How would you like to listen to the actual voices of 57 great writers from both sides of the Atlantic? A Guardian report says, "Rare recordings of some of the last century's greatest writers are to be released for the first time - from F Scott Fitzgerald reciting Othello to Tennessee Williams lambasting critics and Raymond Chandler drunkenly slurring his way through an interview with Ian Fleming." This British Library CD release records 30 British and 27 American writers, purportedly, for the first time since they last sat in front of a microphone. According to the report, the CD, The Spoken Word: British Writers and American Writers, retails for GBP 19.95 (RM140.00) each, and is a priceless collection for book buffs and is available at the British Library Online Bookshop.
It comes with 3 CDs, a booklet and runs for approximately 210 minutes. Here are some excerpts from The Guardian story.
- "Perhaps then one reason why we have no great poet, novelist or critic writing today is that we refuse to allow words their liberty. We pin them down to one meaning, their useful meaning. A meaning which makes us catch the train, the meaning which makes us pass the examination." Virginia Woolf, 1937
- "Obscenity is something that I abhor. I don't think there's anybody more squeamish than I am about what is obscene. I cannot stand anything scatalogical, anything physically disgusting ... my plays are extremely moral in my opinion. I'm almost an old puritan." Tennessee Williams, 1959
No comments:
Post a Comment