Close Reads Podcast

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David kick off their discussion of Marilynne Robinson's beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead (2004). Topics include whether this is a sad book, a bit on Robinson's biography, John Ames's joy in the face of suffering, and more. *** This episode is brought to you by  Schole Academy  from Classical Academic Press, featuring new literature co...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, David, and Andrew conclude their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel Brideshead Revisited,  answering listener questions.  Topics include: The BBC miniseries and Jeremy Irons' audio book  The effect of Charles immaturity on his perspectives Whether it's a true conversion story Which characters display true faith Symbolism and conversion and muc...

On this special LIVE episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, David, and their special guest conclude their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel  Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on the final chapters.  This episode was recorded at the 2017 CiRCE Conference. Topics include: The love story Whether this story is tragedy Whether people wanted Julia and Charles to stay together The sign of the cros...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel,  Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on chapter 9.  Topics include: Julia's prescience Julia's guilty conscience Bridey's strong words Ryder's skepticism and much more This episode is brought to you by  Schole Academy  from Classical Academic Press, featuring new literature courses taugh...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel,  Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on chapter 9.  Topics include: The interesting structure of the chapter Celia's infedelity Much more on perspective The metaphor of the storm Characters repeating patterns Whether this first chapter where anything actually happens and much more... Thi...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel,  Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on chapter 7.  Topics include: Getting to know Julia Rex's ignorance Why Charles is attracted to Julia "Modern" education Perspective and Waugh and more... This episode is brought to you by our friends at the Institute for Excellence in Writing, purve...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel,  Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on chapter 7.  Topics include: Getting to know Julia Rex's ignorance Why Charles is attracted to Julia "Modern" education Perspective and Waugh and more... This episode is brought to you by our friends at the Institute for Excellence in Writing, purve...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, David, and a special guest continue their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel,  Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on chapter 6.  Topics include: The greatest sentence of the 20th century What's wrong with Sebastian Whether Sebastian's family is being fair More on the aesthetic theology of the book and much, much more... This episode is brought to...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel,  Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on chapter 5.  Topics include: Charles' father Sebastian's malaise The fate of young men during the era Religion at Brideshead More on the aesthetic theology of the book and more... This episode is brought to you by our friends at the Institute for Ex...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel, Brideshead Revisited,  focusing on chapters 3-4.  Topics include: Tim's upcoming vacation A comparison of Charles family and Sebastian's family Sebastian's faith and Charles lack thereof Sebastian and Charles' youth and what it means The aesthetic theology of the book Aesthetics as a...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David kick off their discussion of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel,  Brideshead Revisited, focusing on the prologue and chapters one and two.   Topics include: First experiences with Waugh Waugh's nostalgia The prologue The book's various juxtapositions The sacred and the profane The book's spiritual hauntings 3 key decaying institutions and more......

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David discuss C.S. Lewis's classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and it's victory in our Great Books Bracket this spring.  Topics include: Why the Narnia stories have maintained their reputation for so long The differences in reading it for the first time as a child as opposed to as an adult Which Narnia book should be read first Lewis's...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David conclude their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge , by answering listener questions.  Topics include: How O'Connor's contemporaries viewed her work Angelina and Tim's Amazon-style reviews of O'Connor Anagogical/allegorical reading O'Connor's appeal to non-Christians Rapid-fire quest...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "Judgement Day". Topics include: The next book we'll be reading on Close Reads The complicated nature of this story It's serious flaws Comparing The Geranium with Judgement Day Is it confusing on purpose or because of bad wr...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "Parker's Back". Topics include: The differences between "Parkers' Back" and her other work The theatrical nature of the story Parker's awe The deeper meaning of the characters' actions Reading Sarah Ruth Parker's image (and...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "Revelation." Topics include: Whether this is a good story to use to introduce stuents to O'Connor The racism of characters in the story Mrs. Turpin's gradual openness Mrs. Turpin's Christ-haunted-ness Seeing ourselves in Mr...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "The Lame Shall Enter First." Topics include: whether this story is less grotesque, the clinical-ness of the prose, psychology vs spiritual in the story, whether Shepherd repents, O'Connor vs the enlightenment, Norton as She...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "The Comforts of Home." Topics include: the theatrical nature of O'Connor's work, this story vs. the others in this collection, whether the mother is right to take an interest in Sarah, common critical readings that emphasiz...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "The Enduring Chill."  Topics include: O'Connor's sense of humor, the autobiographical nature of the story, the meaning of the names, where Asbury's illness came from, the work of the Holy Spirit in the story, and much more....

On this episode of Close Reads, David chats with Dr. Ralph Wood, author of  Flannery O'Connor and the  Christ-Haunted  South , about Flannery O'Connor's reputation for grimness.  Topics include: When Dr. Wood heard O'Connor give a reading live in 1962, O'Connor's sense of humor, the scandalousness of the gospel in O'Connor's canon, Julian's mother in  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  A View...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "A View of the Woods."  Topics include: Whether Mary actually exists, Mary as mirror of her grandfather, O'Connor's mysterious use of pronouns, the battle between Fortune and Pitts, the story's comments on modernism, and the...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David continue their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories,  Everything That Rises Must Converge ,  with "Greenleaf."  Topics include: The romance of the bull, the bull as Christ-figure, O'Connor's commentary on Southern Christianity, sympathy for the Greenleafs, class differences in the story, Mrs. May's irreligion, Mrs. May's...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David begin their conversation on Flannery O'Connor's collection of stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge , beginning with the titular story.  Topics include: The 2017 Close Reads literature bracket, first experiences with O'Connor (18:10), O'Connor's "metaphysical realism" (26:40), story summary (37:11), the real racist in the story (41:50...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David answer listener questions about Dorothy Sayers' classic mystery novel,  Murder Must Advertise , one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories.  Topics include: More on how to say "Sayers", Wimsey vs Darcy (12:20), Miss Meteyard as representative of Sayers (19:25), Current states of mystery stories (21:55), Says on good Christian art (38:55), Wimsey's...

On this episode of Close Reads, Angelina, Tim, and David conclude their ongoing discussion of Dorothy Sayers' classic mystery novel,  Murder Must Advertise , one of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories.  Topics include: Who else the murderer could have been (6:45), whether Justice was served in the end (14:00), whether Wimsey was actually a good detective in this book (36:30), Tallboy's possible redempti...