De Profundis by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)

This is a challenging and certainly disturbing tale. Well, I found it so!
Doyle's narrator introduces it saying: '... but yet it is well to be very cautious over such matters, for once at least I have known that which was within the laws of nature seem to be far upon the further side of them'. (It took me some time to work out what this meant, (er, brain fog central) and then to work out how best to say it!).
I think it's one of those Doyle stories that, as the old saying goes, unfolds itself like an onion, is many layered, and increasingly rewarding etc. I hope you find it so. I suppose it's why I took it at such a measured pace, which I know won't meet with everyone's approval!
Please remember to subscribe if you fancy it, or give a thumbs up / down to record your app or disapprobation! And comments - I like a good comment!
Hope northern hemisphere folk are looking forward to the summer should it decide to turn up.
Cheers and thanks for listening
Greg

[@franlove3490]

Greg, I very much appreciate your “taking such a measured pace”. I thought your pace was perfect for this particular story which needs a foreboding tone. Your usual pace for the Holmes stories wouldn’t have been right for telling this story. I agree with your other fans who say you’re a masterful storyteller. We are all so delighted when you find another Doyle story to share. Thank you

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

I do rush a bit sometimes. Some people think taking your time is a bit self indulgent, to which I say: yes probably. Cheers!

[@absolutepitch]

ANOTHER MASTERFUL PRODUCTION! You are a gift to literature and humanity.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Ha! Kind of you, AP. Thank you.

[@kimberlyj4538]

Masterfully read. The speed, pauses, phrasing, all pure pleasure to which to listen. Memorable actually. Bravo.

[@jtbasener8740]

I will most definitely need to re-listen. Thank you for these stories by Doyle. I am growing a greater appreciation for his short-story writing because of you.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks JT B Glad to hear it!

[@aesopstortoise]

An absolute creepy gem of a story, brilliantly read. Thank you.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Good description. Thank you!

[@dennislloyd494]

The first five minutes are pure patriotic poetry, it's a time I should have been born in.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Yes. It's an extraordinary bit of writing and links to the meat of the story very well.

[@helenamcginty4920]

You would have had to be born at least middle class and English otherwise you would probably not have enjoyed life.

[@markswanson1564]

“… pure patriotic poetry”?? More a rebuke of the excesses of empire & colonialism! Reminiscent of S Holmes The Creeping Man where Dr. Watson, the mangled Afghan War vet, writes forlornly of his return to “ … London- that great cesspool to which all the idlers and loungers of the Empire are drawn.” ACD’s excellent yet under-appreciated writing with touches of Moby Dick & spiritualism.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

@@markswanson1564 Interesting how it can be read both ways, pulls you in both directions.

[@gregfam6250]

You took the words right out of my mind.

[@ronostick9718]

Greg. You absolutely smashed this one. The narration was measured and perfect. Doyle's story had me transfixed, and as for the climax.... pure brilliance. ❤

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@electrictofumuffins6384]

What a creepy story! The whole presentation is utterly superb. Mr. Conan Doyle! Ahhhhh!

[@richardb.6475]

What a strange story. Disturbing, but without an intrigue, just an account of a tragedy. Thank you for your hard work though!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

It's thought provoking - more to it than meets the eye, I thought.

[@bencongdonfineart]

Wonderfully read and presented. Thank you for continuing to bring us these stories!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks for listening, Ben. Kind of you to say so.

[@gregfam6250]

I don't use ChatGPT much but the first 5 minutes prompted me to ask "Why was English writing in Conan Doyle's day so much more beautiful than it is today? "

[@evelanpatton]

What did it say, I’m interested in CHATGPT’s reasoning for the more verbose & articulate writers for a well educated & vocabulary-rich audience. I am reminded these were published in Magazines, well before radio, television, & computer technology, so that COMMUNICATION was in affect part of how you presented yourself for entertainment- for instance, letters between friends & family were regularly exchanged, and one’s writing skills exercised.

