awoke, fully determined to get rid of him by fair means or foul.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Chapter 25: Jack Spraggon's Embassy to Jawleyford Court
Chapter 25 continued
Chapter 26: Mr and Mrs Springwheat
Chapter 27: The Most Famous Run That Ever Was Seen
1 hr 50 min

PREVIOUS PARTS:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

2005-12-10T19:51:00.000-05:00

#62: "Our Christmas Tree" and "The Prisoner of War" by Fitz-James O'Brien

"Our Christmas Tree" is a poor but proud man's comparison of his Christmas tree to a millionaire's.

"The Prisoner of War", which O'Brien wrote in December 1861, is about a Union soldier whose best friend is imprisoned down South.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"Our Christmas Tree"
2 min.

"The Prisoner of War"
4 min.

2005-12-10T05:51:00.000-05:00

#61: The Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Part 1, by Thomas a Kempis

The medieval devotional classic continues with a dialogue between Christ and someone trying to be his disciple.

I went and saw Narnia this weekend, so this quote seems appropriate: "It is God’s prerogative to give grace and to console when He wishes, as much as He wishes, and whom He wishes, as it shall please Him and no more." (After all, He isn't a tame lion.)

Here's a link so you can read along with Book Three.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
34 min.

2005-12-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

#60: Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, Part 4, by R.S. Surtees

The English comedy classic continues. Miss Jawleyford begins to show interest in Mr. Sponge, and the local master of hounds shows an interest in taking him down a peg. By any means necessary.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Chapter 19: A Wet Day
Chapter 20: The F.H.H.
Chapter 21: A Country Dinner Party
Chapter 22: The F.H.H. Again
Chapter 23: The Long Run
Chapter 24: Lord Scamperdale at Home
2 hrs. 22 min.

2005-12-08T07:18:00.000-05:00

#59: "The Archduke's Tea", Part 1, by H.C. Bailey

This short story is from the early career of Dr. Fortune, a famous series detective from England in the Twenties and Thirties.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"The Archduke's Tea", Part 1
26 min.

2005-12-07T07:04:00.000-05:00

#58: "Sermon 12: On the Fasting in the Tenth Month" by St. Leo the Great (Pope)

Here's an Advent sermon on gratitude to God, giving alms, and fasting, from the guy who faced off with Attila the Hun. (December is the tenth month referred to.)

This is pretty interesting stuff to me, since it doesn't just deal with the Advent message of preparation. It also talks about the very old custom of fasting and prayer on the three "Ember Days" four times a year. I didn't realize this was inspired by Jewish practice, as is pointed out in the homily. (Zacharias 8:19: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and great solemnities.") You'll also notice a repeat of the idea found in The Shepherd of Hermas, that all the money you're not spending on food during a fast is supposed to be given to the poor.

We don't officially have Ember Days anymore, but of course it's still a pious practice. (If you can remember what days they are.) They're the first Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the First Sunday of Lent, Pentecost, the Feast of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14), and the Feast of St. Lucy (Dec. 13). So this year's December Ember Days would fall on Dec. 14, 16, and 17.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"Sermon 12: On the Fast of the Tenth Month"
10 min.

2005-12-06T21:39:00.000-05:00

I Didn't Mean to Be a Woman of Mystery....

It's becoming apparent to me that I'm not putting enough information about this blog, or indeed my own website, on my archive.org recordings. Witness this nice lady's puzzlement. Fortunately, we shared an acquaintance who still remembered me from the Continuing Time list.

(What relationship did the Morans have with the People of Peace back in the Old Country, one wonders? And can one count genetically and neurologically altered people as Fair Folk, like us but not really human, and capricious to humans because they don't share our concerns and point of view? But at least the Fair Folk didn't tell you that you really had to get with the program and send them your children to be turned into changelings, and live forever in a land that wasn't real, built on silicon instead of cold iron.)

But all parenthetical speculations aside, I've really got to do something about this. The problem is that I've got sixty directories up already, and to make any changes in the notes, I'll have to re-upload all my files. Which will be a right pain in the left buttock. Sigh.

I actually thought of emailing the lady back at the time, since it was her Tam Lin site that put me in mind of doing a big version of the song, but we all know what happens to email when I'm even vaguely busy. Also, that wasn't long before I started getting sick, IIRC. Also, I didn't realize she knew Batya, too, and had some of her art on the Tam Lin website.

So I'm interested to see the transcript, but I'm also a bit concerned about my diction on the song. Obviously my enunciation failed in a few places, or my microphone technique, anyway. Must practice more! But at least the song is available to folks in some form, and that's the general idea for all the audiobooks on this blog. Or podcast. Or whatever it is.

2005-12-06T07:35:00.000-05:00

#57: "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift" by Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift describes how he'll be mourned and remembered (or not) after his death. Funny stuff.

You can also read the poem at U of Toronto, though the scanning on this one leaves something to be desired. But the endnotes are good.

Why do we grieve that friends should die?
No loss more easy to supply.
One year is past; a different scene!
No further mention of the Dean;
Who now, alas! no more is miss'd,
Than if he never did exist.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"Verses on the Death of Swift"
22 min.

2005-12-05T06:17:00.000-05:00

#56: "The Wondersmith" by Fitz-James O'Brien, Part 2

The creepy Christmas story becomes a creepy New Year's Eve, as the Wondersmith's evil plans move into their final phase. Beware the Wondersmith!

Btw, I knew I'd heard that phrase before. I have a fairy tale book about the Gobhan Saor called The Wonder Smith and His Son. (It came out in 1927.) Wayland, Mimir and Regin are also called "wonder smith", so the term may come from Norse kennings. Wherever it comes from, it's a good title, ne?

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Section 4: "The Manikin and the Minos"
Section 5: "Tied Up"
Section 6: "The Poisoning of the Swords"
Section 7: "Let Loose"
46 min.

2005-12-05T06:06:00.000-05:00

#55: The Imitation of Christ, Book 2, by Thomas a Kempis

In this part, Thomas a Kempis tells us a few things about the Interior Life with a little wisdom, a little love, and a little poke in the ribs. The chapter on "Ourselves" is particularly cogent.

I forgot to post the last couple of chapters of this section of The Imitation of Christ, so I will be uploading that part to archive.org as soon as possible. This post will be updated when the matter is corrected.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
53 min.

2005-12-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

#54: "To the Immortal Memory of the Halibut on Which I Dined This Day" by William Cowper

It's just a little late, but here's my Fishy Friday offering. The title seems self-explanatory. It's short, so download it!

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"To the Immortal Memory of the Halibut on Which I Dined This Day"
1 min. 45 sec.

2005-12-02T05:46:00.000-05:00

Blog Announcement

Blogging will be increasingly irregular during the Advent season. It's not that I don't love you guys, but rather that I've got a ton of things to do. Singing carols at nursing homes two nights a week definitely takes away recording time. I'll be taking some days off, but those will be devoted to Christmas shopping and preparation, or to spending time with my family. Heck, I haven't even seen Goblet of Fire yet!

Also, I'm afraid that archive.org is getting really crazy on Thursday nights, what with all the folks uploading stuff for Friday morning. So, though I'm going to try to load Friday stuff early, it may slip between the cracks.

I really will continue with Mr. Sponge. I swear. Ditto The Compleat Angler. Especially ditto The Imitation of Christ. But honestly, I am going nuts here. If I'd known things would be this bad, I would have put up the whole month early.

2005-12-01T08:48:00.000-05:00

#53: "In a Cellar" by Harriet Prescott Spofford, Part 2

Here's the dramatic denouement to this story of diplomats, diamonds, and damsels decidedly reluctant to admit they're in distress. Intrigue in Paris salons, back streets, and cellars! (Not to mention a pretty darned unique ending....)

First part of the story here.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 3
Part 4

2005-11-30T06:11:00.000-05:00

#52: The Shepherd of Hermas, Book 2, Part 2

We wind up The Shepherd of Hermas with more rural parables about the Church, its members, and the dire need for repentance. It's been a really interesting look at what kind of thoughts and feelings were floating around the early Christian community, and what sort of problems were common among them. The danger of betrayal and the attraction of denial to folks living in an anti-Christian world is very evident.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
2 hrs.

2005-11-29T19:32:00.000-05:00

Blog Announcements

The third part of Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour is now up.

2005-11-29T05:26:00.000-05:00

#51: "The Wondersmith" by Fitz-James O'Brien, Part 1

This week, the honor of the name demands that I begin to read Fitz's creepy Christmas chronicle of bloody Romany revolution on the sidewalks of New York -- by magic!

I'm torn about this story. On the one hand, there's no denying that it's a very clever and scary little urban fantasy. It deals with contemporary issues (nationalist revolution), and uses traditional figures of legend alongside unused ones, like organ grinders and American birds. Furthermore, it weaves in real Romany legends and beliefs very cleverly. On the other hand, it also makes use of European stereotypes, including those against the Romany. And that whole rant against "Christians" doesn't make sense, for example. Rom who live in Europe and America are usually Christians, though they also hold their own beliefs. (Against gaje (non-Romany), you maybe could see the rant. I suspect editorial interference, myself.) Still, it's a good story as long as you bear the truth in mind, and includes a very unusual romance.

So don't give this one to the kids, okay?

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!

Section 1: "Golosh Street and Its People"
Section 2: "A Bottleful of Souls"
Section 3: "Solon"
45 min.

2005-11-28T07:17:00.000-05:00

#50: "An Armistice" by Alice B. Haven

I wasn't able to get this 1859 Thanksgiving story out last week, but I wanted to put it up before starting on Fitz-James O'Brien's Christmas stories. So here's the tale of two men, a woman, a bad cold, and an old-fashioned Connecticut Thanksgiving.

Sadly, Alice B. Haven died in 1863. She must have had a good bit of popularity as a writer, since, as the link points out, a memoir of her life came out in 1865. She was apparently primarily a novelist.

Anyway, the story is complete in one part. I swear. It's also available at Cornell.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!

"An Armistice"
31 min.

2005-11-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

#49: "Hymn to Christ" by Clement of Alexandria

Since I didn't have time to finish up The Shepherd of Hermas this week, I've given you a little early Christian hymn for your first week of Advent needs. (This is also subject to the whims of archive.org, of course.)

2005-11-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

#48: Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, Part 3, by R.S. Surtees

If and when my latest part of Surtees shows up on archive.org, it'll be here.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'll be out of touch, so see you next week!

UPDATE! MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Chapter 13: A New Scheme
Chapter 14: Jawleyford Hall
Chapter 15: The Jawleyford Establishment
Chapter 16: The Dinner
Chapter 17: The Tea
Chapter 18: The Evening's Reflections
71 min.

2005-11-22T19:28:00.000-05:00

#47: "An Arabian Nightmare" by Fitz-James O'Brien

First, my strep throat slowed me down. Then going back to work slowed me down. And now hundreds of people rushing to upload before Thanksgiving have slowed archive.org down. (Surtees is up; check my catalog link to archive.org if it doesn't get up in time for the morning.) But all the same, Clan Honor must be served.

"An Arabian Nightmare" is a cute little story about a medieval Arab merchant who travels on business to Russia, stays the winter, and ends up having an interesting encounter with beings straight out of the Arabian Nights.

For those who are keeping score, the latent moral of the story is perfectly appropriate to those of us Christians about to celebrate Thanksgiving. (Heh!)

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"An Arabian Nightmare"
18 min.

2005-11-17T07:42:00.000-05:00

Blog Announcement

I'm very sorry, but I don't think there'll be any audioblogging at all this Friday or Saturday. I'm still sick, and my throat's not getting any better.

If you'll look up at the top of my blog page here at Maria Lectrix, you'll see an illustration that's part of an old Vatican library catalog. Click on that, and you can see all my audiobook files. That ought to keep you busy.

2005-11-17T07:25:00.000-05:00

#46: "In a Cellar" by Harriet Prescott Spofford, Part 1

A diplomat does detecting for diamonds and Delphine. This 1859 short story appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, and was the first publication of a very prolific writer named Harriet Prescott Spofford.

