Argobot

The Idle Book Club 21: The Sellout For the final Idle Book Club of 2016, Sarah and Chris wrestle with The Sellout, Paul Beatty's very dark satire on race relations in modern America. Next month: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte! The Sellout by Paul Beatty Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Yeah, I agree that sometimes having a visual can help with your understanding of a book, especially with the examples you cited. Like I said on the Wuthering Heights cast, books written before the ascension of film have a much less literal prose, which can sometimes be confusing to modern readers who are more accustomed to visual storytelling. The BBC Pride and Prejudice series definitely helped me visualize scenes that the novel doesn't make super clear. Silence, however, was written in the 60s, so it comes from a film era. There's nothing in the book that the movie makes clearer, because the two are essentially identical. Not only is the plot the same, but the dialogue and internal narration is also directly lifted from the book. It's actually incredible how similar they are; I can't remember the last time a modern book was adapted into a film where nothing was changed. My problem was that it felt like I was rewatching the movie while reading the book.

I 100% agree with Jaws being number one on this list.

I had the exact opposite reaction to this book. Not because I thought it was bad, but because I happened to watch the movie first and the book and the movie are exactly the same. It made the book slow going for me because I already knew what was going to happen and what everyone's reaction to events would be. As always, seeing the movie first was a horrible mistake.

I love that Coates gets indirectly called out in this book. Another really humorous observation that made me - a white person who enjoys Coates writing - feel uncomfortable at how spot on the observation was.

The Idle Book Club 17: The Sympathizer This month, Sarah and Chris discuss Viet Thanh Nguyen's ambitious and bleakly comic debut novel, The Sympathizer. The story of a Vietnamese communist sympathizer among his fellow refugees in the United States, the book is a scorching examination of inside and outside perspectives on the Vietnam War and its reverberations. Next month: Runaway by Alice Munro! Discussed: The Sympathizer, Tears of My Soul Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Chris and I saw Nguyen speak last night in SF and got our copy of the Sympathizer signed. It was an amazing talk where Nguyen was brutally honest about the way (white) America deals with refugees in the present and the past. He also mentioned that the Sympathizer will be getting a sequel and hopefully be adapted into a movie or a TV show.

Woah, I had no idea this was happening. I actually loved Arrival and am excited by the same director taking a stab at Dune. Although, I have a feeling the book would work way better as a tv show than a movie.

Cribbed from wikipedia!

I know when people call this book a romantic story, they're usually referring to Catherine and Heathcliff. (And I also suspect that they're thinking of movie versions of the book, which as far as I can tell do away with all of Heathcliff's domestic abuse). Reading this a second time though, I found that I was really drawn to the relationship of Cathy and Hareton. Their story ends on a romantic note, a welcome conclusion from the misery that the earlier parts of the book inflicts on the reader.

What time do people want to meet up?

It's walkable-ish? I personally don't think it's that far, but I also don't mind a 15 minute walk. At the very least, there's easy transit access between the two.

Kate Beaton has a lot of good Wuthering Heights comics but the second panel here is my favorite: http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=402

Yeah, I had a lot of fun last year! I bet even on a Saturday that Whitechapel will not be super slammed if people show up around 5. Wasn't last year's meet up around a similar time?

Oh, interesting. I definitely am thinking of revisiting Jane Eyre after finishing Heights, to see how they both compare. For me at least, any difficulty with the prose is outweighed by how much of a page-turner this book is. Even when it's at it's most ephemeral, it's not enough to pull me away from how much of a joy it is to read. Hilarious, given how many absolutely awful things happen in this book.

I'm so stupidly pleased to receive Jaffa cakes.

Haha. I hope you are encouraged to actually finish it this time! I'm rereading it right now - last read when I was 14 - and am finding it a real joy to read. It's so funny and spooky.

The Idle Book Club 20: I Love Dick Chris Kraus' I Love Dick is an experimental novel that blurs the line between fiction and memoir. In the years since its release, it has experienced a resurgence of popularity culminating in a recent Amazon TV adaptation. Join Sarah and Chris as they discuss whether they...loved it. I Love Dick by Chris Kraus Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Article released today on the Man Booker controversy: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/30/authors-join-julian-barnes-us-authors-booker-prize-as-byatt-philip-hensher

I've always payed as much attention to the Booker Prize as I have to American awards, and I think the Booker winner usually receives a degree of attention in the US. Hilary Mantel, The Luminaries, The Brief History of Seven Killings - all Man Booker Prize winners - were as widely discussed in the US as any American novel. It's interesting that this book was the first American novel to win the Booker, since it is such an American look at race and satire. Before The Sellout won the Booker, I probably would have said that there's no great difference between UK or US novels, but now that The Sellout has won, my opinion is slowly changing. Did anyone read the other short-listed books for the Man Booker Prize in 2016? I'm interested to know how they compare to The Sellout.

lol, yeah, I'm all good for this!

Nice! I read this back in the spring and thought it was really hilarious. Glad that it is currently winning awards and excited to discuss it on the podcast.

We had a ton of fun recording this one, largely because it is so outside anything that we've read for this podcast. Look for it soon! Meanwhile, our next pick is the The Sellout by Paul Beatty.

The Idle Book Club 19: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love What DO we talk about when we talk about love? Whatever it is, from Raymond Carver's point of view, it's not very rosy. Join Sarah and Chris as they discuss this classic collection of particularly short stories. Sorry for the delay! What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

The play undid a lot of aspects of the Deathly Hallows epilogue that I thought were really successful. The seventh book ends with us discovering that Harry finally got his wish - a family. Through the series, we see him struggle with this immense responsibility and dream about having a normal life where he's not constantly imperiled by dark wizards. He does not want the fame and danger that comes with it. That's why the epilogue is such a good resolution; finally, Harry can be a normal person and raise a family that he was denied. The play undoes that happiness by showing that actually, Harry is kind of a bad father. And maybe someone who went through everything that Harry did realistically wouldn't be a great dad, but it ruins the joy and contentment I felt reading that epilogue. I also was really bothered with how Slytherin was handled, by again undoing what was so well-handled in the epilogue. The series ends and it seems like the distrust of Slytherin is gone, but the play returns to the tired Slytherin = bad excuse that never sat right with me in the books. Finally, I really did not enjoy how much Hermione and Rose were side-lined in the play. Again, that undoes aspects of the book series that made it so successful in my mind. Going from having a prominent and beloved female character to basically no female characters is a huge misstep in the continuation of this series. I'm fully willing to admit that I probably was never going to be 100% onboard with more Harry Potter stories, because I am incredibly suspicious of sequels and infinite storytelling based on nostalgia. But, I gave the play a shot and found it really lacking in these major ways. I'm hoping that Fantastic Beasts will do better. Although, skeptical me is already annoyed that the movie is a trilogy. Everything has to be a franchise these days.