The Man Whom The Trees Loved by Algernon Blackwood
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- čas přidán 31. 03. 2022
- The Man Whom The Trees Loved by Algernon Blackwood. A tale of the New Forest in England where Mr and Mrs Bittacy settle after years abroad. A painter with a certain talent for painting trees awakens something in the old man and he takes to wandering deep in the forest. Mrs Bittacy with her strong, Christian values is appalled by the ancient woodland spirits that her husbands seems to seek out. She loves him and wants to protect him from the ancient force of the forest. But will her love and faith be enough? Algernon Blackwood was a man of many talents and is known still for his disturbing ghost and horror stories. The Man Whom The Trees Loved is one of his classics.
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I have done other stories by Blackwood. Try the Empty House here. czcams.com/video/BWe56aS3M7I/video.html
When I was 10 in 1973 my primary school had a summer fair. I visited the bookstall and for a few pennies acquired ' Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural' by Algernon Blackwood, which was when I first read this amazing story and I'm an enthusiast for Blackwood to this day ( still have the book on my bookshelf along with AB's other works). Thanks for this reading, much appreciated.
You look a lot younger! That’s a great coincidence! You’ve always been drawn towards the weird and supernatural possibly because of reading that book in your childhood!?! Who knows!!! Well possibly you but you know what I mean, I hope! ☯️💜☮️
@@mariameere5807 Thanks Maria :) for sure the fascination with the weird, eldritch and uncanny goes right back to childhood. I was impressed by the quieter, subtler moods of the spectral and unearthly that Blackwood evokes so well. Btw Mike Ashley's biography of Algernon Blackwood, 'Starlight Man', is a very good read and casts light on the background and origins of some of Blackwood's stories in his own life experiences, travels etc. Highly recommended.
@@NigelJackson Thank you for that!🙏
Awesome 😁 I love this unique story😁
@@NigelJackson wow, that is magnificent!!! I'd love to read that😁I love the same type of stories
The evening is saved! THREE WHOLE hours of this beautiful voice and carefuly, loving reading!
Its a long one all right. Not as long as dorian gray but good
@@ClassicGhost thank you for doing this!!!! I wanted to hear this in ur awesome voice and here it is😁😁😁😁appreciate you mate!!!
I will give a listen then.
Oh my, 3 hours of Algernon Blackwood, you've outdone youself, Tony!
This will be my tale for the evening -- thank you! Also, Tony, I learned something new today, and I thought it might be of interest for your writing: They just discovered that the surface of Mars sounds very quiet, and/but that sound travels at 2 separate speeds there, which causes some very strange sensations.
Sound travels at 2 separate speeds! Of course there is a genre of hard sci-fi horror. it's an interesting idea. A bit like Dark Matter by Michelle Paver, but on Mars. that would be good.
I agree. We need joy in these dark times. Thank you for the audio stories and books!
Epic. I purchased this recording from audible last week. I think this is my favorite Blackwood story. I actually found the story to be quite sad and moving which wasn't something I was expecting at all. Despite Blackwood being critical of evangelicalism he is able to paint the wife with great care and sympathy. Not many writers can do that.
Ah, I didn't know anyone had done it on Audible. Or was it my recording of it? I should give you some money back!
@@ClassicGhost It was yours. No one has ever done this one. No need for that. I'm glad to support these productions.
Yea! Yesss!!! Thank you so much 😊
Self confessed tree hugger and vegan! (Since 3 years old!)
I think this is your finest work Tony. It’s a very intriguing story made better your reading. You seem enormously invested in this very long performance. Thank you.
I was! I recently read Mythago Wood again by Robert Holdstock. A similar feel though that is less mysterious
Absolutely awesome story, love TREES myself. Lived in the woods for 22 yrs, was quite wonderful indeed. Longview WA, city with the most TREES in the U.S.A. Where I dwell.. ✌ THANKS
I look forward to all your uploads. You’re my fave channel.
:)))
What a beautiful, compassionate and sad tale. Wonderfully performed- thank you!
And this is why we don’t gaslight people- this poor lady! Well done, as always.