The traditional view of detective literature is that there was really no literary detective story between Poe and Doyle. Spofford does not appear to have heard this. Like Alcott and others, she was forgotten by the Christopher Morley generation. I don't think this was sexist; I think it was just a cultural memory hole that most of our mid-Victorian writers have fallen into. (There was supposed to be no "scientific romance" to speak of, either, besides O'Brien's microscopic world of "The Diamond Lens", but I found a story about a "Brazen Android" -- probably Bacon's alleged brazen head -- in Harper's that looks well worth inquiry.) In general, the immediately pre-war stories in Harper's are sharp, well-written, and relatively lean, and the women writers are just as good as the men. I can only suppose that the mid-Victorians were too raw for the late Victorian generation's sentimentality, or not morally uplifting enough, or something of that sort. Or perhaps the literary magazines just got laid aside in a pile somewhere.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"In a Cellar", part 1
Part 2
56 min.

2005-11-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

#45: The Shepherd of Hermas, Book 2, Part 1

We move into the parable half of The Shepherd of Hermas. Sorry I did so little, but I was worn out. You'll also notice an explanation of the Son's preexistence in Part 9 that flings around the word "spirit" very recklessly, but at least it shows that early Christians were thinking about the Trinity.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 8
Part 9
27 min.

2005-11-15T18:25:00.000-05:00

Blog Announcements

My body and white blood cells have informed me that they'd like me to take it easy for the next few days while they fight off the latest creepin' crud. So I'm afraid that audioblogging will be light until I throw this stuff off.

Also, I've decided that, although I like The Compleat Angler very much, the chapters are also very long. So I think I will only read Mr. Izaak Walton twice a month, on what I shall designate as Fishy Fridays. The other two Fridays will be dedicated to whatever selections from literature I feel like putting up.

2005-11-15T07:40:00.000-05:00

#44: Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour, Part 2, by R.S. Surtees

The foxhunting, money-hunting fun continues as Mr. Sponge tries to prove himself to a hunt and sell a horse.

"...Mr. Caingey Thornton and Mr. Spareneck should be especially deputed to wait upon Mr. Sponge, and lead him into mischief. Of course it was to be a 'profound secret,' and equally, of course, it stood a good chance of being kept, seeing how many were in it, the additional number it would have to be communicated to before it could be carried out, and the happy state old Tom was in for arranging matters. Nevertheless, our friends at the 'Imperial' congratulated themselves on their success...."

"Early to bed and early to rise being among Mr. Sponge's maxims, he was enjoying the view of the pantiles at the back of his hotel shortly after daylight the next morning, a time about as difficult to fix in a November day as the age of a lady of a 'certain age.'"

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Chapter 7: Our Hero Arrives at Laverick Wells
Chapter 8: Old Tom Towler
Chapter 9: The Meet -- The Find, and the Finish
Chapter 10: The Feeler
Chapter 11: The Deal, and the Disaster
Chapter 12: An Old Friend
1 hr 49 min

2005-11-14T06:11:00.000-05:00

#43: "The Enchanted Titan" and "The Sewing Bird" by Fitz-James O'Brien

I promised I'd try to lighten up this place a bit. Also, I realized that last week I may have bit off more than I can chew in terms of looooong works. So instead of a story, today clan honor will be satisfied with a couple of Fitz-James' less dark poems.

"The Enchanted Titan" brings a touch of Greek myth and a touch of the Arabian Nights.

"The Sewing Bird" is fantasy with a political and labor bite. It's a plea for New York stores aimed at women to actually employ women as something other than seamstresses working their fingers to the bone for no money. Not as dark as his big social justice poem, "The Tenement House". Probably his rationale of "where women should be" versus "where men should be" is not very attractive to modern sensibilities, but at the time, advocating shopgirls was a very decent act. Btw, if you're wondering what a sewing bird is, it's a sort of fabric clamp. Here are some fancy ones for better-off women.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"The Enchanted Titan"
2:18

"The Sewing Bird"
12:53

2005-11-12T12:19:00.000-05:00

#42: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, Book I, Part 2

Thomas a Kempis' book continues, with more straight talk and good advice per inch than any other spiritual book I've read. Not the cheeriest advice, maybe, but as they say in The Princess Bride, "Life is pain." And this author isn't out to sell you anything.

Still, keep in mind when he talks about detachment that he's primarily talking about people who have taken vows to live as religious, not people with families and duties in the outside world.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
50 min

2005-11-11T05:23:00.000-05:00

#41: The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton, Chapter 1

We continue Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' Week with the first chapter of Izaak Walton's classic work on catching fish and the contemplative life. He begins with a nicely medievalish dispute between Venator (a hunter), Piscator (a fisherman), and Auceps (a falconer), as to the merits of their three sports. But he sets this in the realistic context of a walk from London out into the country. (That'd be a much longer walk today!)

For those of you keeping score, Walton was an Anglican. But in his will, he acknowledged having many Catholic friends.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Chapter 1: Pt 1
Chapter 1: Pt 2
Chapter 1: Pt 3
1 hr 16 min.

2005-11-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

#40: "A Message from the Deep Sea" by R. Austin Freeman

For once, Dr. Thorndyke gets consulted by the police before an arrest -- in fact, before anyone but the person who discovered the body has touched the crime scene. Lucky for society, because only our Edwardian CSI guy can decipher the message from the sea.

For me, discovering a "new" writer is like eating popcorn. I can't stop. I realize, however, that my current Thorndyke obsession may be imposing on the patience of my listeners. Let me know if you'd like a break. And as always, your suggestions are solicited in the comment boxes.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 1
Part 2
66 min

2005-11-09T07:59:00.000-05:00

#39: The Shepherd of Hermas, Book 1

Nothing like an early Christian "bestseller", huh? Lots of visions, lots of allegories, lots of parables, lots of food for thought. (Lots to disagree with, too. Good thing this book didn't get into the Canon.) Still, it's a book well worth reading.

Also, you get to meet Hermas, an ex-slave shady Christian businessman, whose wife for some reason has a sharp tongue and whose kids keep getting into bad habits or abandoning the Church, but who's still basically a nice guy. Sorta.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Vision 1
Vision 2
Vision 3
Vision 4
Vision 5, Part 1
Vision 5, Part 2
Vision 5, Part 3
1 hr 43 min

2005-11-08T07:17:00.000-05:00

#38: Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour by R.S. Surtees, Part 1

We continue Huntin', Shootin', and Fishin' Week with part 1 of Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, the story of a fox-hunting, rich wife-hunting man of limited and mysterious means but great resource. I think it is funny stuff, with a surprisingly undated attitude.

