Lit with Charles

The Caribbean is a region with an incredible history of vibrant cultures blending into each other, which is reflected in so many elements from the food, the local traditions, the music and of course, the literature. Today’s guest hails from the nation of Trinidad and Tobago, and the region has clearly left an indelible mark on her writing, infusing it with the rhythms, flavors, and complexities that define the Caribbean experience. Based on the new format of the show, Costa Prize winning author Ingrid Persaud will share four books that have left an indelible mark on her life and work. From literary classics to contemporary gems, these books have shaped her perspective, influencing the stories she tells and the voices she amplifies. In this episode, we also discuss her latest novel, "The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh." Inspired by the true story of the titular Trinidadian gangster from the 1930s to the 1950s, this novel looks at the complex web of relationships surrounding him and the four women who shaped his life. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing society, this novel offers a poignant exploration of love, loss, and redemption, inviting readers to journey through the heartaches and triumphs of its unforgettable characters. The four books that Ingrid Persaud selected were:  A House for Mr Biswas, VS Naipaul (1961) Reading Turgenev, William Trevor (1991) As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner (1930) Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison (1977) If you’d like to get in touch, you can contact me on my Instagram account @litwithcharles and you can also check out my weekly Substack newsletter: https://litwithcharles.substack.com/

Welcome to a special episode that marks a whole year of Lit with Charles. As we wrap up a full year of podcasting, it's time to reflect on the journey we've embarked on together. From the very beginning, the goal was clear – to create a space for the curious souls eager to explore the world of literature, authors, and the intricate process of writing. In today's episode, we take a trip down memory lane, revisiting some of the most captivating questions and answers that have lingered in my mind. This special highlight reel is divided into two parts, each focusing on a distinct facet of the literary landscape. In the first half, we delve into "The Author's Process," unraveling the mysteries behind how authors conceive their ideas and bring them to life on the page. What sparks the creative flame? How do they navigate the intricate pathways of their minds to craft compelling narratives? The second part of our annual highlight shifts its spotlight to "The Life of a Book". Books, beyond their narratives, are extraordinary objects with unique journeys – from creation to consumption. We explore the intricate processes involved in printing, storing, managing, and selling these literary treasures. Before we embark on this retrospective journey, heartfelt thanks are in order. To the 51 incredible guests who graced this podcast with their wisdom and insights – thank you for sharing your stories and making each conversation enlightening. So, without further ado, let's relive some of the best answers that unveil the authors' fascinating processes, guiding us through the intricate world of storytelling that we all cherish. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

The Chinese Cultural Revolution was launched by Chairman Mao in 1966 and lasted a whole decade until his death. It aimed to purify China of perceived bourgeois elements and reinforce hardline communist ideology. The era left a huge impact on China's socio-political landscape, but despite its seismic impact, it’s not that well understood by many Westerners. Today, I’m speaking with Tania Branigan. Tania spent 7 years as the Guardian’s China correspondent, and is also the author of a recent non-fiction book called Red Memory, which explores stories that have emerged about the Cultural Revolution and its lingering impact on contemporary China. I read and reviewed it earlier this year, and I was absolutely blown away.  In this episode, Tania and I go deep into her book, Red Memory, the process she went through in writing and researching the text. For those of you who don’t know all that much about the Cultural Revolution, don’t panic – Tania does an incredible job of covering the basics while also getting into the intricacies of the relevant political history. I thoroughly recommend the book for anyone looking to improve their knowledge of China, especially how this contemporary society is still haunted by many ghosts of the Cultural Revolution. Tania mentioned Sparks, by Ian Johnson (2023), a work of non-fiction which follows “counter-historians” documenting contemporary China. Her favourite book that I’d never heard of was The Memory Police, Yōko Ogawa (1994), a dystopian tale in which a totalitarian regime controls collective memory. Also by that author was The Housekeeper and The Professor, by Yōko Ogawa (2003), which follows an ageing mathematician whose memory is limited to 80 minutes. The best book she has read in the last twelve months was Waiting to be Arrested at Night, by Tahir Hamut Izgil (2023), which is a Uyghur poet’s memoir of China’s genocide of the majority-Muslim population in Xinjiang Province in Northwestern China. This also reminded her of another favourite with similar undertones, The Appointment, by the Romanian author Herta Müller (1997), which follows the life of a young woman living under a communist regime. The book she would take to a desert island is the collected short stories of Anton Chekhov. On that note, she also mentioned the fantastic book A Swim in The Pond in the Rain by George Saunders (2021), in which the author, a master short story writer, examines four classic Russian short stories, including one by Chekhov. Finally, a book that changed her mind was Heidi Larson’s Stuck (2020), which explores vaccine rumours, and how best to deal with people who have different opinions on that subject.

There’s little more universally enticing than a story about someone setting off on a great voyage: an intrepid adventurer protagonist. This week, the book I’m discussing is just that – a journey into unknown frontiers, both geographically and linguistically. Today I’m speaking with author and journalist Lauren Collins. Lauren, a staff writer with the New Yorker since 2008, published her incredible debut novel, When In French: Love in a Second Language, to huge acclaim in 2016. In this episode, Lauren and I get into the idea of language – the experience of being a person who lives between two languages, the evolution and porosity of language, L’Academie Francaise (the three-headed dog that guards French grammar), and some technical aspects of a few high-impact linguistic theories. In our interview today, Lauren told me about the book Je ne suis pas Parisienne, by Alice Pfeiffer (2019) – a series of essays written by a journalist, repudiating the ‘Parisian woman’ cliché. Her favorite book that I’ve probably never heard of is The Smile Revolution, by Colin Jones (2014), a cultural history of smiling. Her four best books from the last 12 months are We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland, by Fintan O’Toole (2021), Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, by Saidiya Hartman (2019), Biography of X, by Catherine Lacey (2023), and South to America, by Imani Perry (2022). Finally, the book she would take to a desert island is Lucy Sante’s The Other Paris: An illustrated journey through a city’s poor and Bohemian past (2015), a guided-tour through the Paris of a bygone era.

Our relationship with our parents and, more widely, with our ancestors’ stories are some of the most formative & influential connections in many people’s lives, both for good and bad. The impact of this relationship can be felt in so many different ways, not least of which in artistic expression.  With me today is Violaine Huisman, a French author based in New York who recently became the Director of Cultural Affairs at the Alliance Française. She’s the author of a trilogy of novels about her and her family. The first is called The Book of Mother published in 2018 and translated into English last year, the second is called Rose désert (translated maybe as “Desert Pink”) published in 2019 but not yet translated, and the third is Les monuments de Paris (“The Monuments of Paris”) which will be published this year.  In this episode, Violaine and I cover a wide array of topics – the structure and linearity of her novels, the existential question of ‘Frenchness’ and being a ‘French author in New York’, and of course we speak of Marcel Proust, as well as some of the other major influences in her writing. It was a real pleasure to speak with Violaine about this powerful, family-driven trilogy which I absolutely recommend. In today’s interview, we discussed Les Essais, by Michel de Montaigne (1580), a wide-ranging collection of essays, originally written in ‘Middle French’, Saxifrage, by Catherine Cremnitz (1993) – Violaine’s mother’s own autobiography, and 10:04, by Ben Lerner (2014), a modern book of auto-fiction about a Manhattan-based author recently diagnosed with a life-threatening heart-condition. The best book Violaine has read in the last 12 months was Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo (1862), which tells the story of Jean Valjean and the other ‘miserable’ characters of the early 1800s Paris underworld. The book she would take to a desert island was the Bible. Finally, a book that changed her mind was In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (first published in 1913), about its narrator’s life and childhood, and his reflections on the persistence of memory. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Cowboys, golden dust-plains, and wide open spaces. This is the stuff of the Far West, a setting that has been visited & re-visited in literature & film, often pitting good versus evil in stark terms. And today I’m talking about one of the greatest novels of the American West: Lonesome Dove, by the Texan author Larry McMurtry, published in 1985.  In this episode, I speak to Kate Slotover, co-founder of The Book Club Review – a book club in podcast form, which loves debate and discussion – about a work we’re both huge fans of. We’re going to really narrow in on some of our favourite moments, specifics and characters for an in depth and exciting discussion of this very special book. If you haven’t checked out her excellent podcast, the Book Club Review, then I suggest you have a listen, it’s brilliant. Books mentioned in the episode: The best book Kate has read in the last 12 months was Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, by Claire Dederer (2023), a topical exploration of whether or not we can separate the art from the artist. We also discussed the recent Booker Prize winner, Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch (2023) – a dystopian book about the Republic of Ireland slipping into a Totalitarian regime.  Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

