Oedipus Rex by Sophocles: Ancient Greek Tragedy Lecture
hardcoreliterature posts
Lonesome Dove Lecture: The Valley of Death (Chapters 26-74)
"It's all right, though," Augustus said. "It's mostly bones we're riding over, anyway. I'm told that over in the Old Country you can't dig six feet without uncovering skulls and leg bones and such. People have been living there since the beginning, and their bones have kinda filled up the ground."
Today we are discussing the second part of Larry McMurtry's masterful Lonesome Dove. We are meeting even more compelling characters, continuing to wrestle wit...
2026-02-01 22:30:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe Oresteia of Aeschylus: Ancient Greek Tragedy Lecture
'We must suffer into truth. Better to die on your feet, than live on your knees.'
Today we are appreciating the sublime tragic saga that is the Oresteia of Aeschylus.
We're discussing vengeance vs justice, the curse of the House of Atreus, why Ancient Greek mythology is so violent, the structure of choral odes, sympathy as shared suffering, the first audience at the City Dionysia, finding wisdom in pain, and much more.
Please feel free to li...
2026-01-25 22:40:52 +0000 UTC View PostBook Club Discussion for January 2026
Dear Book Club Readers ---
You've had such a phenomenal start to your reading year and it would be so wonderful to hear about the books you've been enjoying this month.
Your comments in the book club continue to reveal your deep love of great literature, and we would love to hear about how your reading is treating you right now.
So, tell us what your January has been looking like.
What are you reading at the moment?
Let us know anything that's ...
2026-01-24 22:10:38 +0000 UTC View PostLonesome Dove Lecture: The Waning of the West (Chapters 1-25)
‘It was an odd thing, but true, that the death of an enemy could you affect you as much, almost as much, as the death of a friend.’
Today we are discussing the first part of Larry McMurtry's sweeping saga. We are meeting his characters together, wrangling with profound themes of the human condition, and immersing ourselves in the vivid world of Lonesome Dove.
We're discussing cinematic storytelling, friendship, Epicureanism vs Stoicism, Latin ...
2026-01-18 22:34:28 +0000 UTC View PostHow to Read Ancient Greek Tragedy (Introductory Lecture)
'Pride breeds the tyrant, violent pride, gorging, crammed to bursting with all that is overripe and rich with ruin — clawing up to the heights, headlong pride crashes down the abyss — sheer doom!'
It’s time to begin our appreciation of the tragic masterpieces of Ancient Greek theatre: the Oresteia of Aeschylus, Oedipus Rex of Sophocles, and Medea of Euripides.
Today we're discussing how best to bring ourselves to this curat...
2026-01-11 22:29:41 +0000 UTC View PostHow to Read Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (Introductory Lecture)
'When Augustus came out on the porch the blue pigs were eating a rattlesnake — not a very big one.'
It’s time to begin our journey through the sweeping saga that is Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove.
Our reading of this masterpiece will teach us about friendship, love, family, identity, men and women, how to live a good life, the evolution of the epic, the history of the Wild West, American mythology, the hero's journey, and the human condition. ...
2026-01-04 22:38:25 +0000 UTC View PostWishing You a Happy New Year for 2026
Dear Book Club Members ---
I just wanted to take a moment to wish you a very Happy New Year and say a deep thank you from the bottom of my heart for making the year just gone such a special reading year. I hope you're as excited as I am for the year ahead.
You have my warmest love and deepest gratitude for making this bookish community so wonderful and living the great books with us...
2026-01-01 22:32:57 +0000 UTC View PostBleak House Lecture: Mistress of Bleak House (Vol. III, Ch. XLVI-LXVII)
'Full seven happy years I have been the mistress of Bleak House. The few words that I have to add to what I have written, are soon penned; then I, and the unknown friend to whom I write, will part for ever.'
Dear Book Club Readers -- I hope you've been enjoying the festive spirit, doing something special around this time, and managing to get a nice bit of reading in. Today we're discussing the breathtaking climax of Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens (Festive Reflections)
Dear Book Club Readers ---
Here's wishing a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!
I love rereading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens every year. It has become a warm reading tradition that always reminds me of what's important in life and gets me into the festive spirit.
You may not have heard my reflections on rereading this phenomenal work, so I would like to share this talk again with you here. We also have a podcast episode that deep dives into the ...
2025-12-21 22:01:32 +0000 UTC View PostBook Club Discussion for December 2025
Dear Book Club Readers ---
You've had such a phenomenal reading year and you should be intensely proud of your reading accomplishments. It would be so wonderful to hear about the books you've been enjoying during this festive season.
