Find Page One on APPLE PODCASTS or STITCHER.
(This episode is marked as explicit because of strong language and sexual imagery.)
Episode image is a detail from the cover of The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf, published in 2009 by OneWorld Classics.
For this, the 25th Second Hand Book Factory, Lucy Pawlak, film-maker, artist and cyborg, who is currently sitting at one of the four corners of the flat earth, joins Charles Adrian over Skype. They discuss hip-hop videos and spiders, and the show finishes with a song that Lucy has recorded on Fogo Island that shows off one variant of the native accent.
For anybody who is curious, this seems to be the translation of Candide by Voltaire that Lucy is reading from.
Joaquin and Nicolas, mentioned briefly towards the middle of the recording, are genii with a film camera.
This episode was recorded over Skype for London Fields Radio.
This episode has been edited to remove music that is no longer covered by licence for this podcast.
A transcript of this episode is below.
Episode released: 14th May, 2013.
Book listing:
Candide by Voltaire (trans. unknown)
The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf (trans. H. M. Waidson)
Six Characters In Search Of An Author by Luigi Pirandello (trans. Edward Storer)
Links:
Episode transcript:
Jingle
You're listening... you're listening to London Fields Radio.
Charles Adrian
Hello and welcome to the 24th Second Hand Book Club. This is the 35th Page One. I'm recording this for London Fields Radio but from the comfort of my own home today. This is Page One On The Run and I'm going to start with... with the only track that I've chosen today. This is Miss Otis Regrets sung by Nancy Wilson.
Music
[Miss Otis Regrets by Nancy Wilson]
Charles Adrian
So that was Miss Otis Regrets... Miss Otis Regrets sung by Nancy Wilson. My guest today is Lucy Pawlak, who is joining me over Skype from Fogo Island in Canada. Hi, Lucy.
Lucy Pawlak
Hello!
Charles Adrian
[laughs] You're still there. Good. So I played that for you because you said that your music... you've chosen most of your music for... for its narrative qualities.
Lucy Pawlak
Yep. Exactly.
Charles Adrian
And so I thought I would... I would suggest that for you. So tell me Lucy - I ask all my guests how they describe themselves - how would you describe yourself?
Lucy Pawlak
Well, yeah, when you asked the question, I immediately thought of the time that I tried to do online dating....
Charles Adrian
[laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
... the trouble that I had in describing myself and how utterly appalling my descriptions evidently were because...
Charles Adrian
[laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
... [laughing] nobody wanted to get [in touch] with me at all. So I'm kind of reluctant [laughing] to describe myself.
Charles Adrian
[laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
But anyway. Recently, whenever I try to tell people what I'm up to on Fogo Island, I generally say that I'm interested in transception and two-way communication...
Charles Adrian
I love that.
Lucy Pawlak
... through forms of broadcasting media, which makes it sound like I can only speak to people if it's through some kind of machine.
Charles Adrian
Yes.
Lucy Pawlak
But anyway.
Charles Adrian
Well, you are. You're in the process of turning yourself into a kind of borg, I think.
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs] Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, I'm a borg.
Charles Adrian
Wonderful.
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs]
Charles Adrian
Let's come on to the book that you... that you've chosen that you like.
Lucy Pawlak
Yes.
Charles Adrian
This is extraordinary. I've never done a show at such enormous distance before. We're stretching all the way across the Atlantic to do this.
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah, it's worth mentioning.
Charles Adrian
It is.
Lucy Pawlak
And I'm super remote as well.
Charles Adrian
Yeah, you really are in the middle of nowhere, aren't you?
Lucy Pawlak
And I'm actually... I'm actually on... I'm on one of the four corners of what is alleged to be Flat Earth. So there's a... there's an organization called the Flat Earth Society who refuse to believe that the world is round...
Charles Adrian
[laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
... and it's quite a big movement. And then some of the people who are involved consider that to be a, kind of, metaphor for the digital era and, like, kind of, a loss of time and, kind of, instant communication and blah, blah, blah.
Charles Adrian
[affirmative] Mmm.
Lucy Pawlak
But then... then others really do say, “Well, it looks flat from where I'm standing...
Charles Adrian
[laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
... and I really don't think it's round”.
Charles Adrian
Right.
Lucy Pawlak
Fogo Island is so remote it's been... yeah, it's been registered as one of the four corners of Flat Earth.
Charles Adrian
Wow.
Lucy Pawlak
The tablecloth of the world. Anyway.
Charles Adrian
[speaking over] Good to know. You're holding... You're holding us in place then.
Lucy Pawlak
[laughing] Yeah.
Charles Adrian
So what's the... what is the book that you like?
Lucy Pawlak
Okay. The book I like is Candide by Voltaire and...
Charles Adrian
[affirmative] Mmm hmm.
Lucy Pawlak
... yeah. That's the book I like.
Charles Adrian
And wha... And so you can choose either we... either I ask you now why or... or you can read the first page of it.
Lucy Pawlak
Oh, can I read the first page first?
Charles Adrian
Yes.
Lucy Pawlak
Okay. It's... It's up on a... It's a file that's open and so I might end up pausing while I scan down or something. Anyway.
Charles Adrian
Okay. We'll take the risk. [laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
So. [laughs]
Charles Adrian
So cyber-Lucy reads from a cyber-book.
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Chapter 1 - How Candide Was Brought Up in a Magnificent Castle and How He Was Driven Thence
In the country of Westphalia, in the castle of the most noble Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh, lived a youth whom Nature had endowed with a most sweet disposition. His face was the true index of his mind. He had a solid judgment joined to the most unaffected simplicity; and hence, I presume, he had his name of... he had his name of Candide. The old servants of the house suspected him to have been the son of the Baron's sister, by a very good sort of gentleman of the neighborhood, whom that young lady refused to marry, because he could produce no more than threescore and eleven quarterlings [sic] in his arms; the rest of the genealogical tree belonging to the family having been lost through the injuries of time.
The Baron was one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia, for his castle had not only a gate, but even windows, and his great hall was hung with tapestry. He used to hunt with his mastiffs and spaniels instead of greyhounds; his groom served him for huntsman; and the parson of the parish officiated as his grand almoner. He was called “My Lord” by all his people, and he never told a story but everyone laughed at it.
My Lady Baroness, who weighed three hundred and fifty pounds, consequently was a person of no small consideration; and then she did the honors of the house with a dignity that commanded universal respect. Her daughter was about seventeen years of age, fresh-colored, comely, plump, and desirable. The Baron's son seemed to be a youth in every respect worthy of the father he sprung from. Pangloss, the preceptor, was the oracle of the family, and little Candide listened to his instructions with all the simplicity natural to his age and disposition.
Master Pangloss taught the metaphysico-theologico-cosman... co... the metaphysico-theologio [sic]... the metaphysico-theologio[sic]-cosmologo... cosmolo... ni... go... logy... the metaphysico...
Charles Adrian
[laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
... metaphysico-theologio[sic]-cosmolonogy [sic].
Lucy and Charles Adrian
[laughter]
Lucy Pawlak
I don't... still don't think it's right. Anyway.
He could prove... He could prove to admiration that there is no effect without a cause; and, that in this best of possible worlds, the Baron's castle was the most magnificent of all castles, and my Lady the best of all possible baronesses.
“It is demostrable,” said he, “that things cannot be otherwise than they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must...”
Charles Adrian
Great.
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs] So there you are.
Charles Adrian
[speaking over] Thanks very much. That's fantastic. It's... yeah. Why di... Why do you like it so much?
Lucy Pawlak
I like it for loads of reasons. I guess that... that, for one, it was written in three days, apparently.
Charles Adrian
Was it? I didn't know that.
Lucy Pawlak
Oh, so loaded with, like, clever little underlying hints at the intention with each of the... each of the words.
Charles Adrian
[affirmative]
Lucy Pawlak
Even in that opening page you can, like...
Charles Adrian
Mmm yeah.
Lucy Pawlak
... you can [hear] how, kind of... how... how many underlying meanings there are to everything to do with how respected these people are and...
