Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on Louis Menand on 'The Free World'
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Free World
The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War is a sweeping cultural and intellectual history by Louis Menand that examines how artistic and philosophical ideas evolved in the United States from the end of World War II to the dawn of the turbulent 1960s.
Recommended“the book again is called the Free World art and thought in the Cold War by Louis manand Luke thank you so much again for being here”
Where to get it
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1984
George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 presents a chilling vision of a totalitarian regime characterized by extreme surveillance and psychological manipulation.
Discussed“I wrote a chapter on Orwell because he seemed like logically I had to write about 1984 and then a chapter on existentialism”
Where to get it
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An American Dream
Discussed“1965 he publishes a novel called an American Dream which the protagonist kills his wife and throws her out the window”
Where to get it
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The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan is a landmark 1963 text that challenged traditional domestic roles and catalyzed second-wave feminism by articulating the widespread unhappiness of suburban housewives.
Discussed“and so three years later Betty foran writes The Feminine Mystique and that suddenly unleashes this pent up frustration”
Where to get it
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The Lonely Crowd
Discussed“most famous of those is David reesman who publishes the lonely crowd in 1950 and that book is read as a critique of the conformist mentality”
Where to get it
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Middlemarch
Middlemarch by George Eliot is widely regarded as a masterwork of Victorian literature, brilliantly capturing the complex social fabric, political undercurrents, and psychological depths of provincial English life.
Discussed“George Elliott on the other hand for example in in Middle March Heavens but this is dry reading”
Where to get it
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Cousin Bette
Discussed“Balzac a reporter said quote has the wind taken out of his sails by a scroll on the fly leaf of cousin Betty which reads I shall need to be fumigated after this”
Where to get it
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy is a tragic Victorian novel following the harrowing trials of its titular heroine in rural England.
Discussed“here is one Thomas Hardy comment which says this is insufferable rot which I know will make your hackles rise Pamela because it looks like it's about Tess of the Derber vills”
Where to get it
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Lolita
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a controversial 1955 novel told primarily from the perspective of Humbert Humbert, an academic who becomes obsessed with and entraps a young girl named Lolita.
Discussed“so for instance I have two essays in the Golden Age of the American essay one by Vladimir Nabokov about Lolita and the other by Lono trilling which is an analysis of Lolita now some readers will simply say Lolita is beyond the pale”
Where to get it
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American Dirt
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is a gripping and intensely controversial novel that follows a mother and son fleeing their home in Mexico as migrants pursued by a violent drug cartel.
Discussed“and I remember at the last ba the book that was on everyone's list and people were just wildly enthusing about was American dirt Janine cummings's book which became a bit controversial after it came out”
Where to get it
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The Committed
The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen is the compelling sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer, following the nameless protagonist as he arrives in Paris and becomes entangled in drug dealing, philosophy, and political intrigue.
Recommended“I'm reading the committed by Viet tanw”
Where to get it
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The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler is a classic 1939 hardboiled detective novel that introduced private investigator Philip Marlowe and defined the noir genre.
Recommended“and uh and I've been reading his first novel The Big Sleep from 1939”
Where to get it
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Beijing Payback
Discussed“I'll talk first about this other book I read called Beijing payback by Daniel N”
Where to get it
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Yoga
Yoga by Emmanuel Carrère is a genre-bending autobiographical work that chronicles the author's journey through depression, psychiatric hospitalization, and spiritual seeking, while openly questioning the boundary between strict truth and fiction.
Discussed“which is called yoga where he reveals that not everything in the book is true and he tells you a certain things that that aren't true”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (9) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“he is the author of The metaphysical club and his newest book is called the Free World”
“this is a sequel to his debut novel The sympathizer which won the pet surprise back in like 2015”
“actually he gets involved in the Paris underground in a way that keeps reminding me more than anything of the Sal Bell novel The Adventures of Augie March where it's another story of an outsider”
“the first novel in this sequence of novels that he's writing um the sympathizer is set partly in Vietnam and partly in Southern California”
“in fact I think I talked about this on the podcast maybe six or seven years ago when I was reading L miss araa the Victor Hugo novel that I stopped reading books by French authors”
“I'm reading the committed by Viet tanw and I I'm reading Raymond Chandler's the big sleep and I read Beijing payback by Daniel n and yoga by Emanuel career”
“I'm reading the committed by Viet tanw and I I'm reading Raymond Chandler's the big sleep and I read Beijing payback by Daniel n and yoga by Emanuel career”
“I'm reading the committed by Viet tanw and I I'm reading Raymond Chandler's the big sleep and I read Beijing payback by Daniel n and yoga by Emanuel career”
“I'm reading the committed by Viet tanw and I I'm reading Raymond Chandler's the big sleep and I read Beijing payback by Daniel n and yoga by Emanuel career”