Your comments in the book club continue to reveal your deep love of great literature, and we would love to hear about how your reading is treating you right now.
So, tell us what your December has been looking like.
What are you r... 2025-12-20 21:48:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Bleak House Lecture: Spontaneous Combustion (Vol. II, Ch. XXIII-XLV)
'The Lord Chancellor of that Court, true to his title in his last act, has died the death of all Lord Chancellors in all Courts, and of all authorities in all places under all names soever, where false pretences are made, and where injustice is done.'
Welcome back to the foggy world of Bleak House by Charles Dickens, where we find ourselves increasingly tangled in the cursed case of Jarndyce & Jarndyce.
Today we're talking about spontaneous co...
2025-12-14 21:59:30 +0000 UTC View PostBleak House Lecture: The Curse of Jarndyce & Jarndyce (Vol. I, Ch. I-XXII)
'London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth...'
Today we're discussing the captivating beginning of Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
We're talking about bureaucratic nightmares, gothic family curses, mysteries, detective drama, orphan literature, mankind’s curse of consciousn...
2025-12-07 22:47:54 +0000 UTC View PostRevealing the Book Club Schedule for 2026
Dear Book Club Readers ---
Thank you all so much for making the book club such a special community.
Your love of great literature is deeply inspiring, and I am endlessly grateful for all of you.
Let's talk about the book club schedule for the new year.
The video above breaks down the books and lectures for the year.
At the bottom of this post, we also have a downloadable document containing my recommended editions and some words of reading advice.
The first...
2025-11-30 22:29:08 +0000 UTC View PostJane Austen's Emma: Faultless in Spite of All Her Faults (Lecture on Ch. 27-55)
“I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am.—You hear nothing but truth from me."
Today we are appreciating the close of Emma together. The close of this masterpiece, but certainly not the end of our loving engagement with Jane Austen.
In our discussion, we're meditating upon character change, guiding principles for happy relationships, friendship vs intimacy, romantic attra...
2025-11-23 22:04:58 +0000 UTC View PostJane Austen's Emma: In the Heart of Highbury (Lecture on Ch. 1-26)
'To be sure — our discordancies must always arise from my being in the wrong.'
Today we are indulging in a little bit of Regency gossip as we settle into the world of Highbury in Jane Austen's Emma.
We're discussing irony, subtext, misperception, matrimony, social class, courtship, friendship, true love, what makes a great character, relationship dynamics, comic juxtaposition, psychological complexity, men and women, solipsism, maturati...
2025-11-16 22:08:42 +0000 UTC View PostHow to Read Jane Austen's Emma (Introductory Lecture)
'Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.'
It’s time to spend some time in the world of Jane Austen with Emma.
Our reading of this masterpiece will teach us about love, friendship, courtship, marriage, men and women, moral judgement, growing up, roma...
2025-11-09 22:28:54 +0000 UTC View Post'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson - Halloween Lecture
'All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil. Man is not truly one, but truly two.'
Tonight we’re talking about late Victorian gothic literature, mad scientists, terror vs horror, the uncanny, nocturnal labyrinths, the unconscious, nineteenth century London, serial killer fear, sensational tabloids, the line seperating good and evil, and much more.
Make sure your lamp has sufficient oil to light the pages of your volum...
2025-11-02 22:23:38 +0000 UTC View PostDickens Seasonal Read Revealed
The time has arrived.
Excitement is in the air.
We are finally revealing the Secret Seasonal Dickens, which will be cosying up with as we move into winter.
Let us know at what point in the video above you guessed the novel.
We're discussing the rationale for the choice, how to prepare for this particular read, and why Dickens is such a cherished writer.
Video Timestamps:
0:00 the Secret Dickens Big Read
2:00 an e...
2025-10-31 22:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostDaphne du Maurier's Rebecca: The Road to Manderley (Lecture on Ch. XX-XXVII)
'The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.’
Welcome back to the nightmare world of Manderley. Today, as we continue to be haunted, we're talking about the breathtaking climax of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.
We're discussing theories about...
2025-10-26 21:44:13 +0000 UTC View PostDaphne du Maurier's Rebecca: Secrets of the Past (Lecture on Ch. XI-XIX)
'Do you think she can see us, talking to one another now? Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?’
We return again to Manderley, where the dark secrets of the past continue to unfold. Let's get to the bottom of this haunting mystery together as we continue to read through Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.
Today we're discussing ghost tales as guilt stories, how pleasure lures us to pain, the sublime symbolism of the sea, knowledge as wi...
