In this episode, Kassia and Dylan discuss the Japanese novel Tun-huang written by Yasushi Inoue and translated by Jean Oda Moy. This work of historical fiction imagines how a trove of early Buddhist sutras came to be hidden in caves along the Silk Road for centuries. We talk about the book’s criticism of education, bureaucracy, and materialism, as well as the significance of freedom, preservation, and translation.
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This episode was recorded before a live audience at the New Bedford Whaling Museum during their annual Moby-Dick Marathon. We spoke with Tim Marr...
Translator Robert Chandler joins us to discuss his journey with Vasily Grossman, Stalingrad versus Life and Fate, and Grossman's representation of totalitarianism.
In this bonus teaser, we discuss a work of experimental poetry chosen by a patron. Explore the hidden character of the vowels here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=84429384