[@electrictofumuffins6384]

Yes, imagine how they "made love'.

[@quickjumpingfoxes]

So impressive, eloquent. This confirms what a gifted writer ACD was. I hope you can find more samples of his writing. I should add that you spoke/recreated the story convincingly that I was startled to realize that the images I saw were not of some external source but my imagination awoken by your masterful presentation.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

That's a great comment. Appreciate it, quick jumping foxes!

[@vickif.4645]

Beautifully read, as always. Thank you for the wonderful story.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Glad you liked it, Vicki F.

[@suebruce493]

Great story, thanks for the audio.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@hawkiowan]

Yikes! Glad I caught this during the day! 😀 Beautifully done, as always. Thank you and all the best to you, Greg -

[@carrie5980]

I wish I had caught this during the day. Three am for me. 👻

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Bad luck!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

It's one of his creepier ones, certainly.

[@katyvdb5993]

Eerie, but first and foremost very, very sad. Listening to the first paragraphs, I had to keep checking to remind myself that this was Conan Doyle, not one of Kipling's short stories (which are also often dark and sad, though more rarely supernatural). Thank you for uploading.

[@ReefBlastbody2]

It must have been a ghost because when you are buried at sea, they will sew you up in a sail cloth bag before they dump you. And they do a very thorough job of it to. The last stitch goes through your nose to hold the knot tight upon you. They've done that way for centuries.

[@lesterbrandt3203]

There is an old Irish tale very similar, also Turkish. Must have happened at least once to be so often repeated .

[@rameyzamora1018]

This story was new to me & well narrated by Greg. It left perfectly hideous shivers long after the final words. Appreciation.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Hideous shivers, eh? How gratifying!

[@rameyzamora1018]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio Hideous shivers - the worst kind!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Yes. The very worst.

[@darrellbroomhall7020]

A stunningly brilliant reading Mr. Greg.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Cheers Darrell. 👍🏼

[@andrewbeale6072]

'The learned have of late looked into the matter, and have even labelled it with a name, but what can we know more of it save that a poor stricken soul, when hard-pressed and driven, can shoot across the earth some ten thousand-mile-long picture of its trouble to the mind which is most akin to it.' It says so much about Doyle's talents that he can take a fairly conventional ghost story plot and make it into such a powerful tale of the uncanny. That final twist! Chilling, and brilliant.

[@leriava]

Never heard of this one before. Time to get aquainted with it 😊

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Indeed!

[@EnTeaJay]

Kudos to this fine performance. Sir Arthur would be proud.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Cheers EnTeaJay

[@billkingston4402]

Greetings from Ireland, has anyone told the government and the British media that the empire is over, love Dolyes writing

[@nicolawallace7255]

Thank you, I check everyday for anything you read to is ❤😊😊

[@nicolawallace7255]

Us

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Do you get an automatic notification if you subscribe and hit the bell button? Cheers Nicola

[@Shineon83]

Surely a physician, of all people, would know that a human body submerged but 3 days in the ocean (let alone, a week) would be unrecognizable from bloating, decomposition & the exigencies of scavengers ….(?)

[@ringpop6177]

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 😊

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Cheers Ring. 6 blooms?

[@ringpop6177]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 Happy now? I forget how you actors are 😑 And they are long stems!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

We’re very fussy. Long stems are just the job!

[@ravenkeefer3143]

Still catching up. This surely was a difficult wrestling match with the words and cadence. Excellent oratory and presentation. Whew... Mahe Ohna ✌️ Favour Greg and ALL

[@djkelleher3557]

Superb, thank you 😊

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Glad you enjoyed it, Dj K

[@nancyM1313]

💕💓 💓💕 🌺 thank you Gregg

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Cheers Nancy!

[@carrie5980]

Chilling. 🦈

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Yes. Not as funny as the last one.

[@elkeschimpgen3725]

Thank you very much for performing giving me thus the chance of listening!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Glad you liked it! Cheers Elke.

