Considered a change agent in early Gothic romance; oft-referenced in later literary works or paid homage to by such authors as Jane Austen (influential novel ready by her heroine, Catherine Morland, in Northanger Abbey); Edgar Allen Poe (borrowed plot elements for the short story The Oval Portrait); and Sir Walter Scott.
In The Mysteries of Udolpho, one of the most famous and popular gothic novels of the eighteenth century, Ann Radcliffe took a new tack from her predecessors and portrayed her heroine's inner life, creating an atmosphere thick with fear, and providing a gripping plot that continues to thrill readers today.
The Mysteries of Udolpho, set in Europe in the year 1584, is the story of orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the medieval castle of her aunt's new husband, Montoni, after being forced to travel through France and Italy. Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors that threaten to overwhelm her.
The mysterious happenings in the story always have a natural and probable explanation because Radcliffe was a very rational person and did not believe in the supernatural. Radcliffe's strengths in writing were in describing scenery as well as suspense and terror. Many critics have called the work "dreamlike" and "suggestive of the cinematic technique of slow-motion". (Summary by Wikipedia/Michelle Crandall)
How to claim a part, and 'how it all works' here
To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are up for grabs. Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you'd like to read (include the blue number, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
Is there a deadline?
Target completion date of this project: March 31, 2009 (re-extended) - but try to send your recordings as soon as you can. If you cannot do your section, for whatever reason, just let me know and it'll go back to the pool. There's no shame in this; we're all volunteers and things happen.
I'll be happy to release chapters at any time, just PM me. No pressure, just want to keep communications open!
Please claim single sections (the blue numbers)! Great if you'd like to read more than one, but please submit one before claiming the next.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Each chapter begins with a poem, and there are poems interspersed in the prose. Please make a small (2-3 second) pause before and after each poem, being sure to read the attribution if there is one. Please say the volume and chapter number BEFORE you read the introductory poem.
Sample rate
44.1KHz is the default sample rate in lots of software. We need to get files at this rate.
DURING recording: Make sure you add this to the beginning and end of your recording: Start of recording (Intro)
"This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
If you wish, say: "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
Say: "The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe. Volume XX, Chapter ##."
End of recording
At the end of the section, say:
�End of Volume XX, Chapter ##."
At the end of the book, say (in addition): "End of The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe."
Please leave about five seconds silence at the end of your recording!
Also, please remember to check this thread frequently for updates!
PRONUNCIATION:A quick guide...I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence, just making sure we're all on the same page with respect to a few names and places that recur regularly in the text. PM me or reply if there are additions you'd like me to make to this list, or corrections you see fit to make to my phonetics.
Udolpho = oo-DULF-oh
St. Aubert = san-OW-bare
Pyrenees = PEER-en-ees
Montoni = mawn-TOE-nee (mawn like 'yawn')
Apennines = appen-nines (appen like 'happen')
Quesnel = KUH-nell (short 'u' as in 'bug')
There are many French names, though not much French text that I can recall, in this book. If you need help with pronunciation, please post to the 'Need Help? Got Advice?' board for help. Sadly, my French is muy mal.
AFTER recording: Save files as
128 kbps MP3
mysteries_of_udolpho_ZZ_radcliffe.mp3 , all lower-case, where ZZ is your SECTION number.
E.g., Volume 2, Chapter VII would be: mysteries_of_udolpho_20_radcliffe.mp3
ID3 V2 tags
(To find out more about ID3 tags, go to our wiki: http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/WhatIsID3)
Add the following tags to your .mp3 file (how you do this depends on which software you use � if you are unsure about ID3 tags, send me a message). Please mind upper and lower case!
Title: Volume XX, Chapter ##
Artist: Ann Radcliffe
Album: The Mysteries of Udolpho
Chapter: [your section number] of 57
Transfer of files (completed recordings) Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file.
Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link.
Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader (when your upload is complete, you will receive a link - please post it in this thread): http://upload.librivox.org
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin) You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: ge - Gesine
I'll need the following information from you when you submit a recording, only if you have never recorded for LibriVox before:
- your name as you want it to appear in the LibriVox catalog,
- your webpage URL (if applicable)
- the runtime of the recording in format hh:mm:ss
Greetings Michelle
You look wonderfully well organised and, for such a large project I reckon you'd have to be.
