I love stuff like this. It's all an atmosphere of grandfather clocks and dusty reading rooms. Find these fantastic to fall asleep to. Out like a light!
Funnily enough, I just found this playlist and have been putting it on at bedtime. His voice is so soothing and reminds me of being a little kid. Also, M.R James is the BOMB! Just a perfect combo. I have a good feeling that this playlist will be in my rotation indefinitely. Thanks Paul Goddard!!
Thankyou for putting these Michael Hordern readings up. Michael reading Montague is a confluence of perfection, one of my favourite voices reading one of my favourite authors. Many, many thanks.
Thankyou so much for this. This tale, the Rose Garden, View from a Hill and the Uncommon Prayer Book are my favourites. I live in the English countryside, and they perfectly describe landscapes and architecture that is very familiar. The world changes around us, but some things, thankfully, still stay the same for now.
I will note that MR James made up the places he describes, but undoubtedly took landscapes from his travels. Very dry literature of course, but they set goosebumps even when you hear them for the umpteenth time.
A warm voice like ripened peaches of late autumn and stories by the master of the mysterious. Michael Horden and M R James, the perfect combination. Thank you for the upload. PS - Lovers of M R James ghost stories should make a point of watching "Whistle and I'll Come to You" here on RUclips with the lovely Michael Horden in the lead role
But not the more recent version with John Hurt. I love John hurt but the story had been re written to such a degree as to no longer be the original. The title doesn’t doesn’t even make sense in that version. The oldies are so often the best, sadly.
@@Shimmy246 Much as love the tonal quality of John Hurt, it's the slightly hesitant, slightly staccatoed tone of Michael Horden's voice that captures the spirit of the tale.
Love this Englishman's tales. What a great way to entertain his circle of friends. Would have loved to enjoy one of his soirees, listening to his eerie writings under candlelight with a glass of port in hand.
Thank you so much for providing these treasures. Michael Hordern is the perfect reader of M. R. James because he seems to have grown out of the same soil as James and is, moreover, intelligent, as James's sentences require one to be.
A lesser story yet one that has become one of my favorites because I just love the gentle evocation of the place and the time of the year: the rather dark autumn afternoon, the 'stirring and weeping' trees, the comfortable arm-chair in the library, the dripping bushes, and the beautiful sunset vista straight out of a woodcut by Birket Foster. You can just feel James' love for England everywhere in it, and the story of the shriek and its leisurely explanation (which is of course frightening, but also rooted in the land and in its oral and written history) is almost secondary to the painterly adoration for the time and place.
A neighbors landmark....oh lawdy! There are stories about landstealing ghosts like this in southern Norway... They are the very worst and most miserable and utterly frightening to encounter. And exactly the same.they will have no peace unless someone puts things right again. This is a less frightening version of the type of hauntings than I've heard before which could give a rock the willies....but still...the story managed to raise my hairs....
Life was so much more... interesting before mobile phones. Back then, walking alone alongside an ancient English hedgerow, you were acutely aware of everything from a shrew in the grass to being stalked by a shrieking phantom. Nowadays, you'd have headphones on and your eyes down, gazing adoringly at images of yourself on Face Tube Insta-Bookagram, completely oblivious to phenomena both natural and supernatural. Sigh...
MR James one ☝️ of the great story tellers like Arthur Conan Doyle Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. Engaging from the very first word. Robert Louis Stevenson, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers for the girls. Oh gosh forgot Somerset Maugham
i know these stories, but he reads them with a different voice so that they seem renewed. 🌷 i just realized why his readings are so different. he reads as if things were totally normal. oh! then this happened. there’s no foreboding of scary happenings. no big dramatic build-ups. such a good actor. 🌷
Indeed-Michael Horden was a superb talent. You might find him in a BBC TV production of 'Whistle and I come to you, my Lad'-to see his actual acting skill...
I love stuff like this. It's all an atmosphere of grandfather clocks and dusty reading rooms. Find these fantastic to fall asleep to. Out like a light!
Me too...gives me dreams of wandering through mansion libraries...love those dreams
Funnily enough, I just found this playlist and have been putting it on at bedtime. His voice is so soothing and reminds me of being a little kid. Also, M.R James is the BOMB! Just a perfect combo. I have a good feeling that this playlist will be in my rotation indefinitely. Thanks Paul Goddard!!
So true. My on!y issue is it takes me several times to finish the story..as I keep falling asleep!
After reading your reply,I certainly agree with you.
Thanks for making me feel happy.
This is beautifully written and narrated. The supernatural element is almost incidental.
Thankyou for putting these Michael Hordern readings up. Michael reading Montague is a confluence of perfection, one of my favourite voices reading one of my favourite authors. Many, many thanks.
