92: Norstrilia
Whiz-bang pulp exuberance + witty, inventive style + just the right amount of psychological depth and moral/political seriousness = ???. The Sometime Seminar discusses the midcentury science-fiction stories of Cordwainer Smith, the best of which are selected — along with…
91: Algernon Blackwood
What’s so scary about trees, shrubs and untamed landscapes? How come so many turn-of-the-20th-century weird fiction writers were reactionary bigots? And why are they now being summoned from the crypts of genre history and niche publication to walk the earth…
90: Concerning the Angels
Emotional intensity: plenty. Haunting and evocative symbolist/surrealist imagery: in spades. Conceptual organization of the footnotable, explicatable variety: who needs it? The Sometime Seminar discusses Concerning the Angels (Sobre los angeles, 1929), a book of poems by the Spanish poet Rafael Alberti. Download this…
89: Omensetter’s Luck
Tormented interiority squares off against dumb luck, in prose as sparkling as the stream of consciousness is muddy. The Sometime Seminar discusses Omensetter’s Luck (1966), William Gass’s first novel. Download this episode
86: The Passion According to G.H.
Modernist novel meets mystical treatise, psychological self-investigation meets self-annihilating via negativa, smashed cockroach meets tongue. The Sometime Seminar discusses The Passion According to G.H. (Portuguese 1964/English 1988, 2012) by Clarice Lispector. Download this episode
84: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
How does a primitivist power fantasy become the kernel of a fleshed-out fictional world? How do you write an interesting story about an invulnerable hero? (Hint: giant snakes.) And when a pulp classic gets the full authorial-originalist textual-editing treatment, is…
83: Farber on Film
If you cram enough occasional criticism into a volume, will an aesthetic theory emerge? How far can you go as a critic with a gift for attention, a way with adjectives, a love of unsubordinated details and a healthy contempt…
82: Picnic at Hanging Rock
The Sometime Seminar discusses Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967), a mysterious novel by Australian author Joan Lindsay which was adapted into a film directed by Peter Weir (1975). Download this episode
78: The Bloody Chamber
How to re-estrange and re-enchant the most familiar stories in the world? Apply generous quantities of sexual drama, stylistic brilliance, emotional intensity and psychological complexity, and don’t forget to be a genius. The Sometime Seminar discusses The Bloody Chamber (1979), a…
76: Nazi Literature in the Americas
The Sometime Seminar discusses Nazi Literature in the Americas (La literatura Nazi en América, 1996/English 2008), an encyclopedia of fictional authors by Roberto Bolaño. Supplemental links: Michael Wood on Nazi Literature and Bolaño’s work in the LRB; Giles Harvey’s “User’s Guide to Bolaño” in…
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