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Hardcore Literature

Hardcore Literature

Benjamin McEvoy

Books, Education, Courses, Arts

4.8606 Ratings

Overview

Welcome to your new favourite book club. If you enjoy deep dives into the greatest books ever written, you will love Hardcore Literature. Provocative poems, evocative epics, and life-changing literary analyses. We don't just read the great books - we live them. Together we'll suck the marrow out of Shakespeare, Homer, and Tolstoy. We'll relish the most moving art ever committed to the page and stage from every age. Join us on the reading adventure of a lifetime.

90 Episodes

Ep 90 - How to Live the Great Books: Life-Changing Reading Habits

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 7 March 2026

Ep 89 - Book Club Schedule for 2026

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 1 January 2026

Ep 88 - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 7 December 2025

Ep 87 - Appreciating Shakespeare on My Birthday

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin  

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2025

Ep 86 - Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 23 February 2025

Ep 85 - The Interpretation of Dreams (Freud)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 27 January 2025

Ep 84 - Book Club Schedule for 2025

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 30 December 2024

Ep 83 - Reflecting on Reading the Great Books in 2024

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 29 December 2024

Ep 82 - Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Nietzsche)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2024

Ep 81 - The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 6 November 2024

Ep 80 - How to Read Poetry for Personal Growth

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 19 October 2024

Ep 79 - The Tragedy of Othello (Shakespeare)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 2 October 2024

Ep 78 - The Essays of Montaigne

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2024

Ep 77 - Tartuffe (Molière)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2024

Ep 76 - Hedda Gabler (Ibsen)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 2 July 2024

Ep 75 - King Lear (Shakespeare)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2024

Ep 74 - Faust (Goethe)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 3 May 2024

Ep 73 - The Prince (Machiavelli)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2024

Ep 72 - The Tragedy of Hamlet (Shakespeare)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 9 March 2024

Ep 71 - Book Club Schedule for 2024

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 24 December 2023

Ep 70 - Gothic Literature and the Rise of the Vampire

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 29 October 2023

Ep 69 - The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2023

Ep 68 - How to Start Writing Literature (Lessons from Great Writers)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 12 July 2023

Ep 67 - How to Create a Powerful Daily Reading Practice

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin Timestamps: 0:00 a powerful morning reading practice 2:00 on staying consistent with your habits 7:00 how I structure readings of scripture 8:00 my meditative reading of Moby Dick 9:00 reading imaginative literature scripturally 10:00 speed-reading vs subvocalisation 11:00 on rereading resonant passages 12:00 theatre of the mind & simple contemplation 13:00 imagination, empathy, applying the senses 14:00 threefold present & eternity in the text 16:00 mindfulness in our everyday lives 17:00 future as string of present moments 19:00 good material for the reading practice 20:00 from Aurelius to Rilke & Tolstoy 22:00 how the practice differs from reading 24:00 how Virginia Woolf read great literature 25:00 why I love reading difficult books 26:00 reading as conversation & act of love 27:00 the ease and joy of the daily practice 28:00 the four steps of my reading practice 32:00 practice walkthrough with Tolstoy 33:00 Tolstoy's Wisdom: Passage One 39:00 Tolstoy's Wisdom: Passage Two 45:00 Tolstoy's Wisdom: Passage Three 48:00 Tolstoy's Wisdom: Passage Four 52:00 Tolstoy's Wisdom: Passage Five 56:00 Tolstoy's Wisdom: Passage Six 59:00 let us know about your practice

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2023

Ep 66 - The Bookish Q&A Show (Coffee with Hardcore Literature)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin Timestamps: 0:00 expressing my gratitude for you 3:31 how to find meaning in our lives? 20:44 advice on keeping a commonplace book? 27:00 your thoughts on French Literature? 32:37 your favourite films and shows? 40:42 entry recommendations for big classics? 45:20 your process for making connections? 51:30 a master plan behind the syllabus? 53:15 can you riff on Tolstoy's sense of love? 58:35 how to love someone for who they are? 1:03:40 character names in Shakespeare? 1:06:05 three writers you would have coffee with? 1:07:48 what is your literary guilty pleasure? 1:09:00 what is the greatest decade ever for novels? 1:11:00 what podcasts do you enjoy listening to? 1:13:17 are you concerned about artificial intelligence? 1:19:30 a difficult dilemma: rereads or new reads? 1:22:10 what are your favourite Japanese works? 1:24:20 interest in a behind-the-scenes show 1:25:00 tell us more about Shakespeare's audience? 1:30:59 supposedly great books that are overrated? 1:33:16 how to deal with feelings of overwhelm? 1:39:10 do books appeal to different temperaments? 1:41:47 your elevator pitch for getting into literature? 1:46:55 what are the essential book club lectures? 1:52:30 recommendations for book club newcomers 1:53:00 talking about the questions for the next show

Transcribed - Published: 26 April 2023

Ep 65 - How to Possess Poetry by Memory

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2023

Ep 64 - How to Approach a Special Author Project

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 3 April 2023

Ep 63 - Reflecting on Life, Literature & Reading the Great Books

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 22 March 2023

Ep 62 - Prometheus Bound (Aeschylus)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 20 March 2023

Ep 61 - How Much Land Does A Man Need? (Tolstoy)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 25 February 2023

Ep 60 - The Tragedy of Macbeth (Shakespeare)

Dear Lovers of Great Literature — Thank you so much for listening to the show. If you would like more Shakespeare discussions, we have a library of lectures, guided readings, and bookish content at the Hardcore Literature Book Club at Patreon.com/HardcoreLiterature We are currently reading through the complete works of Shakespeare over the course of the year, and the discussion is incredibly rich and exciting.  In our back catalogue, we also have a deep dive lecture series into twelve specially curated masterpieces from William Shakespeare. This includes banquets of blood like Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, and sparkling comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing. In addition to Shakespeare, we have extensive lectures for writers like Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky,  Cervantes, Jane Austen, Cormac McCarthy, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, and many more. Across the course of 2023, we are journeying through War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, Orlando, The Count of Monte Cristo, Invisible Man, The Lord of the Rings, the short stories of Alice Munro, Jane Eyre, Paradise Lost, Gravity's Rainbow, and much more. You will be warmly welcomed to our little literary oasis! Happy reading, and have a lovely day. - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 22 February 2023

Ep 59 - The Book of Job (Reading the Bible as Great Literature)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 14 February 2023

Ep 58 - How to Make 2023 Your Greatest Reading Year (and Lessons from the Great Books)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2023

Ep 57 - The Best Beginnings in Great Literature

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 2 November 2022

Ep 56 - How to Read in Times of Need

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2022

Ep 55 - Shakespeare's Comedies

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 14 June 2022

Ep 54 - The Road (Cormac McCarthy)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2022

Ep 53 - The Crucible (Arthur Miller)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 27 March 2022

Ep 52 - Reflecting on the Great Books on my Birthday

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2022

Ep 51 - The Anxiety of Influence (Harold Bloom)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 22 February 2022

Ep 50 - Reading Goals for 2022

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 31 December 2021

Ep 49 - A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2021

Ep 48 - Book Club Schedule for 2022

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 22 December 2021

Ep 48 - Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 10 December 2021

Ep 47 - How the Great Books Saved My Life

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 8 November 2021

Ep 46 - How to Write a Book Review

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 1 November 2021

Ep 45 - How to Overcome the Challenges Facing Readers Today

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 15 October 2021

Ep 44 - Don Quixote (Cervantes)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 3 October 2021

Ep 43 - Self-Reliance (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 22 September 2021

Ep 42 - Siddharta (Hermann Hesse)

If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2021

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Benjamin McEvoy, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

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