The Readers Karamazov

In the main episode, the boys discuss Gao Xingjian's experimental novel Soul Mountain. They work through the unusual narrative techniques (second person?); discuss Taoism, Buddhism, and the book's seeming preference for plurality; and think about the interaction between the book's political context and its incorporation of folk stories and field anthropology.

As a bonus, the second ever episode of Postmodern Food Factory sees the boys diving into the great autumny unknown, trying all four flavors of the Bud Light Seltzer Fall Flannel Pack. Which is worse, Pumpkin Spice or Toasted Marshmallow? Will Søren vomit live on air? Why is Karl strangely into these brews?

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The boys kick it Ancient Greece style once more, discussing Aristophanes' uproarious comedy The Clouds. Bouncing off a reader question, they discuss what Aristophanes' view of Socrates, the main target of the play, actually is. They also talk conservatism in art and whether society can withstand massive upheaval, and dissect some of the trickier formal elements of the play.

Theme Music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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In the first non-Middlemarch episode of the season, the boys tackle Voltaire's fast paced picaresque Candide, and think through issues of humor, how fair the book is to its main target Leibniz, and what it means to live a good, contented life in Candide's world.

SPECIAL BONUS: In our first ever "mini episode," the boys debut a new segment, Postmodern Food Factory, in which they try gross simulacra of actual foods. First up, Mountain Dew Major Melon, a monstrosity of chemical experimentation. Plus, Karl lists all the flavors of Dew he has personally tried.

As promised, a link to the delightful Wikipedia page for Mountain Dew flavors.

Theme Music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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This is it: the final episode on George Eliot's Middlemarch. In this episode the boys tie up some loose ends, ruminating a little more on acts of the will, what it takes to make it in marriage, and even more talk about the books within Middlemarch. As a final bonus, they loop back around to "The Cinematic Eliot" to discuss who would excel at adapting the novel (Robert Altman?), with a brief cameo by Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life, which takes its title from the novel's last lines.

As mentioned at the beginning, this episode is dedicated to the memory of Hal Bush, Professor of English at Saint Louis University. For more info on Hal, we're including a link to his obituary.

Theme music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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The boys get weird as they peer into the furthest recesses of George Eliot's midlands world. In this episode, covering Books V + VI of Middlemarch, they talk more about class elements in the book, dig into the character of Bulstrode and what he represents about English religion, and get a little wacky talking about the books that appear within the book.

Theme Music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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The boys are back in town! In the first episode of Season 2, the Bastard Sons of Hegel discuss the first two books of George Eliot's Middlemarch. Friedrich gives tons of helpful context for the book and Eliot; Karl gets very concerned with the question of Realism; and Søren proposes some cinematic parallels for Eliot's writing. Plus, in depth discussions of Eliot's dialectic writing style and her theories of art.

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With Karl on break, Friedrich and Søren discuss a book they'd both hoped to force him to read: Anthony Trollope's Victorian novel The Warden. They talk about the ways in which the book goes against the grain of other Victorian novels; the trials and travails of structuring your book around a beta male protagonist; and the flow of sympathy present in the book. Bonus: a discussion of Dr. Pessimist Anticant and Mr. Popular Sentiment.

Theme song: "Shostakovich" by Mucca Pazza.

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In this episode the boys tackle Ian McEwan's Amsterdam, a story of obsession, friendship, and, most importantly, music.

They discuss whether or not McEwan's craft is a little too tidy; what constitutes middlebrow art; and who the best (and worst) members of the Beatles are.

Theme Music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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It's sci-fi redux this week on TRK, as the boys tackle Ursula K. Le Guin's "ambiguous utopia" The Dispossessed. That means plenty of talk about anarchism, physics, connections to Trouble on Triton, and even a pleasant little discourse on marriage... IN SPACE!

Theme song: "Shostakovich" by Mucca Pazza.

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In this episode, the boys discuss a Friedrich pick, John Fowles' 1963 debut novel The Collector. Going beyond the (admittedly fascinating) set up of a lonely man who kidnaps his dream girl, the BSOH discuss the novel's fascination with art, mechanical reproduction, class warfare, taste, and more.

Also, in a bonus for everyone everywhere, the episode includes insults directed at the following: MFA programs (and the students therein), photography, lepidoptery.

Theme song: "Shostakovich" by Mucca Pazza.

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In this episode, the boys tackle Søren's favorite Greek tragedy, Euripides' The Bacchae, a story of gods, wine, and madness. They try to work themselves into the mindset of the ancient Greeks (via the lubrication of a few mid-pod drinks), and sort out how the play does and does not conform to typical analyses of tragedy. Madness; order; destruction: this one's got it all. Plus: stick around to the very end for a post-credits stinger.

Theme music: "Shostakovich" by Mucca Pazza.

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In this episode, the boys discuss Friedrich's first book pick: Shūsaku Endō's 1969 masterpiece Silence. They talk about secularism, syncretism, arrogance, and belief in the context of Endō's novel about Jesuit priests facing persecution in Japan.

Theme music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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In this episode, Karl and Soren are finally joined by long lost brother Friedrich, the third bastard son of Hegel, to discuss the work of philosopher/novelist Iris Murdoch. They begin by discussing her work of literary criticism "Against Dryness," (available here) and her insistence in a video interview that her philosophy and her creative writing are separate.

Building on these discussions, the boys turn to Murdoch's strange, delightful 1961 novel A Severed Head, a tale filled with upper class Britishisms, along with darker things like violence and incest. They consider the extent to which Murdoch folds in philosophical concerns, the nature of psychoanalysis and anthropology, and the need to "wake up" from the stupor in which we lead our lives.

Theme music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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In Episode 5, Karl and Søren discuss James Baldwin's classic novel Giovanni's Room. They talk literary liberalism, guilt and shame, the importance of names, and the novel's interesting meta-structure.

Theme music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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In this episode, the boys discuss Part III of The Brothers Karamazov, paying particular attention to the characters of Alyosha, Grushenka, and Dmitri. Karl talks about the concept of the abject and how it plays out in this section, while Søren makes some jokes of questionable taste about corpses.

Theme music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.

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In this episode, Karl and Søren discuss Part II of The Brothers Karamazov: everything, that is, but The Grand Inquisitor. They talk about baseness, proper ways of treating the poor, and Father Zosima's approach to holiness as a means of achieving unity on earth.

Program note: our discussion of The Grand Inquisitor section of Part II is appearing as a separate podcast available only to our Patreon subscribers. Head over to our Patreon to sign up and get access today!

Theme song: "Shostakovich" by Mucca Pazza.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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