social commentary
The Picture of Dorian Gray
It’s been a while since we’ve read a classic, so this week, Novel Ideas brings you The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This is a book known for featuring a portrait that ages while the man in the portrait remains young. Well, about that… it’s not exactly the most significant part of the story. Join us as we talk about that and other things, such as Victorian censorship, homoeroticism, class issues, and social satire. We also discuss the history of nuts, indirect murder, our take on State Farm ads, and professional trolls. On a side note, there are a couple minutes of this episode where the sound is a little washed out because I had to use the noise removal tool. It’s definitely noticeable, but far less distracting than the alternative.
The music bump this week is from Richard Wagner’s “Tannhauser Overture,” one of the several Wagner operas referenced in the book.
The Picture of Dorian Gray – That is Wilde!
Recommendations:
Gabs: 6/10. Read The Importance of Being Earnest if you really want the Oscar Wilde experience.
Ben: 5/10. I want to like it, but there’s a little too much boredom between bouts of wit.
This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged 21st century Oscar Wilde, aestheticism, aphorisms, art for art, audio weirdness, beauty v. morality, blackmail, class issues, Faustian, gossip cycles, history of nuts, homoeroticism, indirect murder, literary State Farm ads, misogyny, omniscient voice, Oscar Wilde, physiognomy, playwright, professional troll, social commentary, strict Faust constructionist, The Picture of Dorian Gray, too descriptive, verbose characters, Victorian censorship, wit.
A Handmaid’s Tale
Welcome back, book lovers! This week’s episode features A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, a dystopian future where women are second class citizens. The conversation is a little longer and darker than average as we take turns atop the feminist soapbox. We also attempt to offend the whole world by discussing religion and motherhood. Our high standards of broadcast quality are maintained as a landscaper starts his leafblower and leaves it sitting outside the window. Prepare to be slightly depressed and more than slightly outraged as we explore yet another dystopian future.
The music this week is Rockapella’s arrangement of “Amazing Grace,” because: 1) Rockapella is awesome, 2) Amazing Grace appears in the book, and 3) we find it difficult to take even twenty seconds of Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel.”
A quick administrative note: If you are reading along at home, there is now a schedule link at the top of the page so you can follow us more easily.
This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged A Handmaid's Tale, christianity, dystopia, feminism, feminism again, gender politics, horrible room of boredom, landscaping hour, Margaret Atwood, more feminism, religion, social commentary.
Novel Ideas 
2017 Hugo Noms
Posted on
We interrupt this irregularly scheduled podcast with a special, albeit belated, episode. We decided to sit down and discuss the 2017 Hugo Award Nominees for Best Novel. Extra heavy spoiler alert on this episode, as every book we talk about was published in 2016 at the earliest. In addition to touching on every nominated book, we also discuss diversity, writing styles, identity, and the proliferation of series in the SF/Fantasy world. We also talk about scenes that make you feel, writers who have never met a woman before, the future corporate age of exploration, and the cool factor of space wizards wielding laser swords.
The music bump is “Robots” by Flight of the Conchords because, as discussed in this episode of the podcast, all science fiction is about robots.
113 – 2017 Hugo Noms – Diversity of Ideas
This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged A Closed and Common Orbit, Ada Palmer, All the Birds in the Sky, Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie, awards, Becky Chambers, bullying, character drive story, Charlie Jane Anders, Cixin Liu, Claire S., colonialism, corporate age of exploration, cultural differences, Death's End, diversity, diversity of ideas, emotions, Enlightenment Era, friendless loners, genres, Hella spoilers, identity, manners and civility, math magic, meta, N.K. Jemisin, Ninefox Gambit, posting schedule, pretentious, series, social commentary, space wizards, spoilers, strangeness, style shifts, The Obelisk Gate, This American Life, Too Like the Lightning, trans allegory, writers who have never met a woman, Yoon Ha Lee.