Roman talks with José Vergara about Joyce's influence on Soviet and post-Soviet Russian literature. We talk literary heritage, the dangers of translating Ulysses under Stalin, the birth of Social Realism (and its ugly stepsister, Capitalist Primitivism), the schizophrenic nature of the late Soviet period, émigré writing, and Joyce's continued influence on contemporary Russian writers. A fascinating talk that sheds much light on both Joyce and Russian lit. Writers discussed include: Yury Olesha, Vladimir Nabokov, Andrei Bitov, Sasha Sokolov, and Mikhail Shishkin (cameos of sorts by Victor Pelev ..read more

In preparation for our upcoming Robert Musil podcasts, we discuss the creative explosion in Vienna before World War I. We talk about Musil, Gustav Klimt, composer Alban Berg, and others. We also look at the parallels between U.S. decline and decadence and that of Habsburg Vienna. We also make curious references to Tim Leary's cosmos prophecy as well as the music of King Krule. Plus: don't forget to fill out your Tournament of Books bracket: https://themorningnews.org/article/the-2020-tournament-of-books-shortlist-and-judges Music attribution: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Crea ..read more

Being a serious reader brings many joys, but also nagging anxieties: Should I be reading a different book? Should I read more classic lit instead of contemporary fiction? Is it problem that I read multiple books at once? Do I abandon books too frequently? Are my online activities ruining my attention span and making me jealous of others and their prodigious reading habits?...Music: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au ..read more

We do it all the time as readers, but it's a great mystery: why and how do we get emotionally involved in fictional characters? It's a massive question and we bring in Spinoza, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Harold Bloom, Walter Isaacson, Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino to help answer the question. There is no one answer, of course, but we have fun chasing down the various leads...Music: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au ..read more

We examine this underappreciated 20th Century classic. A cautionary tale of what happens when you stop being a tourist and truly become a traveler. Our conversation also stumbles upon Leonard Bernstein, Camus, Edward Said, A Farewell to Arms and Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess....Music: “October" from the album Chapter Four / Fall, by Kai Engel, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license ..read more

We finally take on the South African master Coetzee. He's a bit intimidating to many, but we dive in, and look at his novel about a fictional Russian writer named Fyodor Dostoevsky. Heston Hoffman joins us, and we discuss Joseph Frank, the political atmosphere of 19th century Russia and whether Coetzee is an Afrikaner, African or Australian writer...This podcast features excerpts from the song Terminal 7, by Thomasz Stanko. Obtained from the Internet Archive. Available under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license ..read more

The Beats writers were a force in American culture for decades. But are they still relevant today? Are they great writers or just curious cultural figures? Does anyone under 40 still care about them? We talk Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, along with other figures like Gary Snyder, Kenneth Rexroth and few words on Celine, Herbert Hunke and Neil Cassidy ..read more

The Leopard is a classic of 20th century Italian literature. We dig deep into this novel of lost memories and aristocratic decline, while managing to reference James Joyce's sexy peaches, church relics, Soviet birth certificates and Michael Corleone ..read more

We're back to the German-speaking world with a brand new translation of "The Females" by Wolfgang Hilbig. We discuss divided Germany, gender, why capitalism used to be sexy and what the connection is between communist states and trash cans ..read more

This week we look at a classic novel from the Austrian master Thomas Bernhard. "The Loser" chronicles the fate of two young piano prodigies who befriend and study with a fictional piano genius named Glenn Gould. Bernard spares no one in a book that is both hilariously funny and deadly serious. "The Loser" is a deep dive into the mind of an obsessive ..read more