Two Month Review

Latest Episodes:

TMR 13.8: "Vinelander" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Nov 05, 2020

Show notes

In a rather subdued (re: election night hangover) episode, Chad and Brian discuss the relationship between cinema and writing, photos and memory, and what seems to be Nabokov's relationship to movies as art. They also talk about the screwball comedy nature of Van and Ada being found out, discuss the way in which part II differs from part I, learn a bit about Ada's engagement, and head into part III, with grand hopes for how Nabokov's book will turn out.\

This week's music is "Twin Cinema" by The New Pornographers. (It should not have taken eight episodes to realize how fitting this song is for this season.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 8 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.7: "From Dodo to Dada" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 29, 2020

Show notes

From the International House of Prostitutes to the reunion of Ada and Van, this week's episode is quite a trip. Chad and Brian talk about dreams, John Garner, Martin Amis on "obscure" and "difficult" novels, how to actually pronounce Van, and much more.

This week's music is "Money" by Widowspeak.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.6: "Star Rats and Space Aces" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 15, 2020

Show notes

Chad and Brian wrap up Part One of Ada, or Ardor—which features a duel, multiple deaths, an existential diatribe, and canes—and move onto Part Two, which is very Pynchon-esque. They get to dive into Van's "philosophical novel," ideas of time, questions about Terra, and much more. This episode is as fun and wild as the book itself!

This week's music is "Riding Solo" from the Spanish indie rock band Hinds.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 7 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.5: "The Accursed Children" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 08, 2020

Show notes

A family dinner, a picnic in the woods—what could be more innocent? Well, in Ada, or Ardor, everything is tinged with a baseline feeling of "kind of creepy," especially the "passionate pump-joy exertions." Chad and Brian break it all down, talking about Demon, unraveling Nabokovian puns, finding subtle hints about Van's true parentage, and, at the end, unveiling Season 14's book.

This week's music is Will Butler's "Close My Eyes."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 6 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.4: "Terra: Eremitic Reality of Collective Dream?" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Oct 02, 2020

Show notes

Things shift in Ada, or Ardor this week, with Van's second trip to Ardis being much darker, much more perverse and troubling than the first, "more innocent" summer with Ada. There's also another couple hints about Terra, and the possiblity of Ada having another lover . . . And, as is par for the course, some amazing writing from Nabokov.

This week's music is "Reset" by Rich Aucoin, another protest anthem of sorts from his new America album. (With another great, powerful video.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 5 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.3 "Lettrocalamity" [ADA, OR ARDOR] Sep 25, 2020

Show notes

Chad and Brian cover a ton of topics in this relatively short episode including: Adam and Eve, botany, butterflies, the Wild West, enchantment, incest, codes, and Bosom Buddies. It's a fun episode filled with lyrical Nabokovian passages and speculation about what's to come in this sprawling novel. And Isak, Brian's daughter, jumps on a couple times to contribute. If you want to see a picture of "Eugene," be sure and watch the YouTube edition.

This week's music is "Book by Nabokov" by Roberto Facchinetti.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 3 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.2 “Hammock and Honey” [ADA, OR ARDOR] Sep 18, 2020

Show notes

Rodrigo Fresán (The Invented Part, The Dreamed Part, Bottom of the Sky) joins Chad and Brian to talk about the only Nabokov book he hasn't read. In addition to talking about all the reasons to love Nabokov, about how this book is the one where he actually seems to be measuring himself against the all time greats, they talk about strange science-fiction books, publishers as characters (and superheroes), the layers of (unreliable) narration surrounding the text, and beautiful writing about socially unacceptable things.

This week's music is "Nabokov's Wandering Eye" from an album called Poklapocalypse. Nothing could be more fitting.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 13.1 “All Happy Families” [ADA, OR ARDOR] Sep 10, 2020

Show notes

Chad and Brian try their best to unpack the first three chapters of Vladimir Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor, in an attempt to find some solid footing for this sci-fi (?), ambitious, reference-laded masterwork of one of the greatest writers of our times. Lots of questions about where we are (Terra or Anti-Terra?); mirrors; the relationship between text, footnotes, and parenthetical comments; the L disaster and "thank Log"; Nabokovian verbs; Anna Karenina and Wuthering Heights; and much more. It's a fun way to kick off this season, encapsulating the joy and confusion of reading a Nabokov book for the first time.

There are a surprising amount of songs with "Nabokov" in the title. Not sure if any of them are actually good, but here's "Nabokov's Butterfly" by Hailey Wojcik.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 2 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.12 “Finale” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

Carmen Boullosa joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about The Book of Anna, memories of watching baseball, why she (today) supports Karenin and thinks Anna K made a mistake with Vronsky, the origin and structure of the novel, her system of having a book in the queue before the previous one is published, and much more.

And, at the very end, the book for Season 13—coming Wednesday, September 9th—is revealed! More information about the actual schedule will be available next week.

This week's music lacks an Anna reference, but is maybe an allusion to Anna and Vronksy . . . It's "Be as Good as You Want to Be" by Boat.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. Next week we'll discuss part four, “Finale” (pgs 162-End) with Carmen Boullosa herself. You can watch it live next Wednesday, August 19th.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

TMR 12.10 “The Book of Anna” [THE BOOK OF ANNA] Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

Translator and Words Without Borders co-founder Samantha Schnee joined Chad and Brian this week to talk about Anna's "opium-fueled" fairy tale that was referenced in passing in Anna Karenina, and a centerpiece of Boullosa's "sequel." A lively conversation about language, various Tolstoy translations, the book's origin, ways to interpret the fairy tale, and much more.

This week's musical Anna reference comes from Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea."

And again, if you want to help pick from the four finalists for season 13 (Zone, Vernon Subutex, Ada, or Ardor, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming), fill out this survey. Thanks in advance!

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

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