intersectionality

Homegoing

Posted on August 9, 2017

After a long hiatus, Novel Ideas has returned with an episode about Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Ignore anything we say about timing in this episode as we recorded it back in March. I’d apologize, but by now you’ve been burned so many times by our erratic schedule that you would probably assume that I don’t mean it. In this episode we talk about strong characterization, elements of storytelling, the impact of the past, and history. We also discuss our lack of qualification to discuss this book, rehash the badness of slavery (we’ll stop when you guys finally get it), grudgingly reference Light in August (about which no more needs to be said), and get really uncomfortable trying to discuss racial issues despite being a pair of white idiots.

The music bump is “The Long Way Home” by Joshua Redman.

Homegoing – A Book Without Happy Endings

Our recommendations: It’s probably been too long since we read this to assign a realistic numerical rating, but it’s the kind of book that you read and think that everyone should read it regardless of their level of enjoyment. So I guess 10/10 for relevance and 0/10 if you hate it on principle because we’re telling you that you have to read it.

This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged a book without happy endings, Ben's ignorance, context, cotagonist, genetic memory, genre?, going home, hidden history, history, Homegoing, impact of the past, injustice, intersectionality, Light in August, missionaries, narrative expectations, no joke prepared, notagonist, prison system, race, racism, required reading, slavery is bad, slavery is gross, spoilers, storytelling, strong characters, uncomfortable, unique structure, unofficial contest, we are white idiots, what is an anthology, why don't we learn this shit in school, Yaa Gyasi.

Little Women

Posted on January 10, 2017

Happy New Year! We’re back with a classic in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, a book that many would call a quintessential American girl’s tale. Do we agree with this assessment? You’ll find out if you listen to this episode. You’ll also discover what we think about feminism in historical context, question certain self-improvements, agree with the narrator’s opinion on spinsters, and discuss the lack of passion in this story. We also talk about ladies who don’t like ladies, the creation of shipping, obnoxious children, and (perhaps oddly) lobsters.

The music bump is Chopin’s Mazurka in A minor, op. 17 due to period appropriateness. Feel free to imagine Beth playing it in heaven if that makes you feel better about it.

109 – Little Women – Marmee is the Worst

Our recommendation: Short version is that it doesn’t really hold up that well.

Ben: 5/10. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. I liked that there were a lot of things to discuss, as there usually are with classics.

Gabs: 5/10. 6/10 for part 1, 4/10 for part 2.

Quick administrative note: We’re hoping to post more often this year, though of course we guarantee nothing. As part of this “do more stuff” plan, we would like to be a little more responsive to our listeners. Please leave some requests/recommendations/suggestions for books for future episodes either in the comments for this episode or on our suggestions page.

This entry was posted in Admin, Episodes and tagged adventure stories=moral decay, Amy's potential, anti-climactic death, automatic male competence, be nice to spinsters, class issues, communication, context, cotagonist, creation of shipping, Daria, dogs fighting, family, feminism, feminism again, fixing your faults, good Christian morals, independent women, intersectionality, Jotagonist, lack of passion, ladies who don't like ladies, Little Women, lobster shame, Louisa May Alcott, meta-narration, modern retelling, morality tale, needs an editor, obnoxious children, patriarchy, picaresque, Professor Bear, protagonist, racism, rational rejection, rich in spirit, semi-autobiographical, Serial, ship wars, sibling interactions, slavery?, suggestions, trolling, white people, Yankee pride.