Classics Considered

We kick off Season 3 with two giants of 19th-century science fiction: Jules Verne and Albert Robida.  Both French authors, Verne and Robida crafted futuristic novels set in the 20th century, predicting changes in technology and society.  Join me in this trip to the past, which at times feels amazingly reminiscent of the digital world we live in today. Links / Further reading: Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne The Twentieth Century by Albert Robida

In The Sea and Poison , we find one Japanese author's perspective on the horrific human experimentation carried out by Unit 731 "doctors" in World War II. A small addendum to my comment in this episode, that there were "no Nuremberg trials, to speak of."  The Soviets actually staged their own show trials for some of the Unit 731 personnel.  However, sources indicate that the sentences were light and may also have been exchanged for data.  To me, this is hardly the equivalent of the Nuremberg trials, where several nations (not only the USSR) took part in the trial and the sentences included 12 executions and seven imprisonments. Sources / Further Reading: "Unmasking Horror -- A special report.; Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity" - NYT article, 1995 "Unit 731: Japan's biological force" - BBC article, 2002 "Japanese veteran admits vivisection tests on PoWs" - Guardian article, (2006) "Department of ...

Today, we venture back to 19th-century Imperial France, in two vivid novels of Émile Zola: The Ladies' Paradise ( Au Bonheur des Dames ) and The Kill ( La Curée ). Links / Further Reading: Zoladdiction 2018 - FandaClassiclit blog

A magazine article provoked me to re-read H. G. Well's sci-fi horror classic, The Island of Doctor Moreau. Join my trip back in time as I talk about a Soviet scientist, a British author, and human-chimpanzee people . Sources / Further Reading: "It’s Time to Make Human-Chimp Hybrids" by David Barash Articles referencing Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov: Smithsonian Magazine Laboratory Primate Newsletter (Brown University) Wikipedia discussion H. G. Wells's The New World Order H. G. Wells vs. George Orwell ( The Conversation ) "The Comprachicos" by John Kaiser (JSTOR) "Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic Defects" ( New York Times )

We start off Season 2 with a journey to the Never Land - the dangerous yet dazzling world of Peter Pan, where even grownups can learn a thing or two. Links / Further Reading: J. M. Barrie's "Atrocious" Cricket Club "The Adventure of the Two Collaborators" "Perceptions of Childhood" - Reynolds, The British Library "Wendy" song - Peter Pan Live! Opening quote read by Will Ching (LibriVox)

"Classic" - this word holds so much weight, yet what does it really mean?  Today we discover Kazuo Ishiguro's novel A Pale View of Hills and examine the different facets of what makes a classic book. Sources / Further Reading: "The Definition of a Classic in Literature" by Esther Lombardi "In Literature, What Makes a Classic?" (NPR) Kazuo Ishiguro and Malcolm Bradbury, in conversation (Interview, plus discussion of A Pale View of Hills ) "Kazuo Ishiguro becomes Nagasaki honorary resident" (NHK) The Buried Giant - My thoughts

What makes Alice in Wonderland a beloved classic?  This week, I review one of my childhood favorites and some of its creative film adaptations. Links Mentioned: "Pig and Pepper" - Disney concept "In a World of My Own" - Diana Panton  

Two runaways, two worlds, and the pursuit of freedom.  This week's episode covers Anthem and Breakfast at Tiffany's , two American classics with surprising similarities. Sources / Further Reading: Biography of Ayn Rand (Gale) Biography of Ayn Rand (Encyclopedia Britannica) Biography of Truman Capote (Encyclopedia Britannica) "The Legendary Friendship of Harper Lee and Truman Capote" About Truman Capote (PBS)

Our journey leads us to a castle in Hungary and Sándor Márai's short but stirring novel, Embers . History takes center stage in the life of the old General, who wakes up one day to take revenge on the man that haunted him for forty-one years. Sources / Further Reading: Biography of Sándor Márai (San Diego House of Hungary) Biography of Sándor Márai (Random House) Biography of Sándor Márai (Wikipedia)

An ancient family heirloom - and a mother's call for vengeance - sends young Leo Vincey and his adoptive father on a quest to find a mysterious sorceress, Ayesha, or She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed .  In this episode, I review H. Rider Haggard's She , a novel which influenced the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Sources / Further Reading: How to Pronounce Ayesha? (Sci-Fi StackExchange discussion) Biography of H. Rider Haggard "The Annexation of the Transvaal" ( The Spectator archives) - Haggard directly participated in this political event. "Fawcett's Deadly Idol" Article on Percy Fawcett's disappearance (The History Channel) The Lost City of Z , by David Grann - My parents read and were fascinated by this nonfictional story of Percy Fawcett and his obsession with lost cities.  We also watched the movie by the same name , but it wasn't very well done... skip it and go straight to the book!

In this episode, we meet William Faulkner through one of his most famous novels, The Sound and the Fury . Resources: Faulkner Pronouncing "Yoknapatawpha"

Our voyage takes a detour through that hardest of decisions: how to rate a novel.  I share my four personal guidelines for rating classics and show some examples of how this works in practice.

We wrap up the Space Trilogy with That Hideous Strength , Lewis's dystopian thriller which takes place on our very own planet Earth.

Here we uncover another dystopian classic: Robert Hugh Benson's little-known novel from 1907, Lord of the World . Sources / Further Reading: List of Dystopian Literature (Wikipedia) Article on Benson by The Catholic World Report Summary of papal statements (Wikipedia) Interview with Pope Francis by Catholic News Agency (2015)  

Today I unpack three of Arthur Miller's most famous plays: All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , and The Crucible . I must really apologize for the frequency of the word "interesting" in this episode.  My only excuse is I recorded this one in the evening and so perhaps wasn't feeling as bright as during my Saturday morning recordings.  ;) Further Reading: Excerpt of Arthur Miller’s testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee  

C. S. Lewis wrote a science fiction trilogy?  You bet he did.  In this episode, we'll go over the first two books, Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra . Works mentioned: "Eugenics and Other Evils" by G. K. Chesterton (Free online) "Some Popular Fallacies about Vivisection" by Lewis Carroll (Ridiculously difficult to find.  My 1996 Wordsworth edition of the "complete illustrated" includes it, so I hope the 1998 edition in the link does as well.)

On this voyage through classic literature, we join Humphrey van Weyden and follow his struggle to survive on the ominous ship The Ghost . A couple of notes on this episode: At one point I mistakenly imply I rated the book 3 stars.  (I actually gave it a 4.) I apologize for the amount of background noise.  It may have been the chair I was sitting in - I'll try to improve the setup next time around.  Have you read The Sea-Wolf (or other similar sea stories)?  Let me know what you thought of it!

Today's episode delves into WWI history with the life and writings of T. E. Lawrence. Books mentioned: Crusader Castles (Hardcover) Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Paperback) Minorities: Good Poems by Small Poets and Small Poems by Good Poets (Hardcover) The Forest Giant (Free online) The Odyssey (Hardcover)  |  The Odyssey (Free online) The Mint (Paperback)  |  The Mint (Free online) Sources / Further Reading: Mack, John E.  A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence. Brown, Malcolm.  Lawrence of Arabia: The Life, the Legend. Seven Pillars of Wisdom (My book journal)

For this week's topic, I talk about my favorites from classic literature and why I may give up having "favorites" in the future.

In this pilot episode, I discuss my latest read, We - a dystopian classic novel by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin.