Hardcore Literature Ep 89 - Book Club Schedule for 2026
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Jan 1, 2026 Explore the exciting 2026 book club lineup! Discover why Lonesome Dove sets the stage as the first read and dive into its powerful themes of friendship and myth. Delve into Greek tragedies alongside this Western epic and get insights into Aeschylus and Sophocles' masterpieces. Experience a range of literary gems from Dostoevsky's The Idiot to Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet. Plus, hear about the impactful selections like Augustines' Confessions and Darwin's Origin of Species, designed to challenge and inspire!
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Episode notes
Finnegans Wake As Night Vision
- Finnegans Wake is framed as a nocturnal, linguistic masterpiece that rewards slow, aloud reading to unlock layered meanings.
- McEvoy positions it alongside Ulysses and Proust as a top 20th-century achievement despite its notorious difficulty.
Slowly Read Proust's First Two Volumes
- Read Proust's Swann's Way and Within a Budding Grove slowly; cover roughly 1,000 pages over seven to eight weeks.
- Use involuntary memory moments as keys to Proust's theory of art and time.
Lispector's Fiction As Epiphanic Cubism
- Clarice Lispector's short fiction is likened to spiritual, cubist prose that converts trivial moments into transformative epiphanies.
- McEvoy frames her work as postmodern, phenomenological, and highly translatable into revealing reader experiences.