Episode · The Book Review · 2018-10-05
Kate Atkinson on The Book Review: books mentioned (Oct 2018)
Kate Atkinson on 'Transcription'
Pamela Paul discussed Transcription by Kate Atkinson, American prison by Shane Bauer, Ulysses by James Joyce, and To Fight Against This Age by Rob Riemen. Kate Atkinson discussed Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, A god in ruins by Kate Atkinson, and Orlando by Virginia Woolf. Maria Russo discussed Jesus' son by Denis Johnson. John Williams recommended Jack Robinson by Jack Robinson, and discussed Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and Foe by J. M. Coetzee. Greg Cowles discussed The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Transcription
Transcription by Kate Atkinson is a historical spy novel that follows a young woman recruited to monitor British fascist sympathizers during the Second World War.
Discussed“Kate Atkinson will be here to discuss her latest World War II novel transcription”
Where to get it
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American prison
American Prison by Shane Bauer is an investigative exposé chronicling the author's undercover experience working as a guard in a private corporate prison in Louisiana to expose systemic failures, violence, and the economics of punishment.
Discussed“Shane Bower will be here to discuss his book American prison”
Where to get it
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Life After Life
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is a celebrated novel that follows protagonist Ursula Todd as she repeatedly dies and is reborn across different eras of the twentieth century, most notably the Second World War.
Discussed“this is her third novel in a row that's kind of taken place in the same sort of London World War II Blitz era period the first life after life then a God in Ruins”
Where to get it
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A god in ruins
A god in ruins by Kate Atkinson is a companion novel and sequel to Life After Life, following the life of Teddy Todd during and after the London World War II Blitz era.
Discussed“this is her third novel in a row that's kind of taken place in the same sort of London World War II Blitz era period the first life after life then a God in Ruins”
Where to get it
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Orlando
Orlando is a classic novel by Virginia Woolf that follows a protagonist who changes sex over centuries and lives through multiple eras of history.
Discussed“it's a bit like Wolf's Orlando”
Where to get it
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Jesus' son
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson is a slender, potent 1992 collection of interconnected short stories that explores the stark and harrowing experiences of its narrator and other fringe characters.
Discussed“and they're just like Jesus's son”
Where to get it
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Jack Robinson
Jack Robinson is a novel published under the pseudonym Jack Robinson by British publisher Charles Bole, offering readers a unique entry into contemporary independent fiction.
Recommended“it's called Robinson it's by a writer named Jack Robinson and that's actually a pen name for a British publisher named Charles Bole and he he runs this small publishing company that publishes this book and others”
Where to get it
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Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is a classic adventure novel about a castaway who spends decades on a remote tropical island facing isolation and survival challenges.
Discussed“it's about having read Robinson cruso as a British school child and and about how Robinson cruso”
Where to get it
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Foe
Foe by J.
Discussed“and one of the many that he mentions is a novel called foe fo OE by JM CA and I hadn't read Cay in a while so I picked up this also kind of Slender novel”
Where to get it
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Ulysses
James Joyce's landmark modernist novel Ulysses chronicles an ordinary day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin, mapping human consciousness and daily existence through a revolutionary stream-of-consciousness technique.
Discussed“Greg what do you have in front of you other than you do have ulyses I I did bring Ulisses with me because it's been a while since I've talked about it except to kind of to mention in passing that I'm still reading it”
Where to get it
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The Great Believers
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai is a powerful, emotionally devastating novel that chronicles the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis on the arts community in 1980s Chicago alongside a parallel storyline in modern-day Paris.
Discussed“I'm at the same time um reading Rebecca makai's the great Believers which Michael Cunningham reviewed on the cover of the book review earlier this year”
Where to get it
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To Fight Against This Age
Discussed“Rob Ryman who came out with a slender book earlier this year called to fight against this age on fascism and humanism”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“in which I was assigned to read Robinson cruso”
“so there's all this sort of like people talk about Philip Roth American pastoral”
“and I was reading this actually at the same time that I was reading Bob Woodward's fear”
“so we already see that we're talking about the Magic Mountain”