Afleveringen
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Indeed, we do stumble into quite the bevy of delights as we delve farther and farther into the past with this particular issue of Astounding Stories. Sure, it's already quite the delight to discover a new saga in the tale we've heard previously in Earth, the Marauder, but in addition to that, we're well on our way to finding other short stories that boggle the mind!
As an aside, I mention a more modern short story collection out front, and I would love to stress to authors: I am more than willing to discuss featuring your work on the show! Guarding Gus, our first episode of the third season, is far from a fluke in terms of the stories I'm hoping to feature on the show going forward. If you've got some writing you feel would be a particularly good fit, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected], and we can talk about what that might look like for you!
Back on topic, though, I really do believe that short story collections can contain startling volumes of incredibly compelling work. I'm not sure I've mentioned it on the show, but there's a particular short story that I've been chasing for YEARS, that I first read in high school, and didn't write down the title of, and cannot find for the LIFE of me. In short, it was in a black-covered science fiction anthology that was about to be weeded out of the school library, and the only two major stories I remember have stuck with me ever since: one set in a society where time is used as currency, which opens with a scene of a group of street buskers doing some performance art, wherein they set their internal clocks to tick down simultaneously, such that the mob they were standing in instead causes them to fall, spelling out MEMENTO MORI in a town square. The other swings a bit more horriffic, as a young woman struggles against the thrall of a claude glass, each time she stares, finding herself more and more strongly compelled to never look at anything else. There's a particularly vivid passage of her describing how a lizard that wandered into the house looks after staring into the claude glass, her perception of color forced into eye-popping contrast in comparison to life as it was before.
The sheer vividity of these two stories as they impressed themselves into my then-younger mind has really instilled in me a drive to check out these short story collections, there's some real gems in there! Not just the yearly anthology issues, either, there's great stuff in the monthlies, too. Remind me to talk about Optopia on the live stream, sometime, you'll hear about some fantastic solarpunk yarns.
Also of note, our content disclaimer:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up.
A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly.
In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives"
Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation
General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
Want to grab the book to read along with us? check it out here, free of charge!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29768 (Astounding Stories, August 1930)
Have a book to request? Maybe some chats to chit? Finally interested in that bread I bake? drop by the discord!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn
Want to listen live? Come drop by, Fridays night, on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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As I've been known to mention a great many times, I absolutely love the wonderful short stories on hand in these old pulp magazines. Sure, they're not exactly always a hit, but when the author nails what they're going for? It's really going to shine! I mean, picture just how many incredibly famous pieces of what forms not only the english class "canon", but also those works that prove definitional to a genre, most especially genre that was then-niche, but now having a moment in the sun, like science fiction, or cyberpunk! (If you're looking at modern story magazines, you can even find things that I feel define essential modern genres, like solarpunk, as well!)
Gush as much as I like about these magazines, unfortunately August is the last Astounding issue we're going to be reading outright, directly like this. We don't know it at the time of this recording, but going forward, I'm going to be shifting the focus when it comes to Astounding, leaning in to its strengths as a provider of short stories. We'll, rather than reading the issues all in one run, instead be adding pieces of the issue to act as bonus tales, when a story ends a bit earlier than I was expecting it to. Perhaps I'll add a little tag to the description of the episodes which feature astounding episodes, for my fellow serialized short story enjoyers!
All that said, I hope you enjoy this particular issue of Astounding! As we work our way through the issue, we finish up that Earth the Marauder story that's been being chipped away at! Really, quite the fun twists in store here, as they wrangle their way through the whole conquering space whatnot. Reminds me of how science fiction tends to rhyme, we have this back in the 30s, and now there's tales of societies that prove a dyson sphere doesn't have quite enough energy, and instead propel their planet out of its original orbit, in hopes of finding more resources to work with. Wild to think about!
