COMPLETE: A Personal Record, by Joseph Conrad -jo

Solo or group recordings that are finished and fully available for listeners
TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

A Personal Record, by Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924)

This project is now complete.  All audio files can be found on our catalog page here:

https://librivox.org/a-personal-record-by-joseph-conrad/

Conrad began dictating the series of loose autobiographical sketches that would become 'A Personal Record' in 1911, when he was half way through writing 'Under Western Eyes'. His avowed aim was to give his readers a sense of 'the man behind the work', and he certainly succeeded in creating a vivid impression of the kind of Joseph Conrad he would have liked to have been seen as: a man capable of wry humour and self-deprecation, but a sober, serious man too, prepared to face life as he found it. While some of the moments Conrad recalls seem slight enough in themselves - a general's daughter barges into his room while he is writing the end of 'Nostromo'; he supervises the unloading of a pony for the real Almayer up a river in Borneo - his manner of interweaving various episodes, abruptly dropping one and leaping to another epoch of his life, interspersing all with reflections on life and his own art - all this is Conrad at his most engaging. (Summary by Peter Dann)
Source text (please read only from this text!): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/687

Target completion date: 2022-02-31

Prooflistening level: Standard
Prospective PLs, please see the Guide for Proof-listeners.

IMPORTANT - soloist, please note: in order to limit the number of languishing projects on our server, we ask that you post an update at least once a month in your project thread, even if you haven't recorded anything. If we don't hear from you for three months, your project may be opened up to a group project if a Book Coordinator is found. Files you have completed will be used in this project. If you haven't recorded anything yet, your project will be removed from the forum (contact any admin to see if it can be re-instated).

Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process unless you are the BC or PL. Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!

Magic Window:



BC Admin

Genres for the project: Memoirs

Keywords that describe the book: autobiography, joseph conrad, almayer's folly — origins

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LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs

Intro to recording:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.

For the first section, say:
"Section (or Chapter) # of A Personal Record. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "A Personal Record, by Joseph Conrad. Section Title."
For the second and subsequent sections, you may use the shortened intro if you wish:
"Section (or Chapter) # of A Personal Record, by Joseph Conrad. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "Section Title."
End of recording:
Say:
"End of section (or chapter) #." [Optional, and if not stated in the intro: "Read by your name, city, date."]
If you are recording the final section of the book, add:
"End of A Personal Record, by Joseph Conrad."
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end.

Filename: personalrecord_##_conrad_128kb.mp3 where ## is the section number. (e.g. personalrecord_01_conrad_128kb.mp3)

Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader

MC to select: knotyouraveragejo

Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into the relevant Listen URL field in the Section Compiler, enter the duration in the Notes field, and post in this thread to let your PL and MC know that you have uploaded a file. You may also post the file link in the thread.
Last edited by TheBanjo on January 13th, 2022, 10:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.
TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

Sunrise2020 has kindly agreed to act as DPL for this project.

This work is sometimes known as "Some Reminiscences". As far as I am aware, this will be the first complete reading of the whole work on Librivox.
knotyouraveragejo
LibriVox Admin Team
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Joined: November 18th, 2006, 4:37 pm

Post by knotyouraveragejo »

Hi Peter. I don't see any mention of a prearranged MC, so I will go ahead and set this up for you. :) MW will be along shortly.
Jo
TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

Thanks very much, Jo. No, no pre-arranged MC, and very much appreciate your stepping in.

I've realised since completing the template that I have mischaracterised the genre. It should not be "Literary fiction", as I specified in the template, but rather "Memoirs" (under Non-fiction -> Biography & Autobiography on the template selector). I have made that edit on the first posting for this topic, but can you please make a corresponding change on the Project page?
TheBanjo
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Joined: January 23rd, 2021, 8:19 pm
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Post by TheBanjo »

I have uploaded section 01: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/personalrecord_01_conrad_128kb.mp3 (21:30)

And off we go into 2022! Hope it's a good one...
knotyouraveragejo
LibriVox Admin Team
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Joined: November 18th, 2006, 4:37 pm

Post by knotyouraveragejo »

TheBanjo wrote: January 5th, 2022, 3:18 pm Thanks very much, Jo. No, no pre-arranged MC, and very much appreciate your stepping in.

I've realised since completing the template that I have mischaracterised the genre. It should not be "Literary fiction", as I specified in the template, but rather "Memoirs" (under Non-fiction -> Biography & Autobiography on the template selector). I have made that edit on the first posting for this topic, but can you please make a corresponding change on the Project page?
No problem. Done!
Jo
TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

I have uploaded https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/personalrecord_02_conrad_128kb.mp3 (43:57)

... in which, interestingly, we get allusions to several works we covered in 2021.
TheBanjo
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Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Post by TheBanjo »

TheBanjo
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Joined: January 23rd, 2021, 8:19 pm
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Post by TheBanjo »

I have uploaded section 04: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/personalrecord_04_conrad_128kb.mp3 (40:49) ...

... in which, among other things, Mr Conrad expresses his deep and lasting appreciation of all things Russian.
Sunrise2020
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Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Post by Sunrise2020 »

What a joy to start the year with another novel by Conrad! And to hear about old friends again :D

PL of sections 1-3 is fine.
==========
Susanne
Sunrise2020
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Post by Sunrise2020 »

PL of section 4 is ok.
==========
Susanne
TheBanjo
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Post by TheBanjo »

I have uploaded section 05: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/personalrecord_05_conrad_128kb.mp3 (39:09)

... in which anyone who has ever read "Almayer's Folly" is in for a special treat.
TheBanjo
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Joined: January 23rd, 2021, 8:19 pm
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Post by TheBanjo »

Sunrise2020
Posts: 1012
Joined: August 28th, 2020, 5:41 am
Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Post by Sunrise2020 »

TheBanjo wrote: January 10th, 2022, 1:08 am I have uploaded section 05: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/personalrecord_05_conrad_128kb.mp3 (39:09)

... in which anyone who has ever read "Almayer's Folly" is in for a special treat.
PL of section 5 is fine. What a joy to get the background story to Almayer's Folly. The scene of the unloading of the pony is priceless!.
==========
Susanne
TheBanjo
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Joined: January 23rd, 2021, 8:19 pm
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Post by TheBanjo »

Sunrise2020 wrote: January 11th, 2022, 5:53 am What a joy to get the background story to Almayer's Folly. The scene of the unloading of the pony is priceless!.
Yes, isn't it? Reading between the lines, it seems Almayer's pessimism made a deep and lasting impression on Conrad. It's hard (for me, anyway) not to feel that Conrad must have seen something of himself in Almayer, for all that Conrad paints Almayer as such a queer bird.
I have uploaded section 07: https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/personalrecord_07_conrad_128kb.mp3 (40:34)
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