Steve Reads Stories

A Love Letter From Franz Kafka to Felice Bauer [Letter]

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at a love letter written between novelist and short story writer Franz Kafka, and Felice Bauer.

In the world of odd romances, this one rates somewhere in the top 10% I'm sure. Felice and Franz met in Prague on August 13th 1912 at a dinner party put on by his friend Max Brod.

To call it love at first sight would be...inaccurate, in his diary a week later, Franz describes Felice as follows, "Bony, empty face that wore its emptiness openly. Bare throat. A blouse thrown on. Looked very domestic in her dress although, as it turned out, she by no means was...Almost broken nose. Blonde, somewhat straight, unattractive hair, strong chin."

Yet soon after he was sending her almost daily letters, and by July of 1913 had proposed marriage to her (not for the first time).

Kafka preferred to keep their romance at a distance, the few times they did meet (mostly for proposals), he was disinterested and withdrawn, seemingly disappointed in the actual flesh and blood Felice.

The two were forced apart once and for all in 1917 when Kafka began manifesting symptoms of the tuberculosis that would eventually kill him. Felice would later go on to marry Moritz Marasse, a banker in Berlin, they had two children, moved to Switzerland to escape the Nazis and finally settled in the United States in 1931.

Over 500 letters from this period have survived, sold by Felice in 1955 due to financial troubles from an illness, and they were published in the book Letters to Felice by Elias Canetti.

This is one of them.

I hope you enjoy.

Background music provided by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas/classik-electro

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve%E2%80%A6ies/id1087197185

A Thief and His Master [Grimm Fairy Tale]

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at "A Thief and His Master," a fairy tale originally published in 1812 by the Brother's Grimm.

This is a strange one, as despite the title, it's less about a thief and more about a magician -- which makes sense, as it belongs to the Aarne-Thompson 325 group of folk tales -- which are stories about magicians and their pupils which contain a transformation and a chase.

The "Farmer Weathersky" from The Red Fairy Book, and "Master and Pupil" from The Pink Fairy Book are also of this type.

This is a story about father trying to decide on his son's profession. After visiting a church, he discovers that a thief is what his child was meant to be, so he looks for a teacher.

The rest involves a lot of animal transformations, even more fraud, and a touch violence by the end.

If I had to pick one, I'd say the lesson of "A Thief and His Master" is to always accept payment for services up front, lest you end up dead.

I hope you enjoy.

Background music provided by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas/classik-electro

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve…ies/id1087197185

A Rejection Letter for Moby Dick [Letter]

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at a rejection letter written by Peter Bentley of Bentley and Son's Publishing House, to one Herman Melville, on the subject of Moby Dick.

This is one of those time where you wish there was an alternate reality where Peter had gotten his way.

Because if he did, there would a version of Moby Dick out there with no whales and a lot of voluptuous, young maidens.

Peter also didn't like all the messy talk of religion, unless it was about Lutherans, which I guess didn't count.

While Peter passed on the book it was ultimately Richard Bentley, of the same Publishing House, who accepted Melville's manuscript in 1851. While most of Peter's revisions didn't make the cut, the British edition of the book is notable for having about 1200 words missing, because they were deemed sacrilegious.

Interestingly, a number of "sexually explicit" passages were also excised, which most have been a real bee in Peter's bonnet.

This letter is the story of the intersection of art and commerce, and a great example of why not every well meaning suggestion, is one you should take.

I hope you enjoy.

The Three Princesses of Whiteland [Norwegian Folk Tale]

Welcome everyone, I'm Steve Spalding and this is Season Two of Steve Reads Stories. Sorry for the long delay, but I needed some time to find new things to read to you, and a bit of energy to put behing other projects.

Honestly it's probably for the best, but now I'm back and ready to hit the ground running with a folk tale I think you're going to really like.

This one is called The Three Princesses of Whiteland and it was born in Norway and orginally collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. Andrew Lang in The Red Fairy Book, published in 1890.

Lang published a number of other "Fairy Books" in the same decade -- The Blue Fairy Book, The Green Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, The Pink Fairy Book and right at the turn of the century, The Grey Fairy Book.

His other works included titles like, "The True Story Book," "The Animal Story Book," and "The Red Book of Animal Stories." While he never published, "The True Yellow Book of Animal Stories," I'm sure he was working on it.

The Princesses of Whiteland is a story about a fisherman's son turned errant King who finds himself on an adventure to get back to his wife, one of the Princesses as you might suspect. On the way, he takes a lot a bad advice, steals a number of things, and yet somehow makes it out with his head still attached.

Some people have all the luck.