In this episode, I highlight the top 5 five books that I read last year. It’s a great way to remember what I’ve read and what I value in my reading experiences. I dive deeper than I usually would into what makes these books especially great and what they meant to me.Sometimes I’ll enjoy something quite linear and - gasp! - commercial whilst, at other times, I’ll prefer something quite experimental & different. In today’s list, those eclectic choices shine through meaning that there’s a bit of everything for everyone. I also throw in a couple of honorary mentions of books which weren’t necessarily my favourites, but had something special that I thought were worth a mention. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

My guest today is Nandini Das, a Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture at Exeter College at Oxford University, and author of the book “Courting India” which is an account of England’s first ambassador to the Mughal court, Sir Thomas Roe, who was tasked with building a relationship with the emperor Jahangir in order to build English trade with India.  It’s a fascinating book because it takes everything you thought you knew about the historic relationship between the two countries and completely turns it on its head. The English are poor and humble supplicants, whilst the Indian court is wealthy, powerful and very much in charge of directing the shape & direction of the relationship.  In today’s episode, we talk about this first British embassy to India, how successful (or not) it really was, how it sowed the seeds for the British empire in India & beyond, and we touch upon the current relationship between the two countries, as well as hearing Nandini’s favourite books & reading recommendations. Her favourite book that I’ve never heard of: “Coryat’s Crudities” by Thomas Coryat (1611) Her favourite book of the last 12 months: “Leo Africanus Discovers Comedy: Theatre and Poetry Across the Mediterranean” by Nathalie Zemon Davis (2021) The book that she would take to a desert island: “The Principal Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation” by Richard Hakluyt (1589) The book that changed her mind: “Three Ways To Be Alien” by Sanjay Subrahmanyam (2011) Buy her book: https://amzn.eu/d/hAMRkg7 Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to Lauren Easum, co-founder of the Parisian bookplate company Ex-Libris. Along with her business partner, Igor Telinge, Lauren has opened Ex-Libris Paris with the intention of bringing tradition back to life, and offering bibliophiles a way to imprint their books with their names & heritage. In today’s episode, Lauren and I cover a wide range of topics – the history of bookplates, or ex-libris stamps as we sometimes refer to them, what makes a good bookplate, how they got the idea from a centuries-old discovery in the cellar of a Parisian townhouse, and the connection between bookplates and erotica. It was such an interesting conversation, and I learned a lot about the history of this object – from armorial origins, the exclusive purview of the social elite, to a democratised artform anyone can enjoy. Lauren’s favourite book that I’ve never heard of was Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman, by Stefan Zweig (1932), which is a psychological portrait of the famous French queen. The best book that she has read in the last 12 months is Bel-ami, by Guy de Maupassant (1885) – which follows a charming and ambitious man confronted with the sordidity and corruptness of belle epoque Paris. The book she would take to a desert island is Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing, by René Daumal (1952), a surrealist ‘cult classic’ which tells the allegorical story of an expedition to an elusive mountain. Finally, the book that changed her mind was Sophie’s World, by Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder (1991), which follows teenage Sophie as she is introduced to the world of philosophy. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Today I spoke to Blindboy Boatclub – a multi-disciplinary Irish artist and author of the recently published short story collection Topographia Hibernica, a tongue-in-cheek update to the original. Blindboy exploded onto the international scene in late 2010 with his band The Rubberbandits and segued into a weekly podcast which is a cultural phenomenon, with over 1.2 million monthly listeners. He has released three critically acclaimed short story collections and this is his latest one. I thoroughly enjoyed Topographia Hibernica and its absurd, empathetic depictions of contemporary Irish society, flora and fauna. If you’re a fan of dynamic short stories with a hard & modern edge, this will appeal to you. Tonally, it’s gritty, subversive, and slightly surreal, and narrows in on the way we relate to animals and the natural world in modern culture. Above all, many of the stories are funny. There was something in the energy here that reminded me of early short stories by the Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. The book is a relatively easy read – not lighthearted, but still accessible – and its thematic threads of animal kingdoms interacting with elements of contemporary mythology holds the collection together in a really coherent way.  This episode features an extremely wide-reaching conversation, dipping in and out of Irish folklore, Hiberno English, the impending collapse in global biodiversity, Hieronymus Bosch, creating art with ‘fire in your veins’, and a plethora of other fascinating topics. What shines through our conversation most apparently is the remarkable breadth of Blindboy’s knowledge, and the all-consuming way he approaches creative pursuits. Incredibly informed and interested in the world around him, he’s an artist in the truest sense of the word. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading! Books mentioned in the episode: During the episode, Blindboy talked about the Argentinian horror short story collection, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez (2021); Dance Move, by Wendy Erskine (2022), an eclectic collection of stories set in Belfast; A Shock, by Keith Ridgeway (2021), a subversive novel exploring the absurdity of contemporary London life; The Wounded Cormorant and Other Stories by Liam O’Flaherty (1973), a compassionate portrayal of Irish nature; and Neuromancer, by William Gibson (1984), a genre-forming cyberpunk novel. His favourite book that I’ve probably never heard of was Ossian’s Ride, by Fred Hoyle (1951), a sci-fi detective novel, where Ireland has become a technological superpower. The best book he’s read in the last 12 months was Homesick for Another World, by Ottessa Moshfegh (2017), a collection of 14 short stories, most of which were originally published in The Paris Review.  The book he would take to a Desert Island would be The Third Policeman, by Flann O’Brien (1967) a dark, surrealist murder mystery set in a village police force. Finally, a book that changed his mind is The Dead, which is the final, novella-length, story from James Joyce’s collection Dubliners (1914). Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠@litwithcharles⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading! Find Blindboy: Instagram: @blindboyboatclub

