Doomsday Book
Novel Ideas returns with Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, a novel by one of the most well regarded authors you’ve probably never heard of. Connie Willis is a Grand Master of science fiction and one of the most decorated science fiction authors in the history of the genre. This book is her classic tale of time travel and plague. But mostly plague. In this episode we discuss the many fantastic characters, our lack of desire to live in the middle ages, and morality as it relates to cultural context. We also lament the death of every character (more or less), the death of a beloved family pet, and worry about happened to that poor cow. There will also be history nerdgasms and quite a bit of broadcast professionalism on display.
The music bump is “Messe de Notre Dame” by Guillaume de Machaut, a contemporary of the novel’s 14th century time line who also happens to share the name of an often referenced character who never actually shows up in the book.
Hills Like White Elephants
This week we’re trying something a little different. Since we’re putting two weeks between podcasts due to the length of our next book, we recorded a little mini-episode about a short story, “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. If you haven’t read it, do so now. It almost takes less time than reading this little news post. And the whole text is online for free in various places. Go now. Are you back? Good. Let’s see what you think.
The music bump is “Brick” by Ben Folds Five for reasons of thematic unity.
The Night Circus
Novel Ideas returns to spark your imagination, but it only works if you wait until after sunset. This week’s entry is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, a newer book about… a circus. That happens at night. Honestly, I have no idea how to describe this book quickly without being totally glib about it. In our discussion, we talk about some of the interesting features of the book, such as whether the setting can be the main character, what makes a compelling love story, and monochromatic characters. We also decided that we want to have a midnight dinner. Sounds fun. And despite our best attempts, we were unable to wring any feminist issues out of this book. Tune in for the second half of the podcast where we sit in stunned silence for twenty-two minutes.
The music bump is Britney Spears’s “Circus” as covered by Dirty Loops, the funkiest Swedish fusion trio working today.
Jane Eyre
Welcome back to Novel Ideas for a classically oriented episode. This week we’re featuring Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, a Romantic romantic proto-feminist semi-gothic coming of age story about finding one’s place in the world. I believe that even to this day, this book remains the best known work in that genre. In this episode, we discuss the elements of that genre, as well as mental illness, feminism, religion vs. morality, sexual mores, and the search for love. We also discuss several types of Janes, St. John the vampire hunter, and why people live in environments guaranteed to kill them.
The music bump is “Jane” by Ben Folds, after the title character of this book, who is also arguably the protagonist.
Watership Down
We apologize again for taking a week off, but we have returned with Watership Down by Richard Adams, or as he is affectionately known by no one, Dickie. You’ve probably heard of this book and know kind of vaguely that it has something to do with rabbits. I think that’s about as much explanation as it needs. If you crave more, download this week’s episode where we will discuss the parallels with ancient Rome, the lack of female rabbits, and the political implications of warren organization. We also tackle what a stoat is, what a sentence is, and what comic relief is. Actually, between us and Dickie, I’m not sure that we know what any of those three things are.
The music bump is “Watership Down,” a surprisingly catchy song by America, the band. (Not to be confused with the book or the country.)
36 – Watership Down – Insane Death Rabbit
To avoid skipping weeks unexpectedly, we are going to begin skipping weeks… expectedly. If that’s a thing. With longer titles, there will now be a two week delay between episodes instead of one week. We’ll let you know as we go along.
The Fellowship of the Ring
Welcome to Middle Earth (or possibly New Zealand), as we discuss The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien this week on Novel Ideas. This is an obscure fantasy tale with an even more obscure feature length movie that no one has seen. Also, the Peter Jackson movie that everyone in the world has seen. In this episode, we cover the big issues, such as: world building, the logical way to divide an epic story in three parts, and the lack of female characters. We also cover more philosophical questions, like whether elves bang, if Gandalf is shy, and Tom Bombadil’s ADHD. I also attempted a tweak with my audio processing, so if it sounds weird on your listening device of preference, please leave a comment.
The music bumps are from Howard Shore’s excellent score to the movie version of Fellowship, specifically the theme that probably comes to mind when you think of that soundtrack.
Doubt
Welcome to a rather serious edition of Novel Ideas, featuring Doubt by John Patrick Shanley. This is an award winning play about…. doubt, mostly. (Or is it?) Join us as we discuss sexism, church politics, and sexual power issues while trying hard not to get creeped out. We also cover hardass nuns, the appropriate length of fingernails, and why it sucks to be thirteen.
The music bump is “The Unanswered Question” by Charles Ives, a piece with a very fitting title for this play.
Bonus Episode!
Time for some holiday bonus content from the Novel Ideas podcast! In this episode we delve into topics that are somewhat outside of our area of expertise, with an especially high level of broadcast professionalism. If we sound kind of strange, it’s because we left the fan on in the room where we recorded and scrubbed the noise out using the finest available free software. We had fun recording it, we hope you enjoy listening to it.
The bumps are… self explanatory, assuming you listen to the whole episode.
33 – Bonus Episode – One Does Not Simply Walk Into Game Over
The Crucible
After a bit of a hiatus, Novel Ideas returns with a classic American play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. (Ben here: My apologies for our absence, but I’ve been studying for my oral exam for my master’s degree. Now that I’ve finished that off, we should be back on schedule, more or less. More on that in a moment.) This is a pretty well known work that gets performed frequently and is a regular presence in school curricula. In this episode we cover the parallels between this play and McCarthyism, a variety of unlikeable characters, and the psychology of a witch hunt. We also cover elements of feminism (of course!), old people who are also badasses, and why white people are, generally speaking, the worst.
The music bump today is “Witch Hunt” by Rush, which is actually yet another use of witch hunts as a metaphor. Look up the song lyrics if you don’t believe me.
32- The Crucible – Bitches Be Trippin’
A quick administrative note: We will be posting a special holiday bonus episode next week, though we’re not sure which day just yet. The following Tuesday, January 1, we’ll be taking off before resuming our usual weekly schedule of a new post (mostly) every Tuesday.
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