This story conveyed very well how it feels to take care of your dying parent. I took care of my Mom round the clock when she was dying. The sleep deprivation, sleeping when you can, the surreal horror of what is happening, the grief lurking everywhere. You barely remember or misremember a lot of what is going on around you. This was very poignant for me. Thank you for reading it and sharing it with us.
This man has the most soothing voice and is absolutely PERFECT for narrating,, thank you Tony you more often than not help my insomnia to become something bearable
His father's shop reminds me of my own fathers shop in childhood. It was situated on the coast of Belgium in the 1980's. It was about ten steps below on basement level and sold clothes and shoes. The small shop floor inside was lit up by a low ambient warm light that created shadows during crispy cold howling whistles of the wind outside trying to enter through the creeks and holes, and even during the warm summer season because the suns rays hardly reached into the shop. The senatorian also reminds me of the back room of my fathers shop. It was dark and musky as though something lived inside there, void of electricity and had a dusty old heavy thick curtain for a door, if this element was to be added in the story. As for the dogs, they sound like what some people call red eyed 'dogman'. Whether it was in my mind or another dimension, I saw these creatures in a three storey creepy house in London in the early 90's. Other people also experienced these creatures in the same house. It was as real as any true experience. Many people have experienced these creatures around the world, we now know, thanks to UA-cam. The setting of this story especially awakened my prescious childhood memories of the shop in Belgium. Thank you.
I had seen the 1973 Polish film, The Hourglass Sanatorium, by Wojciech Jerzy Has. It was based on this Bruno Schulz story. It was great hearing you narrate the book. What a wonderful writer Schulz was. Excellent narration, thank youl
Same! I , too , came here after watching the movie ( a few days ago ) and trying to see it's reviews and explainations. Excellent narration. The voice is very soothing.
Cinnamon shops were lecture in Polish schools when I was a kid. Fantastic story that made me bookworm. Schulz is not forgotten, victim of WW2 is our Lovecraft.
I can't believe you mentioned David Lynch. I was attempting to explain this story as I was listening and could best describe the experience as watching "Eraserhead" for the 1st time. Multiple viewings never really illuminated a cut and dry meaning. Sometimes I simply have to accept I'm less bright than I think OR console myself knowing only the author/creator knows the secrets of the Matrix.
I've never seen Eraserhead, but remember a 'song' describing how a guy watches it over and over again, and how it affects him. It's time. (He rubbed his buttered belly on the screen. I have no idea what it means, but that stuck)
Puzzling story. I noticed that the main character became the companion he met at the beginning of the story with the face clothed . This give me an impression that People are living in a dream world. Everything feels like a dream . People popping in and out. What a greyish world only the pastries look colourful .
The cardboard/paper car and telescope blasted my mind. Had to listen to that part several times. Very sad story about the author. He had such talent! This is not the type of horror/ghost story I usually gravitate to, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very well-written and interesting story. As always, great job, Tony! Thanks for introducing me to another amazing author.
A story like a very bad acid trip on top of psychosis and depression. I see someone made a movie of it. Yikes!! But your voice kept me enthralled anyway. I enjoyed your commentary which helped me get a handle on the story. Roman Polanski is also Jewish from Poland, lost both parents in the Holocaust as a small child, grew up to turn all that horror into surreal movies.
This was a powerful story,as well as being disturbing. I don't think I've ever read or listened to a story that was so much like one of my own nightmares... Thank you Tony!
Thank you! Extraordinary story! I’ll have to listen to it again tonight, it carried me away from the dreary modern world to a misty and hypnotic dream like place ☺️
As I've in only known of this amazing channel only alittle over a year I've got Many to discover like this. I'd never heard of this author & by the descriptions I can tell I'm going to love his works. I'm going to watch the film based on this it looks strange, unique, bizarre & surreal All the things I absolutely Love! Brilliant narrator Tony relaxing & engaging at the same time. Thank you for making this author someone I should talk explore that I'd have Never heard of But for this video❣️
@@ClassicGhost thank you so much for all the beautifully narrated stories that you make I try to spread the word as much as possible so that your channel may get all the benefits it deserves!! 🤗🤗
so interesting - your subjects are thought provoking. and it’s nice to hear about Jewish writers from that period, some of whom i didn’t know about. your speaking voice differs from your reading voice, and is very calm and easy to listen to. so glad your channel was recommended to me. always looking for different voices 😋🌷🌱
Brilliant writing, great narration, so I gave it a thumbs up. Yet, to my ears at least, the story itself is an exercise in despair - something which in my younger years I might have actually reveled in. Go figure.
What an amazing tale! Wonderful surrealism. Reminds me of modern, post-war stuff. And as always, as always, lovely gorgeous reading that keeps one enthralled. THANK YOU!!
Seven minutes in and thinking of the silent film, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. I once had a book of short stories (but of course lent it out so therefore was never seen again 🤷🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️) with a tale called 'The Sepia Print' which was about that very film. I'm warbling. Good wishes.
It is similar to ICE by Anna Kavan, and Kafka. You don't ever know if the whole thing is in his mind or if it is really happening. Brilliant narration, brilliant story
Thanks Tony for this reading. Thought provoking. It was definitely surreal. Could I dare say it's like the written version of Dali's paintings? Makes you wonder what was going on in the mind of the writer/artist. Also, the trains with straw in the carriages, the army too reminded me of the nazis. I wondered if the author was dying and reliving his life, seeing his parents and the mother suddenly appearing too. Very complex story and definitely food for thought. Best wishes
Bruno Schulz's writing is like a vortex that sucks you in and spits you out at the end, exhausted, scared, and trembling. It's a nightmare that you cannot decipher; you almost wish you had a Book of Dreams to understand it. When you finish reading, you just wake up. No waking up for Bruno Schulz though; I believe his ghost can be seen stalking the streets of his beloved Drohobycz, endlessly lost between life and death. One bullet from a stupid and cruel puppet and we all lost the whole universe...
I listened to this yesterday---but yesterday was already such a stressful and surreal day, maybe not good timing for this bizarre tale...or maybe perfect timing? It was like an extension of what I was already dealing with, in a way. WEIRD. A day later and all is well, so came back to say thank you for sharing what you do.
Very interesting piece Tony, thank you. It kept reminding me of liminal spaces or liminal time- betwixt and between if you will. Magical things made possible perhaps.