Part of what I try to do on this channel is to, in some small way, examine the history of literature. But for today’s guest, Spanish writer and Philologist Irene Vallejo, it’s the history of the book itself – from early beginnings as delicate cuneiform tablets, scrolls, and reeds on the banks of the Nile – that truly excites. Papyrus is a stunning introduction to (and explanation of!) philology, and is definitely an accessible read for any lover of books or history. In this episode, we dive into 6000 years of history – connecting ancient episodes with anachronistic references to the modern day – and zoom in on some of the most powerful stories contained within. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading! Books mentioned in the episode: The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco (1980) a tale of monks, murder mystery, and religious misgivings The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon (1776) The Tale of Tales, Giambattista Basile (1634), which the brothers Grimm credit as the first national collection of fairy tales One Thousand and One Nights also known as the Arabian Night, a compendium of Middle Eastern folktales from the Islamic Golden Age. A book Irene would recommend to give beginners a better understanding of philology is Scholars and Scribes: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature, by Nigel Wilson (1968) – an explanation of how texts have survived from Greek and Roman times, and why it was considered such an important endeavour. A book she’d recommend that I’ve never heard of is Pedro Páramo, by Juan Rulfo (1955), the story of a man who promises his dying mother he will find his father in a town called Comala, only to discover it’s a place where ghosts and spectres walk amongst us. The best book she has read in the last 12 months is The Bitch, by Pilar Quintana (2020), which is an exploration of motherhood and love, following protagonist Damaris and her fisherman husband, set against the backdrop of the Colombian jungle. The book she would take to a desert island is an encyclopaedia – possibly Britannica. The book that changed her mind was The Odyssey by Homer, because when her father read it to her as a 4-year-old, that was the very moment she thinks she became a classicist. Find Irene: Buy Papyrus: ⁠ ⁠https://amzn.eu/d/aW3ABoR Instagram: ⁠@irenevallejomoreu

Famously undefinable, in many ways art is an ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ kind of thing. It’s a giant sociological concept whose tendrils snake into all our lives. In today’s episode, I speak to Farah Nayeri: journalist and author of Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age, a fascinating overview of some of the most difficult questions currently being asked in the contemporary art world. What should we be doing about culturally valuable works from problematic artists? Are the demographics of the industry (historically a hotbed of old, straight white men) changing fast enough? How can artists tread the line between appreciation and appropriation? In today’s wide-ranging conversation, we cover this and much, much more – along with a snapshot into Farah’s literary tastes and recommendations. Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading! Books mentioned in the episode: Farah’s favourite book I had probably never heard of was Venice is a Fish: A Sensual Guide, by Tiziano Scarpa (2008), an intoxicating and lyrical exploration of the parts of the city traditional guidebooks won’t show you. The best book she has read in the last 12 months was David Smith: The Art and Life of a Transformational Sculptor, by Michael Brenson (2022), a biography of the industry titan who helped spark a love for the plastic arts in the US ‘scene’. The book she would take to a desert island was À la recherche du temps perdu, by Marcel Proust (1913), whose translated title is In Search of Lost Time, a Bildungsroman following the life of narrator ‘Marcel’, set in high-society France. The book that changed her mind was Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain, by Sathnam Sanghera (2021), which offers a fresh critique of the history of British colonialism. Finally, the book that pleasantly surprised her was The Human Stain, by Philip Roth (2000), the story of an ageing classics professor in a small New England town forced to retire amidst allegations of racism. Find Farah: Book: https://amzn.eu/d/cdIRzdf Website: http://www.farahnayeri.com/ Instagram: @nayeri.farah

It’s the age-old question: was the book really better than the movie? For the last however many millennia, the book has been the unrivalled compendium of human knowledge. However, since the turn of the last century, there’s been a new kid on the proverbial block: the movie. Today I got to speak to Tom Williams, a film producer based out of LA, whose 25 year film industry tenure has given us a brief window into the glitz, glamour, and (perhaps) practical realities of working in the biz. In this episode we cover a wide range of topics, and have a go at recontextualising the historic chasm between cinema and literature – not a brutal clash of deadly foes, but actually something rather symbiotic. Find some of the books mentioned in the episode below: His favourite book I’ve never heard of was The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, Alvaro Mutis (1992) His favourite book from the last 12 months was Seven Empty Houses, Samanta Schweblin (2022) A book he found disappointing was The Archivist by Rex Pickett (2021) The book he would bring to a desert island was Foucault’s Pendulum, by Umberto Eco (1988)  The book that changed his mind was The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (1943) Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

