Balckwell's Books

Balckwell’s Books returns with an episode about Kim , by Rudyard Kipling, which tells of the adventures of a young Irish orphan in India who gets drafted into the “Great Game.” We discuss the novel’s historical context, its views on race and ethnicity, and the machinations of colonial government. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bo...

I talk about a collection of short stories written by young writers in Gaza. Find the full script at my website. www.balckwell.online This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balckwell.substack.com

In which I discuss Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov , the story of a middle-aged man who never does anything, never has done anything, and doesn’t plan on doing much in the future either. We discuss the novel’s sympathy and antipathy for its main character, the relatable charm of Oblomov himself, and how his static depiction ends up being to the book’s detriment. This is a public episode. If you would lik...

In which I present Family, by Ba Jin, a revolutionary work that expresses the political and personal frustrations of the young generation in early 20th-century China. We discuss Ba Jin’s political ideals, the conflicts that encapsulate the novel, and the radical energy contained in the work. We also make comparison Dream of the Red Chamber , a novel that follows a similar protagonist in a similar...

In which I discuss Wieland, or The Transformation , by Charles Brockden Brown, an American classic. We delve into religious individualism, the Spirit of America, and discuss some Kierkegaard along the way. Write in to the show: balckwellsbooks [at] gmail Books discussed : Wieland, or the Transformation by Charles Brockden Brown, 1798 Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard, 1843 This is a public e...

In which I discuss VK Arseniev's memoir, "Dersu the Trapper," a story of survival and friendship in the Taiga. We explore the historical context of his journey, and the nature of the world he finds himself in. If you have questions, thoughts, or suggestions for future topics, please write to: Balckwellbooks [at] gmail This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribe...

In which I discuss Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo , a tale of political strife and striving among the upper society of a small South American republic. We explore Conrad’s depiction of South America, the tragic nature of his characters, and the relationship between our ideals and the real world we live in. Also, a brief update on the show’s schedule: Balckwell’s Books will now come out every other Tuesd...

In which I take the opportunity of recently seeing a live performance to discuss Shakespeare’s comedy, As You Like It , probably the most ridiculous of all of his plays. I then go on to talk about Shakespeare in general, how he’s treated in English culture, why Tolstoy hated him (and why I sometimes do too), and in the end, what we’ve got to hand to the guy. This is a public episode. If you would...

We conclude our exploration of Herman Hesse’s Demian by covering the second half of the novel, where questions of Max Demian’s existence, Emil Sinclair’s sexuality, and the true meaning of the First World War come into the forefront. We tackle all this and more as we try to understand what exactly we’re supposed to take away from this whole thing. Next month, we will be covering Nostromo by Joseph...

On today’s episode we take a look at Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, a light-hearted adventure that brings us to a variety of strange islands where Gulliver must come to terms with the nature of humanity: its virtues, its vices, and its quirks. While the book certainly takes humans to task for their failings, the final result is not as harsh or mean-spirited as it may first seem, as there is...

This month, we are covering Herman Hesse’s novel, Demian, about a young man named Emil Sinclair who yearns to truly live, free from the shackles of his Christian bourgeois upbringing. Helping him along the way is a mysterious older student named Max Demian, and a hearty helping of Nietzschean philosophy. In this first episode, I introduce the Overman, and discuss themes from the novel’s first thre...

Balckwell’s Books takes on Brave New World by Aldous Huxley in an attempt to offer a new spin on a much-discussed novel. Instead of delving into the specific make-up of the World State presented in the novel, I instead take a broader look at the way the book critiques Utopian thinking in general by coming to terms with the unlikable dissenters of Bernard Marx and John Savage, and understanding the...

Balckwell’s Books is back after a brief delay to bring you Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus . I attempt to turn back time and reckon with the book without taking into account the centuries of adaptations and modifications, which ends up being quite easy since I haven’t seen any of them, save half of Kenneth Branagh’s strange film. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus is a chaotic novel, fe...

In which I discuss the classic Russian novel, Fathers & Sons by Ivan Turgenev. The book is focused on paternal relationships and the ways in which they are affected by rapidly evolving social conditions such as those experienced by the 19th c. Russian youth. I also get into nihilism: its causes and its characteristics, and the way in which the book portrays Bazarov, who exists on the cutting edge...

The third and final part of my series on Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, if that is even his real name. I briefly cover the authorship question surrounding this work, and then move on to explore the philosophical foundation behind the conclusion to Baoyu’s story. It is hard to say goodbye to this series, as I have spent a good four months or so preparing all these episodes, but I think thi...

In this episode, I discuss Steinbeck’s final completed novel, The Winter of Our Discontent . This books deals with a changing America, and the ever-present tension between morality and success. Ethan Hawley is caught right in the middle, seeking to restore his family’s reputation along with his own, but realizing that the only way to do so is to temporarily abandon his moral principles, not knowin...

I originally sat at the computer planning to speak about some other novels, but as I set the microphone before my face, I realized that all I really wanted to talk about was The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. This book, about the tribulations of a young man from Nantucket who, like Robinson Crusoe before him, suffers great misfortune every time he steps on a boat, is one of those biz...

Part two of my three-part series about Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. This is one of my favourite books, and one I think many more people in the West should know about and appreciate. It’s a beautiful and deep story, focusing on a small world but still encompassing so much of human life. If you have any interest in Chinese culture, it is a must-read, and if you don’t, reading this book wi...

In this episode, I discuss Mardi by Herman Melville: the circumstances that brought it about and the strangeness of the novel itself. Melville is a personal favourite and a hero of mine; I feel I could talk to death about every one of his novels that I've read, but Mardi is a particularly intriguing work both for its inherent qualities and for where it fits into his career as a whole. While not we...

Part one of my three-part series about Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. This is one of my favourite books, and one I think many more people in the West should know about and appreciate. It’s a beautiful and deep story, focusing on a small world but still encompassing so much of human life. If you have any interest in Chinese culture, it is a must-read, and if you don’t, reading this book wi...

In this mini-episode of Balckwell’s Books, I discuss one of my favourite non-fiction writers, Lewis Mumford. In his book Technics & Civilization, Mumford attempts to explain the progress of technology from the 10th century to the 20th, focusing on the ways that technology has both improved and worsened human life. Specifically, he discusses how the industrial capitalism of the 19th century had dis...

Balckwell’s Books returns with this, the second episode. This month I discuss Tribulations of a Chinese Man in China by Jules Verne, a strange and exciting novel about China by a 19th-century Frenchman who had never been anywhere near. In the episode, I try to grapple with this bizarre book, and discover what it is that Jules Verne was trying to do with his work. Next month’s book will be the firs...

A mini-episode in which I discuss The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche. Mainly, I wanted to focus on a few particular aspects of Nietzsche’s writing and the ways he presents his ideas, while also discussing a few of the underlying concepts that seem to form the foundation of the book. You can send me an e-mail at balckwellbooks[at]gmail.com, and visit my website at balckwell.substack.com. This i...

Introducing Mini Episodes of Balckwell’s Books, which might not end up being that much shorter, but are at least relatively miniature in terms of how much effort they take to produce. In this one, I talk about CS Lewis’ novella The Great Divorce . I discuss the cruelty of its satire and some of my issues with its haughty attitude, but also a few aspects I appreciated about the world it presents. Y...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Balckwell's Books, a literature program in which I talk about literature. In this first episode I take an in-depth look at the major characters of War & Peace, and discuss Tolstoy's view of history. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balckwell.substack.com