books
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The History of Literature #524 — Growing Old with The Graduate – Mike Nichols, Roger Ebert, Charles Webb, and Me
The Graduate, a 1967 film directed by Mike Nichols and based on a novel by Charles Webb, introduced the world to actor Dustin Hoffman and became one of the most beloved Hollywood comedies ever made. Telling the story of a disaffected college graduate who has an affair with an older woman and then falls in… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #481 — Moby Dick – 10 Essential Questions (Part One)
Here we go! Moby-Dick; or, the Whale (1851) by Herman Melville is one of the greatest – and strangest – novels you will ever read. Call it what you will – a literary leviathan, an intellectual chowder, an early entry in the Great American Novel sweepstakes – or don’t call it anything, just call the narrator Ishmael… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #475 — Portable Magic – A History of Books and Their Readers (with Emma Smith)
As we all know, the text of a book can possess incredible powers, transporting readers across time and space. But what about the books themselves? In this episode, Jacke talks to author Emma Smith (This Is Shakespeare) about her new book, Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers, which provides a material history of… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #434 – The Story of the Hogarth Press Part 1 – Virginia Woolf’s First Self-Published Story
Virginia Woolf has long been celebrated as a supremely gifted novelist and essayist. Less well known, but important to understanding her life and contributions to literature, are her efforts as a publisher. In the decades that she and her husband operated the Hogarth Press – starting with a hand-operated printer they ran on their dining… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #395 – Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (A Best of HOL Episode)
Jacke plays a clip from Nabokov discussing his famous novel Lolita, in which the frantic narrator Humbert Humbert recounts his passionate (and illegal, immoral, and illicit) love for a young girl. After hearing from the author, Jacke plays clips from three History of Literature Podcast interviews: Jenny Minton Quigley, Jim Shepard,, and Joshua Ferris. Additional listening:… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #394 – Freud and Fiction | PLUS An Assia Wevill Preview
What narrative techniques did Freud borrow and employ? What was the effect? And what did it mean for the literary critics who followed? Following his look at the life and major works of Sigmund Freud, Jacke describes Freud and his followers’ at-times fraught relationship with fiction and fiction writers, with a particularly close look at… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #389 – Thomas Pynchon (with Antoine Wilson)
“A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.” Such is the opening of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), the novel that won the National Book Award but repulsed the Pulitzer Prize Committee. Pynchon’s special blend of paranoia and postmodernism made him one of the hallmark authors… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #386 – Gogol’s Ukrainian Nights | HOL Presents “Mysteries of a Merlin Manuscript” (A Book Dreams Podcast)
Jacke takes a look at Nikolai Gogol’s early stories about his native Ukraine, including two famous descriptions of Ukrainian nights. Then Jacke turns things over to Eve and Julie from the Book Dreams Podcast, as they interview a scholar about a surprising find: in 2019, a librarian in Bristol discovered four scraps of parchment bearing the… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #384 – A Writer’s Tools – Top 10 Literary Terms and Devices | PLUS F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Writing Advice
Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters’ Club, joins Jacke to select the top 10 literary terms and devices of all time. PLUS Jacke reads a letter to a young writer from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Additional listening ideas: Fan of Fitzgerald? Try our episode on The Great Gatsby or revisit the time Jacke and Mike looked for 10… Continue reading
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The History of Literature #376 – Why John Milton? (with Joe Moshenska)
Yes, John Milton was important, and yes, Paradise Lost has been part of the canon since the 17th century – but why should we read anything by John Milton today? Do we imbibe his poetry like medicine? Is it a slog through cerebral but sterile prose? Or is there something wilder, more compelling, more alive?… Continue reading