Surtees is one of those English writers of whom other English writers speak with great affection, but this is the first time in my life I've been able to read anything by him. So far, Mr. Sponge's trip is not only a funny story but a very sharp examination of the early Victorian period, missing nothing, but not as bitter about life as Thackeray.

Becky Sharp was never all that likeable. Mr. Sponge at least has some natural virtues to offset his anti-hero status. However, these are usually counteracted immediately by some tiny indication of cruelty to his horses or similar, really unsportsmanlike or ungentlemanly offenses, so that you won't like him too much. It's an interesting tightrope that Surtees walks.

Now, it probably helps if you know a bit about horses and a bit about Victorian fashion. But I don't think that's essential. You get used to letting the context just pour over you in books set in different times and places, and a comedy from another time and place is no exception. You probably didn't understand everything Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett were talking about the first time you read them, either; but they were still funny.

(And yes, there are two chapters named "Laverick Wells". Not a typo.)

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Chapter 1: Our Hero
Chapter 2: Mr. Benjamin Buckram
Chapter 3: Peter Leather
Chapter 4: Laverick Wells
Chapter 5: Mr Waffles
Chapter 6: Laverick Wells
1 hr 30 min

2005-11-07T07:06:00.000-05:00

#37: "A Terrible Night" by Fitz-James O'Brien

Clan Honor Monday begins the week with this story, wherein two young men traveling through the forests of upstate New York learn the nightmarish dangers of staying with people you don't trust.

Interesting, evocative, and not too long -- a sort of Twilight Zone story from before Rod Serling or Kafka ever showed their faces. It also goes along with my theme for this week, which is "Huntin', Shootin', and Fishin'".

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"A Terrible Night"
18 min.

2005-11-05T08:46:00.000-05:00

#36: The Imitation of Christ, Book 1, Part 1

Today I'm beginning to read The Imitation of Christ. This is one of the world's biggest selling books! It's also a book to be thought about more for longer stints than it's read.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Foreword
Pt. 1
Pt. 2
Pt. 3
45 min.

2005-11-04T06:32:00.000-05:00

#35: "Sredni Vashtar" by Saki (H.H. Munro)

Today's story comes from 1911. I suspect that Saki and Roald Dahl have their own bizarre little corner of Heaven....

I'm sorry about the dark tone of the blog thus far, but these are the stories that seem to be occurring to me. I don't usually like horror much, though I find it much more enjoyable to read out loud than in the quiet of my own brain. I guess I'm just on a dark kick -- probably because of the time of year. Of course, the problem is that mainstream stories about men and women living ordinary lives can be even more depressing, dark, and disturbing than stories about dragons, ghosts, doomed spacecraft, murderers, or Evil Gods What Likes Angles That Make Men's Brains Reel. Also, while I'm poking around looking at Fitz stories, I tend to run into other stories like his. But I'll try to find some more cheerful material. Suggestions in the comment boxes will be cheerfully accepted.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"Sredni Vashtar"
12 min 49 sec

2005-11-03T05:07:00.000-05:00

#34: The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman, Part 5 (DONE!)

Dr. Thorndyke finally reveals his secret defense for Reuben Hornby in the courtroom at the Old Bailey. Dr. Jervis at last learns a secret which will change his life. So we conclude The Red Thumb Mark. I really enjoyed this book, and I hope you have, too.

(Btw, if you get easily bored with summings-up by the defense, Anstey's big speech is the last thing on that track. So you can skip ahead, if you need. Also, you can as usual read the book over at Project Gutenberg.)

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK:
Part 1: Chapters 1-4
Part 2: Chapters 5-8
Part 3: Chapters 9-12
Part 4: Chapters 13-14

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Chap. 15: "The Finger-Print Experts"
Chap. 15, Pt. 2
Chap. 16: "Thorndyke Plays His Card"
Chap. 16, Pt. 2
Chap. 16, Pt. 3
Chap. 17: "At Last"
2 hrs 30 min

2005-10-31T18:21:00.000-05:00

#33: V. Bede, "Sermon on All Saints' Day"

Contrary to what you've heard, All Saint's Day was not created to co-opt Celtic Samhain festivities for Christianity. (Though it worked that way in some Celtic countries.) The day was invented to commemmorate all the martyrs, especially when said martyrdoms didn't happen nearby; and then spread to cover all the saints in general, especially those we don't know. These celebrations date back to very early times, and you can read all about the history in the relevant Catholic Encyclopedia article.

This sermon is by Bede, who's sometimes counted as one of the late, late Fathers. He's from England. As you can tell from the 710 AD dating, he was preaching after the feast had been introduced and promoted, a few decades before it was moved from May 13 to Nov. 1, and about a hundred years before it was legislated to be a feast celebrated everywhere the Church was. (Unfortunately, my copy is abridged, and I have no way of knowing by how much. Still, it's a cool sermon.)

The reason this sermon was in Latin was not that Bede preached it in Latin to his congregation (he probably didn't), but that there was really no point collecting sermons in a book in English if you wanted an international readership. Writing in a vernacular restricted a work's usefulness and endurance, though it did demonstrate your love of your mother tongue. But if you learned to read, you probably learned it by learning to read Latin; the Vulgate psalms were the ABC's of Europe.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"Sermon on All Saints Day"
10 min.

2005-10-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

#32: Special Halloween edition!

Three Scottish Hallowe'en ballads for you! First of all, we slip into the Border between Middle Earth and Elfland with Janet and Tam Lin. (Remember, "The night is Hallow'een, my love, The morn is Hallow's Day.") Then we attend a party and learn a little about the old Scottish year's end divination customs in Robert Burns' "Hallowe'en". Finally, Andrew Lang of fairy tale fame tells us an adult tale of "The Queen of Spain and the Bauld McLean", based on the destruction of the Spanish ship Florencia in 1588. Enjoy!

