It’s time to answer your questions about Orwell’s 1984, and (as always) you came through with plenty of great ones. Thanks to your curiosity, we discussed what would be in our personal Room 101s, the dystopian stories we would write (if we wrote dystopian stories), Julia’s character and role in the story, 1984 vs. Brave New World, and much more. Happy reading!

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Welp, Winston Smith loves Big Brother but he doesn’t love Julia. So, in the end, do we love this book? Tune in to find out, as David, Heidi, and Tim chat about the recurring themes of the book, Orwell’s apparent goals, and the importance of his book within the culture at large. Happy listening!

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Chapter nine of 1984 is one of the least dramatically compelling chapters in the book, and has even taken a fair bit of criticism over the years, so this week dig into why we think Orwell included it and whether it is necessary, with a few rabbit trails on political philosophy along the way. Thanks for listening!

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One of the reasons 1984 is such enduring book is because of the conversations it engenders and so in this episode we chatted a bit about the nature of those kinds of conversations. Plus, we discussed Winston as complicated protagonist, his relationship with Julia, and how we approach the question of morality in the story. Happy listening!

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Here we go. We’ve never done a book quite like George Orwell’s 1984 on Close Reads and it shows in this episode where we discuss whether the vibe of the book shows up in our world today and what Orwell’s goal seems to be.

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Here we are at the end of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, which means it’s time for a Q&A episode. As always, y’all delivered with some great questions. We did our best to answer as many as we could, but we especially focused on questions about Dewey Dell’s betrayal of Darl, Anse’s teeth and second wife, whether the book is actually funny at all, and that sort of thing.

As always, thanks for tuning in and for making the CR community what it is. Happy listening.

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And so we come to the end. Join David, Heidi, and Tim as they dig (no pun intended) into the fiery (pun intended) ending to this classic book. Where do the book's sympathies lie in the end? Why did Darl go mad? Who is trustworthy? These and many other questions get discussed. Happy listening!

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Join David and Heidi as they dig in to Kenneth Branagh's movie adaptation of Death on the Nile. Is the movie in on the joke? Why is there no sand? What's up with Gal Gadot? Why do mustaches need back stories? These and many other questions get contemplated.

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In which David, Heidi, and Tim discuss river crossings, which characters the books seems to have the most sympathy for, and much more.

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Join David, Heidi, and Tim as they dig ever deeper into Faulkner's novel. Topics of conversation include mothers who are fish, mothers who are horses, buzzards, and Heidi's great delight in this book.

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