I've seen this book mentioned before as an influence upon later Gothic works. It looks quite intriguing.
I shall be your MC for this splendid project. Anything I can help you with then please let me know.
I shall enter this project in the 'to come' section
Oh, HECK yes! I just finished listening to the LibriVox recording of Northanger Abbey, and I was wanting to do this one next. I'm so fascinated to know what is behind the veil! I am sure it is a corpse!
I'll take 02, 03, 26, and 49. (I enjoy the element of randomness.) And I will probably try to take on even more, if this doesn't fill up fast. I love Gothic romances.
In my experience, nothing ruins a party like someone suddenly speaking Latin in reverse.
-- Jeffrey Rowland
jimmowatt wrote:Greetings Michelle
You look wonderfully well organised and, for such a large project I reckon you'd have to be.
I've seen this book mentioned before as an influence upon later Gothic works. It looks quite intriguing.
I shall be your MC for this splendid project. Anything I can help you with then please let me know.
I shall enter this project in the 'to come' section
Good luck, enjoy
and could I claim section 57?
Kind regards
Jim
Thanks, Jim! I look forward to working with you. Section 57 is yours. I will let you know when I need something MC-wise...I am sure that time will come, sooner than later!
-Michelle
My first novella is NOW available!
https://www.amazon.com/Souls-Fire-Memoirs-Flame-Journey-ebook/dp/B088P5LSVB
Caeristhiona wrote:Oh, HECK yes! I just finished listening to the LibriVox recording of Northanger Abbey, and I was wanting to do this one next. I'm so fascinated to know what is behind the veil! I am sure it is a corpse!
I'll take 02, 03, 26, and 49. (I enjoy the element of randomness.) And I will probably try to take on even more, if this doesn't fill up fast. I love Gothic romances.
Caeristhiona,
I am so glad you are interested! I, too, wanted to read this book after reading Northanger Abbey...so I did, but it's been four or five years since I read it. I am looking forward to reacquainting myself with it. I won't give away what's behind the veil, though! No spoilers here!
All the chapters you desire are yours.
-Michelle
My first novella is NOW available!
https://www.amazon.com/Souls-Fire-Memoirs-Flame-Journey-ebook/dp/B088P5LSVB
mcrandall wrote:Thanks, Jim! I look forward to working with you. Section 57 is yours. I will let you know when I need something MC-wise...I am sure that time will come, sooner than later!
-Michelle
Thankyou
Question for you or anyone who has ever spoken a bit of French
There's a name in the piece I'm doing now
"Quesnel"
Otterella wrote:This is my first shot at this, so I'll take sections 04-05. I'd love to do more, depending on how it goes!
Oterella,
Welcome and thanks for volunteering on this one! I am so glad to see someone else interested in it...I think it's going to be a slow one to fill up.
Have fun! Please take a moment, if you haven't already, to read the "Newbie Guide to Recording" as referred to in the description above. Any questions you have, post them here or on the "Help Needed" board and everyone will pitch in to help out.
Thanks again!
Michelle
My first novella is NOW available!
https://www.amazon.com/Souls-Fire-Memoirs-Flame-Journey-ebook/dp/B088P5LSVB
Yeah, I'm glad to start on this book, because it has a special place in my heart. When I was at the University of Arizona, we had an overnight reading of this book. A huge group of people got together on the lawn in the evening, and read this book out loud, switching off chapters, all the way through. It was a wonderful experience!
Just checking, should I do both chapters as individual recordings, with all the 'this is a librivox recording'... before both?
Or should I just continue to the second chapter in the same recording, with only 'end of chapter 6, chapter 7' or similar?
Danielle wrote:I'd like to take chapters 6 +7 of Volume One,
Just checking, should I do both chapters as individual recordings, with all the 'this is a librivox recording'... before both?
Or should I just continue to the second chapter in the same recording, with only 'end of chapter 6, chapter 7' or similar?
Generally separate chapters have separate files with the disclaimer on both.
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable
people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress,
therefore, depends on unreasonable people." George Bernard Shaw