MANUAL DOWNLOAD!
"Tam Lin"
10 min.
"Halloween" by Robert Burns
20 min.
"The Queen of Spain and the Bauld McLean" by Andrew Lang
4 min.

2005-10-31T05:47:00.000-05:00

#31: "The Pot of Tulips" by Fitz-James O'Brien

This ghost story is pretty fun. Lost treasure! A wronged heiress! Communication from beyond the grave!

Obviously, though, it leans quite a bit on the conventions of spiritualism. That's interesting in itself, of course. We think of spiritualism as a post-Civil War or post-WWI phenomenon, but this story was written in 1855. (But the Fox sisters, of course, were famous back in 1848, and there was plenty of death of relatives both in Europe and out West during the 1840's and 1850's.) The Ghostbusters-style blend of practicality, fantasy, and state-of-the-art science fiction reminds me strongly of William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki stories and that charming device, the vacuum tube "electric pentacle". Though it is fair to warn you that when Carnacki finds himself a ghost, it's usually a really scary one; and he shies from using scary incantations and grimoires about as much as Egon and Ray, which is to say, not at all. (You can also download free (though lower quality) audiobooks of Carnacki from audiobooksforfree.com. And there was apparently a book of Carnacki pastiches by A.F. Kidd and Rick Kennett called 472 Cheyne Walk -- Carnacki: The Untold Stories published in 2002.)

For those who are keeping score, I wouldn't be a spiritualist or even a ghosthunter if you paid me. The stuff which is very cool in stories would be exactly the stuff which would be likely to do you in if you tried to do it in real life. (I think trying to be both an ardent spiritualist and scientist ruined Conan Doyle's life; though he kept his honor, he left behind a lot of his good sense. But he would have done better to quit running from his grief and guilt into junk science and self-made religion. Oh, well.) But anyway, a good story's a good story.

Btw, I'd better explain again that if you follow the link to archive.org at the top of this post, you'll be able to get different (smaller) formats and streaming. The manual download link takes you only to the 128K mp3s. I do this because some computers can't use Ogg and experience unknown difficulties with the 64K.

Also, I had a few more Halloweenish readings I wanted to sneak into this Halloween edition of Maria Lectrix, but you'll have to wait until sometime tonight or tomorrow when they get processed.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"The Pot of Tulips"
49 min.

2005-10-28T06:31:00.000-04:00

#30: The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, Part 5 (LAST PART!)

Yes, yet another early posting, since I'll be busy this weekend. The fifth part of the book consists of the translator's Introduction (in three parts), and the appendix, a letter between close associates of Catherine which describes her saintly death.

I shy away from reading introductions and forewords before the rest of the book. They have a tendency to include spoilers, or try to lead me toward the introducer's ideas of the book instead of my own. Now, this is actually a rather spoiler-free introduction, though I'm still not sorry I didn't read it out first. All the foreign words and typos, not to mention the length, would have been terribly discouraging as a beginning. Still, it's a nice overview of the historical and religious situation and has some good info about Catherine's early life.

The appendix isn't short, but I found it interesting. Btw, Sexagesima Sunday is the second Sunday before Lent. It was called Sexagesima, 'sixty', because it's about sixty days till Easter (or actually, sixty days till the Wednesday after Easter). Orthodox areas used to start abstaining from meat that early, apparently.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Introduction, part 1
Introduction, part 2
Introduction, part 3
Appendix

LINKS TO THE PREVIOUS PARTS:
Book 1: A Treatise on Divine Providence
Book 2: A Treatise on Discretion
Book 3: A Treatise on Prayer
Book 4: A Treatise on Obedience

2005-10-28T06:17:00.000-04:00

#29: "The Nightmare" by G.K. Chesterton

This essay is from Alarms and Discursions, a 1910 collection of short pieces written for London's Daily News. The essay winds around a bit, and talks of many things. In the end, I think it's a brilliant defense of horror, dark fantasy, and the like. More than that, though, it's fun and beautiful writing, from a time when the sort of blog columns we enjoy from Lileks were standard operating procedure for journalists. (Or at least they were for Chesterton.)

I apologize for reading the essay with a much straighter face than GKC wore when writing it. However, you are spared any of my odd voices.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
"The Nightmare"
9 min.

2005-10-27T06:35:00.000-04:00

#28: The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman, Part 4

The story strides on towards court, as Thorndyke gets another little present from his ingenious friend and Jervis learns some startling information. We also learn about Thorndyke's rather disturbing hobby. Further, Freeman does his best to harrow every mystery fan's soul with his blunt description of the Old Bailey at his time of writing. You begin to understand the Victorian obsession with strong soap and elbow grease.

If you can't stand the wait until next week, you can read The Red Thumb Mark on Gutenberg.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Chapter 13: Murder by Post
Chapter 14: A Startling Discovery
59 min.

LINKS TO PREVIOUS PARTS:
Part 1: Chapters 1-4
Part 2: Chapters 5-8
Part 3: Chapters 9-12

2005-10-26T06:20:00.000-04:00

#27: "The First Apologia" by St. Justin Martyr

Apologia means 'explanation'. In this case, a philosopher-turned-Christian tells Roman emperor all about Christianity. Breaking the secrecy that was common, thanks to persecution, he does his best to dispel urban rumors by openness about the true nature of Christian beliefs and rituals. He argues that individual Christians should be judged by what they do, not by what they are said to believe, and that Christian hunts are bad for the Empire's justice.

Also, with extensive quotes both from the myths and philosophers and the Greek Bible, he argues that Christianity has the full interpretation of the ancient Jewish scriptures, that the philosophers cribbed from the older Jewish material, and that many great Greek myths and new religions were set up by the demons to try to counteract Jewish prophecy. This seems odd to modern listeners. But the Roman government had as dim a view of "new religions" as the Japanese one. Part of why Judaism was tolerated and protected by the Empire was that it was old and had old records. If Christianity could be shown to be not a mere hundred and fifty years old, but the heir of a continuity of belief with Judaism, Christians would look much more respectable. (It was also a rebuke to his fellow Greeks among the Marcionites, who were so busily engaged in trying to purge Christianity of its Jewish roots that they wanted to throw out the Old Testament.)

