Fascinating strange tales

I had not heard of J.B Priestley but was always game for weird short stories and these did not disappoint. Strangely sinister and often supernatural, these tales reminded me of episodes of the Twilight Zone. The narrator provided distinctive voices for different characters which made listening to the tales an enjoyable and engrossing experience. "Uncle Phil on TV" was absolutely my favourite.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Be transported to The Other Place...

I primarily (wrongly, it turns out) think of J B Priestley as a dramatist because of 'An Inspector Calls'. However, his ear for speech and his flair for dramatic dialogue are still evident in this collection of macabre short stories. 'The Grey Ones', for example, is a conversation between a psychiatrist and his patient - a man convinced society is being subsumed by a soul-crushing, fun-sucking bureaucratic elite - while the title story is essentially a monologue.

As such, the audiobook requires a voice actor able to bring Priestley's characterful speech to life. I'm pleased to say that 'The Other Place, and other stories of the same sort' is one of the most delightful audiobook experiences I've had. Sometimes I find audiobook narration sleep-inducingly robotic, sometimes overdone. Here, David Sweeney-Bear achieves the perfect balance: distinctive character voices without sacrificing clear diction and well-paced delivery, and a perfectly realised sense of drama. The first five stories were as compelling as any television drama I've seen recently.

My only gripe is the inclusion of both 'Guest of Honour' and 'The Leadington Incident' which cover such similar ground (it almost seems like one is a reworking of the other) that featuring both in the same collection feels wrong.

Still, this audio introduction to a likely unexamined aspect of Priestley's canon is highly recommended if you, like me, have acquired the taste for 'strange stories' in the vein of Robert Aickman, L P Hartley, H G Wells et al.

Although the stories could broadly be considered works of speculative fiction, the author's preoccupations with class, dissatisfaction, and societal decline (the arrival of a television set in a working class home in 'Uncle Phil on TV' is an amusing slice of social history) are to the fore. And, though they deal with life in post-war Britain, the stories anticipate contemporary concerns. For example, again, 'The Grey Ones' with its sense of a pervasive dominating force demanding banal conformity (while also suggesting H P Lovecraft transported to the English suburbs).

An engaging, thought-provoking collection.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Absorbing

I found listening to these short stories most absorbing and gripping. I particularly enjoyed listening to "Night Sequence" , " The Statues" and " Uncle Phil on TV". The narrator managed to put just the right amount of energy into narrating these stories so that the listener's attention is held and maintained throughout the story and doesn't flag towards the end. Also he uses his voice in a way which makes it possible for the listener to be able to distinguish and relate to each of the different characters present in all of the short stories.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Just right for those long winter evenings

JB Priestley at his atmospheric best, giving both Wells and Poe a run for their money.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!