Close Reads
267 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 568 ratingsClose Reads is a book-club podcast for the incurable reader. Hosted by David Kern and featuring Tim McIntosh and Heidi White, alongside a couple of other occasional guests, we read Great Books and talk about them. This is a show for amateurs in the best sense. We’re book lovers, book enthusiasts. This is not an experts show and it’s barely literary analysis in the way that literary analysis is commonly understood. Instead it’s a show about experiences with literary urge. Join us!
Close Reads is presented by Goldberry Studios.
A NOTE ABOUT OLDER EPISODES: Since most podcast apps don't go further back than 100 episodes, you'll need to click here to listen to anything further back than that. And our first 32 episodes can be found here, on the original CiRCE Institute feed.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Episodes
#49: Parker's Back
April 25, 2017 20:13 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, with "Parker's Back". Topics include: The differences between "Parkers' Back" and her other work The theatrical nature of the story Parker's awe The deeper meaning of the characters' actions Reading Sarah Ruth Parker's image (and its all-seeing eye) Why O'Connor chose to use a Byzantine icon *** This episode...
#48: "Revelation"
April 17, 2017 17:02 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, with "Revelation." Topics include: Whether this is a good story to use to introduce stuents to O'Connor The racism of characters in the story Mrs. Turpin's gradual openness Mrs. Turpin's Christ-haunted-ness Seeing ourselves in Mrs. Turpin Judging Mrs. Turpin Mrs. Turpin's avenging angel of judgment Mrs. Turpi...
#47: The Lame Shall Enter First
April 10, 2017 20:55 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, with "The Lame Shall Enter First." Topics include: whether this story is less grotesque, the clinical-ness of the prose, psychology vs spiritual in the story, whether Shepherd repents, O'Connor vs the enlightenment, Norton as Shepherd's mirror, Norton's loneliness, faith like a child, and O'Connor the smuggler *** This ...
#46: The Comforts of Home
April 03, 2017 19:18 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, with "The Comforts of Home." Topics include: the theatrical nature of O'Connor's work, this story vs. the others in this collection, whether the mother is right to take an interest in Sarah, common critical readings that emphasize sexual tension, the opening paragraphs, Thomas as pharisee, the absence of dark grace, and mor...
#45: The Enduring Chill
March 29, 2017 00:56 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, with "The Enduring Chill." Topics include: O'Connor's sense of humor, the autobiographical nature of the story, the meaning of the names, where Asbury's illness came from, the work of the Holy Spirit in the story, and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#44: Ralph Wood Talks O'Connor
March 24, 2017 22:26 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, David chats with Dr. Ralph Wood, author of Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South, about Flannery O'Connor's reputation for grimness. Topics include: When Dr. Wood heard O'Connor give a reading live in 1962, O'Connor's sense of humor, the scandalousness of the gospel in O'Connor's canon, Julian's mother in Everything That Rises Must Converge, A View of the Woods' lack of quality, and much, much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
#43: A View of the Woods
March 20, 2017 21:53 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, with "A View of the Woods." Topics include: Whether Mary actually exists, Mary as mirror of her grandfather, O'Connor's mysterious use of pronouns, the battle between Fortune and Pitts, the story's comments on modernism, and the damnation of Fortune. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#42: Greenleaf
March 13, 2017 19:11 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, with "Greenleaf." Topics include: The romance of the bull, the bull as Christ-figure, O'Connor's commentary on Southern Christianity, sympathy for the Greenleafs, class differences in the story, Mrs. May's irreligion, Mrs. May's disdain for the bull, and the medieval theme of ecstasy in the story's ending. PLEASE NOTE: ...
#41: Everything That Rises Must Converge
March 06, 2017 19:48 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David begin their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge, beginning with the titular story. Topics include: The 2017 Close Reads literature bracket, first experiences with O'Connor (18:10), O'Connor's "metaphysical realism" (26:40), story summary (37:11), the real racist in the story (41:50), the effect of coming home in O'Connor's work (51:40), the coin (62:45), the ambiguity of the...
#40: Murder Must Advertise Q&A
February 27, 2017 17:35 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David answer listener questions about Dorothy Sayers' classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Topics include: More on how to say "Sayers", Wimsey vs Darcy (12:20), Miss Meteyard as representative of Sayers (19:25), Current states of mystery stories (21:55), Says on good Christian art (38:55), Wimsey's sorrow at the end of the book (51:40), and what Sayers to read next (57:00). *** Click he...
#39: Murder Must Advertise, chapters 17-21
February 20, 2017 22:01 - 56 minutesOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David conclude their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayers' classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Topics include: Who else the murderer could have been (6:45), whether Justice was served in the end (14:00), whether Wimsey was actually a good detective in this book (36:30), Tallboy's possible redemption (45:00), and the book we'll read next on the show. *** Be sure to subscribe to the Close...
#38: Murder Must Advertise, Chapters 13-16
February 13, 2017 21:15 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayers' classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Topics include: Comparisons between this book, Netflix's The Crown, and BBC's Downton Abbey; class issues between characters; the lack of appeal in the evil in the book; the slow burn tensions; and how Greek (the language) can help us pronounce "Death Bredon." *** Click here to join the Close ...
#37: Murder Must Advertise, Chapters 9-12
February 06, 2017 22:24 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayers' classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Topics include: Why Tim isn't overly excited about this book, what about it people most like, the modernism of the prose, the various jumping perspectives, and the theme of phantasms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#36: Murder Must Advertise, Chapters 5-8
January 30, 2017 21:45 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayers' classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Topics include: How to say "Death Bredon," how Sayers ups the stakes and tension in these chapters, the role of young Ginger Joe, Lord Peter as Bertie Wooster, and similarities with Brave New World. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
#35: Murder Must Advertise, Chapters 1-4
January 23, 2017 19:20 - 57 minutesOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayer's classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Topics include: the anxiety and cultural malaise of post-WWI Europe, the liturgy of the mystery story, why Angelina loves Lord Peter Wimsey more than Mr. Darcy, Sayers/Wodehouse comparisons, the in-media-res start of the book, and the nature of the advertising in the book. ** Click here to joi...
Close Reads #34: Introducing Murder Must Advertise
January 16, 2017 22:26 - 58 minutesOn this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David kick off their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayer's classic mystery novel, Murder Must Advertise, one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Topics include: The value of mystery stories as literature, Lord Peter vs Sherlock Holmes, Dorothy Sayers biography, and Sayers' rules of mystery writing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Close Reads #33: Recapping a Year in Reading
January 02, 2017 20:02 - 1 hourOn this episode of Close Reads, Tim, Angelina, and David discuss some of the books that excited them most in 2016. Titles include a difficult Great Book, a fantastical novel about a runaway slave, and several books of culture criticism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.