Podcast Episode Details

The SFFaudio Podcast #848 - AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: The Magic City by E. Nesbit

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Episode 848

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The SFFaudio Podcast #848 – The Magic City by Edith Nesbit (7 hours 33 minutes) read by Ruth Golding for LibriVox – followed by a discussion of it. Participants in the discussion include Jesse and Jason Thompson.

Talked about on today’s show:
1910, read to me, talking about it on twitter, pretty amazing, working on my Dreamland role playing game, dreamland adjacent, Five Children And It, childhood library, didn’t have good art, really love it, Ruth Golding’s version, the audiobook will be up front, unless they skip to the end, not better known, Wizard Of Oz level, didn’t have 50 other books made after it, we start with the premise, a little boy who’s an orphan, his mother is his sister, he’s 10, one day they meet a man on the road, he offends in many small ways, determined to be mad at his sister-mom, introduced to the family of this widower, everything’s wrecked, very real, Isekai, portal world stories, annoying boys, jerks, he gets out of it, negotiates with the girl, it’s sweet, talking everything, to restate the whole premise, child protagonist, feels lonely and grumpy, honeymoon with her new husband, new step-sister, takes refuge in an elaborate city, toy soldiers, books, the nanny, what a mess, take all this apart, by moonlight, transformed, into the city, his sister pops in too, not just a magic city, the wikipedia synopsis, the magic world, a small part of this greater world, everything that he’s ever dreamed of or played with, other people are drawn into this world, reminded by the premise, The Lego Movie (2014), Lord Business, relationship between you your toy your world, bad relationship, through the course of the experience, avatar, a more positive relationship on the other end, really key, build something and the then play with it, couldn’t become the guy, being inside the buildings, building up a fantasy secondary world, The Sword Of Welleran by Lord Dunsany, another mode, just play, not just the story of a kid who builds a city, a new family being integrated together, emotional change, after they see the beautiful city, she shouldn’t tear this down, a coming together, wild imagination, The Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath, earlier modes of human behavior, past-toddler, a 2 year old and a 4 year old, superbaby, peekaboo, imaginative work, names for her toys, Setsee, literal names, the process, a mermaid named Seariel, every language was foreign, stodgy and literal, pretending to be things, a monster here, this is an ice cream shop, the floor is lava, his whole world and everything that he thought of, favourite line, for the second time, Philip the carpenter, a little progressive, idle dreamers, the people who build these toys, Mr Parent, how can you be here and at Amblehurst too, just a dream then, go through the dreams and come out on the otherside, the coolest concept, the most lame explanation, even in 1910, fairly silly, arbitrary, fetch quests, maybe written for serialization, no vegetables or fruits in this kingdom, pineapples are not considered fruits here, very profound, trippy, secondary world material, a cosmic feeling, the mystic sense, mysticism, drilling in the eight hours of day enough, contemporary politics, the laws in the Magic City, good laws and bad laws, Noah is also the judge, they’re convicted, put in prison, would you please escape, they exit the door, would you please escape, a task defeated, what the purpose of everybody’s job is, make beautiful laws, everyone should be nice to everyone else, Nesbit doesn’t delve deeply into this idea, SimCity, Civilization, your own philosophy, a peaceful city, a healthful city, chessboards and old books, will it be a kingdom?, crowned king and queen, this is a republic, please leave, play with the idea of what makes a building of a city beautiful and valuable, H.P. Lovecraft sto

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Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago