#521: “A Welsh Halloween”, Part 2, by Anne Beale

The 1849 Welsh “All Hallows Eve” party continues, but now it’s time for its highlight — Pally Lewis’ terrifying stories, all of which happened to her or a friend of a friend.
“All Hallows Eve”, Part 2
34:13.

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#520: “A Welsh Halloween”, Part 1, by Anne Beale

“All Hallows Eve” is a stand-alone chapter about a Welsh Halloween from Traits and Stories of the Welsh Peasantry (1849) — a wonderfully detailed and lovingly written novel with an extremely misleading title. (The frame story is that these are people the English author knows personally, and that this is a folklore book; but it [...]

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#519: Ch. 17, Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper

Little Fuzzy concludes with a flourish.
Chapter 17
9:12.
Btw, Little Fuzzy has several sequels. Piper’s own sequel, Fuzzy Sapiens (originally published as The Other Human Race) was published in 1964. His second sequel, Fuzzies and Other People, was not discovered until long after his death, and was published in 1984. Before this was found, both William Tuning [...]

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#518: Ch. 16, Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper

Little Fuzzy’s penultimate chapter begins on a sad note. (If you’re letting young kids listen, maybe you won’t want them to hear the very beginning.) Then we turn back to the task of defining sapience. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it….
Chapter 16
19:18.
UPDATE: Link corrected.

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#517: Ch. 7, Cabbages and Kings by O. Henry

Cabbages and Kings continues, as the new Coralio government investigates what happened to all that money.
Ch. 7: Money Maze
23:25.

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#516: Ch. 8, Fatherless Fanny by Anon.

Fatherless Fanny continues, as Lisbon proves a place of many reunions.
Ch. 8: A Wedding.
6:24.

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#515: Ch. 7, Fatherless Fanny by Anon.

Fatherless Fanny continues with a pair of fast-moving chapters which greatly alter the now teenaged Fanny’s circumstances. Lady Ellincourt’s depression and poor health make her move to Lisbon. And though she still loves Fanny like her own child, she doesn’t plan on taking Fanny along….
Chapter 7: The Separation.
10:43.

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#514: Ch. 6, Fatherless Fanny by Anon.

Fatherless Fanny continues, as Lady Ellincourt and her daughter trade letters about poor Lady Ballafyn.
Chapter 6: Correspondence
11:44.
I should mention at this point that Fatherless Fanny was apparently mentioned by Thackeray in Vanity Fair because he used Anon.’s description of a girl’s school as an inspiration for his own. Frances Hodgson Burnett also mentioned Fatherless Fanny [...]

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#513: Book 11, Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso

Gerusalemme Liberata continues, with a book the History Channel should dramatize. Medieval siegecraft galore! Trenches and breaches! Godfrey vs. Clorinda! Argantes and Solyman’s tag team attack! Rams, arbalests, catapults and other fun siege engines! It’s so coooooool!
Excuse me while I wipe the history buff drool off my chin.
It should be remembered that Tasso also wrote [...]

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#512: Ch. 15A, The Nebuly Coat by John Meade Falkner

The Nebuly Coat continues, as Mr. Westray attends the inquest. Meanwhile, the romantic triangle over at Bellevue Lodge begins to be recognized by the people involved.
Chapter 15, Part 1
37:48.

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Blog Announcement

I’m late, I’m late! So I’m afraid I won’t be able to put up my next chapter of The Nebuly Coat until tomorrow evening, which means Gerusalemme Liberata, Fatherless Fanny, and The Ascent of Mount Carmel will probably also run late. I apologize for it, but this week has been another busy one.
Meanwhile, I’d like [...]

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#511: Chs. 21-30, “Of Shows” by Tertullian

“De Spectaculis” concludes with a brief stop at Tertullian’s typically philosopher-ish issues with fiction, acting and stage makeup as equivalent to falsehood. Then we get more thoughts about the games and the proper place of pleasure, many of which are useful, and a big showy finish with The End of the World.
Unfortunately, Tertullian’s amazingly big [...]

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#510: Chs. 13-20, “Of Shows” by Tertullian

“De Spectaculis” continues, with comments and scriptural quotes on why not to go to games and the theater. The really interesting bit is that Tertullian thinks it unfitting, even sinful, for Christians to get all worked up over nothing — over joys and sorrows that are artificial, and belong to someone else, anyway. Yes, Tertullian [...]

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#509: Chs. 9-12, “Of Shows” by Tertullian

“De Spectaculis” continues with more comments on the intimate ties between pagan amusements and pagan religion, including the gladiatorial games’ origin in human sacrifice.
“De Spectaculis”, Chapters 9-12
12:41.

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#508: Chs. 5-8, “Of Shows” by Tertullian

“De Spectaculis” continues with a look at the origins of the Roman circus games and theater. It also examines the proper way of living as a Christian in a pagan world. For example, the difference between going to pagan places to worship, or going there simply to do business.
“De Spectaculis”, Chs. 5-8.
12:43.

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