Chad’s Comments (group member since Apr 04, 2017)

Chad’s comments from the Two Month Review group.

M wrote: "Finally got a library copy on Nov 9 and have been reading like crazy and watching (and enjoying) the YouTube chats. I'm happy to report that I finally caught up to Chad's schedule.

I even got ahea..."

Oh shit! What a dumb oversight. Fixing it on the blog now, but here's the updated schedule:

November 13: 429-487

November 20: 487-562

November 27: 562-621

December 4: 621-700

December 11: 701-776

December 18: 776-862

December 23: 862-917

December 30: 917-1020

Excellent! I know they had a tough time keeping up with demand, but hopefully that’s all sorted now.

Hi Everyone!

I know it's been a bit, but I'm going to try and get this group going again for SEASON TEN (?!?!) of the Two Month Review. This season we're doing our first English work, and the longest book to date: DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT by Lucy Ellmann.

A finalist for the Booker Prize (and hopefully the winner), this is a massive book about a woman in Ohio baking an apple pie. Using Joycean techniques--although without quite so many technical bells and whistles--the reader is dropped into the mind of the narrator right from the get go and experiences all her memories, ideas, rants against Open Carry, Trump, the destruction of the environment, thoughts about the struggles of motherhood, and much more. It's a whirlwind of a book, and one that should generate a LOT of discussion.

Episode one is available on YouTube now (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_AEx...) and will drop on iTunes and all other podcast providers on Thursday morning.

And here's a link to the overall schedule for this season (which will last three months . . .): http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...

October 2: Pages 1-81
October 9: 81-150
October 16: 151-231
October 23: 231-297
October 30: 297-360
November 6: 360-429
November 13: 429-487
November 20: 487-562
November 27: 562-621
December 4: 621-700
December 11: 701-776
December 18: 776-862
December 23: 917-1020

Join in, post comments and questions, and enjoy this wild book.

Thanks to everyone who participated on the YouTube broadcast last night! The podcast version of this will be available on Thursday like usual, but if you just can't wait, you can watch this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HgPN....

(I'd recommend skipping the first 6-7 minutes in which I sit there impatiently waiting for Tom and Brian to get their browsers configured.)

Here's a link to the introductory podcast for "The Physics of Sorrow": https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/3...

And more exciting, starting tonight (February 19) at 9pm EST, we'll be broadcasting the recording of all future episodes LIVE on YouTube. Go here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HgPN...) and you can watch us talk about Part I (pages 1-58) and can even ask questions, make comments, etc.

This should be a fun new way to make these even more of an online book club than it already was, so be sure and stop by and talk with us about Gospodinov's incredible novel!

WE'RE BACK! And better than ever. (After I run a few tests this weekend, I'm going to have a major announcement for all of you that's going to take this series to the next level.)

Here's the schedule for the new season, featuring Physics of Sorrow:

February 15: Introduction to Gospodinov
February 22: Epigraphy, Prologue, Part I (1-58)
March 1: Part II (59-72)
March 8: Part III (73-118)
March 15: Part IV (119-150)
March 22: Part V (151-178)
March 29: Part VI (179-200)
April 5: Part VII (201-236)
April 12: Part VIII (237-283)


Books are available everywhere, and if you order from Open Letter directly (https://www.openletterbooks.org/produ...) use 2MONTH and get 20% off.

Paul wrote: "I had to take a break from the relentlessly depressing Rodoreda short stories for a minute, and decided to circle back to this. What a delight this has been! Just finished the podcast with Lethem a..."

Awesome! That was one of my favorite episodes ever to record. And just wait, the green cow is brilliant, but this book just gets better and better as you go. It's so fulfilling.

(And Death in Spring, though intense, is somehow less depressing than the stories. Possibly because instead of marriages falling apart, it's filled with bizarre rituals and beliefs.)

Oh, two other things:

Next Tuesday (December 12th) will be the live recording at McNally Jackson. Brian and I will be there along with María Cristina Hall of the Ramon Llull Institut. There will be wine. And fun times! Come on out!

Also, a new version of "Death in Spring" came out in Spain recently and is on the best-seller lists! If only that could happen here . . .

