Writer and co-host of the Vollmannia podcast Ryan Alexander joins us to discuss Moravagine, first published in 1926. The novel was written by Blaise Cendrars (given name: Frédéric-Louis Sauser) and translated from French by Alan Brown. The plot involves a monstrous criminal who, once released from a mental hospital, goes on a worldwide killing spree before returning to Europe to fight in World War I. We talk about the book's unique representation of violence, its social commentary on misogyny and antisemitism, and the false promises of progress.
Check out Ryan's excellent show here: https://vollmannia.buzzsprout.com/
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Scholar José Vergara joins the show to talk about A School for Fools written by Sasha Sokolov and translated from Russian by Alexander Boguslawski....
In this extended teaser, we share the first three of seven "chapters" discussing one of the foremost Chinese classical novels, Dream of the Red...
Translator Robert Chandler joins us to discuss his journey with Vasily Grossman, Stalingrad versus Life and Fate, and Grossman's representation of totalitarianism.
