Today Ian, Emily, and Megan discuss the cracks in Kate’s armor, Aron’s unbearable purity, Cal’s responsibility-taking, and Lee’s masterful parenting. It’s a breathless race to a conclusion no one can anticipate!

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

P.S. Are you looking for our seasons on War and Peace or Les Misérables? Previous seasons of HEE are now available to paid Substack subscribers.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, the HEE team discusses Adam’s business venture and the hope of holding on to dreams. We then turn to Cal’s incredible character development and what it means for the Cain and Abel imagery in the story. Is it possible that the Trask family can be redeemed through generational growth?

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

P.S. Are you looking for our seasons on War and Peace or Les Misérables? Previous seasons of HEE are now available to paid Substack subscribers.

CenterForLit’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Ian, Megan, and Emily weigh Steinbeck’s philosophical musings on the Great Question of life against the “enfleshed” experience of his characters. How much control do Lee, Adam, Cal, and Aron have over their lives? What role do the opinions of other people play in their identity? Do we have the power to change ourselves?

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

P.S. Are you looking for our seasons on War and Peace or Les Misérables? Previous seasons of HEE are now available to paid Substack subscribers.

CenterForLit’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode we ride the highest highs and the lowest lows. On the one hand, the HEE team triumphs in Adam’s victory over Cathy. On the other, we mourn the loss of Tom and puzzle over Steinbeck’s view of the world.

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

P.S. Are you looking for our seasons on War and Peace or Les Misérables? Previous seasons of HEE are now available to paid Substack subscribers.

CenterForLit’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

After a few weeks of traveling hither and yon, HEE is finally back for the summer!

In this episode, Megan and Emily discuss Lee’s backstory and consider the nature of modern art in light of his concept of “dreadful beauty.” They then look at the Trasks’ disturbing inability to confront the truth of their own dark history.

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

P.S. Are you looking for our seasons on War and Peace or Les Misérables? Previous seasons of HEE are now available to paid Substack subscribers.

CenterForLit’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

Did this week’s reading make you cheer or cringe? The HEE team discusses the triumph of Adam over Cathy and the unmasking of her true nature, but we also worry over the future of Cal and Aron. At the risk of sounding like fools to those who have already read the whole novel, we spend time hypothesizing about what the second half of the story holds.

What do you think? Is history doomed to repeat itself or will there be a repetition with a difference?

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

P.S. Are you looking for our seasons on War and Peace or Les Misérables? Previous seasons of HEE are now available to paid Substack subscribers.

CenterForLit’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

Today's episode is a big one! In our reading this week we're finally introduced to "timshel." The HEE crew wrestles with the term's significance and the power of naming.

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our Substack so that you never miss a new episode!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

Have we finally figured out Cathy's character motivation? This week the HEE team follows our villain where angels fear to tread, comparing and contrasting her to Samuel Hamilton along the way.

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our Substack so that you never miss a new episode!

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It's ladies' day at HEE! (Gentlemen listeners can still tune in..) Emily and Megan forge ahead with a conversation that touches on Samuel Hamilton's intuitive insight into Cathy, overcoming first impressions of Liza, and what in the world lies ahead for Adam and his newborn twins.

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our Substack so that you never miss a new episode!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe

This week Ian, Emily, and Megan discuss Steinbeck's ideas about individualism. He wants to protect the rights of the individual over the collective at all costs, but what do we do about the "rugged individualism" of characters like Cathy? We also laugh about Olive's chapter and explore water imagery in the novel thus far.

To follow our reading schedule, visit ⁠⁠⁠www.centerforlit.com/hee⁠⁠⁠⁠.

⁠⁠Subscribe to our Substack so that you never miss a new episode!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit centerforlit.substack.com/subscribe