Charles Adrian
Yes.
Lucy Pawlak
... the way that the words are chosen... Yeah, it's... it's so funny. And I think Voltaire must have been so much fun and such a nightmare to be around.
Charles Adrian
[laughs] Yes, I think so too. I'm going to play the first track that... that you've suggested. You suggested plenty of tracks but I've chosen a few.
Lucy Pawlak
Good. Yeah.
Charles Adrian
So [laughing] the first one... I love this but it's disgusting. I mean, it's filthy. It's not disgusting, it's just filthy. It's the Little [sic] Kim track... the Lil...
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs]
Charles Adrian
... Lil Kim track Don't Want Dick. I think this is great. It's a real... It's a real anthem, isn't it. [laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah, I love it. [laughs]
Music
[Don't Want Dick by Lil Kim]
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah, I love that track because I... and also loads of other hip hop tracks for similar reasons, because I always get a really strong, like... strong images of, like, the places and the... and the locations and, like, what's going on and...
Charles Adrian
[affirmative] Mmm hmm.
Lucy Pawlak
... basically...
Charles Adrian
Yeah
Lucy Pawlak
... it's just so beautiful. And yeah. [laughs]
Charles Adrian
No, it's funny because I always have an image of people just sitting around.
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs]
Charles Adrian
I think that's because they... that's what they tend to do in the videos to hip hop tracks and r&b and... well, not r&b. Hip hop more.
Lucy Pawlak
I should [make] music videos for all of them because I get, like, such brilliant ideas of what... yeah, what [laughing] could happen.
Charles Adrian
[laughs] Yeah, you should make... Exactly, you should make those videos. And coming... That brings us nicely onto the book that I want to give you - the book that I think that you should have. It's a book that I read relatively recently and I had never heard of it before. It's called The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf.
Lucy Pawlak
[affirmative] Uh huh.
Charles Adrian
Have you heard of this?
Lucy Pawlak
No.
Charles Adrian
I assume he was Swiss, Jeremias Gotthelf, because it's set in Switzerland. Yes, he was a Swiss pa... pastor. “Jeremias Gotthelf, 1797 to 1854, who was... was a Swiss pastor whose works were heavily influenced by both his faith - as he condis [sic]... and he considered his writings to be another way to cure souls - and the Bernese countryside, the setting of most of his books.” And it's translated by H. M. Waidson. Just... That's just, like, random information. But the reason I want to give you this is I think it's... it's a really fun story. It's a kind of... it's a kind of allegory of sin striking a village but it has this... The central, kind of, figure of the alary [sic]... the central allegorical figure is the... is this spider. And there's a passage in the middle where the spider just keeps appearing after darkness and attacking people. And I just had this wonderful image of a really... like, a real B movie horror film...
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
... which I think you should make at some point when you're bored and you have no... you have nothing else... like, you don't have any ideas - perhaps when you're in your sixties or seventies and you're thinking “What should I do with myself?” I think you should turn to this book...
Lucy Pawlak
Okay.
Charles Adrian
...and this will give you... this will give you... It also... It contains its own sequel, which is, according to... like, you know, it... which is weaker. As it should be. Like, the first half of the book is really fun. It's about this spider that keeps jumping out and causing people to die and then... and then they put the spider in a hole and put some... put a wooden peg in - and they all know that the spider's in there. For years and years they just keep living in the house with the spider in this hole with the peg until somebody goes “I wonder if the spider's still there” and takes the peg out and sure enough the spider is still there!
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs]
Charles Adrian
And so that would be, like, The Black Spider 2, I think...
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
... in my version. So I'd quite... I quite want you to make a version. I think you and... I could imagine Joaquín and Nicholas coming round...
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
... and I would be happy to play the spider.
Lucy Pawlak
[laughing] Okay. Cool. Yes.
Charles Adrian
[laughs]
Lucy Pawlak
Oh God, I want to do it tomorrow.
Lucy and Charles Adrian
[laughter]
Charles Adrian
So I will give you this when I next see you but I'm just going to read you the first page - which is a very gentle introduction but it gives, I think, maybe, a good... a good scene-setting. This will be the first scene of your film.
sound
[electronic interference]
Charles Adrian
THE SUN ROSE OVER THE HILLS, shone with clear majesty down into a friendly, narrow valley and awakened to joyful consciousness the beings who are created to... to enjoy the sunlight of their life. From the sun-gilt forest's edge, the thrush burst forth in her morning song, while between sparkling flowers and dew-laden grass the yearning quail could be heard joining in with its lovesong; above dark pine tops, eager crows were performing their nuptial dance or cawing delicate cradle songs over the thorny beds of their fledgeless young.
In the middle of the sun-drenched hillside nature had placed a fertile, sheltered, level piece of ground; here stood a fine house, stately and shining, surrounded by a splendid orchard, where a few tall apple trees were still displaying their finery of late blossom; the luxurious [sic] grass, which was watered by the fountain near the house, was in part still standing, though some of it had already found its way to the fodder store. About the house there lay a Sunday brightness which was not of the type that can be produced on a Saturday evening in the half-light with a few sweeps of the broom, but which rather testified to a valuable heritage of traditional cleanliness which has to be cherished daily, like a family's reputation, tarnished as this may become in one single hour by marks that remain, like bloodstains, indelible from generation to generation, making a mockery of all attempts to whitewash them.
Not for nothing did the earth built by God's hand and the house built by man's hand gleam in purest adornment; today, a festal holiday, a star in the blue sky shone forth upon them both. It was the day on which the Son had returned to the...
That's the first page.
Lucy Pawlak
And does the spider have a character? I mean...
Charles Adrian
Well, the spider's connected to a woman who is a character in the... in the...
Lucy Pawlak
So it's like her familiar?
Charles Adrian
Sort of. I mean, she's the one, I think, who... who is responsible for it.
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs]
Charles Adrian
I mean, it is... it's a few months since I read it so I'm a bit hazy on some of the details but, yeah, there's definitely a woman and she's an out-of-town woman obviously.
Lucy Pawlak
Ah!
Charles Adrian
And she's the one who... who basically is responsible for it. And I think there's... I think there's a scene where the spider actually comes out of her body...? Yes because the spider appears, I think, in her forehead originally...
Lucy Pawlak
Oh right.
Charles Adrian
... and then it comes out of her body and I think it might even spawn into lots of little spiders. It's a... There are some great moments.
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
So, yeah, that's... that's definitely something I want to see. And this - the next track that you suggested - I want this to be in the film.
Lucy Pawlak
Okay.
Charles Adrian
This... I love this. This is... I'd never heard before. This is by Final Fantasy and it's I Saved A Junkie Once.
Music
[I Saved A Junkie Once by Final Fantasy]
Jingle
London Fields Radio... it’s London Fields Radio.
Charles Adrian
It is, it's London Fields Radio. I am Charles Adrian. This is the 35th Page One. It's the 24th Second Hand Book Factory. I'm recording this for - oh, I said that already - for London Fields Radio. I'm with Lucy Pawlak - that's the important information - who is in Fogo Island in Canada. In Newfoundland [/njuːˈfɒndlænd/].
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
Newfoundland [/njuːˈfɒndlænd/]. Is that right?
Lucy Pawlak
Newfoundland [/njuːfɒndlæˈnd/].
Charles Adrian
Newfoundland [/njuːfn̩dlæˈnd/].
Lucy Pawlak
[speaking over] Newfoundland [/njuːfn̩dlæˈnd/].
Charles Adrian
And. So what's your... what's the book that you've... you're going to give to me one day when we next see each other? When you're back from your travels.
Lucy Pawlak
The book that I'm going to give to you is Six Characters In Search Of An Author and it is by Pirandello.
Charles Adrian
[affirmative] Mmm hmm.
Lucy Pawlak
And... And, actually, to be honest, I haven't read it for some time so I'm not going to be brilliant at speaking on it. However...
Charles Adrian
[speaking over] That's admirable honesty on your part, Lucy.
