And now we come to the part of the book that I find a bit hokey, where the storyline starts to seem contrived. Oh well...
Chapter 15 is ready for PL.
Two little text corrections:
• At 3:37, "at his estate is Huntingdonshire" should be "at his estate in Huntingdonshire."
• At 9:55, "said Lord Colambre, starling" should be "...starting."
Bruce
COMPLETE - The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth - tg
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jenniferrd
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- Joined: April 22nd, 2014, 4:58 pm
Chapter 16 is ready for PL, with lots more coincidences.
I suppose, to be fair, it helps to remember that Edgeworth originally intended this as a stage play, and the plays that were popular at that time were the "comedies of manners", like Sheridan's School for Scandal. In those plays, the resolution is typically achieved by having the principal characters stumble "accidentally" upon each other at moments that expose their secrets and hypocrisies, in ways that are embarrassing for them and entertaining for us. It's easy to imagine this chapter on stage. (Her script was rejected for the stage, apparently because (a) they doubted that they could find enough Irish actors, and (b) they guessed that the public censor would never allow it on stage — the issue of Irish tenants and English landlords being too sensitive.)
As usual, a few textual corrections:
• At 3:38, "yet was as alert" should be "yet he was as alert"
• At 4:21, "he's gross-grained" should be "he's cross-grained"
• At 14:34, "the count's voice expressed" should be "the count's look expressed"
• At 18:54, "as is to relieve some sense of expression" should be "...some sense of oppression"
• At 32:23, "advancing graceful in shawl drapery" should be "advancing gracefully...."
And here's a ridiculously pedantic little discovery I made. At 51:15, something in the text sounded broken off, as if there was something missing. O'Halloran says: "I will leave everything—even the siege of—for your wedding." At first, I thought it was one of those blanks that old authors leave when they pretend they don't want to name some person or place, but then, I thought, why would a siege need to be discreetly anonymous?
But when I compared with a later edition, I realized that it's not the author, it's O'Halloran who has to be discreet. We know he came to London to confer on military affairs, and he has professed himself to be unaware of why he had to come in person with his maps. But in the later edition, we discover that actually he's engaged in secret military planning; he says "I will leave everything—even my friend the Minister's secret expedition—for your wedding."
So in the earlier edition, it seems that he stops himself before letting slip the secret of the military plans. And I can only guess that Edgeworth decided that that needed to be made a little clearer. (She anticipated my confusion! You'll notice, however, that in the recording I stick with the way it's written in the original edition.) The "siege" in question would undoubtedly be in Spain; Britain's intervention in the Peninsular War was full throttle in the years leading up to this novel, which is why Colambre briefly flirted with the idea of serving in Spain.
Bruce
I suppose, to be fair, it helps to remember that Edgeworth originally intended this as a stage play, and the plays that were popular at that time were the "comedies of manners", like Sheridan's School for Scandal. In those plays, the resolution is typically achieved by having the principal characters stumble "accidentally" upon each other at moments that expose their secrets and hypocrisies, in ways that are embarrassing for them and entertaining for us. It's easy to imagine this chapter on stage. (Her script was rejected for the stage, apparently because (a) they doubted that they could find enough Irish actors, and (b) they guessed that the public censor would never allow it on stage — the issue of Irish tenants and English landlords being too sensitive.)
As usual, a few textual corrections:
• At 3:38, "yet was as alert" should be "yet he was as alert"
• At 4:21, "he's gross-grained" should be "he's cross-grained"
• At 14:34, "the count's voice expressed" should be "the count's look expressed"
• At 18:54, "as is to relieve some sense of expression" should be "...some sense of oppression"
• At 32:23, "advancing graceful in shawl drapery" should be "advancing gracefully...."
And here's a ridiculously pedantic little discovery I made. At 51:15, something in the text sounded broken off, as if there was something missing. O'Halloran says: "I will leave everything—even the siege of—for your wedding." At first, I thought it was one of those blanks that old authors leave when they pretend they don't want to name some person or place, but then, I thought, why would a siege need to be discreetly anonymous?
But when I compared with a later edition, I realized that it's not the author, it's O'Halloran who has to be discreet. We know he came to London to confer on military affairs, and he has professed himself to be unaware of why he had to come in person with his maps. But in the later edition, we discover that actually he's engaged in secret military planning; he says "I will leave everything—even my friend the Minister's secret expedition—for your wedding."
So in the earlier edition, it seems that he stops himself before letting slip the secret of the military plans. And I can only guess that Edgeworth decided that that needed to be made a little clearer. (She anticipated my confusion! You'll notice, however, that in the recording I stick with the way it's written in the original edition.) The "siege" in question would undoubtedly be in Spain; Britain's intervention in the Peninsular War was full throttle in the years leading up to this novel, which is why Colambre briefly flirted with the idea of serving in Spain.
