Lit with Charles

There’s little more universally enticing than a story about someone setting off on a great voyage: an intrepid adventurer protagonist. This week, the book I’m discussing is just that – a journey into unknown frontiers, both geographically and linguistically.

Today I’m speaking with author and journalist Lauren Collins. Lauren, a staff writer with the New Yorker since 2008, published her incredible debut novel, When In French: Love in a Second Language, to huge acclaim in 2016. In this episode, Lauren and I get into the idea of language – the experience of being a person who lives between two languages, the evolution and porosity of language, L’Academie Francaise (the three-headed dog that guards French grammar), and some technical aspects of a few high-impact linguistic theories.

In our interview today, Lauren told me about the book Je ne suis pas Parisienne, by Alice Pfeiffer (2019) – a series of essays written by a journalist, repudiating the ‘Parisian woman’ cliché.

Her favorite book that I’ve probably never heard of is The Smile Revolution, by Colin Jones (2014), a cultural history of smiling.

Her four best books from the last 12 months are We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland, by Fintan O’Toole (2021), Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, by Saidiya Hartman (2019), Biography of X, by Catherine Lacey (2023), and South to America, by Imani Perry (2022).

Finally, the book she would take to a desert island is Lucy Sante’s The Other Paris: An illustrated journey through a city’s poor and Bohemian past (2015), a guided-tour through the Paris of a bygone era.

Our relationship with our parents and, more widely, with our ancestors’ stories are some of the most formative & influential connections in many people’s lives, both for good and bad. The impact of this relationship can be felt in so many different ways, not least of which in artistic expression. 

With me today is Violaine Huisman, a French author based in New York who recently became the Director of Cultural Affairs at the Alliance Française. She’s the author of a trilogy of novels about her and her family. The first is called The Book of Mother published in 2018 and translated into English last year, the second is called Rose désert (translated maybe as “Desert Pink”) published in 2019 but not yet translated, and the third is Les monuments de Paris (“The Monuments of Paris”) which will be published this year. 

In this episode, Violaine and I cover a wide array of topics – the structure and linearity of her novels, the existential question of ‘Frenchness’ and being a ‘French author in New York’, and of course we speak of Marcel Proust, as well as some of the other major influences in her writing. It was a real pleasure to speak with Violaine about this powerful, family-driven trilogy which I absolutely recommend.

In today’s interview, we discussed Les Essais, by Michel de Montaigne (1580), a wide-ranging collection of essays, originally written in ‘Middle French’, Saxifrage, by Catherine Cremnitz (1993) – Violaine’s mother’s own autobiography, and 10:04, by Ben Lerner (2014), a modern book of auto-fiction about a Manhattan-based author recently diagnosed with a life-threatening heart-condition.

The best book Violaine has read in the last 12 months was Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo (1862), which tells the story of Jean Valjean and the other ‘miserable’ characters of the early 1800s Paris underworld.

The book she would take to a desert island was the Bible.

Finally, a book that changed her mind was In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (first published in 1913), about its narrator’s life and childhood, and his reflections on the persistence of memory.

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Cowboys, golden dust-plains, and wide open spaces. This is the stuff of the Far West, a setting that has been visited & re-visited in literature & film, often pitting good versus evil in stark terms. And today I’m talking about one of the greatest novels of the American West: Lonesome Dove, by the Texan author Larry McMurtry, published in 1985. 

In this episode, I speak to Kate Slotover, co-founder of The Book Club Review – a book club in podcast form, which loves debate and discussion – about a work we’re both huge fans of. We’re going to really narrow in on some of our favourite moments, specifics and characters for an in depth and exciting discussion of this very special book. If you haven’t checked out her excellent podcast, the Book Club Review, then I suggest you have a listen, it’s brilliant.

Books mentioned in the episode:

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

In this episode, I highlight the top 5 five books that I read last year. It’s a great way to remember what I’ve read and what I value in my reading experiences. I dive deeper than I usually would into what makes these books especially great and what they meant to me.
Sometimes I’ll enjoy something quite linear and - gasp! - commercial whilst, at other times, I’ll prefer something quite experimental & different. In today’s list, those eclectic choices shine through meaning that there’s a bit of everything for everyone. I also throw in a couple of honorary mentions of books which weren’t necessarily my favourites, but had something special that I thought were worth a mention.

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

My guest today is Nandini Das, a Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture at Exeter College at Oxford University, and author of the book “Courting India” which is an account of England’s first ambassador to the Mughal court, Sir Thomas Roe, who was tasked with building a relationship with the emperor Jahangir in order to build English trade with India. 

It’s a fascinating book because it takes everything you thought you knew about the historic relationship between the two countries and completely turns it on its head. The English are poor and humble supplicants, whilst the Indian court is wealthy, powerful and very much in charge of directing the shape & direction of the relationship. 

In today’s episode, we talk about this first British embassy to India, how successful (or not) it really was, how it sowed the seeds for the British empire in India & beyond, and we touch upon the current relationship between the two countries, as well as hearing Nandini’s favourite books & reading recommendations.

Buy her book: https://amzn.eu/d/hAMRkg7

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to Lauren Easum, co-founder of the Parisian bookplate company Ex-Libris. Along with her business partner, Igor Telinge, Lauren has opened Ex-Libris Paris with the intention of bringing tradition back to life, and offering bibliophiles a way to imprint their books with their names & heritage.

In today’s episode, Lauren and I cover a wide range of topics – the history of bookplates, or ex-libris stamps as we sometimes refer to them, what makes a good bookplate, how they got the idea from a centuries-old discovery in the cellar of a Parisian townhouse, and the connection between bookplates and erotica. It was such an interesting conversation, and I learned a lot about the history of this object – from armorial origins, the exclusive purview of the social elite, to a democratised artform anyone can enjoy.

Lauren’s favourite book that I’ve never heard of was Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman, by Stefan Zweig (1932), which is a psychological portrait of the famous French queen.

The best book that she has read in the last 12 months is Bel-ami, by Guy de Maupassant (1885) – which follows a charming and ambitious man confronted with the sordidity and corruptness of belle epoque Paris.

The book she would take to a desert island is Mount Analogue: A Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing, by René Daumal (1952), a surrealist ‘cult classic’ which tells the allegorical story of an expedition to an elusive mountain.

Finally, the book that changed her mind was Sophie’s World, by Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder (1991), which follows teenage Sophie as she is introduced to the world of philosophy.

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Today I spoke to Blindboy Boatclub – a multi-disciplinary Irish artist and author of the recently published short story collection Topographia Hibernica, a tongue-in-cheek update to the original. Blindboy exploded onto the international scene in late 2010 with his band The Rubberbandits and segued into a weekly podcast which is a cultural phenomenon, with over 1.2 million monthly listeners. He has released three critically acclaimed short story collections and this is his latest one.

I thoroughly enjoyed Topographia Hibernica and its absurd, empathetic depictions of contemporary Irish society, flora and fauna. If you’re a fan of dynamic short stories with a hard & modern edge, this will appeal to you. Tonally, it’s gritty, subversive, and slightly surreal, and narrows in on the way we relate to animals and the natural world in modern culture. Above all, many of the stories are funny. There was something in the energy here that reminded me of early short stories by the Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. The book is a relatively easy read – not lighthearted, but still accessible – and its thematic threads of animal kingdoms interacting with elements of contemporary mythology holds the collection together in a really coherent way. 

This episode features an extremely wide-reaching conversation, dipping in and out of Irish folklore, Hiberno English, the impending collapse in global biodiversity, Hieronymus Bosch, creating art with ‘fire in your veins’, and a plethora of other fascinating topics. What shines through our conversation most apparently is the remarkable breadth of Blindboy’s knowledge, and the all-consuming way he approaches creative pursuits. Incredibly informed and interested in the world around him, he’s an artist in the truest sense of the word.

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Books mentioned in the episode:

During the episode, Blindboy talked about the Argentinian horror short story collection, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez (2021); Dance Move, by Wendy Erskine (2022), an eclectic collection of stories set in Belfast; A Shock, by Keith Ridgeway (2021), a subversive novel exploring the absurdity of contemporary London life; The Wounded Cormorant and Other Stories by Liam O’Flaherty (1973), a compassionate portrayal of Irish nature; and Neuromancer, by William Gibson (1984), a genre-forming cyberpunk novel.

His favourite book that I’ve probably never heard of was Ossian’s Ride, by Fred Hoyle (1951), a sci-fi detective novel, where Ireland has become a technological superpower.

The best book he’s read in the last 12 months was Homesick for Another World, by Ottessa Moshfegh (2017), a collection of 14 short stories, most of which were originally published in The Paris Review. 

The book he would take to a Desert Island would be The Third Policeman, by Flann O’Brien (1967) a dark, surrealist murder mystery set in a village police force.

Finally, a book that changed his mind is The Dead, which is the final, novella-length, story from James Joyce’s collection Dubliners (1914).

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at ⁠@litwithcharles⁠. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Find Blindboy:

Instagram: @blindboyboatclub

Part of what I try to do on this channel is to, in some small way, examine the history of literature. But for today’s guest, Spanish writer and Philologist Irene Vallejo, it’s the history of the book itself – from early beginnings as delicate cuneiform tablets, scrolls, and reeds on the banks of the Nile – that truly excites. Papyrus is a stunning introduction to (and explanation of!) philology, and is definitely an accessible read for any lover of books or history. In this episode, we dive into 6000 years of history – connecting ancient episodes with anachronistic references to the modern day – and zoom in on some of the most powerful stories contained within.

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Books mentioned in the episode:

Find Irene:

Buy Papyrus: ⁠ ⁠https://amzn.eu/d/aW3ABoR

Instagram: ⁠@irenevallejomoreu

Famously undefinable, in many ways art is an ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ kind of thing. It’s a giant sociological concept whose tendrils snake into all our lives. In today’s episode, I speak to Farah Nayeri: journalist and author of Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age, a fascinating overview of some of the most difficult questions currently being asked in the contemporary art world. What should we be doing about culturally valuable works from problematic artists? Are the demographics of the industry (historically a hotbed of old, straight white men) changing fast enough? How can artists tread the line between appreciation and appropriation? In today’s wide-ranging conversation, we cover this and much, much more – along with a snapshot into Farah’s literary tastes and recommendations.

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!

Books mentioned in the episode:

Find Farah:

Book: https://amzn.eu/d/cdIRzdf

Website: http://www.farahnayeri.com/

Instagram: @nayeri.farah

It’s the age-old question: was the book really better than the movie? For the last however many millennia, the book has been the unrivalled compendium of human knowledge. However, since the turn of the last century, there’s been a new kid on the proverbial block: the movie.

Today I got to speak to Tom Williams, a film producer based out of LA, whose 25 year film industry tenure has given us a brief window into the glitz, glamour, and (perhaps) practical realities of working in the biz. In this episode we cover a wide range of topics, and have a go at recontextualising the historic chasm between cinema and literature – not a brutal clash of deadly foes, but actually something rather symbiotic.

Find some of the books mentioned in the episode below:

Lit with Charles loves reviews. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you could leave a review of your own, and follow me on Instagram at @litwithcharles. Let’s get more people listening – and reading!