Benny decided it was time for the boys to read Leo Tolstoy's 800 page whopper Anna Karenina. Today we discuss the first two parts of the 8-part novel.

Rich immediately fell in love with all the characters. He wants be Levin, be with Anna, and be... something with that majestic horse Frou Frou.

On the famous opening line: Are happy families alike? Are any of Tolstoy's families happy? Rich argues the line is actually about statistical mechanics.

On Stepan and Dolly: We meet our first unhappy family. Are they meant to be nodes who connect everyone else? Will they stick in there and make the marriage work?

On Levin: Rich identifies with Levin, warts and all. Is this Tolstoy's mary-sue character? How did he fumble the bag so hard with Kitty? Speaking of, why can't Benny bowl without the gutters up?

On Anna: Rich falls in love with Anna almost as quick as a Tolstoy character. Her elegance, intelligence, and her black dress. He loves her even more than Levin but Frou-Frou the horse gives her a run for her money. How does Tolstoy write such likeable characters? Is Anna's burgeoning relationship with Vronsky love? What to think of her cucked bureaucrat husband Alexei Karenin, who's obsessed with propriety? On fiery passion vs duty. CHAPTERS

(00:00:00) AI rates our podcasting skills (00:05:00) Opening line: are all happy families alike? (00:11:58) Benny history snippet: Freeing the serfs (00:13:44) Stepan and Dolly (00:20:10) Meeting the famous Anna Karenina (00:27:15) Levin crushing on the Schchchcherbatskys (00:36:15) Anna and Vronsky (00:50:23) Alexei Karenin in denial (01:01:23) Where's all the sex? (01:14:00) Tolstoy's writing

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NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• Anna Karenina - parts 3-5
• Anna Karenina - parts 6-8
• A new book!

Everyone loves Gabriel García Márquez' 1967 genre-defining classic One Hundred Years of Solitude.

At first we were charmed. But after trying to track a complex web of births and deaths and affairs and inc*stuous unions all taking place in the first 100 pages we found ourselves mired deep in the swamp.

When we reached the halfway mark we recorded an episode so hopelessly confused that we had to junk it. As we trudged through the second half, we fantasised about the devastating critiques we would unleash. then right on the very cusp of recording this pod, we all sheepishly admitted we were kinda back on board again??

Come on a journey with us to Macondo: often maddening but always magical.

The elephant in the room is magical realism: have we found our kryptonite? Rich accepts that we're meant to soak up the vibe rather than spergily analyse it, but still has problems with the genre. How can characters have meaningful stakes in an arbitrary world? is it even possible to write a non-fatalistic work? Can fiction be in some sense 'truer than true'? Cam advances the bold thesis that magic is cool, actually.

On the cyclicality of human decline: do the characters matter as individuals, or are they fractals of Macondo itsef? Is this a biblical post-eden loss of innocence story? A nod to Spengler's theory of cyclical civilizational collapse? Is historical determinism total bullshit? We're not sure but we don't love the fatalism here.

On the solipsism of the Buendia family: seriously, what's with all the inc*st?? why is there so little true love or tenderness? why couldn't they have called their kids Pedro or Juan or something? This book is supposedly critical of colonialism and material progress but Cam and Rich can't help coming away with a straussian reading in which GGM is mostly mocking his stupid inbred countrymen.

On the belovedness of this book, and why it missed the mark for us: Is there something here that only Latin American people can understand? Do you need to be familiar with the history of Colombia? Is the book better in the original Spanish? Is it a dose-dependent thing?

Plus: new book announcement. it's a big one

CHAPTERS

(00:00:00) first impressions (00:06:40) The case against magical realism (00:26:08) Fiction is ‘truer’ than real life (Baudrillard redux) (00:31:45) Macondo as a fractal set of human failures (00:38:37) Spengler’s theory of cyclical history (00:43:00) biblical parallels: post-Eden loss of innocence (00:44:53) A Straussian reading contra the anti-progress themes (00:50:48) Back to Spengler: is historical determinism bullshit? (01:01:34) ‘The optimal amount of inc*st is non-zero’ (01:10:55) Solipsism and lack of true connection amongst the Buendías (01:16:34) Do we like this book? Would we recommend it? (01:27:45) BIG SUMMER BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

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NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

we have very premium episode for you this week. welcoming special guest Nicole (@elocinationn), one of the great up-and-coming poasters of our time.

We revisit one of her younger self's favourite books, Jonathan Safran Foer's ambitious 2002 novel Everything is Illuminated.

On being disconnected from history: can you be traumatised by losing connection with your past? how reliable is our conception of history anyway? can the stories we tell ourselves be 'truer than true'? do we care about our own family genealogies? what are the challenges of trying to write about the Holocaust as a third-generation survivor?

Foer's incredible ambition: How derivative is this book? does it really matter? Who are Foer's postmodernist forebears, and what did he do differently? Should more young authors try to swing for the fences like this?

Plus we stumble upon the inspiration for borat, find out who invented the gloryhole, and MORE

CHAPTERS

(00:00:00) intro and why we chose the book (00:07:10) Alex as the proto-borat (00:25:50) playing at happy families with Brod and Yankel (00:33:56) traumatic impact of being disconnected from history (00:46:42) Lista and Alex's grandad: survivor guilt (01:02:21) Brod and the Kolker's violent love (01:16:00) Jonathan's grandad finally achieves release (01:28:10) Truth of fact, truth of feeling redux (01:35:53) How original is this book? mapping influences and forebears (01:52:18) final thoughts

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We love listener feedback. Send us a note at douevenlit@gmail.com to correct our hot takes, add your own, or ask a question.

NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• One Hundred Days of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This week we tackle another short story by Ted Chiang: From his 2019 Exhalation collection Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling.

Ludditism and cognitive tool breakthroughs: we go through the pros and cons. Rich wants to go to the moon. We're not sure how much of a luddite, or dare we say relativist, we should make Chiang out to be.

Fallible memories: just how bad are our memories? Benny and Rich have opposing intuitions,

Special guest episode coming soon!

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) Summary
• (00:00:00) Chiang, a luddite?
• (00:00:00) Founding myths
• (00:00:00) Cognitive tools
• (00:00:00) Fallible memories
• (00:00:00) Final thoughts

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We love listener feedback. Send us a note at douevenlit@gmail.com to correct our hot takes, add your own, or ask a question.

NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
• One Hundred Days of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This week we wrap up our discussion of Ursula LeGuin's 1974 classic The Dispossessed.

Simultaneity physics: just a mcguffin, or deeper thematic significance? How is it different to a block universe? Does this count as hard sci-fi?

on the [redacted] scene: why would LeGuin include this? how are we supposed to feel about our hero Shevek? why would capitalism make me do this??

Final thoughts on the book: was Shevek's arc satisfying? who would we recommend it to? are we gonna read more LeGuin?

Ted Chiang story coming soon. plus special guest episode!

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) shevek’s arc or lack thereof
• (00:11:20) talking about THAT scene
• (00:16:40) Simultaneity theory unpacked
• (00:25:45) Final thoughts on the book
• (00:35:10) special guest announcement

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We love listener feedback. Send us a note at douevenlit@gmail.com to correct our hot takes, add your own, or ask a question.

NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling - Ted Chiang
• Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
• One Hundred Days of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A brilliant physicist grows disenchanted with the stifling anarchist society of his home planet, defecting to a capitalist world in the hopes of finding true freedom...but what he finds only horrifies him.

Cam says Ursula K. Le Guin's 1974 award-winning piece of sociological fiction is a leftist pamphlet. Benny and Rich call bs.

who's right? let us examine the textual evidence.

On incentives: Are social sanctions powerful enough to get everyone to work voluntarily? Can an economy function without price signals and division of labour? How does crime and justice work with no police or courts? Do we have any existence proofs of flourishing anarchist societies?