At first glance, the book I’m talking about today seems like the ultimate odd-couple pairing – a insightful analysis of the condition & economic prospects of women in India, combined with the adoration of a national movie icon. However, as it turns out, these two subjects might not be so disparate after all. Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Shrayana Bhattacharya, an Indian economist about her 2021 book, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh. The book follows Shrayana’s time spent collecting data on women’s ambiguously defined and chronically undervalued employment across India. Over time, she started to notice a thread common to many of the women and girls she spoke to: a love for a certain Bollywood superstar called Shah Rukh Khan – a love which she in fact shared. Unlike other male action movie stars in India who are big on muscle and short on emotion, Shah Rukh, with his sad, gentle eyes, slighter frame, and willingness to help his cinematic leading ladies peel carrots and wash dishes, has struck a unique chord with the country’s women. A lack of financial freedom and bodily autonomy hangs over the lives of the women Shrayana talks to – eighty percent of Indian women need approval from a family member to go outside the home to visit a health centre (171), and three in five adolescent girls feel unsafe in public places (196), she tells us. However, what shines through this text is the off-the-charts wattage of respect and affection with which she tells their stories – allowing both the harsh realities of these women’s day-to-day lives and their playful, pragmatic crush on a good-looking movie star to exist simultaneously. Even though the book is a rigorous and detailed sociological analysis, the writing is accessible, fun and witty. It would be a perfect read for someone who is interested in feminism, economics and politics, but who might equally be a little apprehensive about approaching the drier tomes that tend to populate non-fiction bestseller lists. Books mentioned in the episode: One book about India (non-fiction): (50.10) Dreamers: How Young Indians are Changing the World, Snigdha Poonam, about the dreams of various segments of Indian youth. One book about India (fiction): (51.55) Ghachar Ghochar, Vivek Shanbhag (translated by Srinath Perur), a family rags to riches story set in Bangalore. Favourite book I’ve probably never heard of (52.33): The Higher Education of Geetika Mehendiratta, Anuradha Marwah a coming of age story about a young girl. Best book she’s read in the last 12 months (53:22): Sakina’s Kiss, Vivek Shanbhag (translated by Srinath Perur), (54.01)  Book she has found disappointing in the last 12 months (54.10): She found a whole genre disappointing – nonfiction accounts of very powerful men writing about themselves and the economy, vanity trip stories about themselves and how they became powerful Desert Island Book (55.24): The Odd Woman and the City, Vivian Gornick, a memoir about friendship and aging, set in New York City, published in 2015 Book that changed her mind (56.15): Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love, Emily Witt, a guide to modern sexuality, published in 2016 ⁠⁠Find Shrayana: Instagram: ⁠@bshrayana Twitter: @bshrayana Buy her book: https://amzn.eu/d/2YpWR4A Follow me ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!

In today’s episode, I speak to the writer Avery Carpenter Forrey, who wrote the fun & enjoyable debut novel “Social Engagement”. It’s a young woman’s journey to getting married that is full of obstacles & revelations. At first glance, this may seem like standard chick-lit fare but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a darker undertone to this work that gave it an interesting shape. Aside from struggling with the aftermath of a past relationship as well as family trauma, the young woman at the heart of this novel deals with an eating disorder, and there’s a whole angle of body symbolism that gives it an unusual flavour. It is Edith Wharton in the age of TikTok, with David Cronenberg as a cameo guest star. Its' tribe of privileged Upper East Siders are well-defined and certainly more palatable than the brats of Bret Easton Ellis, and it’s no spoiler to reveal that the wedding at the heart of this novel is a total car crash – and who doesn’t love a good car crash at a wedding – given that the novel opens at the end.  In this episode, Avery & I talk about her work and how it came to be, and we meander down her literary path to uncover her literary influences in her journey to becoming a writer.  Books mentioned in the episode: The book that changed her mind: Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) The genre that she is drawn to: Carmen Maria Machado, author of the short story collection “Her Body & Other Parties” (2017) and her memoir “In The Dream House” (2019) Favourite book I’ve never heard of: “Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance” by Alison Espach Favourite book of the last 12 months: “The Rachel Incident”, by Caroline O’Donoghue The book that she found over-rated: “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus The book she’s embarrassed not to have read: “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy  The book she would take to a desert island: “You Think It, I’ll Say It”, a short story collection by Curtis Sittenfeld . This is the book she was reading as she gave birth so it’s got to be entertaining. She also recommends the book “Prep” and “American Wife”, a fictionalized portrait of Laura Bush, and “Rodham” an alternative history where Hilary Clinton never meets Bill Clinton. Instagram: @averycarpenterforrey Buy her book: https://amzn.eu/d/6lBZlkh Follow me ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!