Hi Tony, must be getting on for a tea break or lunch in England. My circadian rhythm has been off for over a year- depression. Thank you for a delightfully engaging bus ride/story too. I was picturing the places I have come to cherish from novels, paintings, photographs etc. I fell asleep soon after. I was calming myself even more with images of fog, I love fog and used to live in a very foggy city and would play a "ghost game" on my way home from primary school. Your talents are much appreciated- your daughters are very lucky, great bedtime stories- I listen to Neil Gaiman too and big girl fantasy takes over ( the hair, well ALL OF HIM! ) My husband loathes him, I think he's jealous of that hair! He hasn't remarked about your voice so that's good- I don't give a toss any road- Coronation Street- ? I watch so much Brit and Scandinavian TV I can't keep my expressions and accents straight. I DO love a Yorkshire or Cornish accent- great, old TV show, many stories of Roald Dahl who hosted it- know the show? Was on YT for ages, no ads, great fun. Roald Dahl as you know had a deliciously quirky point of view - too bad for them- the folks who know only Willy Wonka and then only the Tim Burton, Johnny Depp version- actually, visualizing Gene Wilder- I prefer Burton's. Now his dark side is deliriously fodder for consideration....Namaste Z. ( caffeine time!)
It's near lunchtime here. I can never wait so I've had mine while I worked. didn't have any breakfast though. Sounds like a good game, that ghost game. Neil Gaiman is a treasure. I did his course on Masterclass and he was so sincere and his personality really came across. I am jealous of his hair, and his bookshelves.
I didn’t think I would enjoy this but I was transfixed. It’s the weirdest tale I’ve heard in a long time and listening I had loads of questions in my head. But it was amazing. What a weird story
Is it wrong that I wanna see the guy in the "We make robots for restaurants" ad have those robots turn on him. That would be a joyous horror story to me.
What a strange series of events 😳, still, interesting, especially with the back story. Expansive, in its own way. Lots of "fear", many angles, and realistic...
I didn't read your synopsis prior to listening just now -as soon as I woke up- sooo , yeah , this stretched my intelligence to the limits . I feel as though I've been looking at a huge gothic DARK surrealistic oil painting from which I was forced to make interpretations . I mean , there is a story , almost , tho without conclusion ; but more It offers up a series of intellectual challenges as I tried to make sense of images my mind produced from the information provided . I realised something highly unconventional was going down from the bizarre descriptions of the train's apparent 'layout/size/shape ?' , - something about endless corridors zig zagging off in all directions , the seats so soiled folk rather sir on floors also covered in rubbish to the extent he had to wade through it . Interesting stuff . I would listen to more if you can be arsed to provide ; I don't imagine this will be a 'smash hit' tho as its without traditional 'story' boundaries ; even the basic deitics are continually blurring (of a morning ha ha) .
I think he is part of that movement in the early 20th Century that just flowed with the unconscious imagery coming up without making much effort to conceptualise it. That is very much at odds with modern 'story writing' which is pretty formulaic and keeps the images within boundaries. So, it might actually not be worth trying to conceptualise what he's doing here, but rather just let the images come and surf them like you would music or dance or paintings or any other non-narrative art. That's my two pennyworth anyway
@@ClassicGhost Yeah to your thinking . Although massively widely read , I've not plunged into pure surrealistic fiction . I love Tom Ro(b)bins - Another Roadside Attraction ; J P Donleavy - The Onion Eaters which are pretty out there ; but still structured . I write , hopefully for financial reward , so have to stick to expectations , yawn .... . It's good to hear something completely out of the box . Thinking comparitively music wise , give Anna Meredith 'Sawbones' a listen . I think she comes from planet 'non-convention .' Anyway ; good day to you sir* PS ~ Anna Meredith : NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert . Truly eccentric . Genius perhaps .
"In this way, whole chunks of time are casually lost somewhere. Control over the continuity of the day is elusive, until it finally ceases to matter, and the framework of uninterrupted chronology that one has been disciplined to notice every day is given up, without regret." -- Bruno Schulz, "Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass" [Edit: I'm not sure I heard the word "elusive" correctly.]. This seems an apt characterization of many people's experience of time during this pandemic.
It's funny the things you catch yourself saying to yourself when reading a book; I caught myself saying, "Did he really think someone was going to come and take his coin for coffee in a place where the father isn't even theoretically alive?" Then I had to change that to " I mean, in a place where he is ONLY theoretically alive " :). Ahh. Schrödinger would have loved this.
I couldn't help but grin in places because the story reminded me of The Master and Margarita- the satire on totalitarian regimes.When was this written? ( I started commenting half way through- immediately The Metamorphosis does come to mind! My mind did a "jump" here - sorry.) "Confused babble" unintentional. Also because of death, the afterlife is perhaps the same no matter the religious beliefs. Mad Men for the sexuality and the "automat" type food dispensing stations once so popular in North America and lastly, allusions to the crematorium of W.W.2. I love the names too, Dr. Goethardt? sounded like goat herd! ? how often does one encounter that euphemism- sheep. Great choice Tony, a writer's writer without any pedantry- you have excellent taste- there is SO much in this tale- one needs to really spend some time on it, regurgitated! Very clever! And as always you don't over act, no "ham" in you, nope like all good actors you place just the right pace and emphasis. I loved this piece, VERY disturbing. ( I spent the weekend steeped in your reading of Turn of the Srew and several movie versions, free on you tube, so I've had lots of ghosts of late! Thanks once more for a most enjoyable sojourn into the darker side. Namaste Z.
The darker side indeed. I'm pretty light for someone interested in the dark. At least I think so. I wonder why I am so fascinated by shadows and ghosts...
I have only just yesterday discovered this channel & SO thrilled I have. I ❤audiobooks & horror but to many channels may have great stories but the narration is horrible, or so boring I can't stand it. This channel has Everything & IMO is brilliant! What a phonomenal job, Thank you Tony Walker!!! This tale is incredible! It's disturbing, puzzeling & Brilliant! Throughly enjoyed this!
I'd most definitely buy a shirt from Tony. Here's a design idea "EVERYBODY DIES DON'T THEY" Anthony I wear a 2x if cotton as it tends to shrink.All serious though It would be great to represent my top 5 YT channels. God Bless You and Yours Tony!
That contained some elements of Alice in Wonderland. Creepy but not terrifying. Thank you for sharing the story of the author's death under Facsism, being a real horror story in fact. We are sick monkeys, is what I keep coming back to.
The protagonist- so empathic toward the ‘dog’; a good, decent man, who did not deserve his fate. Humans (I am mainly referring to the doctor here) always and eventually meet a poor end when they play with things they shouldn’t- like time.
This story is so incoherent like someone who woke up and wrote down their dream. But, I could listen to you read the phone book and be happy so I enjoyed this despite how I felt about the story.