On family life: Is having your children raised by other people as grotesque as it sounds? How about mere copulation without monogamy? Or living in communal dorms? The boys are much more sympathetic to the idea of ditching compulsory education, but wonder if unschooling etc is a luxury belief.

And the million-dollar question: from behind the veil of ignorance, would we rather be born on Anarres or Urras?

A fun wonky discussion of the central ideological clash. In part 2 we'll try to talk more about the characters and the story.

Also: a humiliating question in the reader mailbag! bold of you to assume we actually read books outside of the podcast.

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) an ambiguous anarchist utopia
• (00:09:33) communal parenting, unschooling, and luxury beliefs
• (00:19:10) soft coercion through social norms
• (00:33:18) the free-rider problem and central planning
• (00:42:52) capitalism as the root cause of all antisocial behaviour
• (00:48:02) crime rate is zero if you don't have any laws hehe
• (00:59:42) has real syndicalist anarchism ever been tried?
• (01:04:37) how good is le guin’s worldbuilding
• (01:15:21) reader mailbag: which new releases from living authors do we read immediately?

WRITE US:

We love listener feedback. Send us a note at douevenlit@gmail.com to correct our hot takes, add your own, or ask a question.

NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling - Ted Chiang
• Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
• One Hundred Days of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots.”

After a break, the boys jump into the 1980s po-mo White Noise by Don DeLillo. We talk about the denial of death, toxic airborne events, and Baudrillardian copies of copies of copies (of copies...)

Simulacra: The boys shake off their reddit I Love Science teenage years and start to embrace all things post-modernism. Namely, Baudrilliard's idea of the Simulacra where some "signs" no longer point to any underlying reality.

Denial of Death: A fairly straight-forward retelling of Ernest Becker's Denial of Death: We're all terrified of death, so we build our entire lives to avoid confronting it. Cam and Benny try denying Becker's denial thesis.

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) Chitter chatter
• (00:03:13) Quick summary
• (00:09:16) The most photographed barn in America
• (00:13:51) Post-modernism
• (00:16:35) Baudrillard's Simulacra
• (00:24:26) How po-mo is DeLillo himself
• (00:32:18) Fake preferences & signalling
• (00:36:36) Airborne Toxic Event
• (00:55:17) Fear of Death
• (01:17:50) Ending and Jack's arc
• (01:31:26) Final thoughts

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We love listener feedback. Send us a note at douevenlit@gmail.com to correct our bad takes, add your own, or just say hi.

NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• Ursula Le Guin - The Dispossessed
• Ted Chiang - Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling
• Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated

This week we finally shut up about translations and get into some juicy themes and character analysis.

Telemachus: why is he such a dweeb compared to his dad? Rich argues that he's doing the best he can growing up with an absent father. The others are less sympathetic.

Odysseus: is his paranoid murderous rampage justified? what are his singular heroic attributes? Is he portrayed more as admirable or a hubristic figure? Why won't his men obey him?

On homecoming: Why was Odysseus away for so long? Was he kinda dragging his heels on the return voyage? How much strange was he getting? What motivated him to finally come home?

The Ancient Greek marshmallow test: exploring the recurring themes of self-denial, time preference, binding mechanisms, and whether playing the long game could arguably be the central theme of the whole poem.

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) Telemachus the failson
• (00:19:39) why the poem spends so much time on household politics
• (00:29:31) Bronze Age morality redux: what have we learned?
• (00:36:28) The Ancient Greek Marshmallow Test
• (00:45:12) Odysseus’ slow homecoming
• (00:57:04) Godhood and rat bastard cunning
• (01:13:07) Suitor slaughtering time
• (01:17:25) Final thoughts on Odysseus and bronze age heroism
• (01:32:48) Listener mailbag and next book announcement

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We love listener feedback. Send us a note at douevenlit@gmail.com to correct our bad takes, add your own, or just say hi.

NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• White Noise - Don DeLillo