Episode · Conversations with Tyler · 2016-07-27
Tyler Cowen & Michael Orthofer: books mentioned on Conversations with Tyler
Michael Orthofer on Why Fiction Matters
Michael Orthofer, one of the world's most prolific book reviewers, joins Tyler Cowen for a conversation on — what else? — books.
Tyler Cowen recommended The Confidence Man by Herman Melville, and discussed The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, The Dream of The Red Chamber, and Bottom's dream by Arno Schmidt. Michael Orthofer recommended School for atheists by Arno Schmidt, Wittgenstein's Nephew by Thomas Bernhard, and The loser by Thomas Bernhard, and discussed Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Stoner by John Williams, and The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R.
Discussed“even especially vivid works like Lord of the Rings right those are not real events”
Where to get it
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Hamlet
William Shakespeare's classic play Hamlet follows the tragic Prince of Denmark as he grapples with grief, betrayal, and the heavy burden of avenging his father's murder.
Discussed“so if I say well reading Hamlet Shakespeare Dostoevsky Jane Austen of course that was essential for one's own education”
Where to get it
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A Brief History of Seven Killings
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James is a sprawling, ambitious historical novel that uses the 1976 attempted assassination of Bob Marley to weave a complex narrative spanning decades of political violence, drug wars, and systemic turmoil in Jamaica and the United States.
Discussed“I think there's a book I read a review of I'm sure you've heard of it maybe read it Marlon James a brief history of seven killings”
Where to get it
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War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a monumental historical novel blending grand military strategy with intimate domestic life against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.
Discussed“so if you don't read Russian yes Reid Brothers Karamazov and Warren piece and a few things and then stop”
Where to get it
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Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a profound psychological novel that explores guilt, morality, and the severe consequences of moral relativism and nihilism.
Discussed“and I mean we have these established books like Warren peace or Crime and Punishment but Russian literature goes so so much deeper”
Where to get it
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Stoner
Stoner by John Williams is a critically acclaimed 20th-century novel that follows the quiet, melancholy academic life of an unheralded university professor against the backdrop of mid-century America.
Discussed“stoner John Williams this is a book that disappeared from view for a long time”
Where to get it
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The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt is a critically acclaimed and inventive novel that follows a single mother raising a precocious young boy in Tokyo as he becomes obsessed with Akira Kurosawa's film.
Discussed“Helen do it's the Last Samurai was just refine distorted and Amazon and excited to get my copy”
Where to get it
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The Dream of The Red Chamber
The Dream of the Red Chamber by Tsʻao Hsüeh-chʻin is an eighteenth-century Chinese masterpiece chronicling the rise and fall of a prominent aristocratic family alongside a central tragic romance.
Discussed“so here's volume 1 of a Chinese book used to be known as dream of the red chamber now it's more often called story of the stone penguin”
Where to get it
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Bottom's dream
Discussed“and the German title is settles town what's the English title who's bottoms dream bottom stream”
Where to get it
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School for atheists
School for Atheists by Arno Schmidt is a dense, linguistically inventive novel by the pioneering German postmodernist writer, offering a satirical and intellectually demanding exploration of post-World War II Germany, religion, and philosophy.
Recommended“well if you eventually want to read bottoms dream then the school for atheists is the one term that's in English now”
Where to get it
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The Confidence Man
The Confidence Man by Herman Melville is a complex, darkly satirical novel set on a Mississippi River steamboat that serves as a profound meditation on trust, identity, and American capitalism.
Recommended“I always always when the argument of the Great American Novel comes up I always make a plug for the confidence man which i think is sort of representative it says so much about America”
Where to get it
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Wittgenstein's Nephew
Wittgenstein's Nephew by Thomas Bernhard is a brilliant autobiographical novel that examines the author's complex, poignant friendship with Paul Wittgenstein, a nephew of the famous philosopher, highlighting shared eccentricities, institutionalization, and the tragicomic nature of human existence in mid-century Vienna.
Recommended“I don't think I've been disappointed by any any Bernhardt Wittgenstein's nephews my favorite”
Where to get it
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The loser
The Loser by Thomas Bernhard is a profound and intensely psychological novel by the celebrated Austrian author that explores obsession, artistic failure, and the crushing weight of perfectionism through the lens of Glenn Gould and classical music.
Recommended“my favorite and then the loser they don't go gay yeah”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“he did the definitive magic mountain in Boonton Vaux and but he's always been translating a low Schmidt for decades”