Unburied Books

In this episode, we talk about A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kiš and Philip Roth's Writers from the Other Europe series from the 1970s and 80s.

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Author and critic Craig Brown joins us to discuss Kingsley Amis' novel Ending Up. The story follows a group of poverty-stricken elders as they suffer the miseries of one another's company (and their relatives) over the holidays. We talk about the limits of comic writing, Amis' penchant for irritation, and the context of 1970s England. It's our 50th NYRB Classic! Let's cut the telephone wires in celebration!

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Eileen Cheng-yin Chow and Wai-yee Li, both scholars and devoted readers of Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber, join us to discuss the book's final two volumes as well as their varied encounters with the text. In this clip, we talk about the controversy surrounding the novel's last 40 chapters, the author's alter ego, and the depiction of Chinese fatherhood.

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Mabel Taylor and Madeline Porsella of Mandylion Press join us to discuss Elizabeth Taylor's Angel, a novel first published in 1957. Angel is the story of a self-obsessed writer whose imaginary world becomes frighteningly real. We talk about her lying tendencies, fraught relationships, and intersections with history's whirligig.

Check out Mandylion's books and podcast, 1-800-1800.

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It's classical music week at Unburied Books! In this bonus episode, we talk about Joys and Sorrows by Pablo Casals, a sort-of autobiography by the great unburier of Bach's cello suites, as well as Gottfried Benn's poem "Chopin," translated from German by NYRB favorite Michael Hofmann.

Read the poem here: https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/benn/Chopin.html

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NYRB Classics editorial director Edwin Frank returns to talk about his new book on the 20th-century novel. We discuss how he defined the category, his discoveries during research, and how being an editor has shaped his understanding.

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Peter Bush joins us to discuss his translation of Honoré de Balzac's The Lily in the Valley. We talk about the novel's unique place in the Human Comedy, its surprisingly modern ending, and the challenges of recreating Balzac's language in English.

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In this clip from the Patreon, we debate the merits of the 1818 and 1831 versions of the novel that birthed innumerable Halloween ensembles.

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Scholar and author Ignacio Sánchez Prado joins us to discuss Clandestine in Chile written by Gabriel García Márquez and translated from Spanish by Asa Zatz. We talk about Márquez's influence on Latin American cinema, hallmarks of the crónica, and the meaning of exile to an artist.

Become a patron to hear our discussion of Márquez's short story collection Strange Pilgrims: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384

In this clip, Dylan and Kassia discuss the 1911 Italian silent film adaptation of Dante's Inferno, a text covered on the main show.

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