We cannot wait to dive into modern and postmodern classics, suspenseful short stories, and delightfully nerdy public scholarship with you this season. In addition to exciting new episodes on the main podcast feed, we’re thrilled to announce our most academic bonus content yet, exclusively available in our Classics Club community. Read on to learn which books we’ll be discussing on the show, along with descriptions and dates for our exclusive Patreon events. Whether you’re an avid listener, Patreon supporter, or casual newsletter subscriber, we hope you find something to interest you in our Fall 2023 season—and we are so glad you’re here.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
This anxious and suspenseful novel chronicles the story of a young woman whose life is changed when she meets a wealthy and handsome widower who proposes marriage and whisks her away to his estate. Easily attributed as an origin text for domestic thrillers and literary suspenses, Rebecca pushes back on literary tropes and plays with archetypes from classic texts like Jane Eyre, opening the door for many unreliable narrators to come.
Class: Literary History from Modernism to Postmodernism
Delve into literary and historical context for this season’s book selections with a class on Modernism (early 1900s-1940s) and Postmodernism (post WWII-1990s). We will cover major world events that shaped authors’ lives, key figures in the art and literature movements who championed new modes of expression, and distinct characteristics in theme, style, and structure from classic novels published in each time period. Rather than break Modernism and Postmodernism into separate classes, we will focus on the later part of Modernism and early part of Postmodernism in order to examine how literary movements shift and change before our eyes.
Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat
This story follows hazy, dreamlike recollections of a narrator who, with a fragile relationship to time and reality, seeks to paint a singular artistic scene. Suddenly, the reader finds him covered in blood and waiting for the police. In a tight 100 pages, the mystery unravels (or does it?) in a series of hallucinations, dreams, and strange scenes. Told in two parts, Blind Owl draws comparisons to Poe, Dostoyevsky, and Kafka.
Class: How to be a Literary Scholar
You might know that JSTOR offers a free account with access to 100 scholarly articles per month, but how should you use it to fortify your reading life? Sparknotes is an easy way to review summaries of your current classic read, but how can it be used for deeper understanding and comprehension? The internet may be full of resources for further reading, but which key terms yield the most trustworthy results for literary scholarship? We will answer all these questions and more in a guided tour through the tools, methods, and benefits of public scholarship.
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
One of Woolf’s most well-known and beloved novels, To the Lighthouse, follows the the Ramsay family and their excursions to the to the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Woolf often plays with time and structure in her narratives, weaving in and out of perspectives, flashbacks, and time jumps, and this iconic novel is no different.
Class: Deconstruction Theory
We will continue our series on literary lenses with a class on Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction theory. One of the more complex and tricky critical theories to navigate, deconstruction pairs exceedingly well with modern and postmodern literature.
We would love to see you in Classics Club this semester! Sign up for an annual membership and receive a 10% discount. As a reminder: August 31st is the last day to sign up at the $8 Literature Scholar level before we increase the tier to $10. If you missed all the details on our Patreon changes, catch up on this post—and if you’re looking for the perfect collection to complement your academic adventures with us, check out our list of school supplies for grown-ups.
Save these Dates
Sep 13 @ 7 pm ET Class: Literary History from Modernism to Postmodernism (Recorded)
Sep 27 @ 7 pm ET Book Club: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Oct 6 @ TBD State of the Podcast Meeting (Novel Pairings Producers Exclusive Event)
Oct 11 @ 7 pm ET Class: How to be a Literary Scholar (Recorded)
Oct 25 @ 7 pm ET Book Club: Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat
Nov 8 @ 7 pm ET Class: Deconstruction Theory (Recorded)
Nov 29 @ 7 pm ET Book Club: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
We’ll be back in your inbox—and podcast feeds—soon. Until then, we declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading. How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!
Thank you for supporting the podcast and our work to make public scholarship fun and accessible. If you would like to stay connected to what’s happening at Novel Pairings, make sure to subscribe to this Substack and follow us over on Instagram. Make sure you never miss an episode by subscribing to the show wherever you get your podcasts. And if you love the work we’re doing, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts!