http://www.thecasualacademic.com Wed, 06 Dec 2023 21:07:00 +0000 Wed, 06 Dec 2023 21:07:00 +0000 60 en All rights reserved feeds@soundcloud.com (SoundCloud Feeds) In-depth literary discussion without the pretence. Just good books. Based out of Madrid, Spain, we compress big ideas and in-depth discussion of literature into a digestible, entertaining format. A Literary Podcast As I Lay Reading yes https://i1.sndcdn.com/avatars-000349587764-ji6bf6-original.jpg http://www.thecasualacademic.com books,literature,modernism,casual,academic,book,discussion,literary,critique,madrid,bibliophile,bookworm,reading,bookish,reads,culture,society,universityLiterature podcast based in Madrid, Spain. We provide in-depth literary discussion without the pretence. Consulting secondary literature and unafraid to tackle great works and their ideas, we compress in-depth discussion of literature into a digestible format that won't cost you $60,000 and soul-crushing debt.thecasualacademic@gmail.comAs I Lay Reading tag:soundcloud,2010:tracks/657635039 Tue, 17 Sep 2019 19:50:54 +0000 https://soundcloud.com/thecasualacademic/faces-in-the-crowd-mixdown2 00:43:58 As I Lay Reading yes Episode 36 features Valeria Luiselli's "Faces in the Crowd," a novella we loved and can't recommend enough. Our discussion includes a bit of her non-fiction, especially her essay "Relingos," as well as various interviews in which she shares her approach to writing and structure. Luiselli allows shifts in point of view and temporality to intermingle and eventually blend together in a story of a writer writing of her days obsessing over a poet in New York City. The novella is both dark and funny, and subtly deals with the way in which our pasts integrate and thus disintegrate our presents, and how identities shapeshift when lost in foreign lands and art. Episode 36 concludes our miniseries on Mexican authors, but rest assured it shall be continued! Let us know what you thought of the episode and the novella via social media, or email us at thecasualacademic@gmail.com. Stay casual, Alex & Jake Episode 36 features Valeria Luiselli's "Faces in … Episode 36 features Valeria Luiselli's "Faces in the Crowd," a novella we loved and can't recommend enough. Our discussion includes a bit of her non-fiction, especially her essay "Relingos," as well as various interviews in which she shares her approach to writing and structure. Luiselli allows shifts in point of view and temporality to intermingle and eventually blend together in a story of a writer writing of her days obsessing over a poet in New York City. The novella is both dark and funny, and subtly deals with the way in which our pasts integrate and thus disintegrate our presents, and how identities shapeshift when lost in foreign lands and art. Episode 36 concludes our miniseries on Mexican authors, but rest assured it shall be continued! Let us know what you thought of the episode and the novella via social media, or email us at thecasualacademic@gmail.com. Stay casual, Alex & Jake thecasualacademic@gmail.com (As I Lay Reading)books,literature,modernism,casual,academic,book,discussion,literary,critique,madrid,bibliophile,bookworm,reading,bookish,reads,culture,society,university tag:soundcloud,2010:tracks/671210870 Fri, 06 Sep 2019 17:35:43 +0000 https://soundcloud.com/thecasualacademic/artemio-cruz-epi-mixdown 00:51:12 As I Lay Reading yes Rising out of the depths of a busy summer and unreliable internet, we're back to finally put out a miniseries on Mexican literature that's been long in the making. We hope you all have had a wonderful past couple months, and that you've been able to read a few good books. Speaking of good books, Episode 35 on Carlos Fuentes' "The Death of Artemio Cruz" is a discussion on Mexican identity via the writings on Fuentes and Octavio Paz; the good, the bad and the ugly of modernist formal experimentation, and a rehashing of how History as told by the victors is challenged in Latin American fiction. Fuente's novel is a modernist retelling of Mexican history through the life of a revolutionary turned robber baron. As always, we hope you enjoy the episode and be sure to let us know what you think about our discussion via whatever internet superhighway medium you deem your favorite. Thanks for listening and stay casual, Alex & Jake Music credits: "Laid Back Guitars" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Rising out of the depths of a busy summer and unr… Rising out of the depths of a busy summer and unreliable internet, we're back to finally put out a miniseries on Mexican literature that's been long in the making. We hope you all have had a wonderful past couple months, and that you've been able to read a few good books. Speaking of good books, Episode 35 on Carlos Fuentes' "The Death of Artemio Cruz" is a discussion on Mexican identity via the writings on Fuentes and Octavio Paz; the good, the bad and the ugly of modernist formal experimentation, and a rehashing of how History as told by the victors is challenged in Latin American fiction. Fuente's novel is a modernist retelling of Mexican history through the life of a revolutionary turned robber baron. As always, we hope you enjoy the episode and be sure to let us know what you think about our discussion via whatever internet superhighway medium you deem your favorite. Thanks for listening and stay casual, Alex & Jake Music credits: "Laid Back Guitars" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ thecasualacademic@gmail.com (As I Lay Reading)books,literature,modernism,casual,academic,book,discussion,literary,critique,madrid,bibliophile,bookworm,reading,bookish,reads,culture,society,university tag:soundcloud,2010:tracks/594971130 Tue, 26 Mar 2019 21:35:58 +0000 https://soundcloud.com/thecasualacademic/epi-34-patrick-l-fermors-the-violins-of-saint-jacques 00:47:00 As I Lay Reading yes After several editing and technical hiccups, we're happy to present episode 34 on beloved travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor and his only novel. A soldier who led the resistance in Crete during WWII, a spy posing as a shepherd who captured a German general, an insatiable traveler (lest we forget heartthrob), Fermor was a jack-of-all-trades whose travel writing is known the world over. His novel "The Violins of Saint-Jacques," however, presents a West Indies that both gilds and destroys a European presence that reflects, perhaps, more the devastation caused by WWII than decolonization. Check out our discussion on art and context, WWII and British Literature, and the work travel writing does in the wake of quickly disappearing cultures. Happy Listening Alex & Jake Music credits for this episode: "Lost Frontier" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ "Magic Forest" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ After several editing and technical hiccups, we'r… After several editing and technical hiccups, we're happy to present episode 34 on beloved travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor and his only novel. A soldier who led the resistance in Crete during WWII, a spy posing as a shepherd who captured a German general, an insatiable traveler (lest we forget heartthrob), Fermor was a jack-of-all-trades whose travel writing is known the world over. His novel "The Violins of Saint-Jacques," however, presents a West Indies that both gilds and destroys a European presence that reflects, perhaps, more the devastation caused by WWII than decolonization. Check out our discussion on art and context, WWII and British Literature, and the work travel writing does in the wake of quickly disappearing cultures. Happy Listening Alex & Jake Music credits for this episode: "Lost Frontier" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ "Magic Forest" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ thecasualacademic@gmail.com (As I Lay Reading)books,literature,modernism,casual,academic,book,discussion,literary,critique,madrid,bibliophile,bookworm,reading,bookish,reads,culture,society,university