The Shadow by E. Nesbit
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- The Shadow by E Nesbit is a masterful story of an apparition that signifies death. It is set in a large house with servants in England at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century. A Christmas party was held in the old manor house. The men have gone to billiards and left a group of young women to tell ghost stories. Then Miss Eastwich, the housekeeper, is invited in and tells an authentic ghost story of her own.
E. Nesbit was a famous and prolific woman writer for children who had a sideline in creepy ghost stories.
The Shadow is a great story for Christmas or any other time. I really enjoyed reading it for you.
Subscribe to the Channel so you don’t miss new stories!
/ @classicghost
Download my narrations of some stories at my Bandcamp site
theclassicghos...
I totally agree that we can’t judge books written in the past by today’s standards - if we did there’d be something offensive In just about everything. I actually think it’s fascinating to get glimpses into the thoughts of people of long gone ages and eras.
We shouldn’t judge ANYTHING by todays insane Frankfurt School Cultural (faux) Marxist globalist insanity. As soon as we start doing so, we should check ourselves into a loony bin.
Cheers
Yeah thats very true
They would be just as offended by us...
,
I think they would be much more offended by us..and in some cases, rightfully so..God bless you all .
I agreed with your rant. Thank you for the post story chats and rants 😺
I believe in cultural relativism. As in we can't and shouldn't judge past eras and other cultures using our present culture as a general rule. There has never been, there isn't currently, and there will never be a perfect culture.
Agree completely.Thank you.
Re Halloween, I grew up in South Essex in the 70s and 80s. We did celebrate Halloween, but we didn't dress up and we most certainly never went "trick or treating". I recall going to Halloween parties at church. We wore our normal clothes, ate hot sausage rolls and other snacks, and we played games, such as bobbing for apples. Almost no-one ever put up Halloween decorations. I'd be happy if Halloween was still like that.
Yes, I don't think it had died out in England, but the modern version different
i totally agree with you about understanding the times the works were written in and the zeitgeist of those times. to hold those of the past to present standards and understanding is ludicrous. what was acceptable then is no longer acceptable, but that doesn't change the gist of the stories.
Love the rant and agree totally.
I also think of the housekeeper as a shadow. Creeping around the house silently, unnoticed and unloved until the youngest girl takes her in.
I can’t tell you what a joy it is to find a channel that can narrate without irritating the living poop out of me🥹👌🏼
I have loved E. Nesbit forever. I found her as a child. Thank you for this.
I totally agree with your rant. I understand some things from the past can be shocking but it is necessary to realize our past and to learn from our past. So as not to repeat our past which we so unfortunately seem to do.
Tony my favorite part of these videos is the ending where you break down/interpret the story. There have been several stories I didn't understand until you explained the meaning at the end.
Thank you 😊
I’m very happy you said that . it’s nice to be appreciated:) Thank you
Great story, vivid narration, thought-provoking, also this time. Thank you, Tony.
Thanks for listening
Hi Tony, I found this story quite sad, in that the ghost of lost love resonates strongly with me. I'm glad that every lost love doesn't become a shadow that attaches to you or I would be covered with them! You were writing a review on Duloxetine? That drug saved my life as it dealt so well with neuropathic pain. Doesn't do much for my black dog though, but none of the "modern" antidepressants do. I'm a bit of a non-responder. Loving your stories and the after rambles. Happy 2023 to you and yours 😀
+Linda Jones yes in another role i was writing about duloxetine. We used to say it helped with pain . I do t know what the research says but people don’t report that it does back to me much
@@ClassicGhost I experienced no depression at the time, it was coming through the neurons as pain only. For me, Duloxetine made a big difference. Maybe I'm in the minority.
I love tony walkers chit chats after the story finishes. It’s very interesting so natural. I am cross stitching my grandchildren’s Christmas cards and I sit and listen to tony both reading and giving views after the story has finished. I love this. It’s so refreshing we are so lucky to have tony to work his magic . I agree you have to be open minded and embrace a lot of things and it is good that we do because there is so much to enrich our lives however old we are. Thanks Tony.