You and I are almost the same age; I turn 60 in April. I am very much aware of a feeling that I am moving into a different season of life. For me, I feel I am becoming an Elder, one who listens and guides but is not the primary driving force. Perhaps you are growing into a primary role as Storyteller, in an archetypical sense. I hope you get a good deal of self and world knowledge out of your work in therapy. These liminal times are rich with potential.
It's strange you say that because though I've always told stories, it is become far more central and important to me these days. Happy birthday by the way.
How very sweet and wise.
Thank you very much, Tony. I felt for the Cedar tree, too, which was the one protection against the predations of the tree 'collective'. As it fell, so the two central characters fell, each in their own way, to absorption by the forest. I'm a fellow admirer of Jung, so all the best with your therapy.
I bet I could discuss this story with my therapist.
@@ClassicGhost You could indeed! When I was in therapy with a Jungian, I was encouraged to keep a dream diary and to say it was helpful is a massive understatement. One particularly disturbing dream turned out to have resonances in a story called 'The Handless Maiden.' Brrrrr!
Beautiful story and narration! It is so rich in descriptions.
I listened to this three times to get the details. I found my mind wandering if anything was going on, so I had to listen to it a third time and take it all in.
The "Old Gent" had quite the life. He did many things in life and wrote about so many things. His descriptions, especially about nature, amaze me. He truly is an example of how to write.
I find this and his long stories about Egypt hard to follow at times because of the depth of detail. I find my mind wandering off and envisioning myself in the environment. That is how descriptive his writing is. When I take it all in, I am amazed by the wonderful story I just read.
I truly do not think we will ever see writers as darn good as folks like Algernon.....except Tony!
Thanks!
I am going to do the willows in due course
@@ClassicGhost yes! It will be awesome.
This is such a gem of a story! So beautiful in such a dreamy way, thank you Tony
Love this one! Love the thumbnail image too!
Thank you Jasper
Yes! I kept staring at it the whole time I was listening, thinking, "I want to paint that tree. " I haven't painted in years. Maybe I will begin again, and paint a tree. This story resonates with me very much. My house is built in an preRevolutionary War town of 50 people ( 1 miles square, lol), and my house backs a 45degree slope right up to the woods. i often spend hours looking out the back door at the moonlight on the trees, especially when they have no leaves, and there IS a certain....feeling....one gets. I think they may be sentient in a way; they definitely can evoke moods.
What a wonderful story (and brilliant reading, as always)! Also enjoyed your commentary, afterwards. Perhaps it's just more than a little projecting on my part, but I read (or heard) some shades of meaning about age, getting older, getting old, being old, the extent of what is experienced and witnessed by what is considered "elder." The trees are old, and increasingly enfold the aging gentleman's thoughts in a sort of resigned (yet joyful) mania. The lady, feeling the same inevitable rising of the tide -- the approaching end of care-free life, the dulling of intellectual keenness, and the widening gap between her and her husband, sees the trees as the embodiment of this inevitable end of life. Probably not what Blackwood intended, but I liked that train of thought. Thank you for taking the time to record this, and for sharing it with us.
What
Movie goers will never understand the book has much more vivid pictures.
Truth!
Word- images different this time around. Powerful. I love trees ,even if they are (perhaps?) indifferent to me. Thank you.
3 hours of supernatural brilliance is just what I need to get through this damnable dissertation, combined with some occult-inspired music too, the perfect escape. Thanks!
You're talking my language
Lisa 🤔
Thank you, Tony. Masterful, my truly favorite form of Escape. Listened twice to this fantastic tale., the second immediatly after the first.The first time to get the full word-painting ,the second to absorbe every tiny brush;-stroke detail. And ,as usual,your wise, informative, entertaining ,thought-provoking commentary;.A generous gift of yourself: in selection, presentation as well as commentary.Again. Thank you.
♥
I'm enjoying the zombie thumbs up emojis
@@janebrown7231 Thank you!
@@ClassicGhost Zombies on good ol' time speed
What great emotion you gave the trees and the people.