Not everything that he reveals is good stuff. We peer into a world where Marcionites and followers of Simon Magus annoy the heck out of more mainstream Christians, and where tension is high between prophecy-saved Christians and the now temple-less Jews. And sometimes paranoia is justified. Recent research indicates that Mithras worshippers probably did copy some rituals from that popular new religion of Christianity, and may have even moved their date of celebration to coincide with Christmas (instead of the other way round). Still, the main annoyance seems to be persecution by pagan neighbors and the Empire, and it shadows this letter. "You can kill but not hurt us," says St. Justin, Doctor of the Church and martyr.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
2 hrs 25 min

2005-10-25T07:32:00.000-04:00

#26: "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" by Robert Browning

I admit that this poem is not an obvious Halloween choice. But I felt like reading it. There's not that many great Victorian poems based on Scottish fairy tales about lopping off elves' heads. But it inspired Stephen King, and that's Halloweeny, right? Also, the theme of invading the King of Elfland's place to rescue a fair maiden is highly appropriate to the Celtic year's end. Beyond that, of course, it deals with death, which as certain posters have pointed out, is one of the Four Last Things that All Saints' Day, Hallowmas, should make us think on.

But mostly I just like Browning. You could have an all-Browning audioblog that posted 365 days a year, and probably never get bored. (Though all that blank verse might start to wear.) It's only a shame that I'm not an actor, and can't wring every ounce of drama out of the reading.

(You know what we need? A Browning opera. The Ring and the Book's long enough, isn't it?)

You can also read "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" with eyes alone.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came"
12 min.

2005-10-25T07:24:00.000-04:00

#25: "The Man Without a Shadow: A New Version" by Fitz-James O'Brien

A humorous short-short about a strange and alien sort of creature which apparently could be found visiting New York back in 1852 -- and which probably can still be met with today!

Sorry about the extreme shortness. I picked a story I thought I'd be able to put up on Thursday or Friday, but Murphy and my own tiredness got in the way. Still, it wasn't too hard on my tired throat, and that was a good thing.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"The Man Without a Shadow: A New Version"
4 min. 45 sec.

2005-10-25T07:15:00.000-04:00

Playing Catch-Up

If you'll go down below, you'll see that Book 4 of The Dialogue is now up. So's the weekly O'Brien story and the Tuesday poetry, which you'll see above. Admittedly, I should have started putting up my Wednesday stuff yesterday, but I forgot; so it's going up on archive.org today and should be available tomorrow. With any luck.

2005-10-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

Monday Blog Report

I think I have finally discovered all that needed doing at archive.org in order to make my audiobook of Book 4 of The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena available to all of you. Unfortunately, I didn't figure this out until today.

I also didn't put up my Monday story before I left, because I figured that was too paranoid even for me.

Error. (As Psmith would say.) The truth is that putting up an entire week of stories in advance probably wouldn't be too paranoid for me. I didn't get home last night at all, as I ended up sleeping at my parents' house.

So you will probably get your Clan Honor Monday story on Tuesday, along with Book 4 of The Dialogue. I devoutly hope that your Tuesday story will also be available. But at this moment I have a sore-ish throat from an allergy attack last night, so I don't want to promise rashly. (Or in this case, watery-eyed and sneezingly.)

Feel free to go listen to the now-complete Psmith in the City instead. It is bright and cheery, which this October day is not.

2005-10-21T06:36:00.000-04:00

State of the Blog Address

This blog is now one month old. Vivat! We are only a little more than a week away from Halloween and All Hallows Day, so the spooky stuff continues.

Since I'll be out of touch this weekend, you'll notice below that I loaded up my Friday and Saturday audiobooks early. By Saturday, the file problem with the Dialogue should be fixed. The Fitz-James O'Brien short story for Clan Honor Monday may be slightly delayed, but it will go up.

We've got one more week to go on St. Catherine of Siena. Next week I'll be reading the postscript (a letter on her death appended to the book) and the translator's foreword (because I always read forewords last, to avoid spoilers). They're both interesting. Then we've got two more weeks to go on The Red Thumb Mark, unless the court scenes read faster than their page count.

If people have suggestions for what books I should read next on Mystery Thursday and Saintly Saturday, let me know. I'm inclined to go on with Freeman and read The Eye of Osiris. Murdered Egyptologists with tattoos across their chests are just what you want in late fall.

2005-10-21T06:16:00.000-04:00

#24: The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, Book 4: A Treatise on Obedience

With this book, the main meat of the Dialogue is concluded. Obedience isn't a popular virtue these days, and it wasn't popular in Catalina Benincasa's day, either. But in this short treatise, I found the advantages of this virtue were argued pretty persuasively. Most of all, it's hard to argue that if Adam sinned through disobedience and Christ saved us through obedience unto death -- death on a cross -- that this is clearly something Christians need to do.

I should note, though, that obedience doesn't mean going against conscience or morals. (Informed conscience, that is, not "I am now going to mistake me being stubborn for my conscience" or "everybody else is doing it, and peer pressure sounds like conscience".) Catholics aren't supposed to get hung up on dishonorable or immoral commands like samurai did. God is always the Big Boss, and obedience to His commands overrides all others. (As long as they're really His commands. You can't say, "Oh, yeah, and I'm reading the Bible here as allowing me to act like a jerk." Or rather, you can, but the Big Boss won't be amused if you do.)

Update!
MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
1 hr. 40 min.

PREVIOUS PARTS HERE:
Book 1: "A Treatise of Divine Providence"
Book 2: "A Treatise of Discretion"
Book 3: "A Treatise of Prayer"

2005-10-20T20:20:00.000-04:00

#23: "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley

This is one of those poems, by one of those poets, which have gone from ubiquitous to unheard in a couple of decades. Hmph. Well, it's Halloween, and Indiana is practically next door, and I feel like reading "Little Orphant Annie". So there.

If you don't like the way I read, you can hear a very badly restored 1912 gramophone record of Riley reading it (in Quicktime) at Indiana University's Lilly Library. You can also find the poem all over the Net, but the story behind it is also at Indiana University.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"Little Orphant Annie"
2 min.