I don't think the disclaimer came up this time, but here it is anyway:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up. A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly. In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives" Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
Want to grab the book to read along with us? check it out here, free of charge!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29768 (Astounding Stories, August 1930)
Have a book to request? Maybe some chats to chit? Finally interested in that bread I bake? drop by the discord!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn
Want to listen live? Come drop by, Fridays night, on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Welcome, welcome welcome, to season 3 of Paper Cuts! As you heard in the opening of the podcast, we're shifting our release model. Rather than innundating you with approximately eight hours of material all at once, that you then have to sort out how to listen to, we're instead cutting the stream down into managable, bite size even, 1 hour and 30 minute chunks. You're still getting the same great Live Audiobook content we know and love here at Paper Cuts, but I'm doing all the wrangling of squashing it down into a cleaner timeframe!
Fittingly, the first episode of our third season also debuts our other huge shift (well, the one that's audible to you listeners): we've got some modern books now! Thanks to the gracious permissions of several very generous authors, I get to showcase some books published outside the public domain. We've picked an absolutely fantastic starting point here, in showing off what I'd comfortably call a "shareware demo" of Guarding Gus, by Karryn Nagel. Don't let that put you off, however, even the first five chapters of this book are an absolute blast, as we dive into the world of a Multnomah changed by the (relatively) recent addition of things quite fantastical to our own world. We follow the foibles of two young men, Brant and Nico, as they struggle to pin down just what our title character, Gustopher, has roped them into, despite being an adorable baby gargoyle. I immediately fell in love with the characters on display here, Nico just wants his quiet little life with his quiet little bonsai, but his whole world is turned upside down on wanting to make sure everyone has stayed safe, only to find that a) he's been adopted by a local extrovert (in Brant) and b) now he's got to take care of this little baby alongside a guy who he barely knows! Oh, and it's a bit of a reverse heist situation, too, as the local leader of what amounts to the magic mob was originally planning on having Gustopher as a showpiece in his menagerie!
I really enjoyed the heck out of the first five chapters of this book, and I really hope you do too! Enough time has passed since the friday this episode came out that you can not only acquire this book through digital booksellers, but also physical copies, and it's available to your local libraries, too! There was a bit of a wait while we were originally airing, but like I've done the organizing for you, I've also done the waiting. Enough waiting, in fact, that the sequel to Guarding Gus, What to Suspect when You're Suspecting, has actually been announced! (Karryn, if you want me to do a demo of that one too, you'd hear no complaints from me, that's for sure!) There's a lot of really good stories coming down the road with this season, and I hope you enjoy the changes I'm making on the backend!
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198424215-guarding-gusHave opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
Want to catch up in a video format? Check out the youtube channel!
https://www.youtube.com/user/glaciernester -
Ah, the very last episode of this season! We start to get into the lush world of Arthur Conan Doyle's most popular (non-sherlock) writing, and discover that HOO BOY does that professor have some feelings on the matter of the people he met and the places he went. Well, that, and he really doesn't care for the press. He just wants to be right and have people know he's right, without all the fuss of proving it. Sounds like he'd fit right in on the internet, howsabout we get this guy a podcast, huh? I mean, a radio show would be more appropriate to the time, setting, and theme, but I'd love to see such oddities that an anachronistic old fogey like this would cause!
Additionally of note, this month's episodes are the last ones of season 2, and as we come to season 3, starting in May, we'll be having a different release schedule! That's right, we're finally shifting to weekly episodes, much to the joy of everyone who didn't have time for multiple 3 to 4 hour journeys dropping all at once at the end of the month! No more having to ration out episodes of your favorite books to tide you over, I'll be spreading things out manually! Isn't that exciting?
I don't think the disclaimer came up this time, but here it is anyway:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up. A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly. In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives" Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
Want to grab the book to read along with us? check it out here, free of charge!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/139 (The Lost World)
Have a book to request? Maybe some chats to chit? Finally interested in that bread I bake? drop by the discord!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn
Want to listen live? Come drop by, Fridays night, on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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Unsurprisingly, I really breeze through books I know well here on the show, but unfortunately, that also means a goodly sized number of my favorites really are here today, then gone next week. So, while we really did have a blast reading The Time Machine, it's all over now. Well, that is, if it ever even happened? The book is sure insistent on being unsure. Either way, there's so much to enjoy about H.G.'s writing, especially in the hits like this one. As for the short story we got through, it's always a pleasant surprise to see someone realizing the concerning pattern that invasive species can get you into, and that goes double for planets that aren't earth! Come to think of it, we'll have to work out some kind of safe decontamination procedure when it comes to interstellar travel, as even a healthy person's microbiome could wreak major havoc on the little creatures we can't manage to see on even uninhabited planets, maybe I've got something there? Actually, come to think, I've got a better idea involving a sourdough starter and a planet full of gluten...
