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Backlisted

Notes from Under the Floorboards AKA Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Backlisted

Backlisted Podcast

Arts, Books, Leisure, Hobbies

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2021

⏱️ 72 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to the 150th episode of Backlisted! To mark the occasion we are joined by authors Alex Christofi (Dostoevsky in Love) and Arifa Akbar (Consumed: A Sister's Story) for a discussion of one of Russia's greatest writers Fyodor Dostoevsky, who was born in Moscow on November 11 1821, 200 years ago this month. We concentrate on his pioneering novella Notes From Under the Floorboards AKA Notes From Underground (1864) and consider its impact and continuing relevance to modern life. Also in this episode John enjoys Dark Neighbourhood (Fitzcarraldo), the debut collection of stories by Vanessa Onwuemezi; and, having let it settled for a few months, Andy unveils his favourite novel of the year, Gwendoline Riley's My Phantoms (Granta). Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length) 12:20 - My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley 19:24 - Dark Neighbourhood by Vanessa Onmuewez 26:24 - Notes From Under The Floorboards by Fyodor Dostoevsky *To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops *For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm *If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, Alex, hello, Aretha. Aretha, are you back out in London's

0:29.9

Busy West End? Yeah, I'm a DAB hand at it now. We've been out a splitter critics. I have been out since since May

0:39.5

in the auditoriums now, sometimes being asked for a COVID process, sometimes not, sometimes we see

0:47.2

audiences wearing masks, but a lot of the time they're not. So nevertheless, we're out, you know, I'm out

0:54.0

four or five times a week and it's it's joyous. I'll never take it from us.

0:57.6

It was exhilarating back in May, and I'm not saying you're jaded now here in November, but how long did

1:06.3

it take for, I don't know, like people rustling packets of malt teasers to be annoying? Oh, listen,

1:14.6

I'm so uptight that I remember one of the first few shows since when we returned, I got very emotional

1:22.2

when people laughed collectively, or when we clapped at the end, it was really much more moving

1:28.3

that I thought it'd be, but then very shortly after, I'm really, really irritable. I mean, erasical,

1:36.5

theatre critic, you know, something with a big head, big head comes out to me. It's sort of curtains

1:43.9

for them. No, it's not. It's curtains for me. There's a joy of being around everybody, and then there's

1:50.6

a nuisance of it, you know, the humanness and the close contact, and to never more so in an

1:54.9

auditorium when you're sitting cheap to jail. Alex, have you had a moment where you've gone from

2:00.4

being, er, you know, feeling euphoric to be back with a group of people to then feeling

2:06.8

helly's other people? They were kind of simultaneous for me, because I decided, um, June, I thought was

2:14.6

one of the rare films that is actually worth forking out for the iMacs experience. Right.

2:19.8

The screen made it completely worthwhile. I know where this is going, you know, gone.

2:24.6

It was absolutely epic. The other people in the iMacs, less so, but it was all forgiven because

2:33.0

the Blade Runner 49 was really beautiful and kind of slightly plotless and, and kind of

2:38.4

insubstantial. And then when you just done a load of Frank Herbert world building on top of it,

2:44.7

it was, um, mate. But have you noticed that, Johnny? Have you noticed people have forgotten how to

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