2025-10-19 20:58:03 +0000 UTC View PostBook Club Discussion for October 2025
Dear Book Club Readers ---
You've been having such an incredible reading year, and should be proud of your reading accomplishments. It would be so wonderful to hear about the books you're enjoying at the moment.
Your comments in in the book club continue to reveal your deep love of great literature, and we would love to hear about how your reading is treating you right now.
So, tell us what your October has been looking like.
What are you reading at the moment... 2025-10-18 20:15:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca: Dreaming of Manderley (Lecture on Ch. I-X)
'There was Manderley, our Manderley, secretive and silent as it had always been. Time could not wreck the perfect symmetry of those walls.'
Welcome to back Manderley, and the haunting world of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. Let us walk the halls together in search of the darkest secrets of its past.
Today we're discussing the fever of first love, liminal spaces in our identities, recurring nightmares, the history of gothic literature, the labyrinth ...
2025-10-12 21:03:10 +0000 UTC View PostRanking the Complete Works of Shakespeare from Worst to Best
Dear Book Club Readers,
Today I'm very excited to run through my personal ranking of the complete works of Shakespeare with you. This is a reverse ranking, from worst to best, with each play given a grading and an IMDB-style numerical rating.
I hope the above video provides an enjoyable way to reminisce for those who have journeyed through the bard’s poems and plays as part of the chronological 2025-10-05 21:16:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Special Announcement: Meet Baby McEvoy
Dear Book Club Readers,
I hope you are keeping well and your reading is going well. You may have already guessed, but I can now officially confirm that we have welcomed our newest member of the book club team into the world.
Evelyn Rose McEvoy, or Evie for short, is healthy and was born in the early hours of the morning at just over six pounds. The first books I am reading to her were selected thanks to your great recommendations: Goodnight Moon, followed by The Velve...
2025-09-30 21:20:15 +0000 UTC View PostHow to Read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Introductory Lecture)
'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.'
It’s time to begin our journey into the heart of Daphne du Maurier's dark gothic bestseller: Rebecca.
Our reading will teach us about possessive jealousy, hauntings of the past, the evolution of gothic literature, the rise of the bestseller, the interwar years, identity, memory, class, marriage, women in the modern world, the human condition, and much more.
Today we’re meeting Daphne du Ma...
2025-09-21 21:20:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe Odyssey of Homer: Ithaca Restored (Lecture on Books XVII-XXIV)
'Like a musician stretching a string over a new peg on his lyre, Odysseus strung the great bow. Lifting it up, he plucked the string and it sang beautifully under his touch with a note like a swallow's. '
Welcome back to the world of Ancient Greece. Our epic reaches its climax as Odysseus reveals his true self and finally has his revenge upon the suitors. And after the banquet of blood, peace finally reigns over our hero's home.
Today we're discussing how...
2025-09-14 21:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe Odyssey of Homer: Returning Home (Lecture on Books IX-XVI)
'Don’t try to sell me on death, Odysseus. I’d rather be a hired hand back up on earth, slaving away for some poor dirt farmer, than lord it over all these withered dead.'
Welcome back to the world of Ancient Greece. Our singer of tales for this next portion of the epic is our hero himself. It's time to hear about everything Odysseus endured as he struggled to return home.
Today, as we continue our journey through Homer's Odyssey, we're discuss...
2025-09-07 20:58:57 +0000 UTC View PostThe Odyssey of Homer: Speak, Memory (Lecture on Books I-VIII)
'Speak, Memory — of the cunning hero, the wanderer, blown off course time and again after he plundered Troy's sacred heights.'
Welcome back to the world of Ancient Greece. Let us gather around the singer of tales and listen to the old story told anew: the story of the homecoming of Odysseus.
Today, as we journey through the first eight books of Homer's Odyssey, we're discussing the epic's overture, fathers and sons, the oral-formulaic tradition,...
2025-08-31 21:01:32 +0000 UTC View PostThe Three Musketeers: Lieutenant of the King's Musketeers (Lecture on Ch. XLII-LXVII)
"So I'll have no more friends," said d'Artagnan. "Alas! nothing but bitter memories..." And he let his head drop into his hands, whilst two tears rolled down his cheeks. "You are young," replied Athos, "and your bitter memories have time to turn into sweet one."
Today our sweeping saga reaches its breathtaking climax. We come to the end of The Three Musketeers, but certainly not the end of our loving readerly relationship with Alexandre Dumas.
We'...
2025-08-24 21:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post