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Every book Katherine Rundell recommended on podcasts
Katherine Rundell is a guest on programs like Conversations with Tyler, where she shares her deep expertise on literature, poetry, and the creative arts. During her conversation on the podcast, Rundell recommended and discussed a variety of literary works. She highlighted John Carey's John Donne, life, mind, and art as a completely spectacular book while exploring different interpretations of John Donne's religious beliefs. As part of an overrated and underrated segment, she recommended Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene, suggesting readers dedicate a week of their lives to it, alongside Diana Wynne Jones's Fire and Hemlock and Howl's Moving Castle. Rundell also touched upon children's literature by mentioning her practice of giving a toddler-friendly picture book adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis to young children. Furthermore, she discussed T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats as one of the poetry works her mother made her memorize during her childhood years.
Books recommended by Katherine Rundell
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Fire and Hemlock
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones is a rich, complex fantasy novel that blends contemporary realism with chilling folklore and intricate narrative puzzles.
Recommended“the obvious one being maybe something like fire and Hemlock or house Moving Castle”
Where to get it
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John Donne, life, mind, and art
John Donne, Life, Mind, and Art by John Carey is an acclaimed biographical and critical study of the celebrated seventeenth-century English poet and preacher John Donne.
Recommended“and John Kerry is completely spectacular book”
Where to get it
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Faerie queene
Edmund Spenser's epic Renaissance poem is a sprawling allegorical work celebrating Queen Elizabeth I through tales of knightly virtue and moral trials.
Recommended“and people should put the side about a week of their lives and read the fairy queen”
Where to get it
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Howl's Moving Castle
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a whimsical and enchanting fantasy novel that operates as a modern fairy tale filled with magic, transformation, and unexpected adventure.
Recommended“the obvious one being maybe something like fire and Hemlock or house Moving Castle”
Where to get it
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The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka is a classic collection of surrealist fiction best known for its opening tale about a man who wakes up transformed into a giant insect.
Recommended“I have a picture book called my first Kafka which is a children's book retelling I didn't write it I just read it of metamorphosis and now I give them to all the toddlers”
Where to get it
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Biathanatos
Discussed“and he wrote the first full-length treaties in the English language by Thanatos on suicide which argues that in very specific limited circumstances suicide is not a sin that Christ himself was the one great suicide”
Where to get it
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Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is a classic nineteenth-century French novel that tells the tragic story of a provincial doctor's wife who engages in extra-marital affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities of her provincial life.
Discussed“I was wondering if Madame Bovary counts as a novel of ideas well yes yes in that case Madame Bovary which I remember reading as a teenager”
Where to get it
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Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins by Pamela L.
Discussed“uh I'm gonna say underrated because the books are much stranger and wilder than we know”
Where to get it
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Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a whimsical collection of light verse by T.S.
Discussed“and some of it was a lot of it was T.S eliot's Possum's book of practical cats”
Where to get it
Books Katherine Rundell wrote
- Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise
- Rooftoppers
- Skysteppers
- The explorer
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katherine Rundell on the Art of Words | Conversations with Tyler | 2023-01-11 | 11 |
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I wrote a book called why you should read children's books even though you are so old and wise”
“I wrote a book called why you should read children's books even though you are so old and wise”
“the woman who wrote 101 Dalmatians and I captured the castle”