Confused by you saying you were planning to do Turn of the Screw? You've already done it? I listened to it recently. It loved it btw. The film versions can't seem to convey the ambiguity of the story - whether the governess is to be read as a reliable or unreliable narrator - which is where the horror of the tale really lies for me. Bly Manor - entertaining enough in its own right (though too long by 2 episodes) - was a travesty of the original story. Feel like I ought to comment on this one. Its a testament to your narrative powers that i stuck with it to the end. Not a fan of surrealism in literature or painting - though I enjoy David Lynch's work. I like symbolism though and it worked for me on that level. Echoes of classical myth for me - the strange sleepiness and the man-dog - conjured the waters of lethe/shades of the underworld and Cerberus. Which would tie in with the Freudian influence you mentioned. Its something I would've enjoyed when I was younger - when I used to enjoy Kafka. A bit too world weary these days to take much pleasure in tales of dystopia. Real life outdoes fiction every time. As evidenced by your story of Schulz's death. That affected me far more deeply than the story itself. I love your little "bits" at the end. Definitely your USP :D
Yes, you must understand that these episodes are from the podcast so they aren't right now. You may hear me refer to Christmas or Summer holidays or COVId, or, quite probably, seagulls. It's just when I made the episode for the podcast not right now. I will be making more episodes for UA-cam first in future.
@@ClassicGhost Oh I see. Never thought of that. Probably cos I only listen to things on on YT. My son keeps nagging me to try podcasts. If I do I'll be heading straight to yours.
(Apologies for length!) Hi Tony, I have a question below but wanted to first express appreciation for what ya do. Having now been a listener for about 6 months or so, after stumbling on your work, I think it's safe to say that I totally blame you for spoiling us all, because I cannot think of another literary reading/narrating podcast that quite compares, at least for me. (And there are quite a few excellent ones out there that I still love.) You've a gorgeous voice, sir, but equally compelling to me is the excellence of your selections; in my view, your varied tastes in literature are kinda like great stories as well: that is, they both surprising and inevitable. You can trace the evolution of which writers and which literary genres/tones/etc are compelling to you from the start of the podcast. . Case in point: Bruno Schulz's work here. One of my very favorite writers who I have _never_ heard read in a forum/medium like this before. What a treat to hear! His SANATORIUM... and, especially, his STREET OF CROCODILES are two of the most searing works I've read. But there's another reason I'm stoked about your reading Schulz: . There is a publisher that I've been keeping up with recently, called Wakefield Press. And as far as I know, for the last few years they have been putting out a fucking _Feast_ of works (most in very good English translations) from artists associated with tones, forms, etc that share a spiritual kinship to writers like Schulz, Kafka, Lispector, both Ocampos, along with more recent writers like Wittkopf, Jackson (Shirley!), and Sebald. The point is, I don't know if you've had the opportunity to check out some of those folks before, but there are a handful whose stories are absolutely in the same wheelhouse of Schulz & co. And they are some of the most uncanny, surreal, achingly melancholy, and often _deeply_ terrifying and disquieting stories I've ever read. This is already too damn long, so if anybody is interested I can list a few that might be of interest. (And would love any recs from other folks!) . Either way, thank you for your wonderful podcast!
I discovered this story through the brothers quay which was recommended by Kurt cobain so not only did I enjoy the animation suggested by a dead rock idol I got taken away to a different world by these words then I looked into the author and his story was even better, love it when that happens, hope I don't end up there lol x
" The bulkiness of reality". So weirdly true. A study in quantum pysiscs? !!!! Lynch on steroids? VERY unsettling. More and more bizarre as details not caught before, rise to the surface. Intreging!!!! I have absolutly no idea what is going on. Bread has totally new symbolism for me now.
Well, DAMN; there miiiiiiight be some better conceivable way to tempt me into listening (via the Description) without ACTUALLY including a mention of me, personally, by name....but off the top of my head, I can't think of what it might be! o_0
So...like his father, the narrator was dead and "living" this "slow departure" like his father. He didn't have a reflection in the mirror. His father chose his old profession until his "jump start"nwore out; but the narrator chose, instead, to stay on the train and be a sort of bum. Perhaps the dog was the narrator's angry self, and he tricked his own angry self into complacency only to slip back onto the train where he was more comfortable. (Or the dog was his father as the father died?) The mother? She was on an earlier train, so her time had just run out? He never had a bed of his own...? I have no idea why not. Even the doctor may have been on one of these slow departures, and he chose to continue his profession here, as had the father. He slept, too. Instead of a pornorgaphic book Narrator received a telescope that wasn't quite real; BUT he could see the maid through it. Fun to pull apart!
Reminded me of Kafka, I never understood Twin Peaks either, so glad I’m not alone. It has definite dream like quality’s,if you try to to avoid death it’s always ends up badly. As Sherlock Holmes said when he’d been investigating a professor who had been trying to regain his youth by injecting monkey hormones(weird!) says “ when you try to rise above nature you’ll always end up falling below it” Suppose should give that to Conan Doyle😉 Glad you got all those books your saying you want to do done✊really enjoyed “The Waiting Room” had forgotten how good it was/is.
New iPhone, no broken screen, no excuse not to say thank you but I had gotten out of the habit! It wasn’t that I didn’t have the money to get an iPhone when I broke it I was just for the first time in my life depressed but without any reason so I couldn’t be asrsed basically! Anyway the story stuck with me so I wanted to say thank you this morning....
My takeaway.Sleep is the best thing we can do as a species.The better For ourselves and others.So go to sleep constantly.and set the clock back, just a little bit.
The first poem I memorized as a child describes what might be carried in a dry goods store: General Store by Rachel Field Someday I'm going to have a store With a tinkly bell hung over the door, With real glass cases and counters wide And drawers all spilly with things inside. There'll be a little of everything: Bolts of calico; balls of string; Jars of peppermint; tins of tea; Pots and kettles; and crockery; Seeds in packets; scissors bright; Kegs of sugar, brown and white; Sarsaparilla for picnic lunches, Bananas and rubber boots in bunches. I'll fix the window and dust each shelf, And take the money in all myself, It will be my store and I will say: “What can I do for you today!”
No body does Bruno. You can see where William Burroughs gets his inspiration. Also the brothers Quay. If you know Kafka, then Bruno is for you. The completion of his death story is that the officer found out about Bruno's death from the gestapo himself. The man said, there I have killed your Jew.
