Two Month Review

After doing a bit of a deeper dive into the situation in Catalonia--and discussing the LIVE recording that will take place on December 12th at the new McNally Jackson--Chad and Brian are joined by George Carroll to talk about this batch of Rodoreda's stories. Although a couple of the stories discussed in this episode (especially "Before I Die") fit in with her more domestic stories, there is a distinct shift in tone and subject as she starts writing more about World War II ("On a Dark Night," "Orléans, Three Kilometers"), which points toward her later works, especially Death in Spring.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And stay tuned to Lit in Translation for more writing and opinions from George Carroll.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

Things are a bit rough for Chad the morning after the Open Letter gala, but he powers through and talks about this new phase of Rodoreda's stories. He and Brian break down some of the more challenging of her stories, including "Noctural" and "The Bath," and talk about what does and doesn't work in creating an authentic voice, and how to behave on airplanes.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. 

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

This week, Mark Haber of Brazos Bookstore and the Best Translated Book Award committee joins Chad and Brian to talk about the next seven stories in Mercè Rodoreda's collection. Although they touch on a number of them, a lot of time is spent focusing on "Carnival" and the literary antecedents to Rodoreda.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Mark Haber to learn more about contemporary literature and bookselling.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

This week, Chad and Brian dive into the first six stories in Mercè Rodoreda's Selected Stories and call up Quim Monzó, arguably the most important contemporary Catalan author, to talk about the precision and emotionality in her work. They also talk about Catalan literature as a whole, A Thousand Morons, Catalan independence, and much more. An incredibly fun and funny episode, this one really lays the groundwork for approaching Rodoreda's stories.

Both Selected Stories and Death in Spring are available through the Open Letter website ,and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Quim Monzó to learn more about his writings and the case for Catalan independence.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

Brian Wood is BACK. Complete with a poem he wrote in his time away from the Two Month Review . . . In the introduction to season three, Chad and Brian talk about Catalan literature (briefly), Mercè Rodoreda's career and comps, possible approaches to discussing Rodoreda's stories, and more. As noted elsewhere, this season will start with Mercè Rodoreda's Selected Stories followed by one of her novels, Death in Spring.

Both of these books are available through the Open Letter website, and if you use 2MONTH at checkout, you'll get 20% off.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Montseny" by Els Surfing Sirles.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

Here it is--the infamous LIVE recording of the Two Month Review! Chad and Lytton travelled all the way to Brooklyn to record this episode as part of the "Taste of Iceland Festivities." As a result, they recap the book as a whole and reflect on the speech from Iceland's First Lady that prefaced the recording (and which you don't get to hear) before diving into the particulars of the final section of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller. They also take questions from the audience about WWII and Kafka, and spend some time pondering the final line of the book: "i call the northern lights night rainbows." And Chad works in multiple references to Twin Peaks: The Return.

As previously noted, the next season of the Two Month Review will feature two books by Mercè Rodoreda: Selected Stories and Death in Spring. Click here to get the full schedule, and use the 2MONTH code at our website to get 20% off. (That discount code also works for Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller and The Invented Part. And if you'd rather support your local bookstore, do it! They should have all of these titles. If not, shame them. Preferably in a very public way. Kidding, totally kidding. Obviously every store carries all of our books.)

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

Icelandic novelist and poet Kári Tulinius joins Chad and Lytton this week to talk about three of the darkest sections of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller and the history of this novel's reception in Iceland. They also talk about the recent scandal that brought down the Icelandic government--and how it ties into Tómas Jónsson--about why the book was out of print in Iceland for a couple of decades after its initial release, the way this book is scarily prescient, and much more.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

You can read an excerpt from Kári's latest novel (translated by Larissa Kyzer) at Words and Worlds and can find his archived Grapevine articles here.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

CORRECTION: Throughout this podcast, we joke about having recorded the final episode of the season live at Spoonbill & Sugartown last weekend. This is a lie! The live event will take place THIS SATURDAY (September 30, 2017) as part of the Taste of Iceland events. Eliza Reid, Iceland's First Lady, will start things off at 2pm, and Lytton and I will follow her. So please ignore all our childish banter and please come out on Saturday for this live recording!

This week, Tom Flynn of Volumes Bookcafe returns to the Two Month Review to talk about three of the more difficult bits of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller one section that's a dream, one about mediums and resurrection, and one that's a poem for going to bed and for death. Thanks to Tom's perceptive insights and Lytton's genius, they're able to puzzle out all three sections and provide some solid guidance for everyone reading along.

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick Smith for a variety of literary insights and other commentary. And be sure to follow Volumes Bookstore and Tom Flynn and visit the store when you're in Chicago.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

This week Patrick Smith (Best Translated Book Award judge, The Scofield) joins Chad and Lytton to talk about this incredibly powerful section of the book, which raises all sorts of topical ideas about adhering to national myths and the problems of masculinity. This is also the section where Hitler shows up, and where a character literally eats himself out of house and home. And this podcast is a crucial one in helping frame the way this novel simultaneously holds up and undermines a variety of dangerous, unpleasant ideas. After listening to this, we hope you will have an even broader and more nuanced understanding--and appreciation--of this great novel.

Reminder! On September 30th, we will be recording the final episode of this season of the Two Month Review at Spoonville & Sugartown in Brooklyn as part of Taste of Iceland. The First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, will kick things off at 2pm with a lecture and reading, then at 3pm, Lytton and Chad will discuss the final section of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller (and take audience questions), followed by a recpetion at 4pm. It's free to attend, so come on out and see us do this live!

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. And follow Patrick Smith for a variety of literary insights and other commentary.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!

This week Norwegian translator and ALTA Fellowship recipient David Smith joins Chad and Lytton to talk about the next forty pages of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller. The two sections covered this week are wildly different from one another, opening with a much more fragmented, poetic bit then transitioning through a hilarious, yet creepy, moment in which Tómas pees all over the laundry room into a more straightforward section--but one that still brings out all the wild contradictions in Tómas's character and this book itself. This week's episode also includes Chad reading a section that's perfect for a voiceover movie trailer. (And yes, he reads it in exactly that voice.)

Feel free to comment on this episode--or on the book in general--either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from Open Letter, where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Lytton Smith for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all Two Month Review posts by clicking here.

The music for this season of Two Month Review is "Long Year" by The Anchoress.

And please rate us on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) and/or leave a review!