Before I get too off topic, a little notice! This month's episodes are the last ones of season 2, and as we come to season 3, starting in May, we'll be having a different release schedule! That's right, we're finally shifting to weekly episodes, much to the joy of everyone who didn't have time for multiple 3 to 4 hour journeys dropping all at once at the end of the month! No more having to ration out episodes of your favorite books to tide you over, I'll be spreading things out manually! Isn't that exciting?
I don't think the disclaimer came up this time, but here it is anyway:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up. A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly. In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives" Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
Want to grab the book to read along with us? check it out here, free of charge!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35 (The Time Machine)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32124 (To Choke an Ocean)
Have a book to request? Maybe some chats to chit? Finally interested in that bread I bake? drop by the discord!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn
Want to listen live? Come drop by, Fridays night, on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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Once again, I return to a personal favorite of mine, this time in The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells. As I note in the episode, I absolutely fell in LOVE with h.g.'s writing as a kid, there's just so much to enjoy, even divorced of context as I originally read it. The Time Machine in particular, though, really shines if you learn more of the context this book was written in. It's actually quite a biting commentary on the aggressive stratification of that era's society, and what an extrapolation of that to its logical maximum could look like. Listen, I could carry on about my english class conclusions on the matter of just who these folks the time traveller meets up with first are meant to reflect, or why it's so important to consider the role of science fiction at large in making social commentary, but really, at the end of the day, it's just a darn solid read, and to be honest? I doubt anyone's reading the show notes anyway! If you ARE reading these, come drop by the discord, tell me something interesting in the infodump channel! You've got an open invitation to carry on about your favorite topic, bonus points for linking sources so we can learn more!
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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First off, major points to the wizard of oz movie, not only is it the delightful classic we all love to see, they really didn't miss much in the way of adapation, in my humble opinion. Sure, sure, they cut the porcelain people, but they're not really of much consequence to the story at large. My only real complaint proper was cutting the expansion on the backstory of the flying monkeys, which, to be fair, was mostly just nice to know. I'm not really quite sure where they could have managed to put in the details about the crown that commands the monkeys in the sequences of the movie, given that understanding of all that is basically the window onto the whole lore of them being bound in servitude to the witch thanks to it? I guess they could have kinda stuck the power onto the ruby slippers, maybe even not outright making it a magical effect of the slippers (which then allows you to keep the magical reveal later), but have it be an old trade deal between the kingdom of the west and the monkeys that says they owe favors to the holder of the ruby slippers? Either way, what a delightful tale that was! And that's not to discount the short stories we read in this episode, either, mind you. Just how many times have you seen the time dilation plot actually go the way it went in "So They Baked A Cake...", huh? I certainly found myself reeling at the results, not just once while I was reading it, but twice while I was editing the episode, even! Don't get me started on that glowworm guy, though...
Want to read along with us? Find the book (and short stories) here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51414
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23104
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67362Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? (Like, say, the many sequels to this book?) Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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We're off on a journey into what the author, L. Frank Baum, calls a modern fairytale, to see another one of the real hits of the public domain, this time digging into the antics of not just Dorothy, but all her delightful friends, besides! Well, really, we meet her major enemy as well, and what most people would call (and I'm putting this charitably here) a charlatan! A con man, even! Well, I mean, how else would you ask me to interpret those required green sunglasses, huh? Confused as to what I'm on about? You've got to listen to the episode, then! It's different from the movie, you know! Not a huge volume, different, mind you, but different nonetheless! Keep a close ear on things, and maybe you'll catch just what's up there, I found it quite a fun game when I was listening to edit the episode down.
