Stay ConnectedSnoozecast is the podcast designed to help you fall asleep.
Episodes air every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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Copyright: © ℗ & © 2020 Snoozecast: Stories for Sleep
Tonight, we’ll read a Snoozecast original story about a family who is visited by the fairy Luminastra Slumbornia, who gives the gift of peaceful sleep.
Like Luminastra, all fairies are a type of mythical being, a form of spirit, often with metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural qualities.
Let’s define those three common fairy qualities. The system of metaphysics is a philosophical branch dealing with the first principles of things. This includes abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
And whereas a supernatural force is one that is beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature, a preternatural force is one which is simply beyond what is normal or natural. An example would be to say that “autumn arrived with preternatural speed.”
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Tonight, we’ll read the third chapter to “Good Wives” written by Louisa May Alcott. This is also known as the second half of the “Little Women” novel. Originally, Alcott had it published as a second book but in later publishings the two were combined.
Our last episode was the chapter titled “The First Wedding” and it is Meg’s sweet, little wedding we attend. All of the March sisters look lovely as they’ve grown into themselves more over the last three years. When Laurie asks what happened to the fancy wine that his grandfather sent, Meg tells him that they have put a little aside for medicinal use and have given the rest away. Meg then asks Laurie to promise her to never drink alcohol. It is a tall order, but he can’t refuse her. As Meg departs to her new home down the road, she asks her family to keep her in their hearts.
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Tonight, we’ll read the first half to “The Princess of Babylon”, found in the The Strange Storybook by Mrs. Lang, published in 1913. The second half will air next week.
The story is taken from a lesser known philosophical tale by Voltaire, written in 1768. The story focuses on Amazan, a handsome, unknown shepherd, and Formosanta, the Princess of Babylon, whose love and jealousy drive them to travel the world. Through their travels they encounter the basic values of the Enlightenment. This episode first aired in January of 2020.
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Tonight, we’ll read a light-hearted O. Henry short story that creates a pastiche out of the popular Sherlock Holmes stories.
In this story, a man searching for his missing sister in New York realizes the official police detective can’t help him. Only one man can: the famous private consulting detective named Shamrock Jolnes.
Although many of O. Henry’s stories involve crimes or contain some elements of mystery, the author never actually wrote detective fiction.
The character of Shamrock Jolnes also appears in O. Henry’s short stories "The Adventures of Shamrock Jolnes" and "The Detective Detector".
In reading about these stories, we found different but similar terms like pastiche, parody, spoof and satire. While both parody and pastiche imitate the works of others, pastiche does so respectfully. It is used to highlight and pay homage to the original works while not stealing directly from it. Parody, on the other hand, mocks and ridicules the original works. It exaggerates its form and language, often replacing serious subjects with silly ones. And whereas a parody imitates a specific work, a spoof imitates a general genre. Finally, satire is similar to parody in that it uses ridicule, exaggeration and irony, but instead of poking fun at a specific creative work, it comments on society, religion and politics.
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Tonight, we shall read the next part to “Persuasion”, the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen, and published in 1817.
The story concerns Anne Elliot, a twenty-seven year old Englishwoman, whose family moves in order to lower their expenses and reduce their debt, by renting their home to an Admiral and his wife. The novel was well-received at it’s debut, but its greater fame came decades later, and continues to this day.
In the first episode, we read chapter 1, in which we meet Sir Walter Elliot, a 54-year-old man of distinct ancestry, and his three daughters. The father prides himself on his good looks and family lineage.
His eldest daughter, who most resembles him in personality and looks, is named Elizabeth. At 29 she is unmarried but attractive. His youngest daughter, Mary, has married a respectable local man. And then there is the middle child- Anne. She is also unmarried like Elizabeth, but at 27 years old has grown less attractive with age. Sir Walter feels that Anne is inferior to her sisters and often overlooks her.
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Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “Mr. Midshipman Easy,” an 1836 novel by Frederick Marryat, a retired captain in the Royal Navy. The novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars, in which Marryat himself served with distinction. This episode first aired in February of 2021.
At fourteen, the naive Jack Easy leaves the luxury of his family estate in England and sails into a world of adventure aboard the sloop of war HMS Harpy. At first, Jack finds it hard to bear the discipline of naval life and is always getting himself into trouble. But soon he is bravely taming a band of mutinous seamen as the Harpy chases Spanish ships on the Mediterranean.
This episode is dedicated to our many listeners who have requested Roald Dahl stories. Alas, he is not in the public domain yet for us to read. However, this particular author was listed as a literary influence on Dahl.
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Tonight, we’ll read an excerpt from “American Notes” a travelogue written by Charles Dickens detailing his trip from the year 1842. While there he acted as a critical observer of North American society, almost as if returning a status report on their progress. Having arrived in Boston, he travelled as far south as Richmond, Virginia, as far west as St. Louis, Missouri and as far north as Quebec, Canada. The city he liked best on his trip? Boston.
The inspiration for this episode came from our recent “Helen Keller” episode. Her autobiography references a story within another section of tonight’s book as inspiring Helen’s mother to seek out specialized education for her daughter.
Dickens’s American journey was also an inspiration for his novel “Martin Chuzzlewit”. If you’ve been listening to our “Woodcraft” series of episodes lately, you may have heard mention of how the Woodcraft author named one of his famous hand-crafted canoes after a Chuzzlewit character.
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Tonight, we’ll read the next part to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne.
In the last episode, Aronnax accompanies Nemo on an expedition at night without lanterns or anyone else. The two walk in darkness toward a red light for a couple miles before they climb up a platform of man-made stones and pillars. Aronnax realizes that the mountain they are climbing is a volcano, still emitting lava. They are visiting the fabled underwater ruins of Atlantis. The two men contemplate the scene and the history while the moon rises, before returning to the Nautilus as the sun rises.
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Tonight, we’ll read the opening to “Around the World in 80 Days,” a novel by Jules Verne published in 1872.
In this story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a 20-thousand pound wager ( over two million pounds now) set by his friends. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.
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Tonight, we’ll read an excerpt from “The Story of My Life” written by Helen Keller and published in 1903. The book details her early life, and especially her education.
Helen Keller was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was still a baby. She had limited communicative capability as a little girl. Her mother became inspired after reading a travelogue from Charles Dickens that described a similar girl being educated. This led the family on a quest to find such education for their daughter. Finally, at the age of seven, Helen met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing. Keller later became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
In 1920, Helen Keller helped to found the American Civil Liberties Union. She traveled to over 40 countries with Sullivan, making several trips to Japan and becoming a favorite of the Japanese people. Keller met every U.S. president of her time, and was friends with many famous figures, including Alexander Graham Bell, Charlie Chaplin and Mark Twain.
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