2005-10-20T06:44:00.000-04:00

#22: The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman, Part 3

The mystery continues, as Thorndyke continues to be mysteeeerious about his take on the defense. Somebody keeps trying to remove him from the defense team permanently. And poor Jervis struggles to remain professional in the face of all sorts of temptation.

After this, there are only five chapters left; but the chapters set at the trial are rather lengthy ones. (All that dialogue.) So it will probably take two more weeks before I'm finished with this book. You can always read ahead, of course.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Chapter 9: The Prisoner
Chapter 10: Polton Is Mystified
Chapter 11: The Ambush
Chapter 12: It Might Have Been
1 hr. 48 min.

2005-10-19T07:31:00.000-04:00

#21: "The Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch"

This account by the ever-popular Anonymous is a glimpse of what it meant to be a Christian in a pagan Roman world. As you will see, the good bishop of Antioch (modern Antakya, Turkey) was not indulging in hyperbole about his fate in last week's letter to the Church's members in Rome.

You can read this account, along with St. Ignatius' other surviving letters, over at New Advent's section on the Fathers.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"The Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch"
14 min.

2005-10-18T00:28:00.000-04:00

#20: "The Hoard of the Gibbelins" by Lord Dunsany

"The Hoard of the Gibbelins" is a classic fantasy story from 1912. Just how clever do you have to be to win the treasure of monsters who live off all the unsuccessful burglars of their hoard?

You can read the story in The Book of Wonder.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"The Hoard of the Gibbelins"
11 min.

2005-10-17T07:42:00.000-04:00

#19: "Jubal the Ringer" by Fitz-James O'Brien

It's Clan Honor Monday again! Continuing the march toward Halloween (or perhaps the creep and slither), we head for the belfry of the Church of St. Phantasmos to meet "Jubal the Ringer". He lives in what seems to me like some medieval version of Gotham City. (Though keep in mind that this story was written in 1856.) But unlike the Dark Knight (and like an awful lot of Arkham Asylum villains), he is consumed with stalker love. Yet another dreamlike horror story from Fitz-James O'Brien!

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"Jubal the Ringer"
15 min.

2005-10-15T06:14:00.000-04:00

#18: The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, Book 3: A Treatise on Prayer

This part was really long, but treated of a variety of interesting subjects, from the value of tears to a good death. Of most note for modern listeners is the discourse on bad priests. Sadly, everything old does become new again. I was also particularly interested in the closely related section on the Eucharist, with the comparison of the Son to a fire which can be infinitely distributed without losing substance, and to the Sun.

There's still one more part to go, but you can always read the whole thing over at CCEL. You can access the previous parts here: Book 1 and Book 2.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
3 hrs. 45 min.

2005-10-15T06:09:00.000-04:00

Apology and Thanks

Once again, I didn't manage to get a story into the archive.org queue fast enough. I will keep trying to keep up. But rest assured that the week's books and stories will sooner or later get up on archive.org, even if I miss a day here and there. Also, you can always search for my audiobooks on archive.org (try "O'Brien" under "Open Source Audio").

In other news, however, I was pleased to see just how many downloads some of my audiobooks had accumulated over on archive.org. At this point, "The Sword of Welleran" is the clear winner, but "The Dragon Fang...." story didn't do badly. I don't know if this was thanks to my mention on Flos Carmeli or my appearance on the links list at LibriVox, but it surely was nifty to see.

2005-10-13T06:15:00.000-04:00

#16: The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman, Part 2

When is a fingerprint not proof? Thorndyke and Jervis' investigation (for the defense of Reuben Hornby against the charge of diamond theft) continues. Meanwhile, both Walter Hornby and Miss Juliet Gibson seem to be strangely interested in finding out what the investigators are finding out.

As every other American page about Freeman remarks, it is astonishing how unfair Julian Symons' remarks about him have proved to be, at least from the pre-war books on Gutenberg. I find that Freeman is a remarkably fun writer so far, and doesn't seem to have the mordant and cynical bite that today's forensic mystery writers seem obliged to adopt. Also, I really enjoy the "newness" (to me) of a lawyer/doctor.

(Although Fitz-James O'Brien's dad was apparently also called to the bar and the Hippocratic oath, so it couldn't have been totally unusual in the UK. And I gather that it also happens in the US occasionally. A lot more expensive study today than in Victorian days, though, I bet.)

If you are too torn by suspense, you can always read ahead on Gutenberg.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Chapter 5: The "Thumbograph"
Chapter 6: Committed for Trial
Chapter 7: Shoals and Quicksands
Chapter 8: A Suspicious Accident
66 min.

2005-10-12T07:26:00.000-04:00

#15: "Epistle to the Romans" by St. Ignatius of Antioch

Here's another work by an early Christian teacher. (These folks are called the Fathers. Well, the ones who weren't moonbats are.) St. Ignatius of Antioch, like his friend St. Polycarp, worked under the Apostle John (then an old geezer). St. Ignatius eventually became bishop of Antioch, where he was noted for steering his flock so skillfully that they didn't get persecuted under Domitian. Which was good. But almost all his contemporaries of note got martyred, and here were he and Polycarp living to a ripe old age. (St. John's longevity must've been catching.) So one day St. Ignatius decided he felt called to go talk about Christianity to the Emperor, and that was about it for him. (St. Polycarp got martyred later on, too. Happy ending.)

I'm being a bit flippant here, but I'm actually pretty awed by St. Iggy. (So was St. Inigo de Loyola. That's why he went by Ignatius in religious life.) He was a tough old bird, and some of his writing is really beautiful. Also, I found out in the process of checking my facts that his feastday as currently celebrated is actually next Wednesday, right on schedule for me to be reading another religious text out loud. The guy's still all about spreading the word, eh?

(But if you want an even more flippant portrait of St. Iggy as a younger and more foolish man -- along with other figures of the early Church -- I recommend Barbara Hambly's Roman historical mystery, Search the Seven Hills, aka The Quirinal Hill Affair. I would tell you other reasons why it's good, but they would all be spoilers.)

Anyway, here's St. Ignatius of Antioch's "Epistle to the Romans", written on his way to martyrdom, in an attempt to prevent any extraordinary efforts by the Christians in Rome to save him from being martyred. (To be honest, there was probably nothing they could have done anyway; they would just have endangered themselves. So by asking them not to try and showing that he wasn't sad about his impending death, he was probably trying to stop people from doing anything stupid.)