In the end, I think this is a tale about the importance of listening to directions, which is a lesson we all can use every once in a while.

I hope you enjoy.

Inside Fictions - Dead Eyes at the Midnight [Special Episode]

On today's episode, I introduce you to the secret project I've been talking about for the last few months. It's a serialized fiction collaboration between me and Jessica Kinghorn called, At the Midnight. If you like stories about hotel desk managers combating eldritch horrors, you'll like this. 

You'll find new episode of this and more on Inside Fictions main channel: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-fictions/id1159779864?mt=2

Music by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas

Inside Fictions - The Weisz Institute and Temporal Crisis Hotline [Special Episode]

On today's episode, I briefly discuss Season 2 of Steve Reads Stories, and I give you a preview of a full episode of a new project I've been working on, Inside Fictions. Take a listen, I think you'll like it. 

If you're interested in more Inside Fictions, you can subscribe here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-fictions/id1159779864?mt=2

Music by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas

C.S. Lewis Writes About Writing to a Young Fan [Letter]

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at a letter written in 1956 by C.S. Lewis to a young fan named Joan Lancaster.

C.S. Lewis is best known as the person who brought the Chronicles of Narnia, but he also wrote many other fascinating novels, including the Cosmic Trilogy, which was a part of a deal he made with J.R.R Tolkien. He would write a "space travel" story, if Tolkien wrote one about time travel.

Unfortunately, Tolkien never never finished his. It's unfortunately because his plan was to link Middle-Earth to the modern world, which could have changed the world as we know it.

1956 was the year the very last book in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle was published, and the same year he published Till We Have Faces, a re-telling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

This is a letter about writing, from a writer, to an aspiring writer, and I love it not only because it offers some very good advice on craft, but also because it's exactly the sort of thing I needed to read tonight.

This is a good letter, filled with good ideas.

I hope you enjoy!

Background music provided by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas/classik-electro

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-reads-stories/id1087197185

Bearskin [German Folk Tale]

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at Bearskin, a German folk tale brought to us by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen. 

Bearskin was originally published in 1670, under the title, "The Origin of the Name Bearskin." It's a folk tale of type 361, which are stories about people who get into deals with the Devil, and come out at the other side with wealth and a beautiful bride -- a rarity indeed. 

Before getting into the rest, it's worth taking a moment to mention that Hans Jakob is also the author of, "The life of an odd vagrant named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim: namely where and in what manner he came into this world, what he saw, learned, experienced, and endured therein; also why he again left it of his own free will." which is not only one of the longest subtitles I've ever had the pleasure of relating, but is also said to be one of the finest pieces of German literature of the 17th century.

Bearskin is a story about a soldier who desserts, runs off to the woods, nearly starves to death, meets the Devil, neglects his hygiene and marries a princess. 

It's also one of those rare times when the Devil gets his due, but not on the person who actually made the deal.

This is ultimately a tale about how failing to listen to your father, can be more dangerous than taking up with Satan himself.

I hope you enjoy.

Background music provided by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas/classik-electro

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-reads-stories/id1087197185

A Widow Writes to Her Dead Husband Eung-Tae Lee [Letter]

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at a letter written in 1586 by an unnamed and pregnant widow to her dead husband Eung-Tae Lee. 

This letter was discovered in 1996 in a tomb in Andong City, South Korea. Eung-Tae Lee, who was a member of the ancient Goseong Yi clan, was found with it along with a pair of sandals -- apparently woven from hemp bark and his wife's own hair.

This is a moving and deeply affecting letter, and I hope I've done it justice.

And I hope you enjoy. 

Background music provided by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas/classik-electro

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-reads-stories/id1087197185

The Singing Sword [Estonian Folk Tale]

On tonight's podcast, we'll be looking at The Singing Sword, an Eastern European folk tale brought to us from Estonia via Brooklyn. 

It was written in 1928 by Frances Jenkins Olcott, who was born in Paris and later moved to New York to become an assistant librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. She left that position to head up the first Children's Department at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, returning to New York in 1911 to write children's books, including Wonder Tales From Baltic Wizards -- where we find this piece. 

The Singing Sword is a brilliantly energetic tale, opening with a breathless description of our hero, the Giant Kalevide, and his titular weapon. It goes on to describe how he loses the sword first at the hands of crafty wizard, and then more permanently to a Water Nymph.

Honestly, it has been a while since I've had this much fun with a read.

The Singing Sword is a fast-paced story about giants, wizards, magic, and the beauty of Nymphs. 

I hope you enjoy. 

Background music provided by: https://soundcloud.com/michel-escaillas/classik-electro

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-reads-stories/id1087197185