I very much enjoyed this story. My interpretation is perhaps different. Both the father, mother, son, and townspeople are all dead. The great hotel is now a Senatorum, or Sanitarium. What I believe has happened is that the Brown Shirts, the SS at the end of the war (WWII), in efforts to cover their tracks set fire to the Sanitarium, killing all inside. It is a fact that Hitler and his troops, doctors, and scientists. We're working to make or create a superior race. They were also trying to make a super soldier. Some of what we see in the film, Captain America, is very true. Some of what we see in xmen, I think it's first class where magneto as a boy marches into auschwitz, is very true. The nazis were looking for these types of superpowers. Trying to harnes them, for evil. conducting experiments and genetically trying to alter human beings. Throughout the story, the son sees the back of the sanitarium. This is where a graveyard would have been placed.Probably with unmarked graves. And an incinerator, not only to incinerate bodies, but also used to get rid of medical supplies and blankets, you name it, that may have been contaminated. In the late nineteen thirties, mid 1940' forties, medicine was not what it is today. Fire was an effective way to kill bacteria and viruses. The Son remarkes several times that the window in his father's room is open, allowing cold wind to stream into the room. But never makes an effort to close the window. Because it is no longer there. Father seems un-bothered by this. But the Son is upset almost to the point of outrage. Yet powerless to do anything about it. The buzzer or call buttons have all been disconnected years before. No one comes to care for the people left behind. I get a great sense of death as the son ventures into the town and gets lost in a thick mist or gas before suddenly finding himself in the middle of a town square. The town itself has life and activity. But in a lot of ways, it is dark, dank, dreary rundown. And the people seem to be caught in a loop performing their tasks over a d over. The father is feverishly working in the log book with another gentleman counting figures. Counting bodies. After watching schindler's list, we know that the germans kept lists of who was sent to the camps and who was killed and where they were buried. Father looks at his son almost with disdain. it seems he does not want him to see what he is doing. Very quickly, he tells him to go in the back and to read his book. The son confesses to us, the audience, that it was a pornographic book. In the nineteen forties, pornography would have been very different than it is obviously today. This might have been something that a military man may have had with him. A lower officer, possibly a Foot soldier. And moslikey was a photo or 2 of very artistic photographs of naked women in a garden, around a fountain or lounging on cushion recliners. In one part of Reberto Benini's life is beautiful. We see him carrying his son through a fog, and as he pushes his way through the fog, and it clears, we can see a mountain of dead bodies. The gas vapor's still rising from the dead. The horrid and vicious dog that the son fears and can not look at. Turned out to be a tortured man, chained, hungry, full of hate and despair and longing for death. A failed genetic exparment. I find this to be another reference to the concentration camps and how poorly men women and children were treated. The ending I find very interesting as the son turns into the conductor of the train that he originally mentions at the start of the story. Referencing the torn cap to kinda punch that image home. I have two thoughts here. One, this is a death train that did carry passengers to the Sanitarium. Where they were experimented on, caged, tortured, and killed. Or... the train litterally is a death train that carries passengers from life to death. The son returns to it and is no longer able to leave it. Or can not bear to leave it because his stop is The sanitarium, where he and his family died.
Don't mean to be disrespectful but that picture reminds me of the Berlin monument and museum. It was meant to represent little hope, being enclosed in by walls the only thing you see is a bit of the sky.
@@ClassicGhost I don't think so I went on a school trip couple of years ago, the Jewish monument in Berlin is the one where it's squares coming up out of the ground. It has a problem with idiots jumping on it. It's quite dangerous and disrespectful
Yes I know it. It’s the one the kids run and climb on and laugh. When we were in Berlin my daughters were appalled at that. I don’t know how I feel looking back
At least the American GI who mistakenly shot the composer Anton Webern after the war had the decency to drink himself to death out of shame for what he'd done. The Nazis really were unforgiveable.
I hate to be flippant ( and to perhaps display great ignorance on my part)…. But don’t you think the author may have been partaking of some hallucinogenic chemicals?? 🤣🤣
This story conveyed very well how it feels to take care of your dying parent. I took care of my Mom round the clock when she was dying. The sleep deprivation, sleeping when you can, the surreal horror of what is happening, the grief lurking everywhere. You barely remember or misremember a lot of what is going on around you. This was very poignant for me. Thank you for reading it and sharing it with us.
This man has the most soothing voice and is absolutely PERFECT for narrating,, thank you Tony you more often than not help my insomnia to become something bearable
Haven’t listened for a while. As soon as I hear your reading voice… I relax. Thanks. You have a very singular Talent.
I concur.
Good wishes.
Thank you, Lanty
His father's shop reminds me of my own fathers shop in childhood. It was situated on the coast of Belgium in the 1980's. It was about ten steps below on basement level and sold clothes and shoes. The small shop floor inside was lit up by a low ambient warm light that created shadows during crispy cold howling whistles of the wind outside trying to enter through the creeks and holes, and even during the warm summer season because the suns rays hardly reached into the shop. The senatorian also reminds me of the back room of my fathers shop. It was dark and musky as though something lived inside there, void of electricity and had a dusty old heavy thick curtain for a door, if this element was to be added in the story. As for the dogs, they sound like what some people call red eyed 'dogman'. Whether it was in my mind or another dimension, I saw these creatures in a three storey creepy house in London in the early 90's. Other people also experienced these creatures in the same house. It was as real as any true experience. Many people have experienced these creatures around the world, we now know, thanks to UA-cam. The setting of this story especially awakened my prescious childhood memories of the shop in Belgium. Thank you.
I loved hearing about your experiences and memories. You should write a story!
Thank you Tony. I am working on various ideas for stories.
I had seen the 1973 Polish film, The Hourglass Sanatorium, by Wojciech Jerzy Has. It was based on this Bruno Schulz story. It was great hearing you narrate the book. What a wonderful writer Schulz was. Excellent narration, thank youl
Schulz's no weird stories are beautifully written too
Same! I , too , came here after watching the movie ( a few days ago ) and trying to see it's reviews and explainations.
Excellent narration. The voice is very soothing.
Cinnamon shops were lecture in Polish schools when I was a kid. Fantastic story that made me bookworm. Schulz is not forgotten, victim of WW2 is our Lovecraft.
I can't believe you mentioned David Lynch. I was attempting to explain this story as I was listening and could best describe the experience as watching "Eraserhead" for the 1st time. Multiple viewings never really illuminated a cut and dry meaning. Sometimes I simply have to accept I'm less bright than I think OR console myself knowing only the author/creator knows the secrets of the Matrix.
I admire David Lynch too.
Eraserhead or one of those weird Czech part animated movies
I've never seen Eraserhead, but remember a 'song' describing how a guy watches it over and over again, and how it affects him. It's time. (He rubbed his buttered belly on the screen. I have no idea what it means, but that stuck)
🤣 love your humility at end there, 🤣🤣💕
@@collectorguy3919 mibby that was the op in the vid, lol
Puzzling story. I noticed that the main character became the companion he met at the beginning of the story with the face clothed . This give me an impression that People are living in a dream world. Everything feels like a dream . People popping in and out. What a greyish world only the pastries look colourful .
The cardboard/paper car and telescope blasted my mind. Had to listen to that part several times.
Very sad story about the author. He had such talent! This is not the type of horror/ghost story I usually gravitate to, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very well-written and interesting story.
As always, great job, Tony! Thanks for introducing me to another amazing author.
This is worth listening to again and again. New details very time. Again, thanks for bringing this out of horror obscurity!!
A story like a very bad acid trip on top of psychosis and depression. I see someone made a movie of it. Yikes!! But your voice kept me enthralled anyway. I enjoyed your commentary which helped me get a handle on the story. Roman Polanski is also Jewish from Poland, lost both parents in the Holocaust as a small child, grew up to turn all that horror into surreal movies.
It’s a great story and under appreciated apart from by us !
This was a powerful story,as well as being disturbing.
I don't think I've ever read or listened to a story that was so much like one of my own nightmares...
Thank you Tony!
Brilliant, Tony, also this time around, thank you! Masterful narration and "ramblings",
This has got to be one of the weirdest stories I've ever heard... thank you.
Perplexing and fascinating! Thank you, Mr Walker!
Thank you! Extraordinary story! I’ll have to listen to it again tonight, it carried me away from the dreary modern world to a misty and hypnotic dream like place ☺️
I love love the random sleeping fits. It speaks to me.
This was a fantastically written and fabulously weird tale. I rather enjoyed the images conjured by it. Also I want pastries now.
Indeed. Weird. His non weird fiction is a delight, but I think I prefer this. Not sure what that says about me.
Unsettling and thought-provoking. Thank you!
Bizarre, weird. Unsettling. Vivid word-painting. Thank you for introducing us. Bruno Schulz is first on my book wish. Will-must listen to this again.
His short stories are lovely. Very wordy, but that's ok.
As I've in only known of this amazing channel only alittle over a year I've got Many to discover like this. I'd never heard of this author & by the descriptions I can tell I'm going to love his works. I'm going to watch the film based on this it looks strange, unique, bizarre & surreal All the things I absolutely Love! Brilliant narrator Tony relaxing & engaging at the same time. Thank you for making this author someone I should talk explore that I'd have Never heard of But for this video❣️
I love these stories so much I can’t sleep with out listening to them
Oh no. I will keep doing them don’t worry
@@ClassicGhost thank you so much for all the beautifully narrated stories that you make I try to spread the word as much as possible so that your channel may get all the benefits it deserves!! 🤗🤗
so interesting - your subjects are thought provoking. and it’s nice to hear about Jewish writers from that period, some of whom i didn’t know about. your speaking voice differs from your reading voice, and is very calm and easy to listen to. so glad your channel was recommended to me. always looking for different voices 😋🌷🌱
Absolutely briĺiant story - so multi-layered. Will be relistening. Many thanks for posting.
Brilliant writing, great narration, so I gave it a thumbs up. Yet, to my ears at least, the story itself is an exercise in despair - something which in my younger years I might have actually reveled in. Go figure.
I wasn’t familiar with Shulz so this was a pleasant surprise. I loved this story. Also, your description nails it.
+David Gerard his non weird stories are beautiful
What an amazing tale! Wonderful surrealism. Reminds me of modern, post-war stuff. And as always, as always, lovely gorgeous reading that keeps one enthralled. THANK YOU!!
Wow 😳, amazing story,🖤
I have a Schulz book. "The Street of Crocodiles & other stories" This one's included. Great story and as always, perfection from Mr. Walker.
His general fiction is so beautifully written (and translated)
This story did bring Kafka to mind. I can't imagine what it must be like for people with aphantasia to listen to or read stories that are like this.
Aphantasia is a fascinating condition
It's rather wonderful but there are negatives also
Seven minutes in and thinking of the silent film, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.
I once had a book of short stories (but of course lent it out so therefore was never seen again 🤷🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️) with a tale called 'The Sepia Print' which was about that very film.
I'm warbling.
Good wishes.
Loved this. Absolutely loved it. More Bruno Schulz please Tony! And some Kafka would be awesome. But don't overwork. X
Kafka is a good idea
It is similar to ICE by Anna Kavan, and Kafka. You don't ever know if the whole thing is in his mind or if it is really happening. Brilliant narration, brilliant story
Thanks Tony for this reading. Thought provoking. It was definitely surreal. Could I dare say it's like the written version of Dali's paintings? Makes you wonder what was going on in the mind of the writer/artist. Also, the trains with straw in the carriages, the army too reminded me of the nazis. I wondered if the author was dying and reliving his life, seeing his parents and the mother suddenly appearing too. Very complex story and definitely food for thought. Best wishes
It's a deep story all right. Glad you liked it.
I think I enjoy your discussions almost as much as I enjoy your narration! 😊
Oh thank you!🙏
So surreal, captivating visual journey, loved it. Thank you
Bruno Schulz's writing is like a vortex that sucks you in and spits you out at the end, exhausted, scared, and trembling. It's a nightmare that you cannot decipher; you almost wish you had a Book of Dreams to understand it. When you finish reading, you just wake up.
No waking up for Bruno Schulz though; I believe his ghost can be seen stalking the streets of his beloved Drohobycz, endlessly lost between life and death.
One bullet from a stupid and cruel puppet and we all lost the whole universe...
I listened to this yesterday---but yesterday was already such a stressful and surreal day, maybe not good timing for this bizarre tale...or maybe perfect timing? It was like an extension of what I was already dealing with, in a way. WEIRD. A day later and all is well, so came back to say thank you for sharing what you do.
It is a beautiful story in a strange way
@@ClassicGhost The dream-like overlapping "time lines" or possibly parallel realities---is what Monday was LIKE (for me).
I love this!
Very interesting piece Tony, thank you. It kept reminding me of liminal spaces or liminal time- betwixt and between if you will. Magical things made possible perhaps.
Hi Tony, must be getting on for a tea break or lunch in England. My circadian rhythm has been off for over a year- depression. Thank you for a delightfully engaging bus ride/story too. I was picturing the places I have come to cherish from novels, paintings, photographs etc. I fell asleep soon after. I was calming myself even more with images of fog, I love fog and used to live in a very foggy city and would play a "ghost game" on my way home from primary school. Your talents are much appreciated- your daughters are very lucky, great bedtime stories- I listen to Neil Gaiman too and big girl fantasy takes over ( the hair, well ALL OF HIM! ) My husband loathes him, I think he's jealous of that hair! He hasn't remarked about your voice so that's good- I don't give a toss any road- Coronation Street- ? I watch so much Brit and Scandinavian TV I can't keep my expressions and accents straight. I DO love a Yorkshire or Cornish accent- great, old TV show, many stories of Roald Dahl who hosted it- know the show? Was on YT for ages, no ads, great fun. Roald Dahl as you know had a deliciously quirky point of view - too bad for them- the folks who know only Willy Wonka and then only the Tim Burton, Johnny Depp version- actually, visualizing Gene Wilder- I prefer Burton's. Now his dark side is deliriously fodder for consideration....Namaste Z. ( caffeine time!)
