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The Idle Book Club 18: Runaway The Idle Book Club tackles Sarah's favorite author, the prolific and award-winning short story writer Alice Munro. It's no surprise that Sarah loved this collection, Runaway, but does Chris? You'll have to listen to find out. (Spoilers: yes.) Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

The Idle Book Club 27: Jesus' Son In the wake of Denis Johnson's passing, Chris and Sarah discuss Jesus' Son, the author's bleak yet beautiful collection of stories centered around the desperation of addiction. We also delve into why short stories are frequently so melancholy, and Chris briefly makes an embarrassingly mistaken reference to the Velvet Underground. Join us! Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

The Idle Book Club 15: The Man in the High Castle Chris and Sarah have their first Philip K. Dick experience (in book form, anyway) with The Man in the High Castle, an ambitious and bleak alternate history novel depicting a world in which the Axis powers were victorious. Join us for an enthusiastic discussion! Discussed: The Man in the High Castle Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

About a month ago I read Dune for the first time. I am not one who generally enjoys sci-fi or fantasy writing, but I absolutely loved this book. Terms like "worldbuilding" are overused but Herbert does such a fantastic job establishing his universe without bombarding the reader with lengthy exposition. Everything that you need to know comes through naturally and requires attention and inference. My favorite example is the hints that are given for why there are no advanced AI systems in this universe. Nothing is explicitly stated, but it's so organically presented in the narrative that it doesn't take much to figure out some of those specific details. After I finished Dune I bought the next book in the series and fully plan on reading as much of the Frank Herbert Dune books as possible.

Our February episode of The Idle Book Club will be on The Odyssey, specifically the Emily Wilson translation.

The Idle Book Club 28: NW Sarah and Chris discuss NW, Zadie Smith's sprawling tale of the London working class. It's a re-read for both co-hosts, and they loved it just as much the second time through. Join in and see if you agree! Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

Hello!! We have been terrible and not updated anyone on the status of the podcast. But fear not, we've just recorded our episode on NW and it will be released soon in what we've retroactively decided to call "Season 3" of the Idle Book Club. For those of you who have still stuck around during the long delay (again, sorry) our next episode will be on The Odyssey, specifically the new Emily Wilson translation.

Yes, I had this exact same thought!! Especially because the music in that scene was super creepy and ominous. I guess it was just a red herring that didn't really go anywhere?

I know that some people actively hate episode 7 and while I didn't loathe it, I find it more revealing of the writings flaws. It's like they wanted an Empire Strike Backs Jedi-training sequence, but failed to articulate all the emotion and drama that came from Luke and Yoda's relationship. No one was surprised at the resolution to that episode, which is probably why it feels like a slog for so many people. "We're here to steal from the millionaire war criminals!" Spoilers for ep 7: I'm super disappointed in how El in general was handled this season, but the show has never really cared about her as a character really. Same goes for Max when it's revealed that her tragic backstory is

I also just finished season 2. I was really worried after the first episode, and while the show eventually righted itself and was generally enjoyable, I think the second season is starting to highlight a lot of the limitations of the show's writing. Some of the choices actively ruined what would have otherwise been a fun follow up to a fun first season.

I wanted him to save Laura, so badly. Even if that would upend everything great about Twin Peaks and FWWM, I desperately wanted Cooper to rescue her and fix everything. I was so heartbroken by the end, along with Cooper and Laura. What a horrifying episode of television. We had the good Cooper back, only for him to revert to someone new. I like the interpretation of new Coop being a combination of his good and evil sides, that seems right. Time travel, dreams, the Black Lodge, none of really matters. The past is the past and there's nothing you can do about it. I want to believe there's still hope though.

Yeah, I don't think all Roadhouse scene were "fake" but now I suspect more than zero of them have been in Audrey's brain.

What an episode!! I cheered when Cooper came back and then teared up at Audrey's Dance. Well worth the wait. A few quick thoughts: - The reveal that Audrey was in a fake Roadhouse means that we know have to question the reality of every Roadhouse scene, right? That would explain why the website run by Matthew Lillard's character had an audio track of all the Roadhouse bands up to that point. It's all been in the Black Lodge (?) or some other place. - All the extras swaying to Audrey's Dance was great. - Will Richard Horne reappear??

I had an absolute blast watching this episode.