Thank you
Thank you for this, a wonderful writer. ♀️🇬🇧💖🌼
An appropriate name you have too
Wow.. Best story you've ever read.. One of the most amazing stories ever heard.. You read it just like I would in my head.. Says so many of those unclear thought thoughts & unclearly spoken descriptions of trees, life.. Wow
1:12:28 goosebumps. I love Algernon's slowly building style of storytelling.
He layers very slowly and, by the time he comes to his end of the story, I felt like I was waking up.
Thank you for a fabulous reading and your discussion. Great to know there are fellow Jungians out there.
I'm so glad I looked because YT didn't alert me...
It's alright I'll find my favorite narrations myself. I'll always check Tony! Needed this tonight and a yarn by Blackwood that I've never heard. Thx 🖤✌🌜
Glad you did, Michelle :)
@@ClassicGhost It was great, per usual. Thank you good Sir ✌🌠🌙
Thank you for posting great story
Thanks for listening
I read this years ago,,,,so nice to hear it again and read with such understanding.
I have a weed tincture right here that I’m 50/50 on whether it’s alive. Blackwood! Wow. Good one. The willows. This one is deep. Idk, man is a lot more dangerous than any tree 🌳 I ever met.
They are cutting down lots of trees around us at the moment and I don't like it.
@@ClassicGhost tis terrible
Best narrator ever!
Thank you for a wonderful evening. I knitted and enjoyed the story.
Good :)))
Amazing stamina. I'd be so tempted to abridge something like this... it seemed like almost the entire last hour just repeated a thousand minor variations of "She was afraid the forest was taking her husband away from her" again and again. But your reading never became as repetitive as the text, and kept my attention to the end. And early on, you conveyed so much tension during the conversation with the artist without overacting it, building up a real sense of distress. Even if I end this feeling like Mr. Blackwood should've edited the story a little harder, you made the three hours worthwhile.
Thank you for such praise. I am sometimes tempted to cut large bits but i dont because im not e f benson or algernon Blackwood. I am doing a commission of an anne rice and i would have edited it down to half the length. But editors don't say to anne rice or stephen king they should cut their work
One of my all time favorites, thank you for this
Very pleased you liked it
Thank you for this wonderful story ❤
😊 magnificent ! Bravo! Your reading tonite gave vision to my dreams I love trees an nature, hearing the 🦢 birds so soothing it goes on the recesses to my nnermost dreams an aspirations Thank you Tony Ilove words I love to hear you read them, I adore all your odcast I’ll be listening 21:03
Ditto this time around. Captivating....Thank you, Tony!
Another great story. You're the best and continue to love what you do.
It goes on and on reaching the same state time and time again: it must needs be seriously shortened!
trouble is he's dead and can't do it. I was talking to Ben about this and he's a fierce abridger, but I never do. I'm too scared.
Thankyou so much for yet another vintage story I've not heard. Beautifully read,i was gripped from the first word to the last. Cannot thank you enough for the joy of escapism all your stories bring - you so generously dedicate so much of your own time and effort to creating these for other peoples' enjoyment - I for one am enormously grateful that I've had them to listen to while ill, my little cat listens along with me when shes not asleep! )Many many thanks Gill&Kitty 👻😺
+Gill Z Brown Thank you Gill. it’s very nice to hear these things ! Love to the cat too :)
Escapisming from what
@@ClassicGhostghost boy? 😅
@@TDBear-bs6zl escaping from reality
Love this story. Thanks for reminding us. Can hear it again and again.
+Marti Williams you are always welcome Marti
This was terrific,more!
I love all the stories you do because, even though I have a degree in English, it is just a paltry little BA and not a Masters or PhD. Somehow, I missed many of these authors and every one you read helps fill out the spaces and gaps in my background.
+Thurayya I used to think I’d run out but there are hundreds of these stories. We all have gaps. Ive given up trying
to fill them all
"Indeed, like many women, she rarely thought at all" :)
Yes, there also is the misogyny of the era in this story. Although I suspect the statement might have been somewhat true at that time & place as most women were not encouraged &, at worst, severely punished for thinking for themselves, probably from an early age. That has not entirely changed.
Love thy tree's !!!!!
Me too!!
Ha! Just listened to it Tony and it was great to hear ur version of it😁😁again, thank you so much for looking into it, it means a lot, and wow, you nailed it!!!
+Jesse Ard thanks Jesse
Thank you, I love this story because of the trees, but I worry about his wife, being all alone and overwhelmed. She needs someone to come and rescue her, to pull her out of the house and to the violet French sea. But, she will never leave her husband to save herself.
Whats her address, I'm free next week 🤩
Loved this one so much! I really recommend this one!💎
Glad you liked it Maria
@@ClassicGhost I’m glad you’re glad! Seriously it was so fascinating and easy listening and just perfect! Really!
@@mariameere5807I'm glad you're glad he's glad 😊
@@TDBear-bs6zl Well I’m glad you are glad that I’m glad that he’s glad that I’m glad! ☺️
I find several interesting things in this story. First the fact that many people are so devout in their religion that it interferes with human relationships and makes others uncomfortable. The paranoia she experiences is so common in people that feel a need to wrap their beliefs around another that the do themselves create the cracks that grow wider while they forget to live life itself.
Screw you x
🙂 that
I really liked the old timey radio story. I was nice to be reminded of listening to the radio stories as a child. I think that it would be fine to do the occasional sifi story on the channel. Variety is nice.
Love love this
Just in time
The earth is my goddess
The trees heal me
I hear you !
Huggem up 😊
@@ClassicGhostwhat
Never would you want to cross Mr. Blackwood or run into him in a dark ally.
Can you imagine the stuff that was in his head that he couldn't pen at the time!
The man is a beast then and now.
Finally making time to listen...unless I doze off again 😴 Your voice has that effect on me, especially with stories like this one. Hope all is well in your world 💜
I've just come back from living in a bluebell wood for four days. But that is anotehr story
@@ClassicGhost A story I'd love to hear sometime. Sounds amazing 💜
I felt the struggle between the husband and wife. I'm a painter myself and I try to vary but eventually Trees are my dominant theme. The wife's predicament is that her husband is not a practicing artist or a scientist. That made his passion even harder to understand. She is a normal good product of her own social class, it would be pretty hard for her to live with an artist or any passionate occupation. Now her husband's passion is subtle and not common enough to throw her off balance. I lived with a normal good average man for a while and experienced the dread and revulsion of normal towards the ones who are under the spell of passion. It was pretty destructive.
You can't screw a tree painting up, they many people's go to 😉
Wonderful, as usual, Tony; I was an hour in, wondering how it was going to end, because it seemed to be building up to a sort of climax, and then I noticed there were two more hours! Now, I am more intrigued than ever about where this story will go. I am wondering if the trees will somehow kill the wife. Edit: now that I've heard the end, I don't think it's just the wife going mad. When she wakes up in the night, her husband's responses hardly sound sane.
On balance, I believed that it was intended to be a true description of the weirdness that was going on and that she simply couldn't fight it.
@@ClassicGhost Yes, I think you're right. I don't want to give spoilers, lol, but I think the trees were going to win. It wasn't just some psychological drama in her mind.
I loved this - possibly because I’ve had an intense love of trees myself for very many years. It’s something I’ve always seen as totally positive in my life, but this novella depicted how a love of trees could have destructive effects. I liked the subtleties in it - was the wife just gradually realising she and her husband had drifted apart or were the trees exerting their own conscious influence on events. I think I’d have to read it myself to decide - and even then it may be purposefully ambiguous. Thanks for a great story and (for me) an intriguing new writer.
Up at 3am with a storm outside, cooking 5 roasts & vegetables, listening to this keeping me company 😊
As long as the cedar doesn't blow down you should be ok. If it does, leave.
Aah. A nice long tale from our Barcud
I like to do a long story. I think I'm going more and more in that direction
Wow you read the story I suggested thank you so much 😁😁😁😁😁😁
I do when i can
@@ClassicGhost you are so awesome, you are the man, sorry, I forgot how long it was 😂😁
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Whew, what a story! It made me think of Greek mythology (especially Pan and Athena) and Christianity vs Paganism. Thanks for introducing me to this one!
🌳🍃🍁🍂
I'm glad trees are not like this, or I should hate them
If you go down to the woods today …
Hi Tony
I love listening to your channel and was slightly disappointed to hear what you said re the oldie way of talking being the reason for not doing the other Algernon Blackwood narration. I am sick to the back teeth of people trying to pretend certain parts of history/way of speaking did not exist and feel that things are going way too far the other way in todays society. People are offended by everything and I found sweet relief in the fact that I could lose myself and enjoy the oldie timey stories, as original as can be, on a number of channels on here, yours being one.
Anyway point made.
I did seem to pick up when you were doing your little chat at the end a slight despondency, might just be me but hope you are keeping safe and chin up as they say tomorrows another day.
Take Care
Paula.
Thank you Paul. I'm fine really. I've got COVID at the moment, but not too bad .I suppose that it's about where your personal line is. I think of the words we used when we your young unthinkingly, that I would feel very uncomfortable saying now.
@@ClassicGhost Sorry to hear that Tony, best wishes for a speedy recovery, Paula x
Wow, that's a story and a half! Psychotic ideation - now that's terminology from a psychiatric nurse if there ever was one! lol Loved your narration, as always! Well done! I was so into the story that I listened to the entire three hours at one sitting. Great stuff! As you Brits say, you should be well chuffed with yourself ;)
There are so many stories that play on that line between madness and the supernatural. Perhaps they are connected... But, I remember when I first started this, I thought that hearing voices was some kind of divine communion with messages straight from the Unconscious which was of course God. I remember being in awe of the first guy who was plagued by voice hearing. I asked him what the voices talked to him about and he said, 'Hamburgers.'
@@ClassicGhost lol You never cease to amaze me! How about clairvoyants who hear messages from the other side? And don't tell me I'm full of it 'cause there's a girl I went to college (community college, aka university) with who told me something that happened to me when I little girl of about 4 or 5. I was playing with a broche (sp?) of my mother's and my Mom and my Grandmom were both in the room. My Mom got upset at me and my Grandmom told her that she was scaring me! lol She told me everything in vivid detail and she had only known me for one class period.. We had an English class together. She just came up to me and started telling me all of this! I hardly knew her! I felt like a deer caught in the headlights! It was crazy! So there definitely are people who can not only hear voices but more than just some psychotic delusional guy who hears them say "hamburgers." lol Not taking anything away from that. I'm sure he hears them say a lot more than just "hamburgers". And that girl, btw, now has her own business as a medium who gives messages to their loved ones from the other side. Pretty amazing.
@@ClassicGhost wow lol
Wonderful choice. As you said, this hadn’t been read & I appreciate the original reading. I have to said it was a bit of a swallow to fathom the wife’s ignorant, superstitions. When I was an adolescent my mother when to a bible college where the text was translated into the original Hebrew & Greek whereby the text wasn’t interpreted by con$ out to place their personal conviction$ before Christ’s spiritual enlightenment & connection to the collective unconsciousness in conscious illumination of right-use-fullness, not ego righteous pride. It also makes me grateful for cultural & communal expansion & experience beyond a limited restriction & conviction of evil, so that where live spirit twines ALL elements may in peaceful, loving, harmony coexist.
I find it incredibly interesting the reversal of the dominant aligned to nature character is the male while the female drowns in overwhelming ignorance- usually, it is the reversal of opposites aligned presented- however, A. Blackwood was in a community set that revitalized & realized a spiritual connection to many buried archetypes including but not limited to the GREEN MAN, Gaia, Nature, etc.. There is much in this novella to reflect on for sure. Thank you!
Ps
Enjoy the Jungian Analysis!
🍀🐑🗝🚪🕳🎉🎁🎊☸️
Um, so the Mrs doesn't like trees. Have I got the jist of it?
That's it.
Excellent narration, thank you Tony. You know, you're not nearly busy enough, you should take on a few more jobs lol !
