Episode · The Book Review · 2021-10-01
Richard Powers on The Book Review: books mentioned
Richard Powers on ‘Bewilderment’
Pamela Paul recommended Congratulations, by the way by George Saunders and others, A Motor-Flight Through France by Edith Wharton, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, and The hours by Michael Cunningham, discussed The Overstory by Richard Powers, Bewilderment by Richard Powers and others, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Age of Phillis by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, and A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, and criticized The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Golden Bowl by Henry James, and Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney. Richard Powers discussed Flowers for Algernon by David Rogers and others and The Republic. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers discussed In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker, The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois, and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot. John Williams recommended When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, and discussed But Beautiful by Geoff Dyer and others and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Greg Cowles recommended On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed, and discussed The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Overstory
The Overstory by Richard Powers is a sweeping, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that intertwines the lives of several Americans whose fates are connected to trees and environmental activism.
Discussed“how do you follow an epic Pulitzer prizewinning novel like the over story Richard Powers will be here to talk about his new book”
Where to get it
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Bewilderment
Discussed“Richard Powers will be here to talk about his new book bewilderment what role does web Debo play in the love songs of web de boys”
Where to get it
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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
The Love Songs of W.E.B.
Discussed“what role does web Debo play in the love songs of web de boys honor fenon Jeffers will join us to talk about her debut novel”
Where to get it
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Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a poignant science fiction novel about Charlie Gordon, a man with an intellectual disability who undergoes an experimental surgical procedure to dramatically enhance his intelligence, mirroring the earlier cognitive boost of a laboratory mouse named Algernon.
Discussed“and that's what propels the story which is a kind of flowers for algenon if you will”
Where to get it
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The Republic
Plato's foundational classical text "The Republic" explores justice, political structures, and the nature of reality.
Discussed“and when I went back to the key story I was really intrigued at his use of an epigraph from Plato's Republic”
Where to get it
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The Age of Phillis
Discussed“one of them the age Phyllis was longlisted for the national book aboard for poetry”
Where to get it
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In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker is a groundbreaking collection of prose pieces in which the author explores Black feminism, creativity, and the spiritual lives of women of color.
Discussed“well one of the people who I return to over and over is the great Alice Walker who defined womanism as black feminism in an essay that is in her groundbreaking book of essays in search of our mother's Garden”
Where to get it
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The Souls of Black Folk
W.
Discussed“and I guess it was I was in junior high school when I first encountered The Souls of Black Folk by web de boys”
Where to get it
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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The Love Song of J.
Discussed“it's sort of a side eye people assume that modernism began with TS Elliots the Love Song of Jay Alfred proofrock”
Where to get it
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When We Cease to Understand the World
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut is a gripping narrative that explores the complex historical and scientific discoveries that pushed brilliant minds to the brink of madness, successfully blurring the lines between historical fact and imaginative fiction.
Recommended“I chose a book to talk about this week that is probably setting a high bar for myself because this is a very hard book to describe it's called when we cease to understand the World by Benjamin labatut who is a writer who was born in Rotterdam”
Where to get it
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But Beautiful
But Beautiful by Geoff Dyer is a richly imagined, critically acclaimed book about jazz that blends biography, fiction, and impressionistic criticism to capture the lives and music of legendary jazz icons.
Discussed“it reminds me in a way of Jeff Dyer's book but beautiful which is a very different book”
Where to get it
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On Juneteenth
On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed is a work of historical nonfiction that weaves the author's personal experiences growing up in Texas with a broader examination of the state's history and the origins of the Juneteenth holiday.
Recommended“I'm also reading a fairly short book a very short book really it's on juneth by Anette Gordon Reed”
Where to get it
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The Hemingses of Monticello
The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed is a monumental, Pulitzer Prize-winning history book that meticulously traces generations of the Hemings family and their intertwined lives with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.
Discussed“she's a Pulitzer winner for a biography that she wrote of Sally hemings and the hemings family the hemingses of Montello”
Where to get it
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Congratulations, by the way
Congratulations, by the way is a brief motivational book by George Saunders featuring thoughts on kindness.
