Episode · The Book Review · 2018-03-09
Ronen Bergman on The Book Review: books mentioned
Ronen Bergman on Israel’s Targeted Assassinations
Gilbert Cruz discussed Rise and kill first by Ronen Bergman and Fair Shot by Chris Hughes. Felix Salmon discussed World Without Mind by Franklin Foer. Pamela Paul recommended Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming, and discussed The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Also mentioned: Ulysses by James Joyce, Portrait of a Novel by Michael Gorra, Daisy Miller by Henry James, Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley, and My Family and other Animals by Gerald Malcolm Durrell.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
Rise and kill first
Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman is an exhaustive investigative history detailing the targeted assassinations and covert operations carried out by Israel's intelligence services.
Discussed“Ronan Bergman will be here to talk about his new book rise and kill first”
Where to get it
-
Fair Shot
Discussed“Felix salmon will join us to talk about fair shot the new book by Chris Hughes”
Where to get it
-
World Without Mind
World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech by Franklin Foer is a blend of memoir and critique examining the monopolistic dominance and societal dangers posed by major technology corporations.
Discussed“so listeners of the podcast May remember Frank fer who was on the podcast last fall for his book world without mine also wrote about this episode from the perspective of the then editor and chief of the magazine who Chris Hughes fired”
Where to get it
-
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“I am finally reading a book that I have resisted for decades I'm reading James Joyce's ulyses”
Where to get it
-
Portrait of a Novel
Portrait of a Novel by Michael Gorra is a work of literary criticism that examines the creation, publication, and lasting legacy of Henry Jones's classic novel The Portrait of a Lady.
Recommended“I finished Michael gor's the portrait of a novel which I think is a really brilliant work of literary criticism”
Where to get it
-
Daisy Miller
Discussed“and then I read Daisy Miller which is james' short book it's almost just a a Nela really about um a young girl who gets corded by winterborn this man who finds her very Innocent but charming and everyone else thinks she's just a crass American and I enjoy that a lot”
Where to get it
-
Frankenstein
Frankenstein by Mary W.
Discussed“now I'm on something very different which is Mary Shell's Frankenstein it's the 200th anniversary of the book and so I got this nice new edition of it and figured that it would be a good time to read it”
Where to get it
-
My Family and other Animals
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Malcolm Durrell is a humorous and charming memoir chronicling the eccentric childhood years the author spent with his family on the Greek island of Corfu.
Recommended“so I'm reading my family and other animals which is a a memoir by the British naturalist Gerald derell and I have to put it in context a little bit”
Where to get it
-
The Moonstone
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a pioneering nineteenth-century epistolary detective novel centering on the dramatic theft of a priceless diamond and the complex web of secrets surrounding its disappearance.
Discussed“but in the recent classic that I picked up which is wiy Collins's the Moonstone it was very grateful at the beginning of the introduction there was a note that said this contains plot spoilers”
Where to get it
-
Not My Father's Son
Alan Cumming’s memoir Not My Father's Son delves into the actor's painful childhood, family secrets, and the complicated relationship he shared with his abusive father.
Recommended“I will confess that what I just finished was a celebrity Memoir but it's a very un celebrity-like celebrity Memoir Alan Cummings Memoir not my Father's son which has you know a little bit of hint of Glamour here and there because he is alen and I am a super fan of especially his of course his appearance in Cabaret”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Ronan Bergman is the author of the bestselling book rise and kill first the secret history of Israel's targeted assassinations”
“he's also the protagonist of Joyce's debut novel portrait of the Artist as a Young Man so again you're bringing those associations into your reading of this book”