[COMPLETE] Episodes Before Thirty, by Algernon Blackwood - tg

[msfry]

Chapter 6 is PL OK. Thanks, Kerry. You make a real good gangsta!

[RitaBoutros]

Here's the last chapter, 32:

https://librivox.org/uploads/triciag/episodesbeforethirty_32_blackwood_128kb.mp3
47:12

[msfry]

32 is PL OK. Thank you.

The ending leaves me "wistful". Almost as restless as Algernon himself. It reminds me of a recurring dream I've had since childhood, (but not in several years). Let me recall it to you here:

I am walking on a railroad tie, high up in the clouds. Below me is a sea full of snakes and alligators, all tangled up together hissing and snapping, which I am terrified to fall into. The one rule is that I can't stop walking or go backwards, but I can vary my pace. As I reach the end of the tie, terror builds, my next step I will surely fall into the abyss. Just then another railroad tie floats into view, maybe right ahead, from the side, or 20 feet below, but my next step can land me on it if I'm very, very careful. Sometimes I must run, other times take baby steps, always timing is the issue. And I always do land, sometimes by the tip of my big toe on the trailing edge of the tie, sometimes near the head where I must soon step off again. Another detail is that the ties are of various lengths. Some are short so relief is short, some are so long I can't see their end in the clouds. Still I know the end is coming. There is no time to relax, nor any sense of security, or that "I made it".

A bit Algernon'y, eh? Unlike him, though, I have always yearned for the safety, security, and comfort of routine, hearth and home.

[RitaBoutros]

I know what you mean: Feeling trapped takes various and sometimes strange forms. Sometimes you are not only trapped, you are being hunted by a savage wild animal, like a tiger or a lion (my recurrent dream).

It still confounds me why the trapped Algernon (sick, alone and depressed) endured the punishment of the likes of Boyde for so long. Maybe he thought he deserved to be ill treated. The last chapter surprised me. I expected something much more dramatic than a yearning for one's homeland. Though I can attest that New York City WILL chew you up and spit you out without, for a second, changing the expression on her lascivious face.

[msfry]

OOOh, yes, I've been chased too. Don't know by what, but something shrouded like Harry Potter's dementors, and I'd get away by a running start then pushing off the ground and flying. I loved the flying part, but I could only get up about 12 to 15 feet and had to lean forward and concentrate very hard to stay aloft. Any distraction I'd begin to sink. Then I would flap my arms, and when getting too close to the ground would draw my feet up as high as possible to keep my ankles from being grabbed. Oddly, if I wasn't being chased, I couldn't fly. I wonder what Jordan Peterson would say about all this? Dreams are sooooooo weird!

Algernon speaks of being raised in innocence, protected from the world. He couldn't imagine Boyle's vile character tho the doctor saw it immediately. Charm leads many an innocent one astray. You might like to listen to Chapter 6. Short, and full of good advice from an experienced bid-ness-man.

[dg73]

If its still open I'd like to do ch 26?

[msfry]

If its still open I'd like to do ch 26?

Thought you'd never ask!

[TriciaG]

Moved to Readers Found.

[msfry]

Moved to Readers Found.

I appreciate this. It's respectful of our readers' scarce time that they don't have to visit projects looking for a place to volunteer only to find out there are no sections available. That said, it took me awhile to appreciate that it's hard for MC's to keep up with such details on every project, every hour of every day. There are bound to be lags here and there. It would be cool if the program would automatically label a project FULL (or take it off) based upon what's in the MW.

[msfry]

I have opened 16 and 17.

[RitaBoutros]

I can do 16 and 17

[msfry]

I can do 16 and 17

He he he

[RitaBoutros]

Chapters 16 and 17:

https://librivox.org/uploads/triciag/episodesbeforethirty_16_blackwood_128kb.mp3
20:52

https://librivox.org/uploads/triciag/episodesbeforethirty_17_blackwood_128kb.mp3
20:42

[msfry]

Thanks, Rita. I should be able to listen today.

[dg73]

Here's my recording of ch 26;

https://librivox.org/uploads/triciag/episodesbeforethirty_26_blackwood_128kb.mp3
Length 32:21