Recommended“it is Congratulations by the way by George Saunders the subtitle is some thoughts on kindness and it's so short as to almost not be a book”
Where to get it
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A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders is a critically acclaimed book in which the celebrated author and teacher analyzes classic Russian short stories by writers like Chekhov and Tolstoy to explore both the craft of writing and the nature of human thought.
Discussed“first of all my husband was reading saunders's more recent book which is a swim in a pond in the rain which is a real-sized book”
Where to get it
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A Motor-Flight Through France
A Motor-Flight Through France is a travel book by Edith Wharton that chronicles her motoring journey across the French countryside.
Recommended“and then the other book I read was not long and it was based in fact on a series of articles in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in the early 20th century and that book is called a motor flight through France by Edith Wharton”
Where to get it
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The Buried Giant
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro is a fantastical novel set in a post-Arthurian British landscape where a mysterious fog causes the inhabitants to lose their memories.
Critiqued“when it came out I read Kazo ishiguro is the buried Giant and it didn't click for me at all it was my first and only book of his”
Where to get it
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The Long Goodbye
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler is a celebrated hardboiled detective novel featuring the private investigator Philip Marlowe.
Critiqued“but last year I read Raymond Chandler's long goodbye and that experience was my long goodbye to Raymond Chandler didn't like the characters”
Where to get it
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Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a haunting dystopian novel that explores the poignant lives of students at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school who slowly discover a dark and tragic truth about their engineered existence.
Discussed“so it's funny that she writes about ishiguro because I the first ishiguro I read was never let me go”
Where to get it
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The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is a masterclass in psychological fiction, following an aging English butler named Stevens as he reflects on his career of dedicated service and his unrequited love amid the shifting political landscape of post-World War II Britain.
Recommended“given that he's a shuro I read Remains of the Day few years after that and really really liked it and I might read more by him”
Where to get it
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To the Lighthouse
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is a modernist novel exploring themes of art, time, family, and the human condition through the experiences of the Ramsay family.
Critiqued“so she assigned to the lighthouse I think I read three pages and I was like I never Reading Virginia wolf again”
Where to get it
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Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs.
Recommended“I am intending to finally give Virginia wolf a second chance have a copy of Mrs delaway”
Where to get it
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The Golden Bowl
The Golden Bowl by Henry James is a complex, late-period psychological novel that explores betrayal, marriage, and moral ambiguity among a small circle of wealthy Americans in Europe.
Critiqued“another book that she assigned was the golden Bow by Henry James I also stopped reading it despised it”
Where to get it
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Conversations With Friends
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney is a celebrated contemporary debut novel that explores complex interpersonal relationships, modern romance, and youthful identity among a circle of characters in Ireland.
Critiqued“and then I gave my copy to Greg I said you can have it I'm done”
Where to get it
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The Portrait of a Lady
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James is a classic 1881 novel following the spirited young American heiress Isabel Archer as she navigates European society, independence, and a disastrous marriage.
Recommended“and later in my 20s I went back and I read first portrait of a lady and you know which is just one of the best books I've ever read”
Where to get it
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The hours
The Hours by Michael Cunningham is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that weaves together the lives of three women across different eras, deeply connected to Virginia Woolf's Mrs.
Recommended“I did something sneaky with my 16-year-old daughter which was I had her read Michael Cunningham's the hours first and then I said oh maybe you should also read Mrs delaway now after it”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (7) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Richard pow's newest novel is called bewilderment”
“the book again is called the love songs of web to boys by Honore fenan Jeffers Honore such a pleasure to have you here”
“now it's mentioned in beautiful world where are you the new book by Sally Rooney and she is an author who I read about 20 pages of conversations with friends”
“I read when we cease to understand the World by Benjamin labatut”
“I read on juneth by Annette Gordon Reed”
“and I read Congratulations by the way by George Saunders”
“and a motor flight through France by Edith Warden”