Unburied Books

Scholar José Vergara joins the show to talk about A School for Fools written by Sasha Sokolov and translated from Russian by Alexander Boguslawski. Enroll in a fabulous world where the dead are alive, language changes forms, minds split, and love flowers. Read our guest's article on A School for Fools here and more about his work here. References:All Future Plunges to the PastJames JoyceJ. D. SalingerBetween Dog and WolfAstrophobiaMartina NapolitanoStalingrad by Vasily GrossmanVasily AksyonovAndrei BitovNikolai GogolAlexander PushkinMikhail ShishkinRaul RuizSergei Rachmaninoff Edgar Allan PoeUlyssesThe Twilight ZoneChuck-will's-widowIvan the fool To purchase books covered on the show, please visit our digital bookshop. Buying them here helps to support the podcast.

Writer Ana Gavrilovska joins us to talk about Turtle Diary written by Russell Hoban. We discuss middle age, loneliness, romance, Godlessness, and, of course, the symbolic resonance of turtles. References:NinotchkaPagliacciStill Life with Woodpecker by Tom RobbinsI Heart HuckabeesThe SwimmerKing Kong To purchase books covered on the show, please visit our digital bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/unburiedbooks. Buying them here helps to support the podcast.

Critic and journalist Adam Morgan joins us to talk about In the Cafe of Lost Youth written by Patrick Modiano and translated by Chris Clarke. We discuss the title's double meaning, recall the joys and sorrows of our own nocturnal wanderings, and nominate this book for sexiest NYRB Classic of all time. Also, we owe a massive thank you to John Hoekstra for composing our new theme music. Read more about Adam Morgan's work here: https://adam-stephen-morgan.com/ References:When Harry Met SallyJulie and JuliaThe Beginning of Spring by Penelope FitzgeraldBalcony in the Forest by Julien GracqWong Kar-waiLacombe, Lucien directed by Louis MalleBreathlessLove on the Left Bank by Ed Van Der Elsken 2666 by Roberto BolanoSatin Island by Tom McCarthyNon-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity by Marc AugeLost Horizon by James HiltonJesse BallPedigree: A Memoir To purchase books covered on the show, please visit our digital bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/unburiedbooks. Buying them here helps to support the podcast.

Dylan and Kassia unpack Stefan Zweig's Chess Story translated from German by Joel Rotenberg. They toy with some chess pieces, discuss the psychological effects of fascism, and heap praise on this thrilling novella. References:The Life and Death of Colonel BlimpMilgram experimentHow the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It by Arthur HermanMarquis de WavrinOne Way PassageHistory Is Made at NightLet Them All TalkGrand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School by Stuart JeffriesThe Stars Down to Earth by Theodor Adorno To purchase books we've covered and browse some of Dylan & Kassia's favorites, please visit our digital bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/unburiedbooks. Buying them here helps to support the show.

In this bonus episode, we explain how the podcast got started, detail our plan to tackle the collection, and describe our personal taste in books. Once Kassia started listing her favorite NYRB books it was impossible to get her to stop. Hopefully the run of this podcast will be equally protracted. References:Moby-Dick by Herman MelvilleVillette by Charlotte BronteThe Age of Innocence by Edith WhartonDanteHomerThe Silmarillion by J. R. R. TolkienIvy Compton-Burnett: A Memoir by Cicely GreigA House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-BurnettManservant and MaidservantOn the Origin of Species by Charles DarwinAnita BrooknerElizabeth TaylorSylvia Townsend WarnerThe Dream of the Red Chamber, or The Story of the Stone by Cao XueqinThe Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert BurtonThe Poetry of Derek Walcott 1948-2013Geek Love by Katherine Dunn2666 by Roberto BolanoConversations with Beethoven by Sanford FriedmanThe Tenants of Moonbloom by Edward Lewis WallantThe Yacoubian Building by Alaa-Al-AswanyA Month in the Country by J. L. CarrFamily Lexicon by Natalia GinzburgPatrick Leigh FermorThe Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James HoggEileen ChangHenry GreenOlivia ManningLeonora CarringtonJourney by Moonlight by Antal SzerbDorothy BakerJessica MitfordNancy MitfordBarbara ComynsMuhammad by Maxime RodinsonSpeedboat by Renata AdlerThe Enchanted April by Elizabeth von ArminEve BabitzThe Fountain Overflows by Rebecca WestRedsThomas BrownePrison Memoirs of an Anarchist by Alexander BerkmanThe Life of Henry Brulard by StendhalShort Letter, Long Farewell by Peter Handke To purchase books we've covered and browse some of Dylan & Kassia's favorites, please visit our digital bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/unburiedbooks. Buying them here helps to support the show.

