96 Dracula, Lolita, and the Power of Volcanoes (with Jim Shepard)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

Arts, History, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2017

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Author Jim Shepard joins the podcast to discuss everything from the humor of Christopher Guest and S.J. Perelman to the poetic philosophy of Robert Frost and F.W. Murnau’s classic film, Nosferatu. He and host Jacke Wilson flutter around Nabokov’s Lolita, sink their teeth into Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and descend into the world of volcanoes in Krakatua 1883, where they explore how an author discovers emotional truths in unexpected places. Other works and artists discussed include Robert Frost, Howard Nemerov, James Thurber, Robert Stone, Anne Carson, Love at First Bite, and the deadpan style of Pat Paulsen. Show Notes: Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature. You can follow Jacke Wilson at his Twitter account @WriterJacke. You can also follow Mike and the Literature Supporters Club (and receive daily book recommendations) by looking for @literatureSC. Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA). “Sweeter Vermouth” and “Spy Glass” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	I've always been fascinated fascinated by the way smart people can do incredibly
0:16.9	stupid things and I love the way that renovates our notion of epiphany, which is often, you know, the Joyce's term has
0:27.0	been a sort of Shanghai by literary critics, it's often misunderstood to be sort of like well if only we had more information we would never make these mistakes again
0:36.8	You know the the sort of simple-minded epiphanies the way they get worked out is sort of like you know then Billy understood that his grandmother had
0:43.7	never had it so easy and he would never think of it the same way again but I'm fascinated
0:48.4	by writers like Nabakov or Robert Stone who are all about presenting you with characters who announced you right
0:55.9	away that they see very much with great clarity what it is they need to do and then they
1:01.8	don't do it.
1:03.0	Right.
1:04.0	They have all the information they need and they continue against all odds to fail to succeed.
1:11.0	Right, it's so human.
1:13.5	It's so human.
1:16.3	That's author Jim Shepard talking about literary epiphanies and the human condition.
1:21.8	Oh, today's guest is a treat, one of my favorite authors.
1:25.0	A true American original.
1:27.2	We cover a lot of ground in our discussion from the humor of Christopher Guest and
1:31.0	S.J. Perlman to the poetic philosophy of Robert Frost
1:34.8	to F. W. Murnau's film, Nosferrato. We flutter around whether Vladimir
1:41.1	Nymokov would have preferred the pastoral pleasures of baseball or the
1:45.6	supernatural speed of hockey and we sink our teeth into Dracula the original novel
1:51.2	that is and ask whether it's author Bram Stoker would have been pleased with the many adaptations that have appeared like bats flying out of a belfry
	...

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