The Idle Book Club 26: A Sight for Sore Eyes Ruth Rendell is known as a crime novelist, but in A Sight for Sore Eyes she stretches the genre's trappings into a taut and thrilling class-infused generational novel. Join Chris and Sarah as they get sucked into Rendell's bleak but utterly captivating world. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

I also am perplexed by the hangups created by the Richard Horne scene! I don't really understand what Jake or Chris would need for that scene to make more "sense." I agree that it was brutal to watch, and part of the reason why it was so effective is precisely because we understand just enough about what's happening on screen to be upset by it. If people are suggesting it was exploitative, I don't really see. If anything, the honest violence of this scene felt refreshing to a lot of TV/movie violence that I've seen recently, where the violence is pitched as transgressive but really just amounts to the same old tired "are you shocked by how twisted we're being?" trope that is more for enjoyment than unsettling the audience. (I'm looking at you, Game of Thrones.) That scene told us a lot about Richard Horne, his relationship with his family, and the relationship of the Hornes in general.

My comments aren't directed at any person in particular and I don't think the takeaway should be to not say anything in the future. However, I am increasingly frustrated by the very predictable and very unhelpful conversations progressive people will have about art and want to point that out.

Honestly, part of me feels like this conversation undermines actual rape. Maybe theoretically you can make an argument for why it's rape, but it wouldn't be that dissimilar from Dworkin's argument that all penis-vagina sex is fundamentally rape; it makes sense in theory but can never be carried out in the real, messy world we live in. Janey-E and Dougie are heightened, comedic versions of sitcom man and wife. She is the attractive, put upon wife who is constantly crossing her arms and rolling her eyes at her dopey husband who just does not get it. It's so clearly a farce and meant to be funny that serious calls of "she raped him!" seem obtuse to the point of harm. As someone else pointed out, if you follow the scene logically, Janey-E also technically did not consent, since Dougie isn't really Dougie. But again, that's a road that leads no where and is fruitless. What honestly is the point of this conversation? What great injustice is being visited by this scene that we're all arguing against? Why create a culture where we can't given something like this the benefit of the doubt and move on?

I contend that this is exactly how Cooper would have sex, even outside of his Lodge-induced fog. I am also very pro Cooper being good at absolutely everything without even trying. Seriously, she orgasmed vaginally? Good job, Coop.

Everything involving Candy and the casino subplot has the feel of a Coen brothers' comedy. It's heightened absurdity with a low-level hum of danger/potential violence.

Still really, really do not want Bad Coop to be Richard's father. Maybe Billy Zane is the dad??

This episode was so frightening and so funny. I can't believe it all worked so well together, but Lynch and co have someone managed to pull off some of the most incongruous tonal shifts. Richard Horne is a truly great villain, both because how believably monstrous he is but also because of how vulnerable we've seen him. Given how Candy's scene went earlier - where I was excepting the Mitchum brothers to react violently to her remote control incident - I similarly thought that maybe Richard's scene with his grandmother would play out along the same lines. Instead, Lynch goes all in on making you really uncomfortable and sad, focusing so much on Grandma Horne prone on the floor, while her grandson violates her home and her son. It was brutal to watch. I was initially skeptical about this season being as long as it is, but at this point, my skepticism has completely worn off. The pace is amazing and I want to live in this world for as long as possible.

Matthew Lillard is a really good gross crier (see: Scream) and I enjoyed how those two actors played off one another. It's increasingly feeling like Audrey is the one who will bring back real Coop. His fascination with the women in red pumps and the really, really noticeable absence of Audrey solidified that for me.

I watched Fantastic Beasts twice in a desperate attempt to make sense of it and absolutely could not. Yates did a decent job with the later Harry Potter movies, successfully bringing them over to more "adult" films, but he really failed with Beasts. That movie has a lot of set ups that don't lead to anything. Katherine Waterson's character has such devotion to Credence Barebone, I thought the movie was suggesting that maybe he is her child. Instead, I guess he is just a kid she had previously met (off-screen, of course) for some reason we just accept that she has a strong bond with him, even though we never see them interact. At one point, Waterson and Redmayne are sentenced to death that will be carried out by Waterson's co-workers. They escape, and later Waterson is back working with those same co-workers who nearly executed her. This is not addressed by the movie, which is confusing to watch, since you'd expect any normal person to be a little cross about those events. Believable characterization sacrificed for having a "tense" set piece in the middle of the movie. But the worst part of the movie is the ending

The second season actually has too few episodes, which leads to a lot of clunkiness in the middle. Right before they started filming on season 2, the episode order was cut, so the show jumps forward with a lot of major plot developments that you can tell they wanted to take more time with. They also didn't know if they were going to get renewed until very late in the season. Overall, it makes for a weaker season arc, but the show's minute-to-minute beats are so amazing. And the songs are really, really good.