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? (Like, say, the many sequels to this book?) Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
Disclaimer time!
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but IÂ do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up.
A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly.
In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives"
Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation
General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
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With a name like The Forgotten Planet, you immediately wonder what's going to cause someone to forget a WHOLE PLANET, but this particular tale really takes us on some twists and turns before we find out just what's going on, there. As I say, a lot of these old short story collections from the public domain have a surprising quantity of solid concepts, writing, and even execution! Aren't you glad I go trawling through the massive libraries of text available to find only the best for the show? I even read it aloud, just for you! You'd never think some of this would have an audiobook of any sort, let alone a live one!
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29198
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
Disclaimer time!
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but IÂ do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up.
A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly.
In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives"
Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation
General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
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From high in the air, there is a terror descending upon us. No, no, not like that, it's some kind of menace in the air lanes! Well, if we're getting out of the way of that, we should head to space proper! Need something really special? Why not head for someplace uncharted! Well, I've heard tell of a forgotten planet that'd have all sorts of neat stuff within. Ah, I see, I see, you don't have the stomach for space travel, well, there's quite the series of events going on down south, if you've still got the taste for adventure. It's really quite the tale, there's zombies, mesmerism, derring-do, the whole nine yards! Okay, alright, none of that sounds good, just stick at home and discover this fantastic tale of a wonderful new scientific discovery! None of that sound good? Give the episode a listen anyway, I only described some of the Astounding short stories on offer in this episode!Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29198
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
Disclaimer:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up.
A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly.
In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives"
Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation
General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
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Celebrating a huge milestone for the twitch audience, we dive into another issue of Astounding Stories! This time, in the July 1930 issue, we'll dive into many stories, not the least of which being one in which we learn of a world blocked from its final frontier. What lies beyond the heaviside layer? What noble heroes may operate the flyer managing to plumb the depths of this, our darkest sea? And most importantly, will the reporter make it back in time to get that front page byline? Of course, as usual, the easiest way to find out is listening to this episode of Paper Cuts!
(Can you tell I've been listening to some Old Time Radio in place of podcasts lately?)
Seriously though, I want to extend a hearty thanks to you all for finally getting us over the hill of affiliate-ship, twitch has a lot of really fun stuff you can do once that's underway, and I've been brewing up some loyalty redeems using those tools that'll be real neat! And hey, you can even subscribe to kick me a little money, if you'd like!Disclaimer, as noted in the episode:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up.
A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly.
In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives"
Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation
General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29198
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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Our time in the Crystal Age, brief as though it has been, made for quite the tale! Loads of twists and turns have lead us throughout this stunning little pastoral view of a future that did not come to pass. How they went for our main character? Well, you've heard two thirds of it already, so I'm sure you'll enjoy the remaining piece!
I know, I know, I say I enjoy every story we wind up reading on the show, but this one's really got some potential to an adaptation! Maybe it's just the huge isekai glut I've been getting, wtaching some anime here and there with my partner, but I really think this hits the beats of that fish-out-of-water, man-out-of-time tale really fantastically, and there's some really fun details to work with in the general worldbuilding, too! I mean, look at how they treat music, for example, and with what reverence they view the written word and the books in which they're bound, there's room for potentially even something beyond, say, a simple film! I think it'd be quite fascinating to see how a tabletop rpg campaign would look in what details we get here, perhaps something designed to travel from one somewhat isolated city to another and experience the differences between them!
Honestly that gives me an idea, these old "I was sent to the future!" public domain stories really have a specific vibe to them, I wonder if I could make a game Powered By The Apocalypse to address those genre conventions... Much to consider.
The disclaimer does come up in this episode! Here's the full text:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up. A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly. In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives" Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7401
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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As we continue the tale of our intrepid isekai protagonist, we find that he is, unlike the standard isekai lad, having trouble with the local language. That darn semantic shift, it really does come for us all! Luckily, we're not quite so impacted by this trouble, unless you're also digging up old and middle english texts (like I've been doing offscreen, considering giving a few a read for the show!).
