(Originally posted on LiveJournal)
Actually, I’ve arrived at my destination – Houston. I’ve returned here to work with my siblings at closing up Mom’s affairs and household. Should be an interesting week.
I drove from L.A. Because I figured I’d probably be coming back with items I didn’t want to ship or carry on an airplane.
Lesson No. 1: If you know you’re going to be making a road trip with a couple of days of 12 hour plus driving sessions, get plenty of sleep in the week before. Me, I didn’t do that. I was staying up late night several of the nights during the week, and in fact was up till 11:30 pm Friday night. And getting up Saturday morning at 4:30 am.
Oddly enough, I got more groggy in the mornings of the driving than in the afternoon. Not sure why. But I stopped several times along the way, for short catnaps or breaks.
Anyway, my “driving companions” were some audio books.
First off — The Screwtape Letters, with John Cleese reading. I love this recording! I do have the Joss Ackland recording as well. But…. well, Ackland reads the text as if he were C.S. Lewis (well, that’s because I know his performance in the TV version of Shadowlands). Cleese reads the text as if he were Screwtape. I love how he reads the words, “Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.” And then there’s the moment when Screwtape turns himself into a centepede. Heh.
For the greater part of the journey to Houston, I played the reading of The Silmarillion. I found a sort of dual layer of thought. Listening to the story again. I always like that. But also, a different level was responding to the world creation, thinking about my own endeavors in that arena.
The return trip will be the BBC radio performance of The Lord of the Rings. I haven’t listened to it in a long, long time.
Comments
mattdocmartin – Nov. 19th, 2007
I did a couple of Lewis Black audio books when I drove from NH to FL.
Cleese doing Screwtape Letters sounds like a hoot.
kalimac – Nov. 19th, 2007
Oh, it is. Wholly evilly delightful.
mattdocmartin – Nov. 19th, 2007
Based on those two glowing reviews, I will give it as a Christmas gift if I can find it on the cheap.
kalimac – Nov. 19th, 2007
I love how he reads the words, “Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.”
I love how he reads them with slightly different, and appropriate, inflections for each installment.
At one point I even dubbed his reading of that particular phrase on to a separate tape, so I could admire all the different versions together.
sartorias – Nov. 20th, 2007
I did that drive in two days on top of school, year ago Feb.
What got me through was audiobooks of Sharpe’s Riftles. Hoo yah!
lynn_maudlin – Nov. 21st, 2007
Ah, the Cleese Screwtape! Excellent.
Yes, I learned the hard way that my apparent imperviosity (!!) to jet lag takes a major hit if I *start* with a sleep deficit. I stay up all night (or at least most of the night) the night before flying overseas, usually packing {grin} – that makes me tired enough to sleep on an airplane and neatly dislodges me from my time zone, to which I’m only marginally attached at best. But if I’m exhausted the bounce leaves my bungee, to quote Wallace…
Drive safely and travel mercies–
UPDATE 8/30/2017): It should be noted that the John Cleese reading of The Screwtape Letters is not commercially available at present. However, it can be found on YouTube.