The first pocast about "Death in Spring" is officially live: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/2....

I have to say that, having pre-recorded the next two episodes, that this part of the season is really incredible. Amazing guests, all of whom bring something special to the table and help fill in details about the publication of the book, Rodoreda's life, and the way "Death in Spring" has been interpreted.

Enjoy!

Thanks, Paul! I did get the "Red Spaniard" thing down for the long post (http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...), although I probably still made a mess of trying to explain/understand that story.

Totally agree about the male voices, and am writing about that right now . . . Although I wonder what both you and Brian will say when we get to "Death in Spring." Just reread the first part again and wow, this is like the best short story multiplied by some large number. I forgot how disturbed and sharp this novel is.

She only wrote a handful of stories from a male perspective, but they do seem fairly different than the one's from a woman's perspective. This is especially true when we get into the "war stories." In terms of the more domestic ones though, I feel like the men in those stories are always going to wreck things, although the boys in "Carnival" and "Red Blouse" are a bit more nostalgic and filled with longing than the women. So, yeah, I don't know. Curious what others think as well.

New episode is live! Quim Monzó--an incredible, hilarious author in his own right--joined us to talk about the first six Rodoreda stories. You can find the episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts: http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...

Also, we will be recording the final episode of the season live at the *new* McNally Jackson store in Williamsburg (76 N 4th St.) on December 12th. If you're in NY, please come by! And if you're not, post any and all questions you have here (or to my email) so that we can talk about them!

Here's an advance look at the post about the first six stories (pages 1-50) that will go live on Three Percent tomorrow morning. It consists of a few different observations linking these pieces, and spends a lot of time on "The Mirror," and why I think that particular story works so well.

http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...

This goes up live on Three Percent next week, but as a special preview, here's a longish introductory post I wrote about Mercè Rodoreda and all her books: http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...

I wish. It's too much to go into here, but September kicked my ass and I couldn't at all find the time to write these. I'm going to try and do one more at least, but it might not come out until right before the final episode. (I have to go to a conference tomorrow, then host an author, then launch our first crowdfunding campaign. God I miss summer.)

Here's the official reading schedule for season three!

October 26: Introduction to Mercè Rodoreda

November 2: Selected Stories: “Blood,” “Threaded Needle,” “Summer,” “Guinea Fowls,” “The Mirror,” and “Happiness” (pages 1-50)

November 9: Selected Stories: “Afternoon at the Cinema,” “Ice Cream,” “Carnival,” “Engaged,” “In a Whisper,” “Departure,” “Friday, June 8” (51-102)

November 16: Selected Stories: “The Beginning,” “Nocturnal,” “The Red Blouse,” “The Fate of Lisa Sperling,” “The Bath,” and “On the Train” (103-143)

November 23: Selected Stories: “Before I Die,” “Ada Liz,” “On a Dark Night,” “Night and Fog,” and “Orléans, Three Kilometers” (144-207)

November 30: Selected Stories: “The Thousand Franc Bill,” “Paralysis,” “It Seemed Like Silk,” “The Salamander,” “Love,” and “White Geranium” (208-255)

December 7: Death in Spring Part One (1-27)

December 14: Death in Spring Part Two (28-68)

December 21: Death in Spring Part Three (69-118)

December 28: Death in Spring Part Four (119-150)

The thread for talking about the third season of the Two Month Review

Thanks to everyone who voted. Rodoreda didn't exactly win (she was close!), but we've decided to slot her in next, since Catalonia is very much in the news right now and I really want to make sure we include some books by women.

Here's all the details: http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran....

And as I mention at the bottom of that post, we'll do Physics of Sorrow and Maidenhair right away in 2018. And follow it up with Dubravka Ugresic's amazing new novel, Fox.

Paul wrote: "Is this also a place to discuss the books and why we should consider them?"


Absolutely! Post all your thoughts here!

OK, we're going to take a couple weeks off after the end of the Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, but then we'll be back in November with an all new season featuring . . . . ??? Instead of deciding this on our own, we're curious to hear from you about which book you'd like us to feature next. I chose five titles that would be interesting for five different reasons--click this link below and vote on the title you'd like us to read next!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...