The Big Book Project

Steven Moore on "Last Time Around," William Gaddis & the Future of the Big Novel

https://substack.com/@thebigbookproject (Lori recorded this interview on a different device, and we apologize for the poor quality of her audio.) For five decades Steven Moore has been one of the most thoughtful champions of the kinds of novels we read at The Big Book Project — the abundant, stylistically ambitious works that reward slow attention. He is the foremost scholar on William Gaddis, the editor who worked alongside David Foster Wallace on Infinite Jest, author of a two-volume alternative history of the novel, and a former editor at Dalkey Archive Press. If your bookshelves are groaning under the weight of capacious fiction there is a very good chance that Steven Moore played some role in getting it out into the world. In this conversation Steven joins host Lori Feathers to discuss his new collection, Last Time "Around": Essays, Reviews, Interviews. They discuss why Gaddis turned toward the nineteenth-century Russians, what W. M. Spackman understood about style that most critics still miss, and why a sense of humor is closer to a sense of rebellion than to mere lightness. The conversation moves into the question of artistry, that elusive quality that separates literature from fiction, and Steven argues for the kind of close attention that asks why an author chose dusk rather than twilight — the choices that take a second reading to even notice. They discuss the small presses that have come to the rescue of literature, dwindling book coverage, and whether there is still an audience for the big, brainy, erudite novel of the kind that once changed Moore’s life. Toward the end Lori draws Steven into a round-robin, asking Steven to opine on novels by, among others, Lucy Ellmann, Susanna Clarke, Mervyn Peake, Joseph McElroy, Gertrude Stein, John Cowper Powys, and James Elkins. If you love long novels, dense novels, novels that ask something of you — subscribe to The Big Book Project on YouTube and follow along on Substack. Host Lori Feathers reads the abundant works of fiction with fellow bibliophiles, one extraordinary novel at a time.

The School of Night with Richard Bailey

https://substack.com/@thebigbookproject Watch the full episode on youtube:  As we continue reading The School of Night by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Richard Bailey joins me to talk about Part Two of the novel. Richard is my fellow bookseller at Interabang Books and simply, one of my favorite people to talk to about books, ideas, and the creative process. As we continue to try to understand who Kristian is, the direction and intent of his photography, and the influences on him of the mysterious Hans and the Faustus story, Richard and I discuss, debate, and challenge each other about Kristian’s character and the philosophical underpinnings of the novel. I hope that the discussion enhances your own reading of the novel.

News From the Empire with Ron Restrepo

The name Fernando Del Paso was new to me two and a half years ago when author, publisher, and Dalkey Archive Press alum Martin Riker introduced me to Palinuro of Mexico. What a revelation this late Mexican novelist! Here was an author who wrote wildly, exuberantly, and explored consciousness, memory, and the ineffable mysticism of the world in such a compelling way. It didn’t take me any time at all to go out and purchase a second-hand copy of his only other novel to be translated into English, News From the Empire, a thematically different novel than Palinuro, but with that signature, uncontainable writing style. It’s such a pleasure, then, to find a fellow fan of Del Paso, who, like me, wants to foist these novels on adventuresome readers in the US.  Ron Restrepo is one of the most intrepid readers I know, and I had fun talking to him about News From the Empire. We discuss that wonderful style, the novel’s polyvocal narration, and how Del Paso interrogates notions of empire and historiography. I hope that this conversation will persuade you to read this exuberant, funny, and tragic novel. Or if not, perhaps you will enjoy our discussion of the brief reign in Mexico of two European royals: Maximillan of Hapsburg Austria and his Belgian bride Charlotte, the daughter of King Leopold, I, and how Europe’s imperial ambitions in Latin America were debated, at times resisted, and other times poorly implemented, with the United States, France, Spain, and the Church in Rome each exercising its power in pursuit of conflicting interests. i

Reading The School of Night with Chad Post

https://substack.com/@thebigbookproject [https://substack.com/@thebigbookproject] Chad W. Post, publisher at Open Letter Books and translation studies instructor at the University of Rochester joins Lori Feathers on The Big Book Project to discuss the first 145 pages of Karl Ove Knausgåard's The School of Night. They explore Knausgaard's ouvre, the companion novels in his The School of Night constellation, as well as some of the author's autobiographical writing in the My Struggle series. Chad and Lori talk about Kristian's ambition and his art; the enigmatic Hans; and, how Kristian deflects all criticism about himself and his work. They dig into Knausgåard's distinctive style and the way his detailed explanations of Kristian's way of seeing and organizing his world is so difficult for other authors to imitate. Whether you are reading the novel along with us or simply want to hear what Chad has to say about Karl Ove Knausgaard's work, you will enjoy the discussion.

Chaos, Holy Fools & Don Quixote in Dostoevsky’s The Idiot with Prof. Michael Sexton

https://substack.com/@thebigbookproject Dostoevsky’s The Idiot is too much—too many characters, too many plot points, too much chaos—and that’s exactly what makes it extraordinary. In this episode of The Big Book Project, host Lori Feathers sits down with Professor Michael Sexton, a devoted reader now on his fourth reading of the novel, to dig into Part Two, Chapters VII through XII. They talk about the riotous scene where a motley crew of young nihilists storms in to demand money from Prince Myshkin—a scene so over-the-top that Michael confesses he skipped it on previous readings but now finds it devastatingly funny. Lori and Michael explore how Dostoevsky parodies nihilistic thought through these characters and why the women in the room are furious at this attempt to humiliate the Prince and call the scene a madhouse. They linger on one of the novel’s most complex characters, Lizaveta Prokofyevna, who Michael sees growing into a great comic creation of Dostoevsky across his readings—a woman who ridicules the dying Ippolit for making speeches and then pulls him to her bosom in a moment of devastating maternal tenderness. The conversation turns to a foundational question of the novel: is Prince Myshkin best understood through the figure of Don Quixote or through the tradition of the holy fool? Michael brings in Miguel de Unamuno’s Our Lord Don Quixote and Nabokov’s Lectures on Don Quixote; Lori pushes back, arguing the Prince’s interiority and complexity exceed what Cervantes gave us. They also discuss Nastasya Filippovna’s shadowy, sinister presence lurking in the background, the theme of doubleness and duplicity as both a motif and a structural principle in Dostoevsky, and Chapter VII—a seemingly throwaway exchange between the Prince and Lizaveta that both Lori and Michael argue is indispensable, written in the style and spirit of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome & Introduction to This Week’s Reading 01:14 Dostoevsky Is “Too Much”—And That’s the Point 05:14 The Nihilists Storm In: Comedy and Chaos 09:19 Lizaveta Prokofyevna: From Foolish Woman to Holy Fool 15:07 The Prince’s Friends React—Insult and Dignity 18:42 Chapter 12: Oscar Wilde Meets Dostoevsky 22:08 Nastasya Filippovna’s Sinister Shadow 25:58 Don Quixote, Christ, and Prince Myshkin 36:50 Dostoevsky’s Christianity, Russian Nationalism, and Harold Bloom 41:14 The Idiot as One Chapter of a Larger Novel 42:30 Doubles, Duplicity, and Keller’s Confession 45:43 Why Chapter 12 Is Indispensable Subscribe to The Big Book Project and join the group read of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot. New posts every Tuesday and Thursday on Substack. Follow along, leave your thoughts, and read along with Lori and the community.