Canonical

What can we as readers do to change which books the world considers 'important'? Three years ago, we started this podcast with a mission to create a more inclusive, contemporary canon. Were we successful? In our final episode we take a look back at our show to consider what it means to create a new canon. Thanks to everyone who has listened to us along the way. We appreciate you spending some time with us. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.  You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube

Everyone is talking about the multiverse these days. Why do we so often hear about alternate histories and alternate worlds in the fiction we see in novels and on television? In today's episode we try to answer these questions by taking another look at the three books we recently read: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. If all fiction is different from reality, then what is the distinction between this and every other kind of novel? How much quantum physics do you need to study to see the difference? You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.  You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod!

We've discussed how Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go both is and isn't about cloning. So what is it about? We talk this week about other concerns that come into play and how the vague nature of the novel might allow the reader to overlay such ethical conundrums. But is that asking too much of the reader? Why don't the students run away, and is that even a worthwhile question? What does this book have to do with race, entering the workforce, and cultural indoctrination? Also, Ishiguro clearly has something to say about art, but is it substantially different from Mandel's conclusion in Station Eleven? All that and more in this installment. For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Nov 25th, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 2 - Dec 16. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Never Let Me Go is an unusual novel: Can there be a book about clones that isn't about cloning? In this episode we discuss the genre of this novel and how that genre influences the way it treats its themes. We expect science fiction to show us the ethical implications of our actions and how they might lead to a possible future, but what does a novel set in the past show us about the ethics of our actions? Tune in to find out, or feel like a dog staring at an algebra problem. For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Nov 25th, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 2 - Dec 16. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Spoilers abound in this review of Kazuo Ishiguro's alternate reality classic Never Let Me Go.  One of us found it engrossing.  One of us found it bland.  The third was of two minds.  Who would have guessed?  Our discussion includes a deliberation on what makes this a work of literature, what the heck the boat image means, and some musing on the capitalist hellscape that make up this novel. For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Nov 25th, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 2 - Dec 16. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We wind down our discussion of Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld with the question of how much sidestepping of the facts should be permissible in alternate history fiction. Also, is this book a push back against the importance of likability in politics, or simply an embrace of it? And did Sittenfeld take notes while watching romcoms? For this series, we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Dec 2, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 9 - Dec 23. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We continue our discussion of Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld by examining its political point of view (or lack thereof). Despite taking on one of the most famous politicians in the world as its subject, Rodham feels pretty light on political intent. Is it meant to be a cathartic thought experiment for frustrated Democrats, a book for feminists without political opinions, or something else entirely? For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Dec 2, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 9 - Dec 23. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

A surprising pick from Eyad is this week's read and review.  Sittenfeld's Rodham, an alternate history what-if about Hilary Clinton, spurs discussion of the ethics of Real Person Fiction, what it means to be a "book club book", and our reaction to the first couple of the US during our formative years doing the nasty repeatedly and explicitly on the page. Fun stuff! For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Dec 2, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 9 - Dec 23. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

In our last week with George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo, we talk about whether it matters if some of the "quotations" from supposedly contemporary sources are fictional, and if it would matter if all of them were made up. From there, we discuss whether there is anything problematic about Saunders's use of ghosts, or if Sam is just being a woke baby. For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Dec 2, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 9 - Dec 23. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

In our second look at George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo, we examine whether his book has more to say about history or theology, its mixture or Buddhist and Christian ideas about the afterlife, and whether Saunders really cares about the afterlife or just wants to tell a good story. For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Dec 2, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 9 - Dec 23. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we start our new series Alternate Histories/Alternate Realities with a novel from a master of the short story George Saunders. We loved Saunders's short stories-- does his debut novel measure up?   For this series we will review and discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Oct 21 - Nov 4, Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld Nov 11 - Dec 2, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Dec 9 - Dec 23. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Today we conclude our series Life under Communism by taking a second look at all three novels, The Passport, Satantango, and The Garlic Ballads. We talk about whether there are any takeaways about Communism for us here, or whether that's even something that should be sought from realist fiction. We also discuss whether these realist novels change how we feel about speculative fiction dealing with Communism or adjacent ideas (Vagabonds, The Dispossessed, Parable of the Sower), and if all those books belong under the same topical genre umbrella as the books we just read. Finally, we explore what these books tell us about the future of Communism in their respective countries. For this series, we discussed Life Under Communism with Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.  You can also find bonus content on our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/CanonicalPod You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

For our last week with Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads, we question whether the writer deserves the cold treatment he gets from others in the literary community and beyond. Is he a CCP stooge, or is there more to his writing? Can his crude language be a form of dissent? And what's up with the young officer Zheng Changinian? For this series we will be discussing Life Under Communism with Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.  You can also find bonus content on our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/CanonicalPod You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

In our second look at Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads we examine the complicated publication history of this novel: bannings, unbannings, swapped chapters, and a dubious quotation delivered by the ghost of Stalin in Mo Yan's dreams. If the novel has changed this much, which version do we trust? If Mo Yan contradicts himself this much can we trust him, or he just the victim of his American publisher? For this series we will be discussing Life Under Communism with Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.  You can also find bonus content on our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/CanonicalPod You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week, we review Mo Yan's novel The Garlic Ballads.  Mo's work is intertwined with the politics of his country but we do our best to focus on the book itself (the political discussion will come in future episodes).  We also try to determine why we often feel disappointed by Chinese fiction, and James adds another entry to his collection of surprising literary awards. For this series we will be discussing Life Under Communism with Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode.  You can also find bonus content on our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/CanonicalPod You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

László Krasznahorkai's Satantango is a book with a distinct, challenging style that can annoy some readers, so why is it written that way? Join us as we try to solve that mystery, discuss whether novelists need to follow rules, which styles can be reused, and how this challenging novel was adapted into an equally challenging film. For this series, Life Under Communism, we will read and discuss Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're back with more of László Krasznahorkai's grim world in Satantango.  We keep the giggles going a little before delving into whether László offers us any hope in the novel and whether this book really is devoid of politics. We also discuss the allegorical plight of the characters and whether there's something angelic or demonic going on. Is Hungary in Purgatory? Aren't we all? For this series we will be reading and discussing Life Under Communism with Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we shine a light onto the bleak world of László Krasznahorkai with a review of his prize-winning debut novel Satantango.  We discuss whether or not the plot is important to this book and whether the European literati is more intelligent than its American counterpart.  Also, James is befuddled by another encounter with one of the more confusing literary awards this podcast has ever come across.  Warning: this is a giggly episode, because of course it is. For this series we will be reading and discussing Life Under Communism with Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're concluding our look at Herta Müller's The Passport by examining it as a feminist novel. How does the novel's exploration of sexual exchange interact with the the way Müller presents 1980s Romania? And what exactly does it mean to be a great pheasant in the world? For this series we will be reviewing and discussing Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're back to discuss more of The Passport by Herta Müller. This week, we talk about the German concept of heimat, as well as Müller's criticisms of the concept as introduced in her 2003 essay "Der König verneigt sich und tötet" ("The King Bows and Kills"). Don't worry, none of us read German, and we don't expect you to, either. For this series we will be reviewing and discussing Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We kick off our new series Life Under Communism, with a review of The Passport by Nobel prize winner Herta Müller. In a terse prose style, Müller uses surreal imagery to tell the story of ethnic Germans living in 1980s Romania and what they must do to get ahold of the passports necessary to leave the country.   For this series we will be reviewing and discussing Herta Muller's The Passport Aug 12-26, László Krasznahorkai's Satantango Sept 2-16, and The Garlic Ballads Sept 23 - Oct 7. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Today we conclude our series Rich Country/Poor Country by taking a second look at all three novels, The Disaster Tourist, The Sympathizer, and Paradise. We'll take a closer look at how forcefully these authors present their political views, the differences between state and corporate power in these novels, and James will get really angry when Viet Thanh Nguyen doubts the value of creative writing workshops. For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise Jul 15-29. You can join discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying a  book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're concluding our discussion of Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise by taking a look at what it has to say about justice and colonialism. We connect this novel to the ethical debate about the origins of justice. Can Eyad successfully make the case that this is a philosophical novel? For our series Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise Jul 15-29. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're continuing our discussion of Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise, today exploring whether a comparison to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is fair, and what the purpose of the religious subtext might be. Does it hurt the novel to have hidden meaning if cultural touchstones are beyond your understanding? (Spoiler: no.) For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise Jul 15-29. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're concluding our series Rich Country, Poor Country with Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise, a quiet but surprising novel that is at turns perhaps a hero's journey, a travel narrative, a historical fiction, a bildungsroman, and a philosophical exploration. Though Gurnah does not have as much presence in the US, this novel is one of his best known and among those that earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021. Tune in to hear what makes all those elements come together. For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise Jul 15-29. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're wrapping up our look at Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer prize winning novel The Sympathizer with an analysis of the racial and political implications of the novel. Nguyen is pretty outspoken about how race might influence the way a reader reacts to communism, and also how minority and majority writers address an audience. So who is Nguyen trying to speak to? Tune in to find out. For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Rivka Galchen's Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch is a darkly funny historical novel about witchcraft, justice, and stupidity: Through the story of how Katharina Kepler, mother of famous astronomer Johannes Kepler, was accused of witchcraft, Galchen shows us how your community can turn on you, how people are governed by greed, and how flimsy "justice" often is. Tune into this mini-review to find out how this novel might give you some solace in our troubling times, or at least a few laughs. You can join our discussion here:https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week, we're continuing our discussion of Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer, this time exploring Nguyen's themes of duality and divided existence between different lives and continents. Listen to hear why this book made us want to reread Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Our apologies as illness delayed the release of this episode.  This week we are reviewing a book that was hailed by some as one of the most important books of the decade-- and perhaps the century?  While we agreed The Sympathizer was a good read, opinions differed on whether or not it was great.  We also debated how important a novel voice is to the success of novel. For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise Jul 15-29. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We conclude our discussion of Yun Ko-Eun's The Disaster Tourist by comparing it to Parasite and Squid Game, two other Korean works that may share a similar message about capitalism. Does an anti-capitalist trend in Korea mean that Korean politics will soon become more like American politics? And, most importantly, how does this all affect Kid Rock's bank account? Tune in to find out. For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise Jul 15-29. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week, we're continuing our discussion of Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist with a focus on everyone's favorite topic: literary criticism! We're in the deep end of it this time, exploring whether the ecocritical concerns are weighed fairly against the book's humanist ideals. Was this not-too-careful novel more careful about ecological disaster? For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week, we read The Disaster Tourist by South Korean writer Yun Ko-eun, her first novel to be translated into English.  Labeled by reviewers as a literary thriller, eco-thriller, and political thriller, James found it more disastrous than thrilling.  But can the novel's ideas rescue it from the recycle bin of disappointing literature? For our series on Rich Country | Poor Country, we will read and discuss three novels: Yun Ko-eun's The Disaster Tourist Jun 3 - 17, Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer Jun 24 - Jul 8, and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise. You can join our Reddit discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This might be unlike any novel you've ever read before. It's a novel but it's nonfiction; it's about true events but it's important that you understand some parts are false; and it shows you the very human repercussions of a part of science that usually feels distant and intangible.  Tune into this mini-review to find out how this unusual, idiosyncratic novel has as much to say about our minds as it does the world around us. You can join our discussion here:https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

