In June 1936 Astounding Science Fiction magazine published H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Out Of Time a short story that is the “single greatest achievement in fiction” (according to Lovecraft propagandist Lin Carter). Carter called it “amazing [in] scope and [with a] sense of cosmic immensitude” and that’s no small praise. Have a listen to it and judge for yourself. Let “the gulfs of time” open and, submit to “the titanic sweep of the narrative.” Embrace the adjectives! This story has a massive wikipedia entry all of its own.
The Shadow Out Of Time
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Jim Campanella
5 MP3s – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Uvula Audio
Published: July/August 2007
The story indirectly tells of The Great Race of The Yith, an extraterrestrial species with the ability to travel through space and time. The Yithians accomplish this by switching bodies with hosts from the intended spacial or temporal destination. The story implies that the effect when seen from the outside is similar to demonic or spiritual possession. The story is told through the eyes of Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee, an economics professor from Miskatonic University who is “possessed” by a Yithian. Peaslee fears he is losing his mind when he unaccountably sees strange vistas of other worlds and the Yithian library city. However, while he was experiencing a Yithian existence in earth’s ancient past, the Yithian occupying his body was experiencing a human one in the present day. But that was only the beginning of the horror…
Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3| Part 3 |MP3| Part 4 |MP3| Part 5 |MP3|
Here’s the podcast feed for Uvula Audio:
http://www.uvulaaudio.com/Books/Books.xml
Posted by Jesse Willis