However, like the isekai protagonists who do struggle with literacy, he's got a teacher, and one he seems to be developing quite the fondness for! How does that fondness develop? Well, that's a question you're going to have to listen to the episode to find out the answer to.
The disclaimer hasn't come up in this book quite yet, as I recall, but here's the full text anyway, as it's important to know what's up with these old books:
TL;DR up front: Paper Cuts is almost all public domain stuff, and some of it hasn't aged well. I'll be doing my best to warn you, but I'm not changing any of it, I don't believe censorship is the path forward here.
Paper Cuts, by necessity, has to be a majority books that are in the US public domain. That means it's almost exclusively going to be content produced in the 1920s, or earlier. These works may have aspects that have not aged well to a modern viewer/listener. Now, I'm never one for censorship, but I do believe we are entitled to being able to filter the leisure content we don't want to see. So, this results in the following policy:
I'll do my level best to warn you, the viewer, at the beginning of the episode, what's likely to come up. A great example is something like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had some passages describing natives of various places in a fashion I'd charitably describe as unkindly. In cases where something sneaks up on me unwarned, I will be reading the content unedited, with my sincerest apologies for the lack of active warning.All that said, I'm gonna cover my bases with some common warnings that have come up often in books I've read before:
Descriptions of "savage natives" Various racial slurs, unkind terms, and/or Descriptions of groups that have taken on a worse connotation General mistreatment and misrepresentation of culturesGenerally speaking, if something I'm reading is on the page? Don't expect me to have opinions aligning with it. We're here to have fun, not disparage people!
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7401
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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I must admit, when I got around to editing this episode, I genuinely didn't remember much about the opening of this book. It definitely leans into that old problem that these public domain books have, where at the time, the opening would have been quite thrilling, but something's changed in the intervening years, and it takes its sweet time getting your attention. Maybe I'm just jaded by the absolute glut of isekai lately, where the protagonist dies (or nearly does so), only to find themselves in a world entirely unfamiliar. Sure, after the initial setup, this story really takes a turn for the interesting, and boy does it turn sharply, given the way this place long removed not only from money, but most material concerns altogether, has its effects on this englishman out of his london-shaped water, but you're really going to have to bear with me for the opening scenes. All that said, the coming episodes are really going to make for some incredible listening, we dig farther into the semantic drift hinted at here, along with some of the wilder implications of the changes that this world holds in comparison to the era our hero is used to.
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7401
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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Fall is a great time to dive into tales of the supernatural, and what's more supernatural than your local fair folk, hm? Well, don't get me wrong here, fall's just the best time, I can enjoy a wild tale of a man who's on a journey to see and hear things far beyond what he ought to be experiencing any time! That makes this particular story a great fit for the moment both you, me, and past-me who recorded it, at least, if you ask me. I gotta admit, I'm curious about M.R. James' other work after how much I really enjoyed this one. There's a fantastic story being woven here, one of a man dragged through a whole set of worlds with which he's thoroughly unfamililar. Sure, sure, we've been hammering home that theme a lot with the recent episodes, but this one does it in a way that's fascinatingly different, done more in a fashion akin to modern tales of fantasy "isekai" rather than the more straightforward science fiction planet-hopper.
Want to read along with us? Find the book here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24089
Have opinions you want to share, or want to suggest books? Discord's great for that!
https://www.discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to listen live? Drop by Fridays, over on twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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We travel farther into the wild world of the red planet, led on and on and on by our dear protagonist, John Carter, who definitely is NOT a Mary Sue and you SHOULDN'T flame Borroughs on AO3 about it, no way. I goof, but seriously, this is a fantastic example of how a wildly overpowered main character simply needs to be written carefully to make for engaging storytelling. I mean, the guy teaches himself TELEPATHY and I'm still interested in just how things will shake out despite how buckwild that is, that has to tell you something about either how solid this story is, or just how awful my taste has become over the years trawling through the public domain. Oh also, there are 10 whole books in this series, let alone the small handful of short stories after it, so if you're interested in hearing more tales of Barsoom, make your voice heard!