Thankyou so much for this. This tale, the Rose Garden, View from a Hill and the Uncommon Prayer Book are my favourites. I live in the English countryside, and they perfectly describe landscapes and
architecture that is very familiar. The world changes around us, but some things, thankfully,
still stay the same for now.
M.R.James and Michael Horden SUPERB OUTSTANDING
I will note that MR James made up the places he describes, but undoubtedly took landscapes from his travels. Very dry literature of course, but they set goosebumps even when you hear them for the umpteenth time.
A warm voice like ripened peaches of late autumn and stories by the master of the mysterious. Michael Horden and M R James, the perfect combination. Thank you for the upload.
PS - Lovers of M R James ghost stories should make a point of watching "Whistle and I'll Come to You" here on RUclips with the lovely Michael Horden in the lead role
Hordern is just wonderful in it. I was overjoyed to discover it on You Tube.
I've watched it many times. Very much more pleasing than a Hollywood movie.
But not the more recent version with John Hurt. I love John hurt but the story had been re written to such a degree as to no longer be the original. The title doesn’t doesn’t even make sense in that version. The oldies are so often the best, sadly.
@@Shimmy246 Much as love the tonal quality of John Hurt, it's the slightly hesitant, slightly staccatoed tone of Michael Horden's voice that captures the spirit of the tale.
Love this Englishman's tales. What a great way to entertain his circle of friends. Would have loved to enjoy one of his soirees, listening to his eerie writings under candlelight with a glass of port in hand.
Thank you so much for providing these treasures. Michael Hordern is the perfect reader of M. R. James because he seems to have grown out of the same soil as James and is, moreover, intelligent, as James's sentences require one to be.
M.R James has a unique ability to scare readers with supernatural events occurring in the cold daylight.
A professing and devout Anglican and a patriot: M R James
I love Michael Hordern's readings of these classic stories. Thank you so much for the upload! :)
Very much liked!
A lesser story yet one that has become one of my favorites because I just love the gentle evocation of the place and the time of the year: the rather dark autumn afternoon, the 'stirring and weeping' trees, the comfortable arm-chair in the library, the dripping bushes, and the beautiful sunset vista straight out of a woodcut by Birket Foster.
You can just feel James' love for England everywhere in it, and the story of the shriek and its leisurely explanation (which is of course frightening, but also rooted in the land and in its oral and written history) is almost secondary to the painterly adoration for the time and place.
Chaz Brennan what beautiful, empathetic observations. Thank you for sharing that, I will most definitely listen now.
Decent man, Birket.
Love these! Thanks so much for posting 👍
A neighbors landmark....oh lawdy!
There are stories about landstealing ghosts like this in southern Norway...
They are the very worst and most miserable and utterly frightening to encounter. And exactly the same.they will have no peace unless someone puts things right again.
This is a less frightening version of the type of hauntings than I've heard before which could give a rock the willies....but still...the story managed to raise my hairs....
Thank you very much Paul. From a sub who watches you everyday
Very enjoyable. Beautifully read. Well worth a listen..
Thank you for uploading these classics.
Thank you for these. Making lockdown a tad more bearable.
This was so good! Listened to it last night before I went to sleep. Very creepy!
Life was so much more... interesting before mobile phones. Back then, walking alone alongside an ancient English hedgerow, you were acutely aware of everything from a shrew in the grass to being stalked by a shrieking phantom.
Nowadays, you'd have headphones on and your eyes down, gazing adoringly at images of yourself on Face Tube Insta-Bookagram, completely oblivious to phenomena both natural and supernatural.
Sigh...
the belief that people have to walk after their death because they moved their neighbours landmarks was a common superstition in germany too.
Great, thanks for the upload.
MR James one ☝️ of the great story tellers like Arthur Conan Doyle Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. Engaging from the very first word. Robert Louis Stevenson, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers for the girls. Oh gosh forgot Somerset Maugham
Also saki , Oscar wilde
Excellent narration
Thank you! 😊
i know these stories, but he reads them with a different voice so that they seem renewed. 🌷
i just realized why his readings are so different. he reads as if things were totally normal. oh! then this happened. there’s no foreboding of scary happenings. no big dramatic build-ups. such a good actor. 🌷
Indeed-Michael Horden was a superb talent. You might find him in a BBC TV production of 'Whistle and I come to you, my Lad'-to see his actual acting skill...
Excellent,many thanks.
Ben Davidson Thank you :)
Great reading
mellow voice.relaxation.
Not one of James's best. Bit too sparse & formulaic. Surely the strength of the story lay with the conclusion of the children's tale. Next!
Remember Victor Hugo, who advises us to "quitter le terrain de la critique mesquine des défauts pour la grande et féconde critique des beautés".