Lucy and Charles Adrian
[laughter]
Lucy Pawlak
However, yeah, I think it's... it's brilliant for... Like, again, it caused a real stir at the time... and... and it's... Yeah, it's a group of... it's a, kind of, a family who... who just arrive in a theatre and... and they say that they're very interesting characters and that they just need an author.
Charles Adrian
[affirmative] Mmm.
Lucy Pawlak
And I suppose that one thing that is interesting about it, and that I love about it, is, well, after the death of the author, then what... what kinds of [laughs] connotations it has.
Charles Adrian
[affirmative] Mmm hmm.
Lucy Pawlak
And then... So... And then also I think it's very interesting in relation to thinking about acting and performing...
Charles Adrian
[speaking over] Yeah.
Lucy Pawlak
... in different ways as well. And... And telling stories, actually.
Charles Adrian
Yes, yes.
Lucy Pawlak
Okay.
ACT I
The spectators will find the curtain raised and the stage as it usually is during the daytime. It will be half dark, and empty, so that from the beginning the public may have the impression of an impromptu performance.
Prompter's box and a small table and a [sic] chair for the Manager.
Two other small tables and several chairs scattered about as during rehearsals.
The actors and actresses of the company enter from the back of the stage:
first one, then another, then two together: nine or ten in all. They are about to rehearse a Pirandello play: Mixing It Up. Some of the company move off towards their dressing rooms. The Prompter, who has the “book”...
... in inverted commas for some reason...
... under his arm, is waiting for the Manager in order to begin the rehearsal.
The actors and actresses, some standing, some sitting, chat and smoke. One perhaps reads a paper; another cons his part.
Finally, the Manager enters and goes to the table prepared for him. His secretary brings him his mail, through which he glances. The Prompter takes his seat, turns on a light, and opens the “book.”THE MANAGER (throwing a letter down on the table). [doing the voice of the Manager] I can't see [laughing] (to the Property Man)...
Lucy and Charles Adrian
[laughter]
Lucy Pawlak
Oh no.
[laughing] I can't see (to the Property Man). Let's have a little light, please!
PROPERTY MAN. [doing the voice of the Property Man] Yes, sir, yes, at once (a light comes down on to the stage).
THE MANAGER (clapping his hands). [claps her hands] [laughing] Come along! Come along! Second act of “Mixing It Up” (sits down).
Charles Adrian
[pause] Is that it?
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
[laughs] Brilliant! [applauds]
Lucy Pawlak
[laughs]
Charles Adrian
[laughing] Thank you.
Lucy and Charles Adrian
[laughter]
Lucy Pawlak
I panicked a bit on the voices.
Charles Adrian
Ah, I thought that was excellent. I thought that was absolutely excellent. We should bring this to an end, Lucy.
Lucy Pawlak
Okay.
Charles Adrian
It's been such a pleasure to talk to you over... over the ether.
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah, likewise.
Charles Adrian
A little strange.
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
It would be much nicer to have you in the room with me, obviously.
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah, I would totally agree.
Charles Adrian
But that will... that will happen soon enough. I'm going to finish with a song that you have sent from Fogo Island.
Lucy Pawlak
Yeah.
Charles Adrian
This is the song that you've just sent me. I think this is marvellous. You recorded this... When did you record this?
Lucy Pawlak
Actually, two days ago. And it's... it's Aiden Foley, who is a born performer and entertainer. And I was absolutely... Well, I pretty much melted. He sang a number of songs. And they were all, like, the most incredible, like, narrative. songs and this is just one of them. And you have to imagine his eyes twinkling and...
Charles Adrian
[affirmative]
Lucy Pawlak
... a charming smile while he [indistinct] as well.
Charles Adrian
[speaking over] Oh I can. I can.
Lucy Pawlak
And, yeah, anyway. [laughs]
Charles Adrian
Brilliant. So this is... this is Aiden Foley with Life Through The Eyes Of A Dog. Thank you, Lucy.
Music
[Life Through The Eyes Of A Dog by Aiden Foley]
[Initial transcription by https://otter.ai]