You can read this and other epistles by him on newadvent.org or CCEL.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"Epistle to the Romans"
13 min.

2005-10-11T07:46:00.000-04:00

#14: "Locksley Hall" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Today I'm reading "Locksley Hall" and "Locksley Hall Sixty Years After". I used to really like "Locksley Hall", and thought that the love story was irrelevant and that certain distasteful opinions of the protagonist disfigured it. Now I think that the fact that the love story would never work and the opinions are stupid... is maybe the point. The protagonist thinks he's a great lover (and Amy was smart to get shed of him). He thinks he's a great liberal (and really, he's an elitist who despises just about everyone). In "Locksley Hall Sixty Years Later", he's grown up to learn a little sense, but really, I think he still needs a good smacking.

And yet, both poems are well worth a listen. It's amazing how much you can like and disagree with something at the same time.

"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;

Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales...."

If you get tired of the sound of my voice, you can read "Locksley Hall" and "Locksley Hall Sixty Years Later" online.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"Locksley Hall" (1842)
"Locksley Hall Sixty Years Later" (1886)

49 min. ("Locksley Hall" is a lot shorter than the sequel.)

2005-10-10T07:36:00.000-04:00

#13: "What Was It? - A Mystery" by Fitz-James O'Brien

I've decided to run Fitz-James O'Brien stories for the next few Mondays, as this saves me the weekend stress of deciding what to run first thing. So here's a bizarre and spooky 1859 story which probably influenced both Bierce's "The Damned Thing" and Maupassant's "The Horla". Oddly enough, the "happy" ending is even more horrible than It was -- which is probably something of a comment.

Also, note the subtle plug for O'Brien's previous story, "The Pot of Tulips". Heh. Also, if the references to other horror books inspired you, Zanoni by Bulwer-Lytton (he of The Last Days of Pompeii and "It was a dark and stormy night" fame), and Brockden Brown's Wieland, or The Transformation: An American Tale. (This guy sounds interesting.)

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
"What Was It? - A Mystery"
33 min.

2005-10-09T16:06:00.000-04:00

#12: The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman (Part 1)

Here are the first four chapters of The Red Thumb Mark (1907), an Edwardian excursion into the mysteries of forensic science and one of the earliest hard forensic science mysteries. I think you'll like it. If you get impatient, you can read ahead on Gutenberg.

Actually, this is not the first Dr. Thorndyke mystery. Freeman came up with the character in his novella "31, New Inn". Then he wrote this novel, establishing much more of Dr. Thorndyke's character and introducing us to his friend, Dr. Christopher Jervis. Finally, he rewrote the first story as the third novel (The Mystery of 31 New Inn or The Mystery of 31, New Inn in its original UK appearance), and made it the chronologically second Thorndyke and Jervis story. This made his short story book John Thorndyke's Cases (1909) come chronologically third.

The second novel (chronologically fourth!) is on Gutenberg as The Vanishing Man, but I have to say I think that's a pretty generic title. I'd list it under its original English title of The Eye of Osiris (1911), myself.

Thorndyke wrote a good many books after the Great War (most of them after the sacred public domain deadline, and some of them apparently not all that great), but for some reason, his 1912 short story collection The Singing Bone (aka The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke) doesn't seem to be on Gutenberg or anywhere else. This is a pity, since it's apparently rather momentous as the first "inverted mystery". You know who the criminal is and watch him assembling his evil deed; then you get suspense from watching Thorndyke try to figure things out. (I'm not really clear on the difference between this and a "thriller", except perhaps the greater emphasis on "arts and crafts" scenes where we watch the criminal or detective making and doing things. But it's also interesting as a visible version of how writers often work out mysteries in the first place: I want to kill someone. Why? How? When? What precautions will I take, so as not to get caught?)

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Preface. Chapter 1: My Learned Brother
Chapter 2: The Suspect
Chapter 3: A Lady in the Case
Chapter 4: Confidences
1 hr. 40 min.

2005-10-08T07:14:00.000-04:00

#11: The Dialog of St. Catherine of Siena, Book 2: A Book of Discretion

I'm sick of waiting on archive.org, so here's your regularly scheduled Saturday book. Book 2: A Book of Discretion is full of interesting images and ideas, including the aforesaid analogy of Christ as a Renaissance covered bridge over a raging river of sin and death. Enjoy!

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
2 hrs 50 min.

2005-10-07T07:52:00.000-04:00

Keep Watching....

Ack! Archive.org is still dragging its feet on posting my stuff, so the new material will be posted when it's posted.

2005-10-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

Watch This Space

Okay, so I was slow getting my Thursday mystery done yesterday. In fact, I didn't get it all done and uploaded until after midnight. This was a gross tactical error, as archive.org likes to have at least twelve hours lead time before entries show up.

So the Thursday mystery will be up sometime this afternoon or evening. I apologize for the inconvenience.

2005-10-05T08:05:00.000-04:00

#10: The Didache

The Didache (Teachings), aka The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles, dates from somewhere back in AD 60 - AD 100. It's a sort of Reader's Digest version of the early Christian faith. Enjoy.

MANUAL DOWNLOAD HERE:
The Didache
21 min.

2005-10-04T07:54:00.000-04:00

#9: Folk-Tales of Napoleon

Here's a weird one for you! Folk Tales of Napoleon includes two lengthy folk tale versions of the life of Napoleon: "Napoleonder", collected by Alexander Amphiteatrov in Russia, and the other, "The Napoleon of the People", being a chapter from The Country Doctor by Balzac which apparently reflects real French folk beliefs of the time.

So was Napoleon just a sad example of what happens when Satan starts playing with advanced silicon technologies? Or was Napoleon destined from the womb to save religion and glorify France? They report; you decide!

Read Folk-Tales of Napoleon at Gutenberg.

MANUAL AUDIO DOWNLOAD HERE:
Introduction (listen to last)
"Napoleonder"
"The Napoleon of the People", part 1
"The Napoleon of the People", part 2
1 hr. 34 min. (even shorter without the intro!)