Listen Up — Wolf 359, Gone with the Wind

As I mentioned, I've been working on a big project lately. Luckily, it's the sort that lets me listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I work. Here are one of each that have been the backbone of my listening.

Wolf 359 is a radio drama in the tradition of Golden Age of Radio shows. Set on board the U.S.S. Hephaestus space station, the misfit crew deals with daily life-or-death emergencies, while searching for signs of alien life and discovering there might be more to their mission than they thought.

Early episodes begin as Communication Officer Matt Eiffel's audio diary, broadcast into space at large to break up his boredom. He's a slacker, but an entertaining one and we learn about the crew and life aboard an out-dated space station. Day-to-day activities are more wide ranging than you'd expect and the growing sense that something sinister is intended from the employers on Earth keeps things jumpy — especially as star Wolf 359 begins acting unpredictably.

I'm hooked on this and have been binge listening, only slowing down in the last week or two as the suspense began to get to me. I've been especially impressed with the way that the show can take you from loathing to liking ... and sometimes back to loathing ... particular characters with each new revelation of backstory.

Gone with the Wind was on my parents' bookshelves when I was growing up and, as happened with so many classics, at some point I picked it up and devoured the whole thing. I've probably read it three times during my lifetime, enjoying it more each time.

Having been written in 1930 by a Southerner, some of the characters have attitudes that were unpopular when I was growing up, much less during these cracklingly divisive times. And that includes the author who will break out in little asides occasionally for commentary about the South. That's when it turns into a look into the mind of those who lost the war. At least, that's what I remember. It must have been 20 years since I've read this.

No matter what, it remains a wonderful story. I had just finished listening to the audiobook of Kim and it immersed me me in an exotic place and mindset. I missed being in such a different world. Since I'd heard several people recently mention they were listening to Gone with the Wind, it somehow seemed like it might fill that gap. And it did. I'd forgotten how many details Mitchell put into her novel and every time I felt as if I couldn't stand Scarlett for one more second something would happen which would pull me back into the story.

I'm about halfway through since I'm taking it slowly but if you've never tried this book I encourage you to pick it up. If you have read it, you'll discover, as an acquaintance said recently, "Every time you read it you find something new there."