I am cutting down so I should be able to do more (if that makes any sense)
43:05
28:05
I always enjoy Algernon Blackwood's varied personifications of nature, but this one is especially delightful to me because of the maybe innuendo present in the word choice of (ahem) 'Loved' in the title. The way things play out almost has an adultery feel to it, sort of suggesting Mr. Bittacy is stepping out on the Mrs. with the forest like it's his mistress, maybe? Or maybe, because it's pollen season, I just have (ahem) tree lovin' on the brain.
But, anyway! So. It wasn't my intention to be either add stress or be annoying in making suggestions, but I know harm is regardless of intent, and I'm sorry. Even though I know I have a tendency to be an irritating know-it-all, I still can't quite help myself sometimes, haha. Does this count as a man talk?
You are not in the slightest adding stress. I like that phrase 'harm is regardless of intent', it's actually quite deep. Oh, I see what you did... Man talk, or as Sheila has it man sh*t. I have an idea I want to talk to you about at some point
@@ClassicGhost My son is 6, and as a pandemic young'un he has a lot to learn about things like how, even though giving hugs is nice, our friends don't always want hugs. I have a lot of sound bites like that in my arsenal, heh. And I must say my interest is piqued! Pretty much all my relevant contact stuff is in my profile, so anytime you're ready, etc.
I've heard that about you. Little miss can't be wrong, to be more specific 😊
28:05 28:05
😅😅
See
It seems to me that the husband experiences greater inner peace than the wife. She seems to enrapt in her envy & fears rather than her faith. Thus, who was truly "possessed" by evil spirits?
Sorry Tony, I just couldn't stay with this whole tree philosophy idea. Not for 3 hours.
19:07 "Women don't think at all"? Misogyny
Welcome to classic stories! These old stories remind me that things used to be a lot tougher for women.
Take that up with Algernon I only channel him
It’s everywhere in the classic stories,but look /listen to the whole.We don’t have to agree with it 😊
@@carolrios9216 they still are.
@@ann-mariepaliukenas19 Yes, I'm aware. Better in some places, but it's a constant struggle.
I always liked A.B. and his work, and considered him a very intelligent writer. But what is that garbage about "many women don't even think at all"
Huh? Couldn't you say the same thing about many men?
No, I'm not a whiner or a complainer. I feel I have every right to feel insulted by that remark, and it puts a bad taste in my mouth. Yeah, I know this was written in the 1800's, but come on. That's only half an excuse, and for someone as skilled at capturing emotions, and character depth as Blackwood, I find it strange to hear out of his mouth (so to speak). Maybe it's just me. I'm not trying to start s*** or insult either Blackwood or Tony Walker. I just am sad to read such mysoginistic (spelling?) claptrap from one of my favorite writers. *sad panda*
I appreciate your reading of this story, Tony. Don't get me wrong. And I tapped the 'like' button for you (I do that by default when I listen to your uploads, because you are a skilled narrator)
+Extra Curricular Kitty thanks Kitty. Don’t shoot the messenger. I only read it out.
I wonder a woman -- or women -- disappointed Algernon Blackwood in their way of thought as I am not a quarter of the way through the reading and he has already made several digs at women for not being capable of individualistic thought or their ability to express ideas that were not fed to them by a man. Maybe it is just a product of his time.
Beautifully read but, honestly, this may be the most ridiculous story I've ever heard! Didn't last. Sorry.
So what i heard you say at the end is that you won't do a book because a very loud and yet tiny minority of society finds passages within unacceptable to their sensibilities? So is it your position thusly to let any such "controversial" literature die off and be left in the past? Or are you just letting it up to others to carry the burden while things are crazy?
You're a book narrator not censor. Do what you do and let us have your back! I promise we will!!!
Hmm. I don't have a policy on it as such. I will probably do The Willows (though I have another Blackwood one coming before that), but the Wendigo. I started recording The Land of the Hibiscus Blossom by Hume Nisbet and I gave up for those reasons. You can read it gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0607571h.html. Take a look, but I got a couple of chapters in and thought there was no way a modern audience would tolerate it. Let me know what you think
AbOrdinary