Episode 55: Mallarme (accent not included)

About 4 minutes in Jonah reveals the idea for this episode: he is going to list off bursts of authors he's read in the last five years of doing the podcast which they haven't featured and Will is going to riff on whatever comes to mind. Thanks for listening fellow littérateurs. This may be our last episode ... Jonah is tired of doing jobs he doesn't like so he's gonna get out of Idaho and get beat on the dirty streets of Hollywood. He is leaving behind a box of books of his short stories at the Walrus and Carpenter. If you take a pilgrimage you can get one for free. It really is a great bookstore. Come sit with us in front of the fire for a while.

This is a very loosely styled podcast. I know, usually we keep it so on point and tight. But often I think podcasts are more fun this way. At least we had fun. It's the conversation you'll get in the Walrus and Carpenter bookstore. Come sit for a while and geek out about language.

A eulogy Live from the Walrus and Carpenter bookstore. Ten years ago, when Jonah first fell headfirst into an obsession with Kundera (and his new English translations) Jonah was surprised to learn Kundera was still alive.  Shortly after he started writing notes for an article about the importance of Kundera's novel Immortality to 20th century literature - halfway expecting at some point to have a relationship with a literary journal which might publish it. Those notes still exist but suffice to say said relationship never occurred. But what might be the best simplification is Immortality and NOT the unbearable lightness of being is Kundera's most important novel. In all Kundera's obituaries they lead with him being a commenter on Communism in The Czech Republic and his writings on sexual desire but Kundera dedicated his life to literature and the resonant feeling which displays this best is in the novel Immortality. Don't worry, this point isn't belabored in the show but Jonah needed to make that clear. (Although, perhaps, Immortality makes the most significant impression after reading Kundera's previously published works. Well, no one said dedicating your life to understanding the relationship between metaphor and man and the limits of our desires was streamlined. It's rather rambling and don't expect to look for it knowing what you're going to get. Kind of like this podcast.)

You've been clamoring for it and it's finally here! More clanging of the chimes on Will's bookstore door, more conversational meandering.  More of Jonah suggesting they talk about books which Will hasn't looked at in decades but Jonah stubbornly thinks will be interesting anyway until he realizes, again, he's forced a topic which he wasn't prepared for. This topic is the physicist Richard Feynman. Apparently you can get free pdf's of this classic lighthearted romp through the intellect online. So, go give Feynman a looksee. The pleasures of thinking really do drip off the page. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

It would be cool to be really interesting in one of these description areas ... But I don't think it is possible. It's like the summation for a piece of fiction. You're sort of telling what the story is about but if you get to close to saying exactly what happens you either A. Miss the larger metaphorical or allegorical content or B. You end up risking spoilers. The thing, with podcasts, is they're impossible to spoil so I suppose this could literally be a transcription for words spoken. Yuck.
Oh I read something from my friend, a poet, Sam Caton at the end. Go look him up on social media if you'd like? Multi-task, look him up while you're virtually hanging out with Jonah and Will in the bookstore.

The initial idea for this episode was to do a centennial retrospective of the year 1922. The writers TS Eliot, EM Forster, and last but not least, Woolf. Woolf, I think for both of us, ended up being the most fascinating. Partially because a week before, in the Walrus and Carpenter (Will's bookstore) Jonah found a copy of Beginning Again. One part of five of Leonard Woolf's autobiography. A fascinating remnant of literary history which is used to create, in our opinion, literary speculation of which you're hardly going to find the kind in any other podcast (for better and worse). An interesting discussion about stream of conscious - as stream of conscious. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Not necessarily literature but a larger discussion about the nature of the universe. Whether it's open or closed. These Meditations are from a book by a anonymous author and are basic discussions for the understanding of Christian Hermeticism. Just pop your head into the bookstore and see if anything peaks your interest. We had fun.

Will stumbled upon a book (Homosexuals in History) with a reference to Hawthorne being potentially homosexual. We try and dig into the confluence of art and sex. So far, for this year, I think this may be our best podcast. Maybe because it's now chilly enough in Idaho that Will has the fireplace running at the front of his store again. Come sit near for a bit. As always, old episodes available at patreon.com/westernthought.

A fairly busy Tuesday at the bookstore with a few sales and auditory distractions from a new roof being applied. Still, there's a few good one-liners and a (possibly) good introduction to Stein and her cubist doodlings with words (my words). Shorter episodes these days as Will now has a standing dinner date. Perhaps we will compensate by doing them more frequently. As always, old episodes are now stored for you perusal at patreon.com/westernthought. Come sit in the bookstore for a while.

Another fictional supplement to the podcast. Two independent stories which have been recorded for your listening interest (written far apart with very different styles). 
The first story is a touch of exaggerated reality - with an artist who makes exceptional pictures in the foam of coffee. The second story is a Henry Miller inspired first person wander through a mysterious death and a "postmodern" deconstruction of the mystery genre. The second story begins 24 minutes in.