Leo Tolstoy
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The History of Literature #468 — Chekhov Becomes Chekhov (with Bob Blaisdell)
In 1886, the twenty-six-year-old Anton Chekhov was practicing medicine, supporting his family, falling in and out love, writing pieces for newspapers at a furious pace – and gradually becoming one of the greatest short story writers the world has ever seen. In this episode, Jacke talks to Bob Blaisdell, author of Chekhov Becomes Chekhov: The Emergence Continue reading
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The History of Literature #367 – The Beatles and the Power of Narrative | Tolstoy on Twitter
Jacke talks to Mike Palindrome about his work on the “Tolstoy Together” project sponsored by Yiyun Li and A Public Space, along with some other thoughts about reading great books on Twitter. THEN Jacke responds to the incredible Peter Jackson film Get Back, with some thoughts about the stories we tell about the Beatles and Continue reading
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The History of Literature #360 – FMK Shakespeare! (with Laurie Frankel) | Tolstoy’s Gospel (with Scott Carter)
It’s a good day for cooking! First up: Scott Carter, author of the play Discord: The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy, joins Jacke for a look at the gospel as updated by Leo Tolstoy. Then novelist Laurie Frankel (author of One Two Three) stops by for a special Shakespeare Continue reading
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The History of Literature #254 – Anna Karenina
In 1870, the 42-year-old Russian author Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) told his wife that he “wanted to write a novel about the fall of a society woman in the highest Petersburg circles, and…to tell the story of the woman and her fall without condemning her.” The result was his novel Anna Karenina (1877), which is widely Continue reading
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The History of Literature #147 – Leo Tolstoy
http://traffic.megaphone.fm/ADL7511162268.mp3 When asked to name the three greatest novels ever written, William Faulkner replied, “Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina.” Nabokov said, “When you are reading Turgenev, you know you are reading Turgenev. When you read Tolstoy, you are reading because you just cannot stop.” And finally, there’s this compliment from author Isaac Babel: “If Continue reading
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The History of Literature #92 – The Books of Our Lives
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:04:05 — 44.3MB) | Embed Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | RSS | More “In the middle of life’s journey,” wrote Dante Alighieri, “I found myself in a selva oscura.” Host Jacke Wilson and frequent guest Mike Palindrome take stock of their own selva oscura Continue reading
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Writers Laughing: Leo Tolstoy
Okay, so it’s not the barbaric yawp of a Seamus Heaney, or the dazzling beauty of Zora Neale Hurston, or the transformative shot of Flannery O’Connor taking in the Amana Colonies. But this is Leo Tolstoy! Born in 1828! We’re lucky to have what we have. And it is mesmerizing. The laughter – you’ll need Continue reading
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What They Knew #14
“Everything intelligent is so boring.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 