There are classic books from a few centuries ago, and then there are classic classic books from distant and remote regions covering events that are long-lost to the sands of time. Today’s episode is about this kind of book: the Icelandic sagas written in the 1300s and covering events from the start of the second millennium. The saga I read for this week’s episode is called Njal’s Saga and it is written anonymously, as many of the texts at the time were, probably through a long oral tradition and it is a fictionalized history of the start of what was called the Icelandic Commonwealth, which was a pretty unique society, largely agrarian, with no king or aristocracy and a system of laws and norms that maintained some form of stability.  However, that stability would soon come under grave threat with a series of spiralling feud, mostly based on stupid slurs leading to bloody murders, that would eventually lead to the collapse of the Icelandic Commonwealth. My guest today is Dr. Matthew Roby, who’s an assistant professor at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and he’s a leading academic on the sagas and medieval literature in general. Today, he takes us through what exactly are the Icelandic sagas, why and how they were written, what influenced them and what did they influence (e.g The Lord of the Rings) and all sort of other fascinating tidbits on this long-lost form of story-telling.  Books mentioned in the episode: “Old-Norse Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction” by Heather O’Donoghue (2004) “Gisla Saga” is the saga he recommends, which has noble heroes, and it centres on concepts of family, friendship and ties and it is relatively accessible. Favorite book that I’ve never heard of: “Letters from Iceland” by the poet WH Auden & Louis MacNeice (1937), which is a series of vignettes of life in Iceland at the time. The book that he loves but can’t recommend to friends: The family sagas which are a sub-genre of the sagas focused on the historical aspects of Iceland.  The best book that he’s read in the last 12 months: “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” by Thomas Hardy (1891), a classic novel about the tragic treatment of a woman in 19th century British society. The book that he finds over-rated: “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens (1861) in which he found the morals too contrived and overt. The book that he would take to a desert island: “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy by JRR Tolkien (1954) The book that changed his mind: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot (1915), his first published poem, which made him want to pursue literature. He also mentioned the children’s book “We Sang You Home” by the Canadian indigenous author Richard Van Camp, published in 2016. Follow me ⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!

One of the best propulsive forces in literature, the force that keeps me turning pages as I read a novel is the question “Where on earth is this going?” And that question kept coming back to me as I read a very exciting debut novel called “How To Be A French Girl” by Rose Cleary, a young British writer. In the book, a twentysomething young girl who’s given up on a promising art education to work a boring temp job in London in order to survive starts to develop an unhealthy obsession in an elegant French colleague called Gustave (you’ll hear that name a few times in the interview) . Inspired by tropes driven by our technological world, she tried to transform herself into the titular & idealized French Girl. Her romantic pursuit & evolution twists & turns in ways that are increasingly uncomfortable but potentially, maybe justified? Overall, this novel felt to me like the secret love child of Bridget Jones and Fatal Attraction, with a touch of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.  Anyway, this is a fun book, it went places that were genuinely surprising and uncomfortable and I recommend it. In this episode, Rose Cleary and I go through some of the themes featured in the book like power, identity, technology, art, class and all the other themes that populate this great novel.  Favourite book that I’ve never heard of: Siblings, by Magnus Florin (2021) Best book she’s read in the last 12 months: “Near Distance”, by Hannah Stoltenberg The book that she would take to a desert island: “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace (1996) The book that changed her mind: “Super-Sad True Love Story”, by Gary Shteyngart (2010) Find Rose: Website: https://rosecleary.com/ Instagram: @rclearyrcleary Buy her book: https://amzn.eu/d/fij3FI8 Follow me ⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!

Sometimes a single act can resonate across the ages, its impact felt through generations, both politically and personally. In 1914, the feminist suffragette Mary Richardson slashed a painting called “The Rokeby Venus” by Diego Velasquez in the National Gallery in London, to raise awareness for the feminist cause. This event is the central trauma driving the great novel “Asunder”, written by my guest today, the Mexican & American novelist Chloe Aridjis and published 10 years ago. Her main protagonist, Marie, is a museum guard at the National Gallery, for whom the slashing has a very personal aspect, as her great-grandfather was the guard on duty at the time of the attack in 1914, who failed to stop the attack.  This is a subtle and contemplative novel that asks questions around the small crack and large tears around our lives. In today’s episode, we talk about Chloe’s writing process and methods, the direction of her novel, the central event of the 1914 slashing and how it compares to today’s actions. As usual, I also ask Chloe about her inspirations and recommendations in terms of books she’s read and enjoyed.  Her favourite book that I’ve never heard of: “The Haunted Screen”, by Lotte Eisner Her favourite book of the last 12 months: “The Blue Fox”, by Sjon The book she would take to a desert island: The short stories of Franz Kafka The book that changed her mind: The works of Thomas Bernhard Buy Asunder: https://amzn.eu/d/0PBQJy2 Follow me ⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!