It's near lunchtime here. I can never wait so I've had mine while I worked. didn't have any breakfast though. Sounds like a good game, that ghost game. Neil Gaiman is a treasure. I did his course on Masterclass and he was so sincere and his personality really came across. I am jealous of his hair, and his bookshelves.
Just my image of hell … wandering through dark rooms with no purpose … for ever
I understand some confusion over the surrealism, but more than anything I think the story is about grief.
+slokling I think you are right. HIs father dying, of course
I didn’t think I would enjoy this but I was transfixed. It’s the weirdest tale I’ve heard in a long time and listening I had loads of questions in my head. But it was amazing. What a weird story
Is it wrong that I wanna see the guy in the "We make robots for restaurants" ad have those robots turn on him. That would be a joyous horror story to me.
What a strange series of events 😳, still, interesting, especially with the back story. Expansive, in its own way. Lots of "fear", many angles, and realistic...
BRAVO ! Encore Encore
I didn't read your synopsis prior to listening just now -as soon as I woke up- sooo , yeah , this stretched my intelligence to the limits . I feel as though I've been looking at a huge gothic DARK surrealistic oil painting from which I was forced to make interpretations . I mean , there is a story , almost , tho without conclusion ; but more It offers up a series of intellectual challenges as I tried to make sense of images my mind produced from the information provided . I realised something highly unconventional was going down from the bizarre descriptions of the train's apparent 'layout/size/shape ?' , - something about endless corridors zig zagging off in all directions , the seats so soiled folk rather sir on floors also covered in rubbish to the extent he had to wade through it . Interesting stuff . I would listen to more if you can be arsed to provide ; I don't imagine this will be a 'smash hit' tho as its without traditional 'story' boundaries ; even the basic deitics are continually blurring (of a morning ha ha) .
I think he is part of that movement in the early 20th Century that just flowed with the unconscious imagery coming up without making much effort to conceptualise it. That is very much at odds with modern 'story writing' which is pretty formulaic and keeps the images within boundaries. So, it might actually not be worth trying to conceptualise what he's doing here, but rather just let the images come and surf them like you would music or dance or paintings or any other non-narrative art. That's my two pennyworth anyway
@@ClassicGhost Yeah to your thinking . Although massively widely read , I've not plunged into pure surrealistic fiction . I love Tom Ro(b)bins - Another Roadside Attraction ; J P Donleavy - The Onion Eaters which are pretty out there ; but still structured . I write , hopefully for financial reward , so have to stick to expectations , yawn .... . It's good to hear something completely out of the box . Thinking comparitively music wise , give Anna Meredith 'Sawbones' a listen . I think she comes from planet 'non-convention .' Anyway ; good day to you sir*
PS ~ Anna Meredith : NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert . Truly eccentric . Genius perhaps .
That was confusing. But you did a great job reading.
"In this way, whole chunks of time are casually lost somewhere. Control over the continuity of the day is elusive, until it finally ceases to matter, and the framework of uninterrupted chronology that one has been disciplined to notice every day is given up, without regret." -- Bruno Schulz, "Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass" [Edit: I'm not sure I heard the word "elusive" correctly.]. This seems an apt characterization of many people's experience of time during this pandemic.
He was a bit of a philosopher
I found it reminiscent of Thomas Ligotti's work when Ligotti dials it back a bit.
Ligotti cites Schulz as a writer he admires
@@ClassicGhost I have a copy of: *Conspiracy Against the Human Race* I don't think it's a negative view
It's funny the things you catch yourself saying to yourself when reading a book; I caught myself saying, "Did he really think someone was going to come and take his coin for coffee in a place where the father isn't even theoretically alive?" Then I had to change that to " I mean, in a place where he is ONLY theoretically alive " :). Ahh. Schrödinger would have loved this.
Ha ah. Theoretically alive! And there ls a story
I couldn't help but grin in places because the story reminded me of The Master and Margarita- the satire on totalitarian regimes.When was this written? ( I started commenting half way through- immediately The Metamorphosis does come to mind! My mind did a "jump" here - sorry.) "Confused babble" unintentional. Also because of death, the afterlife is perhaps the same no matter the religious beliefs. Mad Men for the sexuality and the "automat" type food dispensing stations once so popular in North America and lastly, allusions to the crematorium of W.W.2. I love the names too, Dr. Goethardt? sounded like goat herd! ? how often does one encounter that euphemism- sheep. Great choice Tony, a writer's writer without any pedantry- you have excellent taste- there is SO much in this tale- one needs to really spend some time on it, regurgitated! Very clever! And as always you don't over act, no "ham" in you, nope like all good actors you place just the right pace and emphasis. I loved this piece, VERY disturbing. ( I spent the weekend steeped in your reading of Turn of the Srew and several movie versions, free on you tube, so I've had lots of ghosts of late! Thanks once more for a most enjoyable sojourn into the darker side. Namaste Z.
The darker side indeed. I'm pretty light for someone interested in the dark. At least I think so. I wonder why I am so fascinated by shadows and ghosts...
@@ClassicGhost maybe because the lights in your house wouldn't work when you were a little boy, alone, in the dark....
I have only just yesterday discovered this channel & SO thrilled I have. I ❤audiobooks & horror but to many channels may have great stories but the narration is horrible, or so boring I can't stand it. This channel has Everything & IMO is brilliant! What a phonomenal job, Thank you Tony Walker!!! This tale is incredible! It's disturbing, puzzeling & Brilliant! Throughly enjoyed this!
Glad to have you here.
I'd most definitely buy a shirt from Tony. Here's a design idea "EVERYBODY DIES DON'T THEY" Anthony I wear a 2x if cotton as it tends to shrink.All serious though It would be great to represent my top 5 YT channels. God Bless You and Yours Tony!
Thank you thank you. Yes, I figure we will do that one. Close now.
Fantastic story.
That contained some elements of Alice in Wonderland. Creepy but not terrifying. Thank you for sharing the story of the author's death under Facsism, being a real horror story in fact. We are sick monkeys, is what I keep coming back to.
Mesmerizing.
Someday, I WILL get into that locked drawer.
Are you sure that’s wise?
😂👍
The protagonist- so empathic toward the ‘dog’; a good, decent man, who did not deserve his fate. Humans (I am mainly referring to the doctor here) always and eventually meet a poor end when they play with things they shouldn’t- like time.
Almost to 10k! Has Imogen started designing the T-shirts?
We are so close! But not yet
There is a LOT of Thomas Mann, and a dash of Bohumil Hrabal, in this story also! Thank you for the reading, very enjoyable.
I don't know Bohumil Hrabal, which is shame on me. I will look him up
This story is so incoherent like someone who woke up and wrote down their dream. But, I could listen to you read the phone book and be happy so I enjoyed this despite how I felt about the story.
What a strange strange story!
Indeed
enjoyed it so much I purchased the book from whence it came. The Street of Crocodiles...
It's so good!
I can hardly wait to hear you read A Christmas Carol! My mother read it every year at Christmas and I read it to my children.
I have done it I. The podcast and will put it up I. UA-cam In December
@@ClassicGhost : Oh, wow! Thank you! I'm looking forward to it.
Confused by you saying you were planning to do Turn of the Screw? You've already done it? I listened to it recently. It loved it btw. The film versions can't seem to convey the ambiguity of the story - whether the governess is to be read as a reliable or unreliable narrator - which is where the horror of the tale really lies for me. Bly Manor - entertaining enough in its own right (though too long by 2 episodes) - was a travesty of the original story. Feel like I ought to comment on this one. Its a testament to your narrative powers that i stuck with it to the end. Not a fan of surrealism in literature or painting - though I enjoy David Lynch's work. I like symbolism though and it worked for me on that level. Echoes of classical myth for me - the strange sleepiness and the man-dog - conjured the waters of lethe/shades of the underworld and Cerberus. Which would tie in with the Freudian influence you mentioned. Its something I would've enjoyed when I was younger - when I used to enjoy Kafka. A bit too world weary these days to take much pleasure in tales of dystopia. Real life outdoes fiction every time. As evidenced by your story of Schulz's death. That affected me far more deeply than the story itself. I love your little "bits" at the end. Definitely your USP :D
Yes, you must understand that these episodes are from the podcast so they aren't right now. You may hear me refer to Christmas or Summer holidays or COVId, or, quite probably, seagulls. It's just when I made the episode for the podcast not right now. I will be making more episodes for UA-cam first in future.
I've actually come to realise that my comments are the USP. Not so fantastic, but different.
@@ClassicGhost Oh I see. Never thought of that. Probably cos I only listen to things on on YT. My son keeps nagging me to try podcasts. If I do I'll be heading straight to yours.
(Apologies for length!) Hi Tony, I have a question below but wanted to first express appreciation for what ya do. Having now been a listener for about 6 months or so, after stumbling on your work, I think it's safe to say that I totally blame you for spoiling us all, because I cannot think of another literary reading/narrating podcast that quite compares, at least for me. (And there are quite a few excellent ones out there that I still love.) You've a gorgeous voice, sir, but equally compelling to me is the excellence of your selections; in my view, your varied tastes in literature are kinda like great stories as well: that is, they both surprising and inevitable. You can trace the evolution of which writers and which literary genres/tones/etc are compelling to you from the start of the podcast.
.
Case in point: Bruno Schulz's work here. One of my very favorite writers who I have _never_ heard read in a forum/medium like this before. What a treat to hear! His SANATORIUM... and, especially, his STREET OF CROCODILES are two of the most searing works I've read. But there's another reason I'm stoked about your reading Schulz:
.
There is a publisher that I've been keeping up with recently, called Wakefield Press. And as far as I know, for the last few years they have been putting out a fucking _Feast_ of works (most in very good English translations) from artists associated with tones, forms, etc that share a spiritual kinship to writers like Schulz, Kafka, Lispector, both Ocampos, along with more recent writers like Wittkopf, Jackson (Shirley!), and Sebald. The point is, I don't know if you've had the opportunity to check out some of those folks before, but there are a handful whose stories are absolutely in the same wheelhouse of Schulz & co. And they are some of the most uncanny, surreal, achingly melancholy, and often _deeply_ terrifying and disquieting stories I've ever read. This is already too damn long, so if anybody is interested I can list a few that might be of interest. (And would love any recs from other folks!)
.
Either way, thank you for your wonderful podcast!
I love Schulz’s non horror stories too. I was introduced to him through reading an article on Thomas Ligotti
Dry goods stores sell fabric, clothes, and accessories, as well as dry groceries like flour and coffee.
I discovered this story through the brothers quay which was recommended by Kurt cobain so not only did I enjoy the animation suggested by a dead rock idol I got taken away to a different world by these words then I looked into the author and his story was even better, love it when that happens, hope I don't end up there lol x
No it’s not a place I’d like to visit
" The bulkiness of reality". So weirdly true. A study in quantum pysiscs? !!!! Lynch on steroids? VERY unsettling. More and more bizarre as details not caught before, rise to the surface. Intreging!!!!
I have absolutly no idea what is going on. Bread has totally new symbolism for me now.
Wow that's unsettling.
I guess with Schultz and Lynch it’s more about the journey than the destination.
If you think about it this is exactly comparable to a dream, the shifting moods and circumstances.
That was odd, but interesting.
Too true
I love Tony's after commentary as much or more the the story itself. Thank you for making our lives richer.
Any time!
It made think of San Junipero. Felt like he was transcending his dad's consciousness while his physical body was dying.
The most dangerous living things on earth are humans & what they are capable of doing to each other & to the earth that houses us
Well, DAMN; there miiiiiiight be some better conceivable way to tempt me into listening (via the Description) without ACTUALLY including a mention of me, personally, by name....but off the top of my head, I can't think of what it might be! o_0
Huh?
So...like his father, the narrator was dead and "living" this "slow departure" like his father. He didn't have a reflection in the mirror. His father chose his old profession until his "jump start"nwore out; but the narrator chose, instead, to stay on the train and be a sort of bum. Perhaps the dog was the narrator's angry self, and he tricked his own angry self into complacency only to slip back onto the train where he was more comfortable. (Or the dog was his father as the father died?)
The mother? She was on an earlier train, so her time had just run out?
He never had a bed of his own...? I have no idea why not.
Even the doctor may have been on one of these slow departures, and he chose to continue his profession here, as had the father. He slept, too.
Instead of a pornorgaphic book Narrator received a telescope that wasn't quite real; BUT he could see the maid through it.
Fun to pull apart!
Reminded me of Kafka, I never understood Twin Peaks either, so glad I’m not alone.
It has definite dream like quality’s,if you try to to avoid death it’s always ends up badly.
As Sherlock Holmes said when he’d been investigating a professor who had been trying to regain his youth by injecting monkey hormones(weird!) says
“ when you try to rise above nature you’ll always end up falling below it”
Suppose should give that to Conan Doyle😉
Glad you got all those books your saying you want to do done✊really enjoyed “The Waiting Room” had forgotten how good it was/is.