Want to read along with us? Check out the book from the internet's second favorite library here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62
Have things to say, or want to suggest new books? Check out the discord! http://discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Last but not least, want to attend a live version of this? Check out the streams on Friday nights, over on twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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Ok, Ok, enough short stories for now. Let's dive into a book that was SUPER popular for its time, and one that honestly, I'm shocked had its popularity killed by the botched disney adaptation. I mean, for context, Edgar Rice Borroughs' other major work, Tarzan, is EASILY recognizable and often parodied (I mean, look at how often the stereotypical "Yell while swinging on a vine" trope is used!), and yet, I was genuinely surprised by most of the twists and turns in this one! Sure, there's some stuff in here that I'd recognize as a trope, but only because I'm a huge sucker for sword and planet type fiction that inhabits the same genre! Just bonkers. Anyway, I've been all out of sorts on scheduling lately, and for that, I apologize! Introducing some short form video to the pipeline has me all bent out of shape, and I'm only just now picking up the slack. Hey, at least I remembered to get the episodes out, though!
Want to read along with us? Check out the book from the internet's second favorite library here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62Have things to say, or want to suggest new books? Check out the discord! http://discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Last but not least, want to attend a live version of this? Check out the streams on Friday nights, over on twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/
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Definitely didn't forget to click publish, nuh uh, no way!
This batch of stories gets kinda wild in its concepts, very much a creeping horror in its science fiction! Not only do we discover the almost religious terror that can be inspired by the unknown, but we also discover that you REALLY should handle your household products with care, it's not only mustard gas you could be making by accident! Also, we get WHAMMIED by a punch I thought Vonnegut was going to pull. In retrospect, I'm shocked I thought he'd not FULLY send it, honestly. Oh, also, a little touch on multiverse theory, be happy I didn't go off on a tangent about that!
Want to read along? Grab the stories here:
The Water Eater: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31841
Micro Man: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32579
2 B R 0 2 B: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21279
The Doorway: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29138
Want to chime in about what to read next? Check out the discord! https://discord.gg/PBZNsjnLast but not least, if you wanna catch episodes live, they're Friday nights, over on Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester
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Guess who forgot to click publish on this? it's me! I did that!
This week, we dive into another couple of short stories, this time hitting up two huge Halloween favorites you may have read in English class, Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum! I'm a known enjoyer of Poe's general creeping horror, and also a HUGE sucker for weird old science fiction premises, so The Lost Kazoofalum also really appeals to my interests. Can you tell me focusing on the short stories is equal parts me going for stories I enjoy and giving everyone easy episodes to drop in on?Want to read along? You can grab the stories below!
Fall of the House of Usher: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/932
The Lost Kafoozalum (misspelled in the title,oops): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30427The Pit and the Pendulum: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2148
Want to chime in about what to read next? Check out the discord! https://discord.gg/PBZNsjn
Last but not least, if you wanna catch episodes live, they're Friday nights, over on Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester
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Another batch of short stories in this episode, gang! Some personal favorites of mine this time (I know, I know, I say a lot of the books on here are my favorites, but I genuinely DO love the creeping horror of Amontillado, and Ring Once for Death inverts a trope that I think sorely needs inverting, anyway!) alongside one that, I must admit, I really didn't care for on my first english class reading, and was really begging to be removed from that stuffy, academic context. Well, that, or I just wasn't hungry enough while reading it! What absolutely lavish descriptions of food, this and high fantasy will be what I'm reaching for if I find I'm not in a mood to eat when I have to!
Books this time (To read along with):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31840 (Ring Once for Death)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41 (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1063 (The Cask of Amontillado)
Have things to say? Books to recommend? Need a way to get reminded things are happening? check out Discord!https://discord.gg/PBZNsjn/
Want to catch live episodes? Drop by, Friday nights, where we read on Twitch!
https://www.twitch.tv/glacier_nester/ - Laat meer zien