Tony, I love E Nesbit. She writes excellent stories and they tend to be very frightening and I think often quite psychological as well. This was an excellent tale, class, station, longing and the almost voodoo like creation of this shadow, which she describes so well at the limits of perception.
She gives the game away a little, when she tells us the man is kind, cheery but weak. He shows this weakness in choosing the wrong woman at first, then when Mabel dies he gives in to his mother (who hated our lady) and marries another.
Well plotted and very believable. I don’t know why anyone gets upset about these idiots who want to judge everything so subjectively. We have a specific view now, which were not our views a while ago and these views will change again.
It was perfectly acceptable for James Bond in 1980 to trap a woman against her will, kiss her and then when she gives in to this advance from him bed her. We didn’t think anything was unusual, this mode of male female relationship was all over our TV. Looking back, these tropes seem rather concerning. I was alive at both times, I never particularly myself liked these parts but they didn’t then make me truly uncomfortable.
Times change and we change too and that’s as it should be. We can read truly great works and they still resonate, some social norms shift, but the core essence of great literature will resonate until there are no humans left to read it.
-@Toady UK, what a wonderful comment. I agree wholeheartedly, you have read my thoughts but articulated it so perfectly. It was a fine story and Tony’s thoughts afterwards gave a new perspective on the story which resonated with me although I did not see it at first.
I really appreciated Tony's candor about the woman from the New Yorker - I mean, that says it all! After his comment, I respect him more and he tiptoed around his comment because he doesn't want his personal feelings about people like the woman from the New Yorker - totally liberal - to influence this story. I give Tony a lot of credit for speaking his honest opinion of what she said. Well done, Tony! And saying Mrs. Eastwich's shawl - a terrible tongue twister indeed!
Remember that 50 shades became a hit during the age of cancel culture. The only criticism I saw is from men.
I don't think anything has changed except for a whole lot of virtue signalling and selective outrage.
*THX Tony* for your afterword as I was beginning to regret listening to this alone at night. This is scary at night ... that is one creepy shadow but, now I see it is a fine study in psychological manifestation & it is believable. It reminds me a bit of the 2014 movie *The Babadook* in its hidden depth
I agree that we have to expect authors to reflect the cultural influences of their times but I don't hold it against someone pointing them out. For me it adds to the interest
The description of the 'evil' reminds me of old rumors and tales never written, just past down
Definitely Five Children and It. Also... there's a THIRD PSAMMEAD BOOK? I adored The Story of the Amulet.
Excellent story !
19th century writers were masters of the ghost story, specially the English, Irish, and Scottish writers. I love the literature of the period.
I think that description of the "ghost" in this one was interesting and actually very creepy as an image. It reminded me a bit of the Netflix movie "I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House".
Well-read story and well-said rant.
Ditto ditto ditto, Tony, As always masterful. Thank you.
Love É. Nesbit!
These stories are of their time and that's what makes them so delightful.
How arrogant people are to think we are so perfect nowadays 🙄
Yes, thank you for the story and for feeding te birds 🐦 😘
Ditto this time around. Thank you, Tony.
Now that , to me, is a scary story! Creepy and satisfying! Thank you.
Oh Tony! E. Nesbit! Am going to listen now! Wonderful, thank you. I love her language💚
A brilliant story,one of the best I’ve heard.Perfect narration.I loved your insights too; really added to the complexity of the story which, on the surface, is a deceptively simple tale but has many layers beneath.Tony, I’m glad you are feeding the birds! They like nearby cover to feel safe.They will keep coming back so please carry on if you can.
As usual, an outstanding delivery of a previously unknown but mesmerizing story! Well done!
Thank you kindly!
What an incredible story. I'm on my way to work listening to it and I forgot my speaker in my car so I had the phone held up to my ear while I drove along the freeway. Such a scary story and beautifully read thank you so much Tony there's nobody like you out there
You rock
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️!!! Thank you!
You rock more 😊
Do you know who I'm reminded of when you talk about the nature of the relationship between Miss Eastwich and the chap whose name I can't remember (I agree with your interpretation by the way). It's Walter and Marion in Wilkie Collin's The Woman In White. It always bugged me that Walter married Laura because she was fey, pretty and blonde but chose to be 'just good friends' with Marion, who had character, courage and spirit but was not considered 'conventionally attractive'. He had a deep emotional relationship with Marion that he wasn't able to have with Laura but apparently long blonde hair, a pretty face and an air of helplessness was what swung it for Walter. Pah!!