The impact of war on art - specifically on literature - is a subject that I find pretty fascinating. The First World War is maybe one of the first conflicts to incubate some brilliant writers. Some of the most prominent literary figures of the First World War were two British war poets called Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. I didn’t know much about their story until I read an excellent book called “Soldiers Don’t Go Mad” by Charles Glass which was published this year.  In this book, the journalist Charles Glass who was the Middle East correspondent for ABC for ten years and the author of numerous books on war, describes the story of these two poets specifically in terms of their mental health, and the treatment they received for what was then called “shell shock”, which today we might call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These two great poets were treated together at a mental hospital called Craiglockhart at Edinburgh. Both those poets came to Craiglockhart using different paths but connected in that institution and the book does an incredible job of describing the interplay of mental health, war and the creation of art. Siegfried Sassoon was an established poet and a war hero, whereas Wilfred Owen was just getting started but their stay together at this mental hospital would affect them both, personally and artistically.  Siegfried Sassoon lived well into his eighties but Wilfred Owen was tragically killed on November 4th 1918, only a week before the war ended on November 11th.  In this interview, Charles Glass & I discuss his book and specifically the themes of war, mental health and how they impact the creation of art. Books mentioned in this episode: Early in the interview, he mentions Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy which is a series of three novels about the First World War published in the early 1990s. His favourite book that I’ve never heard of: “Parade’s End” by the British writer Ford Maddox Ford, a tetralogy of novels (that’s 4 novels) set before, during and after WWI, published in the mid-1920s. The best book that he’s read in the last 12 months: “Women of Troy”, by Pat Barker (2021), which is a retelling of the Iliad from the point of view of Trojan women.  The book that changed his mind: “American Power and the New Mandarins” by Noam Chomsky which changed his views about American imperial adventures. Find Charles Glass: Website: https://www.charlesglass.net/ Books: https://www.charlesglass.net/books/ Follow me ⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!

We live in a changing world with geopolitical forces and academic ideas that are challenging our democratic norms. Extreme politics, both on the right and the left, are very much on the rise in many different countries. Both of these extreme forms of politics are undermining our classic democratic norms of universalism, principles that originated with and were enshrined by the American and French Revolutions.  Today’s guest is Yascha Mounk, a German-American political scientist who teaches at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He is the author of numerous books and articles defending the liberal and universal values of free democratic societies, but today we’re going to focus on just two of his books.  The first of these two books is called “The Great Experiment” which was published last year. In that book, he writes that our modern multi-cultural societies in the West are under tremendous pressure to integrate these diverse populations in ways that ensure prosperity for all, and most importantly that manage to maintain our democratic norms. This year, he’s back with a new book that focuses specifically on one of those traps, the book is called “The Identity Trap” and in it, he examines the meteoric rise of an ideology which he calls the identity synthesis, in the last couple of decades, especially in the United States from obscure academic environments to the mainstream. In this episode, we talk about what needs to happen to ensure the success of multicultural democracies, we talk about the origins of the identity synthesis and its development, and how different countries have different models to meet these challenges head-on. I hope you enjoy this episode. Books mentioned in the episode: The best book I’ve never heard of: Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler (1940) The book that he loves but just can’t recommend to others: The Half-Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat (2014) The best book that he read in the last 12 months: Essays by George Orwell The book that he found disappointing in the last 12 months: Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021) The book that he would take to a desert island: The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1958) The book that changed his mind: The Happiness Curve, by Jonathan Rauch (2018) Find Yascha: Website: https://www.yaschamounk.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yaschamounk/ Pre-order his new book: https://amzn.eu/d/gePpkZ8 Follow me ⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!