Writer and artist Joshua Jones joins us to discuss Peter Handke's Short Letter, Long Farewell. We disassemble the machinery of American mythmaking, drift through the empty avenues of modern alienation, and wonder why Europeans are so weird about the Land of the Free. If you're anti-spoiler, we recommend saving this episode until you've had a chance to read the book. More about our guest: Joshua Jones is a queer, autistic writer and artist from South Wales, now residing in Cardiff. He is the Director of Dyddiau Du, a DIY community library and art/literature space in Cardiff. He released a collaborative pamphlet of cut-up poetry and art with Caitlin Flood-Molyneux in 2022, and his debut short story collection, Local Fires, will be published by Parthian Books, September 2023. References: Dubliners by James JoyceUnder Milk Wood by Dylan ThomasThe Last Days of Roger Federer by Geoff DyerWim WendersWings of DesireThe Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty KickEdward HopperCrash by J. G. BallardAlice in the CitiesJohn FordAmerica and Simulacra and Simulation by Jean BaudrillardDon DeLilloApocalypse NowThe Fundamentals of CaringParis, TexasAlice Doesn't Live Here AnymoreFyodor DostoevskyA Dream Play by August StrindbergHenrik IbsenIngmar BergmanGreen Henry by Gottfried KellerMark FisherYoung Mr. Lincoln How Green Was My ValleyThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldUlyssesThe Odyssey by HomerAnton ChekhovThe Wizard of OzShe Wore a Yellow RibbonPersuasion by Jane AustenTo the Lighthouse by Virginia WoolfThe Iron Horse To purchase books we've covered and browse some of Dylan & Kassia's favorites, please visit our digital bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/unburiedbooks. Buying them here helps to support the show.

Translator and poet Canaan Morse joins us to discuss his translation of Peach Blossom Paradise, a Chinese historical novel written by Ge Fei. In this conversation, we unpack the book's relationship to utopia, revolution, and Communist history. We also learn more about Canaan's background and the publication process at NYRB Classics. Listeners unfamiliar with the plot may want to wait until they've read the book to tune in. Books and authors (and songs!) mentioned:The Invisibility CloakMo YanKang YouweiWhite Deer Plain by Chen ZhongshiWater Margin by Shi Nai'anTo Live by Yu HuaLi ShangyinMatteo RicciDream of the Red Chamber by Cao XueqinUlysses by James JoyceDiary of a Madman by Lu XunDon Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes"Stench" by Cao Kou (read Canaan's translation here: https://www.thewhitereview.org/fiction/stench/)"Chang Hui Jia Kan Kan"Yang XiaobinSeamus HeaneyWang WeiHanshan19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei by Eliot WeinbergerRomance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong To purchase books we've covered and browse some of Dylan & Kassia's favorites, please visit our digital bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/unburiedbooks. Buying them here helps to support the show.

Writer and translator Alina Stefanescu joins us to discuss An Ermine in Czernopol, a humorous and deadly serious novel written by Gregor von Rezzori and translated by Philip Boehm. In this multilayered discussion, we seek the ghosts of Chernivtsi, a city in present-day Ukraine, and probe the meaning of honor and belonging in light of creeping fascism and anti-Semitism. Listeners unfamiliar with the plot may want to wait until they've read the book to tune in. Learn more about Alina's work at https://www.alinastefanescuwriter.com. To purchase books we've covered and browse some of Dylan & Kassia's favorites, please visit our digital bookshop at https://bookshop.org/shop/unburiedbooks. Buying them here helps to support the show.

Writer and critic Vivian Gornick joins us to discuss My Father and Myself, a memoir written by J. R. Ackerley. We explore the mysteries of family life, the search for "the Ideal Friend" and the ethics of writing about relatives.

This week we discuss Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes. The illustrious Simon Thomas, our first-ever guest, helps us understand how the 1920s trend for the fantastic helped produce this weird, wonderful book about a spinster aunt who sells her soul to Satan. But is it satire? And is it really a feminist manifesto? We tackle these and other pertinent questions while having a laugh along the way. Butter your villager-shaped scones, sit back and enjoy the broomstick ride.