Episode · Conversations with Tyler · 2022-03-23
Books mentioned on Lydia Davis on Language and Literature
A prolific translator, author, and former professor of creative writing, Lydia Davis's motivation for her life's work is jarringly simple: she just loves language. She loves short, sparkling sentences.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Ulysses
Ulysses by James Joyce is a monumental modernist novel that chronicles a single day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin, mirroring the structure of Homer's Odyssey.
Discussed“i had a problem a long time ago trying to read ulysses by joyce and started it twice and finally read it when i lived in ireland”
Where to get it
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Sleepless Nights
Sleepless Nights by Elizabeth Hardwick is a novel from the late 1970s that employs a fragmented and impressionistic narrative style.
Discussed“but i was thinking even first of a book that influenced me a lot in in my writing of that and that was elizabeth hardwick's sleepless nights which i haven't revisited in a while”
Where to get it
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a sorrow beyond dreams
Discussed“and i think um i think also a sorrow beyond dreams by hank which i'm about to revisit by peter hanke also gives that impression of fragmentation”
Where to get it
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The afternoon of a writer
Discussed“so then i tried reading whatever it is the day in the in afternoon of a writer i think it's called afternoon of a writer and that was terribly complicated with difficult constructions and huge vocabulary”
Where to get it
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J.K.
Critiqued“but when i tried to read them i didn't like the style of writing and i didn't like the characters and i didn't like anything about them”
Where to get it
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Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad's classic 1899 novella follows Marlow as he journeys up the Congo River into the African interior, confronting the dark realities of imperialism and human nature.
Discussed“for example we mentioned conrad i started the heart of darkness i had read it years ago and i started it you know a few months ago and really liked the writing and wanted to go on”
Where to get it
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DON QUIXOTE
DON QUIXOTE by Miguel de Cervantes is widely celebrated as one of the first and greatest masterpieces in the novel form, following a man who sets out to save the world and make it a better place.
Discussed“have you read don quixote yet well i actually i belong to a kind of pretty high-minded book club a zoom a remote book club”
Where to get it
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Beowulf
Beowulf, translated brilliantly by Seamus Heaney, is an enduring foundational epic poem of Old English literature that chronicles the legendary hero's epic battles against monsters like Grendel and a fearsome dragon.
Discussed“we also read beowulf because that was another one i'd never read and thought that i should read”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“but i think of the novel i wrote the one novel the end of the story was meant to be give the impression of of fragmentation because the narrator is trying to remember remember incidents”