New iPhone, no broken screen, no excuse not to say thank you but I had gotten out of the habit! It wasn’t that I didn’t have the money to get an iPhone when I broke it I was just for the first time in my life depressed but without any reason so I couldn’t be asrsed basically! Anyway the story stuck with me so I wanted to say thank you this morning....
You are very welcome Maria. I hope both you and your phone are well.
My takeaway.Sleep is the best thing we can do as a species.The better For ourselves and others.So go to sleep constantly.and set the clock back, just a little bit.
The first poem I memorized as a child describes what might be carried in a dry goods store:
General Store
by Rachel Field
Someday I'm going to have a store
With a tinkly bell hung over the door,
With real glass cases and counters wide
And drawers all spilly with things inside.
There'll be a little of everything:
Bolts of calico; balls of string;
Jars of peppermint; tins of tea;
Pots and kettles; and crockery;
Seeds in packets; scissors bright;
Kegs of sugar, brown and white;
Sarsaparilla for picnic lunches,
Bananas and rubber boots in bunches.
I'll fix the window and dust each shelf,
And take the money in all myself,
It will be my store and I will say:
“What can I do for you today!”
I’d like to visit that shop
It answers the question you had about what does a “dry goods store” carry.
I think this is a grocers shop to us. Not that they exist any more
No body does Bruno. You can see where William Burroughs gets his inspiration. Also the brothers Quay. If you know Kafka, then Bruno is for you.
The completion of his death story is that the officer found out about Bruno's death from the gestapo himself. The man said, there I have killed your Jew.
Same here!!!
I did not care for this story, but respectfully thank you for reading it.
Thank you for commenting
Am I tripping?,or is he?
Reminds me of Ubik by PKD
Both crazy
Cannot understand this at all
I very much enjoyed this story. My interpretation is perhaps different.
Both the father, mother, son, and townspeople are all dead. The great hotel is now a Senatorum, or Sanitarium. What I believe has happened is that the Brown Shirts, the SS at the end of the war (WWII), in efforts to cover their tracks set fire to the Sanitarium, killing all inside.
It is a fact that Hitler and his troops, doctors, and scientists. We're working to make or create a superior race. They were also trying to make a super soldier. Some of what we see in the film, Captain America, is very true. Some of what we see in xmen, I think it's first class where magneto as a boy marches into auschwitz, is very true. The nazis were looking for these types of superpowers. Trying to harnes them, for evil. conducting experiments and genetically trying to alter human beings. Throughout the story, the son sees the back of the sanitarium. This is where a graveyard would have been placed.Probably with unmarked graves. And an incinerator, not only to incinerate bodies, but also used to get rid of medical supplies and blankets, you name it, that may have been contaminated. In the late nineteen thirties, mid 1940' forties, medicine was not what it is today. Fire was an effective way to kill bacteria and viruses.
The Son remarkes several times that the window in his father's room is open, allowing cold wind to stream into the room. But never makes an effort to close the window. Because it is no longer there. Father seems un-bothered by this. But the Son is upset almost to the point of outrage. Yet powerless to do anything about it. The buzzer or call buttons have all been disconnected years before. No one comes to care for the people left behind.
I get a great sense of death as the son ventures into the town and gets lost in a thick mist or gas before suddenly finding himself in the middle of a town square. The town itself has life and activity. But in a lot of ways, it is dark, dank, dreary rundown. And the people seem to be caught in a loop performing their tasks over a d over.
The father is feverishly working in the log book with another gentleman counting figures. Counting bodies. After watching schindler's list, we know that the germans kept lists of who was sent to the camps and who was killed and where they were buried. Father looks at his son almost with disdain. it seems he does not want him to see what he is doing. Very quickly, he tells him to go in the back and to read his book. The son confesses to us, the audience, that it was a pornographic book. In the nineteen forties, pornography would have been very different than it is obviously today. This might have been something that a military man may have had with him. A lower officer, possibly a Foot soldier. And moslikey was a photo or 2 of very artistic photographs of naked women in a garden, around a fountain or lounging on cushion recliners. In one part of Reberto Benini's life is beautiful. We see him carrying his son through a fog, and as he pushes his way through the fog, and it clears, we can see a mountain of dead bodies. The gas vapor's still rising from the dead.
The horrid and vicious dog that the son fears and can not look at. Turned out to be a tortured man, chained, hungry, full of hate and despair and longing for death. A failed genetic exparment. I find this to be another reference to the concentration camps and how poorly men women and children were treated.
The ending I find very interesting as the son turns into the conductor of the train that he originally mentions at the start of the story. Referencing the torn cap to kinda punch that image home. I have two thoughts here. One, this is a death train that did carry passengers to the Sanitarium. Where they were experimented on, caged, tortured, and killed. Or... the train litterally is a death train that carries passengers from life to death. The son returns to it and is no longer able to leave it. Or can not bear to leave it because his stop is The sanitarium, where he and his family died.
Don't mean to be disrespectful but that picture reminds me of the Berlin monument and museum. It was meant to represent little hope, being enclosed in by walls the only thing you see is a bit of the sky.
Do you mean that bombed church with the angel in the middle of Berlin?
@@ClassicGhost I don't think so I went on a school trip couple of years ago, the Jewish monument in Berlin is the one where it's squares coming up out of the ground. It has a problem with idiots jumping on it. It's quite dangerous and disrespectful
Yes I know it. It’s the one the kids run and climb on and laugh. When we were in Berlin my daughters were appalled at that. I don’t know how I feel looking back
@@ClassicGhost yeah, do you mean feel as in your feelings towards going back to Berlin?
At least the American GI who mistakenly shot the composer Anton Webern after the war had the decency to drink himself to death out of shame for what he'd done.
The Nazis really were unforgiveable.
Yes, I agree.
Time for me to go to sleep with another horror story....(sigh)
This one may give you weird dreams.
@@ClassicGhost : Actually, I disconnected with it, so it didn't. I kind of dissociate when things get too weird.
Me again 👋🏻
Didn't I see you on the stairs?
@@ClassicGhost yippee! you can't see me, but I can you 😊
Love your narration, not so much the story
Is this purgatory?
Interesting idea
I thought it was the afterlife/hell.
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🎬👍👍👍👍👍
I hate to be flippant ( and to perhaps display great ignorance on my part)…. But don’t you think the author may have been partaking of some hallucinogenic chemicals?? 🤣🤣
Who knows?
Are they dead? Is this hell, or just an eternity of not really having anything to do but having to fill time anyway?
Who knows?