In this episode we struggle, spin and madly rub our eyes as we work through the puzzling and enigmatic beauty of William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury”.
Phi Fic #36 The Canterbury Tales–Part Two
In this episode, we are discussing the Pardoner’s Tale from the Canterbury Tales, a book of stories by the Late Medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer. This follows up on our last episode, where we discussed other selections from the book about a group of not-quite-pious pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral…telling each other stories.
Phi Fic #35 12 Stories by James Baldwin
Join us with Mark Linsenmeyer in a previous discussion on two short stories by James Baldwin: “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon” and “Sonny’s Blues.” Both are included in the collection Going to meet the Man (1965).
PhiFic #34 The Canterbury Tales-Part One
On selections from the Canterbury Tales by the 14th century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In this Part One of our readings, we discuss the General Prologue, the Miller’s Tale, and the Wife of Bath’s Tale.
Why read Chaucer? He wrote in a time that felt like it was falling apart and perhaps becoming something completely different. His world was hardly a static medieval idyll: it was marked by the Black Plague, a crisis of religious authority, and the breakdown of England’s political order. The Canterbury Tales is essentially an effort to come to terms with that complex reality.
PhiFic #33 Repost: The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
We discuss a cautionary tale written in 1909—on the threat of ungoverned technology. The story follows two characters—Vashti and her son, Kuno, during a time of post-apocalyptic earth. Mankind has been forced to relocate and live underground because the air on the earth’s surface has apparently become unbreathable. As a result, people live in empty rooms—or pods—underground, surrounded by buttons which, when activated, determine their day.
Phi Fic #32 Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The novel follows the emotional demise and world of Dick Diver. Diver, a Yale-educated psychiatrist, and his wife, Nicole—once his patient and a diagnosed schizophrenic—are extremely well-to-do (thanks to Nicole’s family), and are living as expats in the French Riviera. While there, Dick meets Rosemary Hoyt, a teenage movie actress phenom whose beauty and innocence attracts him despite his commitment to Nicole. He ends up having an affair with Rosemary, as his identity and sense of meaning fall apart. As Dick suffers, Nicole gets stronger and leaves him for another man. After they divorce, Diver returns the U.S.—to work in obscurity.
Phi Fic #31 Sula by Toni Morrison
Because each had discovered years before that they were neither white nor male, and that all freedom and triumph was forbidden to them, they had set about creating something else to be.
Phi Fic #30 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez Part 2
We also discuss the themes which Nathan, Laura, Jennifer and Daniel each found to be what resonated most: the circularity of time, memory, loss, humanity, and the caution the novel leaves us with about living life.
Phi Fic #29 (Part 1 of 2) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Cezary Baraniecki, Laura Davis, Nathaniel Hanks, Daniel Johnson, and Jennifer Tejada. In this episode, we discuss the classic Latin American novel by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Phi Fic #28 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Join Cezary Baranieckli, Laura Davis, Nathaniel Hanks, Daniel Johnson, and Jennifer Tejada, as we all struggle with what is defined as truly “evil”.
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I see what is right and approve, but I do what is wrong.
-A Clockwork Orange
Phi Fic #27 Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Join Cezary Baranieckli, Laura Davis, Nathaniel Hanks, Daniel Johnson, and Jennifer Tejada, as we spend a very long (and with audio issues) episode deconstructing and being reshaped, by our reading of this unspeakably remarkable novel.
Phi Fic #26 The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster
Cezary Baraniecki, Laura Davis-Chanin, and Nathaniel Hanks are joined again by the irrepressible Dan Johnson and Jennifer Tejada as we explore this fascinating and prescient story!
Phi Fic #25 “At the Mountains of Madness” by H. P. Lovecraft
“I could not help feeling that they were evil things—mountains of madness whose farther slopes looked out over some accursed ultimate abyss.”
Join Nathan and Laura, with Mark Linsenmayer, Daniel Johnson, and Jennifer Tejada, as we follow H.P. Lovecraft up the Mountain and discover where true madness lies!
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.
PhiFic #24 “Ulysses” by James Joyce
Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves. –Ulysses
For our discussion of this historically difficult but wholly worthwhile classic, Nathan, Laura, and Daniel are joined by Phillip Cherny. It was recorded for our original Not School group, long before that group evolved into a podcast.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.
Phi Fic #23 “To The Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf
This discussion first appeared in our Not School Group and the readers at the time were Nathan, Laura, Daniel, and Dan Johnson. As an early recording, please bear with the sound quality—many thanks!
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.
Phi Fic #22 “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf
Listen as Dylan Casey from The Partially Examined Life Podcast joins us to discuss this remarkable novel, in which many scholars believe Woolf found her voice. Written in a stream of consciousness, the plot of the book is written inside the souls, struggles. and angst of the characters.
Phi Fic #21 “Foe” by J.M. Coetzee
Join us as we delve into Coetzee’s rich, complex exploration of story and authorship in this novel that presents an origin story of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Coetzee writes about Susan Barton, a castaway at sea who discovers an island inhabited by two men, Robinson Crusoe and Friday. Once rescued, she seeks the renowned author Daniel Defoe to help tell her story, but struggles to communicate her experiences.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.
Phi Fic #20 “Lord Jim” by Joseph Conrad
It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge. –Lord Jim
Listen along as we discuss this richly complex novel of responsibility, guilt, shame, and redemption.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.
Phi Fic #19 “Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann
To rest in the arms of perfection is the desire of any man intent upon creating excellence… –Death in Venice
Join us for our discussion of the extraordinary novella of beauty, desire, and morality.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.
Phi Fic #18 “The Trouble with Being Born” by E.M. Cioran
“This very second has vanished forever, lost in the anonymous mass of the irrevocable. It will never return. I suffer from this, and I do not. Everything is unique—and insignificant.” –Emil Cioran
Join us as we dive into this beautiful work of nonfiction (yes, we veered from the path a bit) and luxuriate in the charmingly dismal prose of one of life’s master skeptics.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.