[@elkeschimpgen3725]

I wish I was creative enough to add something new to all the positive feedback given here and in your other recordings. Sadly, I'm not, so let me just emphazise that they are profoundly true. And, your good sense of humour makes the comment section great fun to read. :o)

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Ha! I do have to restrain myself in the comments section! Creative/creativity has lost the positive meaning it may once have had: just expressing oneself honestly (or as honestly as one can on the internet) is a much better aim/prize. Maybe.

[@elkeschimpgen3725]

Well, as usual everything is a matter of definition. And creativity to me still means to invent something original that pleases people or challenges their thougt process. In this respect, internet can bite me ...

[@gabaleo2568]

Thanks! 🎉❤

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Cheers!

[@ringpop6177]

OMG 😳 Sorry to interrupt but I just found out the Cure is still alive Whaaaaaat? 😝

[@lesterbrandt3203]

Thanks for typing out the quote & rehearsing. It would be a dog to read cold.

[@pisiata3651]

Maybe he came back from life and become a mermaid. Joke apart the story is so sad😒

[@truthreigns7]

Hello Mr Greg

[@evelanpatton]

Thanks! Not always able to give, but you’ve been with me, often nightly, for over 5 years; I love your cadence, tonality, & eloquence. Your exceptionally professional productions are greatly appreciated. 🪭 I love the Victorian circa writer’s that you choose to present to us. The vocabulary has oft brought me to my dictionary. 🎁🪆📚📕❣️ ❤️‍🔥📜🖋️.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thank you Evelyn - very kind of you! All the best - Greg.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Wrong spelling. Evelan!

[@123Shel12]

Well done!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Ta Shel12

[@stewartlancaster6155]

Conan Doyle must have liked the name van Sittard used here and as a character in The Ring of Thoth.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Yes

[@ShirleyPullman-ey3rx]

Thanks Greg hope you're enjoying your blackbirds 👍

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

I am!

[@gabriellecunningham7196]

🖤🌹🇦🇺

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks Gabrielle. Is that Oz or NZ, it's so small?

[@geoffreypiltz271]

An interesting story from Doyle with a conclusion rather contradicting his own beliefs in spiritualism and psychic phenomena.

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

I guess they developed later on?

[@geoffreypiltz271]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio The Wikipedia page on Doyle says about his paranormal beliefs that "the strength of his belief in their reality waxed and waned periodically over the years".

[@terranovarubacha5473]

Perhaps it was a way of supporting his thesis. Sure there are exceptions, where nothing spirutualistic going on, but that doesn't prove that spiritualism is fully wrong. Proving one case doesn't prove all cases. The narrator even says that he believes telepathy to be real, just not in this case

[@anniestroklund2442]

Thanks once again for a great bedtime story! ❤🛌📚🌙🥰

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

My pleasure, Annie!

[@SDW90808]

Brilliantly written and executed. Thank you!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Glad you enjoyed it, Steven.

[@rosanna5515]

Strong, clear voice. Thank you🎉

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thanks for listening Rosanna

[@nonotoo3208]

Thank you

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Welcome!

[@wdobni]

a nicely fashioned silly little story....Doyle is so sentimental in most of his stories.....if he had been a little less sentimental and a little more action oriented he could easily have generated a horrorish story not unlike the eternal Dracula or Frankenstein....but apparently that was not quite to his taste although well within his power and style

[@tottiemae2258]

We miss you, GW!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

I'm still in the land of the living. Preparing another story to record! Hopefully this year!

[@tottiemae2258]

Long time, no hear. We worry. 😟

[@evelanpatton]

Truth & Science of the mind, of the body. 🪬🌊🌌🎐 Beautiful read. 🪭 Respectful.🎊

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Thank you, E P. Truth and Science - never the twain shall meet maybe.

[@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz]

Thanks again!

[@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio]

Mon plaisir, StalinLovsFbi etc.

[@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz]

@@sherlock_holmes_magpie_audio This was terrifying, I fell asleep the first time!