A Bicephalous Old Tumater Woman (Walter M. Miller Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz)
Description
The boys are back in the most explosive episode of The Readers Karamazov yet. They discuss a classic of dystopian sci-fi, Walter M. Miller Jr.'s nuclear wasteland novel A Canticle for Leibowitz. They discuss the book's thrilling, intricate structure, its view of the spirals of history, and its ideas about science and faith and art. Complete with references to Jacques Ellul, Aldous Huxley, Thomas Merton, and... Sisqo?
Theme Music: "Shostakovich," by Mucca Pazza.
The boys (sans Friedrich) wrap Season 3 by talking about the perfect capstone book: John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. They take one last gander at form (picaresque? satire?), discuss Fortuna's wheel, and think through what it means to be a political and artistic outsider in the vein...
Published 09/09/22
The boys hop on their three person tandem bike to pedal their way through the spinning wheels of Flann O'Brien's dark comedy The Third Policeman. They debate the novel's genre (sci fi? fantasy? existential tragicomedy?) and explore its fascination with particle physics, theology, and, of course,...
Published 08/23/22