Rob Doyle on Aurélia

Strap in.

We’re leaving the known world behind to explore the strange ecstatic visions of a little-known but hugely influential French writer, a fascinating chap called Gérard de Nerval.

We’re going to the edge of perception… and we’re going to peek over it.

Will we return changed? Enlightened? Alive?

Who knows?

Welcome to The Library of Lazy Thinking Podcast, with me, your host, Glenn Fisher.

In each episode, I'm joined by a guest from the world of books to talk about a specific book they'd like to put in the library.

There's no plan and no agenda, just two people lazily thinking about literature.

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In this episode, my very special guest (and someone I’ve wanted to get on the show since its inception) is the brilliant Rob Doyle discussing his pick for the library, the 1855 novella Aurélia by Gérard de Nerval.

About Rob

Rob Doyle was born in Dublin. His first novel, Here Are the Young Men, was chosen as a book of the year by the Sunday Times, Irish Times, and Independent, and was among Hot Press magazine’s ‘20 Greatest Irish Novels 1916-2016’. Doyle adapted it for film with director Eoin Macken. Doyle also has a published collection of short stories: This is the Ritual. He is the editor of the anthology The Other Irish Tradition and In This Skull Hotel Where I Never Sleep. His writing has appeared in the Guardian, Vice, TLS, Dublin Review, and many other publications, and he writes regularly for the Irish Times. His most recent book Threshold was published in 2020, followed by Autobibliography in 2021.

About Gérard

Gérard de Nerval was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romanticism, and is best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection Les Filles du feu (The Daughters of Fire), which included the novella Sylvie and the poem "El Desdichado". Through his translations, Nerval played a major role in introducing French readers to the works of German Romantic authors, including Klopstock, Schiller, Bürger, and Goethe. His later work merged poetry and journalism in a fictional context and influenced Marcel Proust. His last novella, Aurélia (ou le rêve et la vie), influenced André Breton and Surrealism.

Links to obscure (and not so obscure) things mentioned in this episode

* Order Gérard de Nerval’s Selected Writings and Rob’s Threshold from my local independent bookshop in Sheffield here.

* Find Rob on Instagram here.

* Find Glenn Fisher on Instagram here.

About the Library

The Library of Lazy Thinking is a place to hang out and learn more about books. The library is free—like all libraries should be. But if you’d like to support the library, you can make a small monthly donation by becoming a paid member (and get an exclusive The Library of Lazy Thinking bookmark, sticker, and pin badge). All donations go back into the library, helping to organize live events, exclusive merchandise, and more podcasts.

About Glenn

Glenn Fisher is a writer—wait, Glenn Fisher is me. I’m the one writing this. Let’s drop the third-person act. My writing has been published in online literary journals Lunate, The Paris Bitter Hearts Pit, 3am Magazine, Dogmatika, and Litro Magazine. I am currently working on my first novel. I write about books and interview other writers and creatives here in The Library of Lazy Thinking. I live in Sheffield and work as a freelance copywriter. I have had a best-selling non-fiction book published on the subject called The Art of the Click. It was published by Harriman House and shortlisted for Business Book of the Year. It has been translated into Simplified Chinese and Korean. I also have a dog called Pablo. He is harder to translate. Indeed, most of my life revolves around trying to understand his often unreasonable demands.

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