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.
Interested in supporting the show? Check out our Patreon page here: patreon.com/user?u=84429384
Writer Ana Gavrilovska joins us to talk about Turtle Diary written by Russell Hoban. We discuss middle age, loneliness, romance, Godlessness, and, of course,...
We are joined by author Helen Macdonald to discuss T. H. White's The Goshawk, originally published in 1951. In this conversation, we talk about...
Musician and author John Darnielle joins us to discuss A House and Its Head by Ivy Compton-Burnett, a wickedly funny novel first published in...