twentieth century – Jacke Wilson

August 3, 2021

The History of Literature #325 – Phillip Larkin

During his life, Philip Larkin (1922-1985) was a beloved national figure, a bald and bespectacled librarian by day who spent his evenings writing smart, accomplished, and hilariously self-deprecating poems. After his death, his reputation and legacy became more complicated, as revelations about his personal life threatened to darken a once-bright sky. In this episode, Jacke Continue reading

history of literature, Podcast

kingsley amis, philip larkin, Poetry, twentieth century

July 21, 2021

The History of Literature #312 – Yukio Mishima

In November of 1970, the most famous novelist in Japan dropped off the final pages of his masterpiece with his publisher, then went to a military office in Tokyo, where he and a small band of supporters took the commander hostage. The novelist – whose name was Yukio Mishima – then appeared on the balcony Continue reading

history of literature, Podcast

Japan, japanese nationalism, mishima, novels, sea of fertility, twentieth century

September 20, 2020

The History of Literature #231 – James Baldwin | Going to Meet the Man

James Baldwin (1924-1987) was a fearless artist, an uncompromising critic, a brilliant essayist, and an American who lived within his time and yet was decades ahead of it. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Going To Meet the Man,” Baldwin’s provocative story of the power dynamics at play within a white Southern man Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, history of literature, Podcast, Writing

James Baldwin, jim crow, lynching, Short Stories, southern racist, twentieth century, William Faulkner

April 21, 2020

The History of Literature #205 – Saul Bellow

http://traffic.megaphone.fm/ADL9010183183.mp3 Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was born in Quebec, immigrated to Chicago, and became one of the greatest of the great American novelists. In 1976 he won the Nobel Prize for writing that displayed “the mixture of rich picaresque novel and subtle analysis of our culture, of entertaining adventure, drastic and tragic episodes in quick succession Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, novelists, Podcast

Chicago, Henderson the rain king, herzog, humboldt’s gift, Martin Amis, mr Sammler’s planet, Saul Bellow, the adventures of augie march, the dean’s december, twentieth century

September 14, 2018

The History of Literature #158 – “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

http://traffic.megaphone.fm/ADL3236940460.mp3 In the 1960s and ’70s, the Vietnam War dominated the hearts and minds of a generation of Americans. In 1990, the American writer Tim O’Brien, himself a former soldier, published “The Things They Carried,” a short story that became an instant classic. Through its depiction of the members of a platoon in Vietnam, told Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, Writing

America, Short Stories, tim o’brien, twentieth century, vietnam, war

September 23, 2017

History of Literature #110 – The Heart of Darkness – Then And Now

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:36:32 — 66.6MB) | Embed Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | RSS | More Jacke and Mike discuss Joseph Conrad’s short novel Heart of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now, and Eleanor Coppola’s documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse. Then Jacke offers some thoughts on the recent events in Charlottesville, compares them with the themes in Conrad, and argues that Continue reading

Arts, Authors, books, Fiction, history of literature, Podcast, Writing

apocalypse now, eleanor coppola, francis ford coppola, Heart of Darkness, hearts of darkness, Joseph Conrad, short novels, twentieth century