"Johnny Double" by Arthur Machen

1 year ago
12

0:00:00 Chapter I
0:01:35 Chapter II
0:03:18 Chapter III
0:04:35 Chapter IV
0:06:37 Chapter V
0:10:27 Chapter VI
0:13:28 Chapter VII
0:14:36 Chapter VIII

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Apparently this story was published in 1928? But I wonder when it was actually written? Machen would have been 64 in 1928! Doesn't sound like the work of a 64 year old Machen, unless he was writing this specifically for children? Hard to find any background information on this story...

There's a place in south Wales called Nantgarw. Perhaps a century ago it was Nantgaron, and the name has changed since then?

Clematis is a type of flower, and rather annoyingly, nobody on youtube pronounces it the same way, and none of them pronounce it in a way that approximates the original Greek. *sigh* Well, if nobody else can agree on the pronunciation, I won't brook any criticism over my pronunciation :-P

Hollyhocks are also a type of flower.

cachexia: wasting syndrome the underlies some other illness, such as cancer, certain forms of heart disease, kidney disease, or AIDS.

The picture used is of an estate on 6-acres in south Wales built in 1790. We are given the sense that Johnny's family probably has some money, but just how much is unclear. This particular estate today is for sale at a mere £3.5 million! But it was extensively renovated in 2010, so 100 years ago it would not have been quite so nice and not nearly as insanely expensive. But it did seem to me about the right look and feel. I say, as one who has never visited south Wales in person...

To follow along: https://archive.org/details/Avallaunius.04.Winter.1989/page/n7/mode/2up (starting on page 6)

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