Two Month Review

Latest Episodes:

Radiant Terminus: Chapters 14-16 Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

Tobias Carroll (Transitory, Reel) joins Chad and Brian to talk about the latest installment of Radiant Terminus. These three chapters get wild, as Schulhoff (who mysteriously disappeared shortly after his marriage to Hannko, Solovyei's daughter) returns and tries to get Ilyushenko to kill him. And then the never-ending train finds Radiant Terminus and Solovyei launches a poetic attack . . . They also talk about the numbers in the book, angels, Chad's dreams of suing the government, and much more.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, February 20.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Tobias Carroll for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Concerto For Philodendron & Pothos."

Radiant Terminus: Chapters 9-13 Feb 14, 2019

Show notes

Rhett McNeil joins Chad Post and pinch-hitter Kaija Straumanis to talk about the first half of part two of Radiant Terminus, "Ode to the Camps." From recounting Chad's latest Volodine-inflected dream to a discussion of the ways various ideologies (fairy tales, anarcho-capitalism, Marxism-Leninism) play out in the novel, to the connection between these ideologies and male violence and the way in which the characters are almost like shadows in the novel, this is a wide-ranging, very dialed in episode. As always, there is laughter and a lengthy recap, but it also goes very deep into the novel and Volodine's overall game.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, February 20.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, Kaija Straumanis, and Rhett McNeil, for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Ode to an African Violet."

Radiant Terminus: Chapters 4-8 Feb 07, 2019

Show notes

This week, former TMR guest Rachel Cardasco returns to talk about speculative fiction in translation, various allegories for Radiant Terminus (current political climate, The Tempest, The Bible), who dreams the dreamer, the patriarchy and Maria Kwoll's feminist post-exotic texts, steampunk technology, spider dreams, and much more. This is the college course you wish you'd taken--fun and smart and funny all at once, and featuring a genuinely interesting book. With a series of detailed recaps and call backs to earlier chapters, you can enjoy this without having read a page of Volodine. And should.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, February 13

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, and Rachel Cordasco, for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Baby's Tears Blues."

Radiant Terminus: Chapters 1-3 Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

From Tarkovsky to Jessica Jones, this week's episode covers a lot of ground. Anthony and Chad are joined by Hailey Dezort to walk through the first three chapters of Antoine Volodine's Radiant Terminus. There's a lot to unpack, from the plant names, to the nature of men, to horrible fathers, to the humor found in Gramma Ugdul talking to the core of a failed nuclear reactor. Given how plotted this novel is, you can definitely follow along, even if you haven't read the section yet.

Also, we get to find out who Hailey thinks Khrili Gompo is, and we officially changed this season's contest: Whoever sends in the best drawing of one of the imaginary plants found in Radiant Terminus will receive copies of both of his previous published Open Letter titles AND all forthcoming ones.

If you want to get one of these t-shirts, email Open Letter and let us know!

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live the evening of Wednesday, February 6th.

You can also get 30% off Radiant Terminus, or any other Volodine book, by using the code VOLODINE at checkout from the Open Letter website. (Offer is only good until midnight Eastern on 1/31.)

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, Brian Wood, Anthony Blake, and Hailey Dezort for more thoughts on Volodine and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear "Symphony for a Spider Plant." (A very Volodine title.)

Radiant Terminus: Introduction Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

We’re back! . . . And a few days late. Chad explains why on the podcast itself, but suffice it to say that last week was a bit, um, stressful. But Brian and Chad finally got together to talk about Antoine Volodine in general, post-exoticism, Brian Evenson’s introduction to Radiant Terminus, similarities between Evenson’s writing and Volodine’s, this season's game (SEND US YOUR DREAMS!), Volodine's essay in The New Inquiry, and much more.

As always, you can watch these episodes live on our YouTube channel the day before they’re released in podcast form. The next episode will be recorded live on Wednesday, January 30th at 11am Eastern.

You can also get 30% off Radiant Terminus, or any other Volodine book, by using the code VOLODINE at checkout from the Open Letter website. (Offer is only good until midnight Eastern on 1/31.)

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's music is all from Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson, which is Moog music for plants. This week you can hear the opening track from the album, "Plantasia."

The Book of Disquiet: Sections 394-END Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

It's all over! After eleven weeks of Pessoa, Chad and Brian have finished The Book of Disquiet. And to celebrate, they each wrote some jacket copy and blurbs and went hard at trying to get BINGO for someone. They also preview the next season of TMR and come up with a very marketable Pessoa-themed product idea . . .

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Stay tuned for more details about the schedule for Season 7: Radiant Terminus by Antoine Volodine.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And the episode ends with an energetic blast of bad music.

The Book of Disquiet: Sections 359-393 Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

Probably the most controversial Two Month Review to date, so buckle up! Are there unhinged rants? You bet! Questions regarding the marketing and "completeness" of the New Directions edition? Yep! A long discussion about the differences in voice between the both excellent Margaret Jull Costa and Richard Zenith translations? That too! It's a jam packed penultimate episode that's not to be missed.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 359-393 (pages 388-421 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And for next season can we please finish each episode with good music?

The Book of Disquiet: Sections 316-358 with David Smith Dec 06, 2018

Show notes

This week David Smith—former Open Letter intern and current grad student at the University of Iowa—joins Chad and Brian to debate poetry vs. prose, separating the p.o.v. of Pessoa's heteronyms from his own personal viewpoint, Soares's morality and metaphysics, how to judge the quality of a translation, and much more. As a bonus, Brian shares his first ever work of erasure poetry!

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And wow, Taking Back Sunday really sucks.

The Book of Disquiet: Sections 274-315 Nov 22, 2018

Show notes

Chad and Brian fly solo this week, filling in dozens of TMR Bingo squares, and trying to come up with "rules for writers" based on this particular section of The Book of Disquiet. It's a pretty imprecise set of rules, but whatever, in the words of Pessoa, "perfection is inhuman." They also talk a bit about a "Mount Rushmore of American Literature," whether or not listicles can hit a saturation point in which they're all useless, and much more.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 316-358 (pages 337-387 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And this week's closing music is the most Pessoa-like song we've included to date . . .

The Book of Disquiet: Sections 222-273 with João Reis Nov 15, 2018

Show notes

This week's special guest is Portuguese author and translator João Reis who knows a lot about Pessoa and the writings of his various heteronyms. He also talks about his forthcoming novel, The Translator's Bride, and his work as a translator. There's some of the usual banter as well, including a solid rundown of everyone's favorite lines and some of Pessoa's sayings that have become Portuguese colloquialisms.

Get your BINGO card here! And if you get a "bingo" while listening, send a picture of your playing card to Chad Post. Each week, the first person who does so will receive a special one-time code to get 30% off of any and everything on the Open Letter website.

As always, you can find the video for this episode on our YouTube channel, where we livestream the episodes. Next week's podcast will cover sections 222-273 (pages 238-287 in the U.S. edition). Stay tuned for more details about the exact time.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official GoodReads Group.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for more thoughts on Pessoa and literature in general, and for information about upcoming guests.

You can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps people to discover the podcast.

This season's opening music is "E Às Vezes Dou Por Mim" by contemporary fado star Cristina Branco. And now Chad has heard some of a My Chemical Romance song.

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