One of my volunteer jobs on LibriVox.org is to proof-listen chapters that other readers are recording.
As I have been involved in many George MacDonald projects since I joined the community, I have worked with some of the same people many times. Devorah is one of the readers who regularly puts in the many months it takes to record a long solo in her spare time from a full-time job. I am grateful that she tackles the MacDonald books with more Scotch Doric than I can handle - and does it in such a beautiful way that (at least we American) listeners can quickly grow accustomed to the unfamiliar vocabulary and often follow the storyline better than if trying to read the print ourselves.
Last year Devorah completed recording the book Malcolm (which was abridged by Michael Phillips as The Fisherman's Lady). Now she is working on the sequel - one of my top-three favorite George MacDonald novels.
Here is a bit that jumped out at me from the last chapter I proofed from The Marquis of Lossie. (If the Scotch Doric dialect is too hard to understand when first reading, scroll down to my paraphrase below.)
"It's a sair thing to be misjeedged," said Malcolm to himself as he put the [horse] in her stall; "but it's no more than the Macker o' 's pits up wi' ilka hoor o' the day, an' says na a word. Eh, but God's unco quaiet! Sae lang as he kens till himsel' 'at he's a' richt, he lats fowk think 'at they like -- till he has time to lat them ken better. Lord, mak' clean my hert within me, an' syne I'll care little for ony jeedgement but thine."
"It's a hard thing to be misjudged," said Malcolm to himself as he put the [horse] in her stall; "but it's no more than our Maker puts up with every hour of the day without a word. Eh, but God is remarkably quiet! So long as He knows Himself that He's all right, He lets people think what they like -- till He has time to let them know better. Lord, make clean my heart within me, and soon I'll care little for any judgement but Thine."
Good evening Hannah.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed listening to your recording of "What's Mine's Mine" in recent months, and am in the middle of listening to Devorah Allen's recording of "Malcolm", but as I look ahead to my finishing of Malcolm, I realize that the sequel is not yet ready for listening to, and I was wondering if you have an estimated time of completing the proof listening?
Looking forward to continuing to listen to this incredible story.
Andrew Neufeld
Thanks for your comment, Andrew! Yes, I am also waiting for the sequel to Malcom, as that ties for my favorite MacDonald novel along with WMM. Devorah Allen is a wonderful narrator for MacDonald, but since she is volunteering her time on LibriVox (her work on there goes far beyond reading) and has a very full life and work besides, she hasn't had time to keep recording the sequel for some months now. I have been stalled on my current MacDonald solo recording as well. But we both plan to get back to recording (and proof listening for each other) whenever we can! In the meantime, we have been finishing several other MacDonalds as group projects, so I hope you can find some more to enjoy while you wait. Have you tried "Sir Gibbie", "Mary Marston" or "There and Back"?
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