Welcome to Part Six of our latest nightly entertainment - Out of Time, my variation on a theme of H G Wells. John Wilson, a First Week Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club from Colorado, is glad to see the return of our audio adventures:
Mark, I'm so excited to see this! Your Tales for Our Time have been one of my favorite parts of the club, and I've devoured every one of them. No doubt, considering your health challenges, that this cost you dearly. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you, John. It's my pleasure. In tonight's episode, our Victorian time-traveller discovers that "sudden death" stalks the land - and has come to the small Kensington flat he is sharing with a sextet of the new Londoners:
When I tried to frame a question about it, they retreated to fatuous clichés about 'following the science'. 'So it's bad form,' I snarled, 'to remark the death of your friend without apparent cause?'
'Are you a science-denier?' asked Ahmed.
As you know, like friend Doyle here, I am a man of science. There is nothing scientific about meekly accepting the deaths of young people for no good reason. But I was expected to permit these superstitious fools to dress up their weakness and lack of curiosity as 'science'?
My temper got the better of me. In three steps I was upon Ahmed, had him by his billowy blouse, seized him round the neck, and began dragging him towards the body.
Then I saw the horror and repugnance of his face, and let him go.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Part Six of our tale simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
If you're in the mood for something more immediately dystopian of an evening, my serialization of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four can be heard here.
If you're minded to join us in The Mark Steyn Club, you're more than welcome. You can find more information here. And, if you have a chum you think might enjoy Tales for Our Time (so far, we've covered Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Dickens, Forster, Conrad, Kipling, Kafka, Gogol, Baroness Orczy, P G Wodehouse, L M Montgomery, Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson and more), we've introduced a special Gift Membership that lets you sign up a pal for the Steyn Club. You'll find more details here. Oh, and don't forget, over at the Steyn store, our Steynamite Special Offers on books, CDs, and much more.