And that's a wrap for our series on the Novel in Stories! We examine how this kind of composite structure might work in film with Wong Kar-Wai's 2004 movie 2046, and discuss whether it is similar in structure to novels in stories. We also talk about some of our discoveries with this kind of "novel" structure. For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying a  book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

In this episode, we wonder who the heck Anthony Marra thinks he is, an American (!) writing about Russians (!!) in The Tsar of Love and Techno (!!!). Eyad asks if this is an issue. We then talk about possible good results from such transcultural writing and whether all writers are afforded such a luxury equally. Finally, we transcend to the stars alongside Kolya (spoiler?) to discuss a critic's notion of the cosmonomad transcultural writer. Enjoy! For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying The Tsar of Love and Techno or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Anthony Marra's first book A Constellation of Vital Phenomena was an award-winning bestseller and his third book Mercury Pictures Presents (set to be released in a few months) is getting a lot of buzz in the biz.  So naturally we decide to give our attention to Marra's overlooked middle child The Tsar of Love and Techno.  Reminiscent of Donna Tartt's Goldfinch, Tsar is fantastically written but we question where this belongs in the literary canon.  Other questions that we discuss: Is this a novel or a collection?  What's the story behind the weird Greek literary award this book won? And can someone explain to James what Sarah Jessica Parker is doing on the back of his book?!  These and more in this week's review.  For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying The Tsar of Love and Techno or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

What is this book about?  Is it about class protest? Is it about trauma? Both? For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here:  https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying There But For The or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

We're continuing our look at Ali Smith's There But For The with an examination of empathy and borders. You might not imagine that those two themes go well together in a novel, but Sam makes a pretty convincing point in this episode. For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here:  https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying There But For The or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

What is it about Jonathan Franzen's latest novel Crossroads that has many claiming it to be best novel yet by the most important novelist of our time? Expectations are incredibly high for this novel, the first in a proposed trilogy. Tune in to find out if the novel lives up to the hype. You can join our book club discussion here:https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying Crossroads or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Ali Smith's new book Companion Piece has just been published, but we're actually reviewing an older book of hers: There But For The. We talk about the structure of this novel-in-stories and how it differs in form from Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. We also talk about why this very good novel may not have widespread appeal and how voice and race comes into play in a book not overtly about race. For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying There But For The or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Hey aging punk rockers, We're wrapping up our deep dive into Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, focusing a bit more on the structure this time. Eyad wants to explore the story cycle structure and how that works in tandem with the theme of time, the titular goon squad beating and thieving from us all. For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying A Visit from the Goon Squad or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!  

What theme unifies A Visit from the Goon Squad? Do any of the individual stories stand out? In this episode we discuss the different ways these stories work individually and together. For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying A Visit from the Goon Squad or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

On the eve of the publication of Egan's novel The Candy House, we review her 2011 prize winning prequel A Visit from the Goon Squad. We introduce our new series: A Novel in Stories, and talk about communing with David Foster Wallace, our alternate reality competitive canoeing podcast, and what's missing in this really really (really!) good book. For this series, we will read and discuss three novels-in-stories: Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad Mar 25 - Apr 8, Ali Smith's There But For The Apr 15- 29, and Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno May 6 - 20. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying A Visit from the Goon Squad or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we wrap up our Contemporary Utopian Fiction series by discussing all the ways they are impossible.  Impossible to take seriously.  Impossible fits for the postmodern world. Impossible to dramatize in fiction.  In this wide-ranging conversation we touch on Asimov, Thomas More, Paradise Lost, Camelot, and Eyad even spoils The Good Place for you (be forewarned!). For this series we read and discussed Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11. Next week we will begin our new series on Novels in Stories by reviewing Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying a book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Eyad reviews Yoko Tawada's new dystopian sci-fi novel Scattered All Over the Earth.  Tawada is one of our favorite writers and we loved her 2014 novel The Emissary which we read as part of our Contemporary Japanese Fiction series two years ago.  Does her new novel live up to our lofty expectations? You can join our book club discussion here:https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying Scattered All Over the Earth or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we dive into the central theme of the book-- anarchism-- and discuss whether or not it is still relevant 50 years after the publication of The Dispossessed.  What does Le Guin have to say about anarchism? Is it specific to a particular school of anarchism?  1:05 What are the new forms of power explored in the book? 27:05 Is Shevek's research into the nature of time anarchist in any sense? 35:50 Kim Stanley Robinson says his and Le Guin's forms of leftist politics are different, but the differences don't matter. If they don't matter now, when do they matter? 43:10 For this series we read and discussed Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11. Next week we will wrap up the series by discussing all three of these books. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying The Dispossessed or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

The Dispossessed describes a radical political ideology but are there any aspects of this book that are, in fact, not radical? This week we look at this book from the point of view of linguistics, sexual politics and more. What is the novel saying about sexuality and the nuclear family? Is the novel taking a radical position? 1:35  Can a civilization be shaped by its language?  Was Le Guin's application of this idea believable? 19:15  Is The Dispossessed trying to be radical? 34:33  For this series we will read and discuss Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying The Dispossessed or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This week we review a classic of philosophical science fiction: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin.  Why read The Dispossessed? 1:05 Are the Anarres chapters boring? 4:20 Is this an example of the best science fiction can offer? 9:55 Is Le Guin's philosophical discussion too earnest? 17:35  Is this book still relevant? 21:00   For this series we will read and discuss Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying The Dispossessed or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

Eyad leads this episode's discussion as we finish up our examinations of Resnick's utopian story cycle Kirinyaga.  Does this book say anything about postcolonial African politics? (1:00) Why do readers feel upset when white writers write about black subject matter? (8:45) Are Western writers unable to represent other cultures in fiction? (22:15) For this series we will read and discuss Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying Kirinyaga or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!

This is week 2 of our discussion on Resnick's Kirinyaga. Ostensibly this collection is a fable but perhaps it shouldn't be labeled as such? And hey does this book remind anyone of our contemporary political landscape? These questions (and more!) as we talk about the problems in this work of utopian sci-fi. For this series we will read and discuss Toni Morrison's Paradise Jan 14-28, Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga Feb 4-18, and Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed Feb 25 - Mar 11. You can join our book club discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanonicalPod where you can also find show notes, credits and extended discussions for every episode. You can support us by rating/liking/sharing our podcast! Subscribe to us here: Apple | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | Youtube You can also support us by buying Kirinyaga or another book from one of our curated lists:  https://bookshop.org/shop/CanonicalPod. We earn a commission on every purchase and your local indie bookstore gets a cut too! We are also on Twitter and Facebook @CanonicalPod. Follow us to get updates on upcoming episodes!