Bruce
Last edited by beeber on March 23rd, 2018, 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jenniferrd
- Posts: 850
- Joined: April 22nd, 2014, 4:58 pm
Chapter 16 - PL OK!
I tried to imagine this as you said, and yes, I completely agree! I find a lot of books that are in this genre to have many of these same coincidences, though they are completely unbelievable, it makes for a good story.
Just think of the Count on Monte Cristo, there are so many coincidences in that book, and people who are somehow related to each other's stories all woven into one narrative. Still I love that book!
One more chapter to go!
It's been exciting! Are you planning on reading more of Maria Edgeworth's books?
I tried to imagine this as you said, and yes, I completely agree! I find a lot of books that are in this genre to have many of these same coincidences, though they are completely unbelievable, it makes for a good story.
Just think of the Count on Monte Cristo, there are so many coincidences in that book, and people who are somehow related to each other's stories all woven into one narrative. Still I love that book!
One more chapter to go!
It's been exciting! Are you planning on reading more of Maria Edgeworth's books?It has been fun, but I'm trying to spot things that haven't yet been recorded, and Edgeworth's work is now pretty well covered in LibriVox. I keep going over the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die: that's how I stumbled on The Absentee.jenniferrd wrote: ↑March 23rd, 2018, 4:04 pm It's been exciting! Are you planning on reading more of Maria Edgeworth's books?
Chapter 17 is ready for PL, with three little corrections to the text:
• At 14:19, "she's an heiress, madam, never killed anybody" should be "she's an heiress, madam; that never killed anybody"
• At 32:05, "developing every day, every hour, fresh charm in his destined bride" should be "...fresh charms..."
• At 43:22, "while the life is in me, bring my other boy back" should be "while the life is in me, to bring my other boy back"
And that's all there is! It remains only to thank you, jenniferrd, for your attentive listening and encouragement, and you, TriciaG, for the work you have done and are going to do in cataloging this project. I'm happy with the results.
Bruce
• At 14:19, "she's an heiress, madam, never killed anybody" should be "she's an heiress, madam; that never killed anybody"
• At 32:05, "developing every day, every hour, fresh charm in his destined bride" should be "...fresh charms..."
• At 43:22, "while the life is in me, bring my other boy back" should be "while the life is in me, to bring my other boy back"
And that's all there is! It remains only to thank you, jenniferrd, for your attentive listening and encouragement, and you, TriciaG, for the work you have done and are going to do in cataloging this project. I'm happy with the results.
Bruce
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jenniferrd
- Posts: 850
- Joined: April 22nd, 2014, 4:58 pm
It has been my utmost honor, Bruce. Thank you for letting me PL this. You are a wonderful reader, this journey has been most enjoyable, I hope our paths cross again!
Chapter 17:
This is so very, very minor, I almost hesitate to bring it up, but as I said in an earlier chapter, this has been spotless for the recording bit, it would a shame not to correct this one thing.
21:09, there is a soft "knock" sound: "One moment, she exclaimed (knock)"
Chapter 17:
This is so very, very minor, I almost hesitate to bring it up, but as I said in an earlier chapter, this has been spotless for the recording bit, it would a shame not to correct this one thing.
21:09, there is a soft "knock" sound: "One moment, she exclaimed (knock)"
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jenniferrd
- Posts: 850
- Joined: April 22nd, 2014, 4:58 pm
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TriciaG
- LibriVox Admin Team
- Posts: 60753
- Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
- Location: Toronto, ON (but Minnesotan to age 32)
Section 3 has a sample rate of 48,000. Would you please resample this down to 44,100?
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
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TriciaG
- LibriVox Admin Team
- Posts: 60753
- Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
- Location: Toronto, ON (but Minnesotan to age 32)
Perfect - thank you! Continuing with cataloging...
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
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jenniferrd
- Posts: 850
- Joined: April 22nd, 2014, 4:58 pm
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TriciaG
- LibriVox Admin Team
- Posts: 60753
- Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
- Location: Toronto, ON (but Minnesotan to age 32)
Unless you ran the files through Checker, I'm not sure how you would have caught it. No worries!
No worries!School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
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TriciaG
- LibriVox Admin Team
- Posts: 60753
- Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
- Location: Toronto, ON (but Minnesotan to age 32)
This project is now complete! All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/the-absentee-by-maria-edgeworth/
School fiction: David Blaize
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
America Exploration: The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart