Bookbabble

Bookbabble Episode 52: Genre and Literature – Hanging out with Brian Evenson Recorded 9 Nov 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Marcel, Renee, Donny, François with guest Brian Evenson   Synopsis: The group is pleased to have Brian Evenson, award-winning literary/horror author of Altmann’s Tongue, Last Days and The Open Curtain, among many others.  We discuss the man and his work in this interview, covering genres, literature, his work as the Chair of the Literary Arts Program at Brown University, translation works, ebooks and prodigious reading input.   Show Length: 1:27:23 mins   Brian Evenson on the Web Official Website Brian’s Wikipedia entry Brown University’s Literary Arts Program Brian Evenson: an introduction (pdf) Search for Brian Evenson in Amazon     Mentioned Éric Chevillard (François’s write-up here) Robert Coover Keith Waldrop John Edgar Wideman Carole Maso CD Wright William Gass Gilles Deleuze Daniel Alarcon Wells Tower Tom McCarthy Laird Barron Shelley Jackson Antoine Volodine Underland Press       Books Aliens: No Exit (Aliens (Dark Horse)), B. K. Evenson In the Heart of the Heart of the Country, William Gass Understanding Robert Coover, Brian Evenson American Plastic, Gore Vidal (NYTimes), collected in here. The Throat, Peter Straub A Dark Matter, Peter Straub Bardo or Not Bardo, Antoine Volodine Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity, Thomas Metzinger  

Bookbabble Episode 51: We Can’t Let You Read That! Recorded 1 Nov 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Lone, Marcel, Donny, with guest Glenda Larke   Synopsis: The group talks about censorship in our literature, and as it happens in our respective countries.  We discuss about what’s clearly bad, why they should or shouldn’t, and the beef about the whole process.  Also, a little on NaNoWriMo, and why teapots can be so titillating they deserved to be banned!   Show Length: 1:21:01 mins   Mentioned Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov Ulysses, James Joyce NaNoWriMo     Glenda Larke on the Internet! Official website Glenda’s Blog Glenda’s Facebook page      

Bookbabble Episode 50: Desert Island Reads  Recorded 26 October 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Lone, Marcel, Donny, with guest Umapagan Ampikaipakan   Synopsis: Uma leads the group in listing each of our 5 desert island reads – books that we’d like to take with us when we get stranded in a desert island.  Some of us took some liberties on the topic and decided to list books they haven’t read that they’d like to bring, for whatever practical reasons.    Show Length: 1:26:50 mins   Bjorn’s 5 The Man Without Qualities Vol. 1: A Sort of Introduction and Pseudo Reality Prevails, Robert Musil  Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand Life: A User/'s Manual, Georges Perec Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco The Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson     Lone’s 5 The Book of Illusions, Paul Auster La Commedia Divina (The Divine Comedy), Dante Alighieri The Red Book, Carl Gustav Jung Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll Intimacy, Hanif Kureshi   Donny’s 5 Gormenghast Trilogy, Mervyn Peake The Once and Future King, TH White Gravity/'s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon The Complete Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle A Wizard of Earthsea,  Ursula Le Guin    Uma’s 5 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, Michael Chabon Hopscotch, Julio Cortazar The Princess Bride, William Goldman Don Quixote, Cervantes The Man on the Moon, Andrew Chaikin   Marcel’s 5 The Recognitions, William Gaddis Fluß ohne Ufer, Hans Henny Jahnn Pierre, Herman Melville Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon The Changing Lights at Sandover, James Merrill   Mentioned Intimacy, the movie Maus, Art Spielgelman The Secret History, Donna Tartt What you really should have in a desert island: Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction, Howard Irving Chapelle Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants, Lewis S Nelson   Links Alternative view of German politics: http://www.classless.org/      

Bookbabble Episode 49: If It Were A Festival, There’d Be More Balloons  Recorded 19 October 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Lone, Donny   Synopsis: A tight group this week, and we’re talking offensive literature.  Things that sets us off.  I suppose we weren’t surprised when the three of us shared the same view about things that offend us in literature, which isn’t what the topic itself would lead you to believe.  Also, problems with the Kindle International edition, NaNoWriMo, Google Wave and the call for the banning of fantasy movies in Malaysia, and Lamb in Vodka!   Show Length: 1:21:10 mins   Mentioned The Silver Spoon – Lone’s new Italian cook book Left Behind, Tim LaHaye, Jerry B Jenkins (review by Bjorn) Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Azar Nafisi  Hej Menneske, Merete Pryds Helle (Danish) In the Kitchen, Monica Ali   Links Move to ban fantasy, horror movies in Malaysia Peter Lundin Antichrist, movie by Lars von Trier NaNoWriMo Kindle International Edition Google Wave         Note: Strong Language.  

Bookbabble Episode 48: Booker, Nobel and Reviews Recorded 12 October 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Renee, Marcel, Lone, Donny with guests Francois Monti and Umapagan Ampikaipakan   Synopsis: Founding member of the Fric Frac Club, Francois Monti, and literary reviewer Umapagan Ampikaipakan joins the group to talk about the literary awards given out recently, namely the Man Booker Prize and the Nobel.  Of course, when discussing the Nobel, this year’s oft-debated Nobel Peace Prize laureate also found his way in our chit-chat.  Also discussed are elements important in a literary review, as seen from both the enthusiast blogger/reviewer and the professional critic perspectives.  Also, Marcel’s adventures in the fantasy convention RingCon (held in Bonn, Germany) and the origin story for the Fric Frac Club.   Show Length: 1:28:22 mins   About Uma Uma on the radio – BFM 89.9 (search for ‘umapagan’) Uma on Twitter  Uma on Facebook    About Francois Fric-Frac Club Blog – Tabula Rasa (selected picks here, here and here, and Marcel’s post here)   Mentioned Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon Leviathan, Paul Auster Moby Dick, Herman Melville Shakespeare, The Complete Works Zadie Smith Atemschaukel, Herta Muller Herztier, Herta Muller The Land of Green Plums, Herta Muller A Man for All Seasons, Robert Bolt Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel The Childrens Book, A.S. Byatt Not Untrue and Not Unkind, Ed O’Loughlin (review by Marcel) The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (review by Marcel) The Glass Room, Simon Mawer   Links Shigekuni’s Writeup on RingCon: Conventional (Ring*Con 1) Shigekuni’s Writeup on RingCon: Conventional (Ring*Con 2) Booker Prize Winner announced Herta Muller Nobel Prize in Literature winner Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 Science fiction author hits out at Booker judges: Kim Stanley Robinson, one of science fiction/'s contemporary greats, accuses the Booker prize judges of ignorance Clemens Setz – info here, here and here   Shigekuni’s selection of poems: http://shigekuni.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/john-berryman -god-among-poets/ http://shigekuni.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/this-is-not-a -cultural-event-this-is-entertainment/ http://shigekuni.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/poem-of-the-d ay-lowell/ http://shigekuni.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/how-quivering -and-fierce-we-were/ http://shigekuni.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/poem-of-the-d ay/ http://shigekuni.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/poem-of-the-d ay-6/   Note: The subject matter raised while Marcel discusses RingCon may not be suitable for young listeners.  

Bookbabble Episode 47: Music & Literature Recorded 5 October 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Renee, Lone, Donny   Synopsis: The babblers talk about the influence of books on musicians, books by musicians, books on music, music on books, and other permutations of the theme.  Somehow we managed to fit Bill Clinton and Viggo Mortensen’s hot body (don’t ask) into this as well. Also, Bjorn/'s experience in a book festival pitching ebook tech, and find out who’s the worse drummer ever in a metal band.   Show Length: 1:38:28 mins   Books Mentioned Graceland, Chris Abani And the Ass Saw the Angel, Nick Cave Chronicles: Vol 1, Bob Dylan The English Roses, Madonna Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives, Greil Marcus Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain England/'s Dreaming, Revised Edition: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond, Jon Savage Lit Riffs, Jonathan Lethem, Tom Perrotta, el al Beautiful Losers, Leonard Cohen You Don/'t Love Me Yet, Jonathan Lethem The Motel Life, Willy Vlautin I/'m with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, Pamela Des Barres Miles, Miles Davis Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, 1960-1994, Clinton Heylin Tarantula, Bob Dylan Johnny Cash: The Autobiography Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall, Luke Haines Freddie Mercury: His Life in His Own Words, Freddie Mercury Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Samuel Beckett The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie Soul Music, Terry Pratchett     Links Thomas Pynchon’s Soundtrack to Inherent Vice  

Bookbabble Episode 46: Swordplay with Swordskill – Chit-chat with Crystal Koo Recorded 21 Sept 2009 Babblers: Renee, Lone, Marcel, Donny with guests Gabriele Breder and Crystal Koo Synopsis: This week the group welcomes short story author Crystal Koo, joining us from Hongkong, while surprise guest Gabriele calls in from Frankfurt in this very interesting episode.  Crystal, Gabriele and the gang talk short fiction, and have Crystal field most of them, considering that she’s a published short fiction author.  Crystal reveals the subject of her undergrad thesis, and we get to talk a little about it too.  True to Bookbabble fashion, there are plenty of other things that gets into the mix as well, including, but not limited to, hellish office moves, Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol, Oktoberfest (which begins in September) and cute puppies.    Note: I was kidding about the cute puppies, but who knows, really?  Show Length: 1:38:28 mins Check out Crystal Koo online:http://twitter.com/swordskillWebsiteBio from Rocketkapre Check out Gabriele online:Gabriele’s Blog Authors MentionedThe Body, Hanif KureshiBuddha of Suburbia, Hanif KureshiPeter CareyRay BradburyErnest HemingwayKurt VonnegutDavid MitchellGabriel Garcia MarquezG. K. ChestertonDorothy ParkerOscar WildeHenry JamesPeter Høeg JRR TolkienChina Mieville (Shigekuni’s take on Mieville)Louis Cha/Jin Yong LinksDan Brown’s 20 Worst SentencesShigekuni’s Review of The Brooklyn FolliesRingcon – the Fantasy ConventionRocketkapre

Bookbabble Episode 45: Hanging out with Glenda Larke Recorded 6 Sept 2009 Babblers: Lars, Bjorn, Marcel and Donny with fantasy novelist Glenda Larke Synopsis:    This week, we speak with the delightful and incredibly friendly Glenda Larke, an Australian fantasy novelist living in Malaysia.  In addition to talking about her work and interests, Glenda shares her thoughts on genre fiction in general, the Google Book settlement and books made available electronically.  Plus, bird-watching, and Bjorn’s band! If you’ve not checked out Glenda’s work yet, what are you waiting for?   Show Length: 1:18:35 mins   Check out Glenda Larke online: Official website Glenda’s Blog Glenda’s Facebook page The Last Stormlord online – from HarperCollins, for a limited time only! The Last Stormlord, book one of Watergivers, will be available in Australia in September 2009 from Harper Voyager, and in the USA and UK in March 2010 from Orbit.       Books Mentioned: Heart of the Mirage (Book 1 of the Mirage Makers), Glenda Larke (2006 Aurealis Awards for Fantasy and Science Fiction Shortlisted - Best Fantasy Novel) Berryman's Henry: Living at the Intersection of Need and Art (Costerus NS 158), Samuel Fisher Dodson How to Be Happy Though Married, Tim LaHaye       Links: Book and Reader Forum thread - Left Behind (The Series)by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins. An author's guide to the Google Books flap Authors Guild: $125 Million Settlement in Authors Guild v. Google - A message from Roy Blount Jr. Shigekuni: Gung Ho: Cory Doctorow’s “Little Brother”  

Bookbabble Episode 44: What You’re Missing When You’re Missing Graphic Novels Recorded 24 Aug 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Lone and Donny with guests Ivan Yeo and Sheldon Goh Synopsis:    Along with guests Ivan Yeo and Sheldon Goh, the babblers revisit comics and cover the gamut.  What are comics, graphic novels, and why you would want to broaden your reading horizons to include this medium.  Lone and Bjorn come through with some gems from Scandinavia that is wildly different from the commercial US fares you may be familiar with, and no less interesting.  Also, what are the standouts Ivan and Sheldon will want you to check out.    Show Length: 1:10:07 mins   Links: Edward Gorey (List of works here) Superdickery Vertigo, imprint of DC Comics Joakim Pirinen, Swedish cartoonist Pixy, Max Andersson Pippi Longstockings Bloom County (strip here and here) Moomin Peter Madsen (gallery) Guest: Sheldon Goh (Twitter) Guest: Ivan Yeo (uhm, contact Sheldon).   Books Mentioned: A Contract With God, Will Eisner Maus, Art Spiegelman X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, Chris Claremont, Brent Anderson Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud Batman: Year One, Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli Watchmen, Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, Klaus Janson Cerebus, Dave Sims Ex Machina, Vol. 1: The First Hundred Days, Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris Sin City, Frank Miller American Virgin, Steven T. Seagle, Becky Cloonan Bone, Jeff Smith Blankets, Craig Thompson The Chosen, Chaim Potok Alias, Brian Michael Bendis Mouse Guard, David Petersen Criminal, Ed Brubaker, Sean Philips The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine   Notes: A note from Sheldon after the show: The term /"graphic novel/" actually came into popular use after Will Eisner/'s /"A Contract With God/" used it in the late 70/'s. Marvel/'s graphic novel line later used it to describe original comics works that were longer form and printed on higher quality, larger format paper. /"God Loves, Man Kills/" wasn/'t even the first graphic novel of that series. The first Marvel graphic novel was actually /"The Death Of Captain Marvel/". The first ever use of the term /"graphic novel/" pre-dates even Contract With God (you can Wikipedia /"graphic novel/" if you need the actual details). Renee asked me to mention several works, which I did, albeit before I actually did the recording!  They are: R. Crumb, a cartoonist who did works like America and Kafka, among many others. Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, by Gilbert Shelton.  A 60s comics strip with hippies and, uhm, other things. Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury.  An early collection can be found here.

Bookbabble Episode 43: Bookbabble Review Show – Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon Recorded 17 Aug 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Renee, Gem, Marcel, Donny Synopsis:    The babblers talk about Thomas Pynchon’s eagerly awaited  new novel, Inherent Vice.  Let the gushing commence!   Show Length: 2:00:37 mins   Books Mentioned: Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon (Penguin site) Crying of the Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon Vineland, Thomas Pynchon Mason & Dixon, Thomas Pynchon V., Thomas Pynchon The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett The Pledge, Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Swedish Detective Story) Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina, David Hajdu Postmodernist Fiction, Brian McHale Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me, Richard Farina The Wolfman and Other Cases, Sigmund Freud  

Bookbabble Episode 42: Online Author Fanaticism Recorded 10 Aug 2009 Babblers: Gem, Renee, Marcel, Donny Synopsis:   The babblers talk about the enthusiasm that surrounds some authors online, based upon the article “Why do Pynchon, Ballard and Wallace provoke such online loyalty?” from Times Online.    Show Length: 1:33:18 mins   Links: Why do Pynchon, Ballard and Wallace provoke such online loyalty? - Times Online New Look and Podcast from Banks – Iain Banks’s podcasting of his novel that’s supposedly /"the first time an audio has been serialised in this way, and we/'re very excited to be doing something so groundbreaking./"  The comments generated from this nugget of statement bears a closer look. Thomas Pynchon – Reading of Inherent Vice’s Trailer by the man himself! FricFracClub Books Mentioned: Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon (Review) The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss (Review) Original Bliss, A.L. Kennedy (Review)

