An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Audio Book Review
SOURCE: DB 26163
AUTHOR: Ambrose Bierce
Reading time: 30 minutes. / Read by Roy Avers.
NOTE: This is the Talking Book format used by the Library Of Congress.
*An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge can also be downloaded from gutenberg.org
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/375
It's free on the Kindle store
The 19th century Civil War short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was published in the San Francisco Examiner as well as Tales of Soldiers and Civilians in 1890.
NOTE: Episode 142 of The Twilight Zone was about this short story.
(SPOILER Alert: The following Audio Book review may contain spoilers. I've tried to keep certain parts as general as possible.
I came across a list of top horror stories, and saw this labeled as one of the originals in horror literature, and decided to read it. The author, Ambrose Bierce (nicknamed Bitter Bierce) was born June 24, 1842, and was last seen in 1913. While traveling with rebel troops during the Mexican Revolution, the journalist, editor, and short story writer served in the Union Army during the Civil War from 1861–1865.
We are introduced to the main character, and before we get to know him, we find him standing on a plank with a noose around his neck and his wrists tied behind his back, as he awaits execution. A Confederate sympathizer named Peyton Farquhar, is scheduled to hang from Owl Creek Bridge, a railroad bridge in northern Alabama that he was planning to disable to stop Union trains from attempting to resupply troops.
A Northern scout posing as a member of the Confederate army planted the seed that the driftwood under the bridge could be set on fire, but any civilian caught trying to sabotage the bridge would be hanged.
Staring down at the water 20 feet below him all he can think of is how he can escape this desperate situation and once again see his wife and children.
If he manages to free himself and drop into the water, how will he be able to avoid being shot by the Northern soldiers?
Will luck intervene and give him a second chance before his life fades to black?
The rest of the story takes place after he drops from the bridge.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
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For a story that is over 100 years old, you get the feeling of despair, because death, regardless of when it comes, is always a scary thing, especially when it seems hopeless.
I enjoyed the way the author describes the ticking of his watch, and how it sounds like the clanging of a blacksmith's hammer on an anvil, to show that time is running out.
I also enjoyed the twisted ending.
FINAL RATING 4.0 /5
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Frank Hipolito started listening to audio books and audio podcasts after a medical condition left him with Cortical Blindness. The Helen Keller Institute worked with him on touch typing and he decided to share his reviews online. The audio books are usually downloaded from the National Library Service for the Blind's BARD website and are used on a digital talking-book player, while the audio podcasts are usually downloaded through Itunes.