And of course in The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions.
As much as I get your point, I find that dichotomy in storylines to be rather simplistic. Why can't we have a pretty, blonde, fey woman that's also intelligent, courageous and strong-spirited? It's like women can only come in one of two shapes: frail little damsels, or strong-willed tomboys. And a lot of people won't relate to either of those.
great story, very moving, & beautifully read as always - Thank you
Ooooo so excited will listen to this right now . Tony I was not disappointed thank you for all your hard work
Thank you dear Tony 🌳
Really nice work Tony: excellent speed, and perfectly natural tone in the narrative and conversational parts.
Truly enjoyed the narration, and I like the endings spent in analysis on the nature of the story and updates on your life. I realize I'm one of many voices here, but if I can add my opinion that perhaps the story is more literal. I got a chill thinking of similar descriptions of modern 'ghosts' that are nothing more than dark figures which an older century would have called 'elementals.' No rhyme or reason, just a malevolent force that falls down on certain people in certain places, but always takes that amorphous, black shape. In that sense, the story becomes much more modern or even post-modern.
What an extraordinary interpretation of this brilliant story. Both in terms of your wonderful narration, and your insight as to the psychic trouble that lies at the heart of this writing.
Thank you Rohan
Love this story! Great reading of it and analysis. Very entertaining - thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing this Mr. Tony. I completely agree with you about cancel culture especially as it applies to classic literature. Someone described that as temporal provincialism.
Besides, there are the prevalent-at-the-time elements of ethnic prejudice but there's also Nesbit's idealistic Fabian Society socialism which your average SJW would favour immensely.
I like that phrase and i think it’s true. Think if Oliver Cromwell was i charge. He’d ban different things
Just brilliantly narrated as usual. Thank you.
Really recommend this fab story‼️🌟🌟🌟
Ok, not Christmas, but still a great story. Got to love E.Nesbit.
❤ this one.
Thank you for that rant. And thank you for your story and you're reading and your care for this literature. I only just discovered your Channel.
Thank you from Australia!
Brilliant story, and reading.
My most horrific Halloween my mother made (calf’s) liver for dinner and I couldn’t go trick or treating until I finished eating it. Blech!
Wonderful
Love this story , ramblings and masterful narration. Thank ypu!
Glad to hear Hallowe'en wasn't imported for you either. It's a significant autumn rite in the North...all that's changed is pumpkins instead of turnips which has saved a few fingers over the years 😄
A great story indeed! Thank you Tony.
We can't judge books of the past by today's standards - for the vapidity, the contrivance, the pandering to the lowest common denominator, and the cuddling of the audience by telling it what it wants to hear - in contemporary "letters" becomes sickeningly evident. Libraries in my town wipe the Faulkners and Greenes and Ishmael Reeds off the shelves for more "boxes of Pattersons" and didactic identity lit.
We shouldn’t, but it happening increasingly and, to my mind, with chilling rapidity … we will be burning books soon … and where will that lead?
Didactic identity lit is my phrase of the day and it's only just gone eight o' clock :)
Thank You again Tony! This will be awesome!
Thank you Tony. Interesting and well done per usual!
Hello Tony, thank you for that moving E. Nesbit story. I love her books for children. I should say that I'm 76 years old! I have a copy of 'The Wouldbegoods', which was a present to me as a child! It's probably my favourite. I always liked the character of Alice, Oswald's favourite tomboy sister. I have recently re-read 'Five Children And It', and yes, there were 5 children, but the youngest was only a baby/toddler. I've re-read 'The Phoenix and the Carpet', too. That scene in the film of 'Railway Children' where Bobbie sees her father on the station platform always makes me cry when I think of it! 'My Daddy, my Daddy'. He has just been released from prison having been cleared of a crime he didn't commit. Now, I'm reading, 'The Story of the Amulet'. Do you can see that I'm a fan of you and E. Nesbit, and I'm glad her books are still available.
I devoured her books as a child, and I don’t know if I said in the commentary, but yes, that part in The Railway Children always makes me cry too
Fabulous story, Tony. Apart from the obvious differences in life situations and mores, it seems very modern in a psychological way and the naturalness of people conversing. I really enjoyed that and totally agree with you about people being a product of their time, which is something I always say out loud when I hear someone going on about 'woke issues', whatever woke is, lol! I love the tradition of Christmas ghost stories. I looked into it once and did a bit of research, it being known at least in Shakespeare's time, when he wrote his ghost story under the title of Winter's Tale, and possibly further back as an antidote towards the scary winter weather outside to enjoy a vicarious shiver whilst huddling around the fire in safety. Anyway, good stuff. :)
Love the story, stories like this are my favorite. Keep,posting to u tube ☃️👍
Thank you and Happy New Year, Mr. Tony and Miss Sheila!
I do love what you do and how you do it. Cheers! 👍😄
I learn a great deal from the explanations at the end, after enjoying the story!
Fascinating analysis. Thank you.
I've heard this before, but it never left an impression until I heard this, your narration and analysis.
Loved it!
I like old James Bond movies. Completely inappropriate now, but for me they are a part of my childhood.
I had better go and put another apple out for the "wild" Musk lorikeets and refill the water bowls in my bush garden. It is 26C here as I am listening.
Cheers Tony.
🙋
I thoroughly enjoyed this one, Tony. Love your ramblings. English people are wonderful storytellers, or the few I’ve know are. Not so sure if we Americans inherited this talent, even though my grandparents were great storytellers.
Great job here Tony and lovely commentary after. Thank you and have a great new year
Halloween in Surrey during the sixties: homemade toffee, toffee apples and flapjack were eaten while we waved sparklers in front of an enormous fire.
The other point which stands between Miss Eastwich and the love of her life is his mother. You will notice that after Mabel's funeral, she says something like, "and his mother never cared for me" and then we don't hear anything more about him. As soon as she said that, I knew immediately why they had never married and never would.
great story and interesting analysis. Just to add that the style is modern in the sense of adding nuance to the idea that ghosts don't exist not even out of the corner of our eyes, and almost as if the wanting to see what is not there is what produces the ghosts, so that's quite a subtle psychological distinction and observation for 1905. Nesbit I believe was linked the Order of the Golden Dawn which is interesting in itself- what did she learn there? This is in the style of Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood. There is subtlety and so much that is unsaid which we rarely get in modern ghost stories and films which follow the crash-bang-wallop style of obviousness laid on with a trowel. She was also the 'curse' she said she didn't believe in right? Great point about the academics too. Quackademics rely on 'isms' and 'ists' in their lexicon to make a name when they are nobodies compared to someone like Nesbit.
I assume that's behind some of the Rosicrucian elements of The Wonderful Garden. Oh those heart's desire seeds!
Namedrop Time. I met Jenny Agutter about 15 years ago when she visited Haworth's Central Park Fair. We had a chat and she let me photograph her and have her autograph. I wanted to ask her a few more questions but Jenny cut me off by saying that the person behind me would like her autograph too perhaps. I wouldn't have minded, but that person was my partner! ❤️
Good though. Jenny Agutter!
@@ClassicGhost She's great, that's why I went to see her. I'm still a huge fan.
Now I have to watch Walkabout.
Lol. Worthwhile.
Genuinely scary.
The people who condemn old writings because they don't reflect modern attitudes may be academics, but they're certainly not scholars. A scholar is as interested in what that old society was like as he or she is in the writings that it left behind. "What it was like" is a comprehensive term, and includes the things about it that please us and also the things that don't. It was the human experience of that time and place.
I am trying to practice self-restraint, so I will keep this comment -short- under 500 words. 😄
I liked this story- it is one that stays with you for hours after hearing it.
I liked your commentary even more and could type out a mile of words that your thoughts made me think. I love the name of your cat-neighbor "Lucifer Sam" That is a wonderful name!
Final thought: I am trying to NOT comment on every one of your videos. But its really hard. I do not expect responses, I just enjoy sending my thoughts out into the multi-verse, like a message in a bottle. Sometimes someone responds years later and I will barely remember making the comment, it's kind of neat... ~Denise
I am glad you comment. I don’t have time to respond at length but I do read them all
I must confess, I DID try to get into the locked drawer today. Forgive me 😁
We need to go on a lock-picking course. 😁
I don't mind. what was in there?
@@ClassicGhost failed miserably I'm afraid. But me and a friend ^^^^ have decided to go on a lock picking course! Watch this space
@@elizabethwoolnough4358 Elizabeth!! Was that a play on my name? If not, it should have been !
@@pickmeasinner it was an unintentional play on your name because I'm dozy and failed to pay enough attention. You might turn out to be better on that course than I will. 😁
I heard this story on another channel and the reader gave a long analysis claiming that the husband gave the wife an STD and that's what killed her.
I think your take is more likely to be true, either way it's a very sad story .
I don t like the sound of that other analysis !
@@ClassicGhost it went on for some time but I didnt find it convincing.
Lovely, as always. Thank you!!
Tony, I kept my word and paid for a subscription to your podcast.
I can't leave comments there now and I also wanted to let you know that the sound on the Monkshood Manor podcast was scratchy.
A cup of tea.blanky.biccies an our Tony.. come on .what more do ya want... .I'm settled down an ready..xxx
Don't ever apologise for your rants, Tony. Authors wrote and write in their times, and of course their writings reflect the times they lived in. The 2020s censoring of old time writers is driving myself to even more furious rants than the ignorant critics - academics or not - ever can produce. (And they can shove their stereotype 'Okay, boomer' response up to where the Sun never shines.)
Okay boomer makes me laugh 😂
@@ClassicGhost Mission accomplished. 😎🤣
Dying to find "The Lady in the Sack"....
Think I got my answer when "The Outcast" played next....
I actually don't like the wokeness of modern books, lecture about this or that subsequently I avoid modern books
An odd thing I remember from when I was running reading groups. I brought in a story for the group to read by a US writer called Charles W. Chestnutt. He was one of the first, if not the first African American writer to be read by white people. He wrote about race but not very militantly by today’s standards. Anyhow it was a good story. The N word was used twice in it. I felt seeing he was a black writer and had doubtless been referred to as a N, that it was okay to read it out. There were five or six other members present and none of them would say the word. There were no black members attending that week and I’d have liked to have heard how they felt about it.
I felt like this man deserved to have his work read aloud as he’d written it, but the group members didn’t agree. Maybe it’s something everyone has to decide for themselves. I think for me it depends on context. I wouldn’t be happy with something that felt really offensive but wouldn’t have brought a story for the group to read if I’d found it offensive. I decide stuff like this on a case by case basis, but like to stick to original text as much as possible.
I think you're right. I agree with what you're saying and I really wouldn't read that word out.
The colonists were running away from religious tyranny at home, and risked everything for freedom. But it finally got revenge.
You are a delight. And the story was poignant.
What does the guy say to the younger girl at 11:03 - shut up you idiot - something like that. I was curious about the British vernacular that he was reading. It's the words between blatant and then you idiot. Sounds like gumshaw - if someone could tell me what the word was, I'd love it and thanks!
‘Shut up you little idiot’ not you obviously
@@ClassicGhost lol Thanks for filling in the blanks!
Dear Tony, it is disingenuous to talk about racism against white people in civilisations that existed hundreds of years ago.
The fact is that racism against black / brown people is very much alive and well in society in the west today, and it has been for centuries. It has been the most pernicious system in the western world. Think slavery, think Jim Crow laws, think about apartheid, think about the exploitation and slaughter of hundreds of thousands of black / brown under British colonisation. This is history and its effects continue to be felt by people of colour today. To claim that it does or has not existed and that there is nothing particularly wrong with it is to deny your own history as an English person. English children’s literature of the early 20th century is rife with racism, and the portrayal of black people is demeaning and hurtful.
You do not seem to be aware of your historical and present privilege as a white person in the world.
You seem like a very thoughtful, insightful person. However I do think that you should think these issues through before airing your views. Airing uninformed views about racism is as damaging as being racist.
+@shereenmills8193 You talk as if ‘English’ is a monolithic block of privilege. Many people here did not do well out of the British Empire. my ancestors dug coal out of the ground and ploughed up fields as
agricultural
labourers or were Irish tenant farmers, bus drivers , scavengers. Then got gassed and bombed to help the mercantile interests of the wealthy . I’m not sure they were massively privileged . Also you say i’m being disingenuous by referring to history then you spend the rest of your post referring to history.
Sorry i was speaking in very general terms. I am aware of and very sympathetic to the suffering of the Irish under British colonialism.
In the Irish movie, ‘The Commitments’, the leader of their band explains Irish identity to the other band members, ‘The Irish are the blacks of Europe, and Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, so repeat after me, I’m black and I’m proud.’
I was blown away by that expression of solidarity. It was a first.
P.s. the history I speak about is recent history of colonialism and racism whose effects are still felt by black people in the world today.
Thank you so much for this Tony ❕
I really need the distraction tonight because of the horrible news regarding my living situation that I have had today! The Victorian building of which I live on the top floor (no lift!, so it’s kept me fit and I have enjoyed a typical Mary Poppins view over Kensington and Fulham and This building is being bought right after I finally persuaded my landlord to let me get a small dog 🐶!) so you reading this is my therapy tonight my notification’s have been building up into the 200 mark as I was so upset that I went to bed and listened to the power of now as I do in every crisis and the only one available is one of the digitally read but she’s not so bad… I put it on a slower speed……as they keep being taken down by the publishers…. Why am I telling you all of this, you have many fans but I listen to you so much I feel like I know you! Please 🙏 don’t let me ending up living in Shepherd’s Bush near my ex GOD/GODDESS‼️❤️🩹💛❤️🩹
I feel for you...And as listen tonight I face the likelihood of a homeless shelter on the 15th because there is nothing, not a room that I can find that is affordable. Thank Tony and God for great writing and great readers...
I’m so sorry to hear about your plate, I really am! Especially when you really love the place that you’re living presently and you’ve got a lovely four-legged companion to look forward to being with and then the damn landlords. Just pull the rug from underneath you.
Throw you into an absolute flocks of misery and stress. You don’t necessarily have to be in the area with your ex especially in London where rents are exceptionally high as everywhere else but especially in London that does limit your choice and watch. I really do wish you well and things get better for you.
@@aob4214 you are so kind and you have made me so happy to know someone cares! Exactly I don’t want to live down there in Shepherd’s Bush but it’s the next best thing and there’s something going to be available there he said but I love it here! Thank you so much though & who knows I could manifest that deal to fall through but that would be evil and I believe in karma and all of that so I have been burnt by karma myself so I hope she’s a big bitch to my ex who broke my nose and I am having it straightened which is why financially this is bad timing and some one has been coming in here so I have been taking my valuables out with me in a big bag and my expensive perfume rolled out of my bag! It must have and it’s a new bottle! Why me? Lol 😂 I hate playing the victim but it’s been a tough year so I am ready for things to change and maybe it’s A BLESSING in disguise 🥸 but it’s a very good bloody disguise‼️
@@johnryan3913 oh John Ryan I don’t know if that is Irish ☘️ but I bless you with the luck of the Irish at this time and there’s a movie of the book “you can heal your life” by Louise Hay but all the best people possible are on that video from scientists to metaphysical teachers but the ones that have had success and that I have tested and it dose work and there’s always a solution to every single problem and I know that you will be unlikely to believe me but I feel and as soon as I started focusing on your comment, I had an extraordinary impulse to get you to watch this video and I feel like I am to watch it also because you go deeper and deeper into the understanding of something every time you hear something! Please please 🙏 give this a go- it’s not religious or anything but spiritual and some thing that could be the very reason for the situation that you are in❓❕❔‼️ YES actually‼️blessings and may all work out well for you in every way!✨🌟💛🌟✨
@@mariameere5807 Thank you, I will watch the video, and your words are so true! Some times you get exhausted but I am not giving up.
Freud WOULD argue some such perverted bullshit psychobabble, Tony. But then Freud would never ‘believe in’ ghosts. ;)
Love the story and narration. Greatly enjoy your insights.
Thanks Barb