Bookbabble Episode 41 Part 2: Poetry Revisited Recorded 3 Aug 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Renee, Lone, Marcel, Donny and guest Liam Brannelly Synopsis:  Renee and Marcel have been itching to talk poetry for a while now, and having rescheduled this topic for several weeks, it’s like the floodgates have finally been blown to bloody bits.  For this show, Marcel brought along a nice, intelligent fellow, Liam, who’s a student of medieval literature in New York City who guzzles Beowulf and Chaucer for school and fun. This show brings together poetry lovers, casual poetry readers, poets and students of poetry all mixed in a heady broth.  There’s appreciation, recitation, and babbling incoherence (oh wait, that’s me). Oh, did I mention there’s a famous German poem recited in this episode? This show broke all previous records for show length, and has been broken into 2 parts.  This is Part 2.   Show Length: 85:54 mins   [Show Notes to Come]    

Bookbabble Episode 41 Part 1: Poetry Revisited Recorded 3 Aug 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Renee, Lone, Marcel, Donny and guest Liam Brannelly Synopsis:  Renee and Marcel have been itching to talk poetry for a while now, and having rescheduled this topic for several weeks, it’s like the floodgates have finally been blown to bloody bits.  For this show, Marcel brought along a nice, intelligent fellow, Liam, who’s a student of medieval literature in New York City who guzzles Beowulf and Chaucer for school and fun. This show brings together poetry lovers, casual poetry readers, poets and students of poetry all mixed in a heady broth.  There’s appreciation, recitation, and babbling incoherence (oh wait, that’s me). Oh, did I mention there’s a famous German poem recited in this episode? This show broke all previous records for show length, and has been broken into 2 parts.  This is Part 1.   Show Length: 49:24 mins   Mentioned in show: Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon Edward Lear Home Page Søren Ulrik Thomsen, and here   Poems Mentioned in show: Into Mexico, Mona Van Duyn Homo Will Not Inherit, Mark Doty Troilus and Criseyde, Geoffrey Chaucer Michael Strunge Ode on a Grecian Urn, George Keats   There are many many more! These guys really laid it out!  I’ll get to them in Part 2’s show notes!

Bookbabble Episode 40: The Incredibly Unprepared Discussion on the Google Book Search Copyright Settlement Recorded 27 July 2009 Babblers: Bjorn, Gem, Renee, Lone, Marcel, Donny   Synopsis: The babblers look at the Google Book Search settlement case, and discuss the fate of books that are out of print, but still in copyright (known as orphan works).  Orphan works are currently a part of the books that are being digitized in libraries around the world under the Google Library Project and made available for searching under Google/'s Book Search website.  The babblers are not incredibly prepared with this topic (because it was a surprise! Sort of...), but still managed to get an hour of chitchat out of this.  This could be either because we/'re naturally intelligent and analytical, or we just like to talk.   Show Length: 73:46 mins   Links: Simple Overview of the Agreement Google Book Settlement A Book Grab by Google, by Brewster Kahle (Washington Post) Google Book Search settlement and access to out of print books, from Google Public Policy Blog U.S. Inquiry Is Confirmed Into Google Books Deal (NYTimes) Outrageous (Amazon’s removal of Adult products from Sales Rank) (from Marcel’s Blog) Don’t Touch ‘A Moveable Feast’ – Hemingway’s grandson reworks Hemingway’s book because he “doesn’t like what the original said about his grandmother, Hemingway’s second wife.” Barnebarn retter i Hemingways erindringer  

Bookbabble Episode 39: There’s Gonna Be A Movie Based on The Asteroids Videogame! Recorded 20 July 2009 Babblers: Renee, Lone, Lars, Donny Synopsis: The groups discusses books-related movies that either just opened or are around the corner.  We go off on a little tangent, as we usually do BB-style, as we uncover upcoming, jaw-dropping gems in the movie industry.   Show Length: 55:24 mins Books/Movies Mentioned: Harry Potter 6: The Half-Blood Prince, JK Rowling (movie) Breaking the Waves, Lars von Trier Antichrist, Lars von Trier Where the Wild Things Are (movie) Human Stain, Philip Roth Death of A Salesman, Arthur Miller Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1), Rick Riordan Links: Universal Wins Rights To Produce An...Asteroids Movie