SFF Audio Podcast, 15 March 2010
One of the most fascinating aspects of revisiting a familiar text, or
listening to others discussing a familiar text, is the pleasure of discovering things that you'd never previously thought
of.
This was definitely my experience of listening to Scott Danielson and Jesse Willis,
the intefatigable participants of the SFF Audio Podcast, who spend many a long hour talking over individual science
fiction texts, both classic and modern. They illuminated most of the novella's familiar aspects - its ambiguous ending,
its slightly curious explanations of the characters' behaviour (which we can never trust anyway, in view of the fact that
the tale has been recounted to us by the governess), and its rather shaky premises (why would the uncle leave Miles and Flora
in Mrs. Grose's charge, given the houskeeper's inexperience in looking after children).
Danielson and Willis also touched on various adaptations of the novells both ancient
and modern: Jack Clayton's 1961 film, the more recent British version starring Jodhi May, and the celebrated - if not necessarily
very good - 'prequel' to the text, The Nightcomers (1973), in which Marlon Brando and Stephanie Beacham frolicked
about in bed. The podcast mentioned other versions I had not previously encountered, such as the Pocket Classics paperback,
which retells the story in comic book form.
However what really took my attention was the podcast's extensive discussion of the
novella in relation to the work of H. G. Wells. I knew that James and Wells were acquainted with one another - it was
James who described The Turn of the Screw in a letter to James as a "potboiler" - but I had not considered The
Turn of the Screw in relation to The Invisible Man as a work of science fiction. Danielson and Willis
seemed in little doubt that Wells' work seemed more plausible than James,' as well as being a more entertaining read.
I do not know The Invisible Man sufficiently well to make any comment, but
I do believe the James novella should be approached less as a work of 'literature,' and more as an SF work.
Sometimes Willis and Danielson display certain gaps in their knowledge - Megs Jenkins,
the Grose of The Innocents, and Patsy Byrne ("Nursie" in Blackadder) are two different actors, in spire
of what the podcasters clain. Nonetheless it's refreshing, as well as engaging, to listen to two enthusiasts discussing
their favourite works.
