Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-18
Books mentioned on The Charm of 'The Idiot'
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Idiot
The Idiot by Elif Batuman is a brilliant coming-of-age novel that follows a young woman navigating her freshman year at Harvard and her nascent, epistolary romance with an older student.
Recommended“well that brings us back full circle to your new novel and your debut novel The Idiot Al if thank you so much for being here”
Where to get it
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Les Miserables
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo is a sweeping historical novel that follows the ex-convict Jean Valjean as he seeks redemption in nineteenth-century France against a backdrop of revolution, poverty, and social injustice.
Discussed“what makes Victor Hugo's lay misera the novel of the century David BOS will join us to talk about his book on Hugo's Masterpiece does speak to us now”
Where to get it
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American War
American War by Omar El Akkad is a dystopian debut novel that imagines a fractured United States caught in the throes of a second civil war in the late twenty-first century.
Discussed“and on top of that there's this whole new crop of dystopian fiction coming out this spring starting with American War by Omar Cod which is a debut novel and it takes place in America after a civil war”
Where to get it
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The Book of Joan
The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch is a dystopian science fiction novel set in a ruined, war-torn future where the remnants of humanity orbit a devastated Earth.
Discussed“another one that's coming out soon is Lydia yuk nich's novel The Book of Joan which is set in the near future again where the globe has been devastated by climate change and War”
Where to get it
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Void Star
Void Star by Zachary Mason is a complex science fiction novel set in a near-future San Francisco defined by technological disruption and corporate dominance.
Recommended“and another April novel that I loved that again might give you nightmares but you'll probably enjoy it while you're reading it is void Star by Zachary Mason”
Where to get it
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Demons
Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a profound novel exploring the societal and psychological chaos that erupts when ideological dogmas displace spiritual frameworks.
Discussed“I actually wanted to write a novel called the possessed which I thought of as a retelling of dust's Novel the demons which is often translated as the possessed set in a Stanford likee comparative literature graduate program in the earlys”
Where to get it
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The Idiot
The Idiot is a classic novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky that explores the life and moral struggles of Prince Myshkin, a man of pure goodness navigating a corrupt society.
Discussed“so you've named this book also after ad dovi novel is it in your mind a modern interpretation of the idiot actually the the way the title came about was I was working on a another autobiographical type novel”
Where to get it
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Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a classic psychological novel that examines the heavy moral burdens, intense guilt, and philosophical dilemmas faced by a desperate student in Saint Petersburg who commits a heinous crime.
Discussed“the first one I read was Crime and Punishment and that was the one that really struck me at that early moment of Youth when I think one is especially receptive to DVI so that has a special place in my heart”
Where to get it
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Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Illustrated)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Illustrated) is a monumental psychological masterpiece that delves into the tormented mind of a young man who commits a desperate crime and grapples with crushing guilt and moral redemption.
Discussed“the first one I read was Crime and Punishment and that was the one that really struck me at that early moment of Youth when I think one is especially receptive to DVI so that has a special place in my heart”
Where to get it
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The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a profound philosophical novel that delves deeply into faith, doubt, morality, and free will through the tumultuous relationships of the Karamazov family.
Discussed“and then Brothers Kaza I te in a amazing lecture class by Monika Greenleaf at Stanford and that was when I kind of acquired a more adult theoretical understanding of DKI”
Where to get it
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The power broker: Robert Moses and the fall of New York
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A.
Discussed“and since I said that I've been reading with one eye especially alert to Robert Caro's language”
Where to get it
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A Place of Greater Safety
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel is an immersive historical novel that traces the intense lives, political ambitions, and tragic fates of key figures during the French Revolution.
Discussed“uh you may remember last time I had taken a break from the power broker to start Hillary mantel's novel a place of Greater safety about the French Revolution”
Where to get it
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A separation
A Separation by Katie M.
Discussed“so I'm about a third of a way through of the novel a Separation by Kitty kitamura which came out I think last month”
Where to get it
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Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a harrowing work of investigative journalism that uncovers the systematic murders of wealthy Osage Nation members in Oklahoma during the 1920s following the discovery of oil on their tribal lands.
Recommended“so I'm getting excited for David Gran's new book which is coming out next month I think it's called killers of the flower Moon”
Where to get it
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The throwback special
The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder is a poignant novel that follows a group of middle-aged men who gather annually to reenact a notoriously violent play from an old NFL game.
Recommended“which is Chris belder the throwback special I love that book I love it so much”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“and it's Faithfully represented in Gone With The Wind in which you know people read lering Gone With the Wind and that that's quite accurate for the time”
“you know we saw in the first few months of this year this huge surge in sales for classic dystopian novels 1984 Brave New World uh the handmaid's tale which is still selling briskly”
“you know we saw in the first few months of this year this huge surge in sales for classic dystopian novels 1984 Brave New World uh the handmaid's tale which is still selling briskly”
“you know we saw in the first few months of this year this huge surge in sales for classic dystopian novels 1984 Brave New World uh the handmaid's tale which is still selling briskly”
“and I thought I might follow that up with another book about the French Revolution that I've never gotten around to A Tale of Two Cities which I have now bought and left prominently on my bedside table as a kind of prompt like a to-do list”
“I actually started reading Emil zolah the belly of Paris but I will wait to talk about that and I'll talk instead about the book that I just finished reading”