The Voice in the Night

It has been almost two years since I last released a podcast. It has been a difficult couple of years; last summer at this time I was in Pittsburgh, and then Erie, to visit my dying mother. We are having another baby in October, so it may be difficult to do any recording for a while, depending on what kind of a sleeper he or she is. I am hoping to get at least a few more stories and perhaps one of the novels completed by then.

Anyway, into the night once again I cast a pod. This may be Hodgson's single best-known short story; it has been adapted for film twice, and the idea has been borrowed numerous times. I find the text to be quite interesting. The narrator appeals to God and gives thanks to God on numerous occasions, but he is undergoing a horrible transformation and dying -- not entirely unlike dying of cancer. it speaks to me of the Book of Job, and also hints that Hodgson's relationship to Christianity was probably not a simple, cut-and-dried one.

I made a few very small edits to the text. Since I represent the "voice" as a modulated voice, with audio special effects, and switch back and forth between the narrative voice and the voice of the mysterious visitor at sea, I have cut out two or three instances of phrases like "the voice continued" and "the voice went on." When listening, there is no need to be reminded who is speaking.

If you are subscribed to the podcast, via iTunes or some other tool, you should be able to receive it now. The listing has not yet appeared in the podcast's page in the iTunes store. I have sent a ping to the server and I'm told it should be there within 24 hours.

I am personally very pleased with the improvements I was able to make in audio quality. I'd welcome any feedback.

MP3 file