The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

Backlisted

Backlisted Podcast

Books, Arts, Leisure, Hobbies

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2020

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Susan Cooper's magical novel The Dark Is Rising (1973) is the subject of a bumper Christmas special episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to discuss this classic winter solstice read, and the four other books that make up the Dark Is Rising sequence, are writer Robert Macfarlane and writer and illustrator Jackie Morris, co-authors of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells and fellow Susan Cooper devotees. And because it is Christmas, John also talks about a beautiful ice-and-snow bound story from the Chuckchi people of the Bering Sea, When the Whales Leave by Yuri Rytkheu, and Andy reads The Tree Room, a poem from Caroline Bird's new collection The Air Year that seems to sum up the spirit of Christmas 2020. Wherever this podcast finds you in the world, Merry Christmas from us all. When the dark comes rising, six shall turn it back... Music in todays episode is:The Dark is Rising album by Handspan https://handspan.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-is-rising Hard Road by Johnny Flynn http://johnny-flynn.com/ * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops. * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm *If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
0:31.0	Hello and welcome to a special Christmas Day edition of Backlisted, the podcast that gives new life to old books.
0:37.0	Merry Christmas!
0:41.0	Today you find us in a small village in the Thames Valley.
0:44.0	It's Christmas morning, it's been snowing for days and shows no sign of letting up.
0:49.0	We've unwrapped our gifts and gathered waiting for the tree presence.
0:53.0	Acquire, wobbles, ancient carols from the radio in the kitchen
0:57.0	when unexpectedly there's a knock at the door.
1:02.0	I'm John Mitchinson, the publisher of Unbound, the platform where readers crowdfund the books they really want to read.
1:08.0	And I'm Andy Miller, author of The Year of Reading Dangerously.
1:11.0	And joining us for this festive edition, which is coming to you live, we're actually recording this on Christmas morning.
1:17.0	Are two new guests, please welcome to Backlisted, Jackie Morris and Robert McFarlane.
1:22.0	Great!
1:24.0	Thank you, thank you.
1:26.0	Nice to see you both.
1:28.0	Hello, thanks for having us.
1:30.0	And a happy Christmas to you too.
1:33.0	Thank you very much.
1:35.0	I always feel it sounds threatening when I say it.
1:38.0	Everything sounds threatening.
1:41.0	You and you say it, Jackie.
1:43.0	Well done for making it through another year.
	...

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