Who’s afraid of realism?

‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ by Leo Tolstoy

In the late 1870s, shortly after the publication of Anna Karenina, Tolstoy experienced what might be described today as a midlife crisis. In his short autobiographical book ‘A Confession’, finished in 1880, he questioned what meaning there is in life that is not annihilated by the inevitability of death. His answer was to live according to God’s law, a realisation that shaped that rest of his life and writing, and guides the story of his late masterpiece, ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ (1886). To discuss ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich‘ and its place both in Tolstoy’s work and the development of realism, James is joined by the novelist Elif Batuman. They consider the way Tolstoy takes up Flaubert’s contempt for bourgeois life and strips it down to a spare fable of delusion and awakening, and why the unique authority of his style has proved so resistant to the critiques of realism in the 20th century. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from the episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrwaor [https://lrb.me/applecrwaor] Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor [https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor] Read more in the LRB: Michael Wood on War and Peace: ⁠https://lrb.me/realismep501⁠ James Meek on the death of Tolstoy: ⁠https://lrb.me/realismep502⁠ John Bayley on Tolstoy's diaries: ⁠https://lrb.me/realismep503⁠

Three stories by Anton Chekhov

‘Instead of sheets – dirty tablecloths.’ The notebooks of Anton Chekhov are full of enigmatic observations such as this, the unexplained details that suggest a whole scene, short story or character. When asked by an actor how he should play the role of Trigorin in The Seagull, Chekhov simply answered: ‘he wears checked trousers’. As James Wood argues, this mastery of the telling detail is central to Chekhov’s radical realism. Unlike Flaubert and Ibsen, Chekhov sought to avoid imposing authorial meaning or irony, instead handing over perception to his characters. In this episode, James looks at three of Chekhov’s stories, ‘Gusev’ (1890), ‘The Bishop’ (1902) and ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’ (1899), and the ways in which each seeks to curb the judgment or expectations of the reader to foreground the experiences of his characters, even beyond death. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from the episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrwaor [https://lrb.me/applecrwaor] Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor [https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor] Further reading in the LRB: John Bayley on Chekhov's stories: https://lrb.me/realismep401 [https://lrb.me/realismep401] Donald Rayfield on Chekhov's love letters: https://lrb.me/realismep402 [https://lrb.me/realismep402] Joseph Frank on Chekhov's life: https://lrb.me/realismep403 [https://lrb.me/realismep403] James Wood on Chekhov's life: https://lrb.me/realismep404 [https://lrb.me/realismep404]

‘Notes from Underground’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky’s 1864 novella doesn’t contain the descriptive detail, impersonal narration or many other features of 19th-century realism established by Flaubert. The book’s two-part structure, which starts with a 40-year-old’s furious rant against rationalism and moves on to present three humiliating episodes from his earlier life, offers no kind of conclusion. Instead, it is the unbearable moments of psychological truth that make ‘Notes from Underground’ a revolutionary development in the history of realism. In this episode, James Wood is joined by the novelist and critic Adam Thirlwell to consider Dostoevsky’s mastery of the inner life and the experiences that shaped his hostility to rational egoism, from being subjected to a mock execution and four years in a Siberian prison camp to his reading of Hegel and a visit to London’s Crystal Palace. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from the episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrwaor [https://lrb.me/applecrwaor] Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor [https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor] Read more in the LRB on Dostoevsky: John Bayley: https://lrb.me/realismep301 [https://lrb.me/realismep301] Daniel Soar: https://lrb.me/realismep302 [https://lrb.me/realismep302] Michael Wood: https://lrb.me/realismep303 [https://lrb.me/realismep303]

‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert (part two)

‘He opened him up and found nothing.’ These are the doctor’s findings at Charles Bovary’s autopsy near the end of 'Madame Bovary'. Taken on its own, it’s a simple medical observation. In the context of Emma Bovary’s tragic story, it serves as a condemnation not just of Charles’s emptiness but the whole provincial world Flaubert has been describing. In the second part of his analysis of ‘Madame Bovary’, James Wood considers the major episodes leading to Emma’s death and argues that what made Flaubert’s realism dangerous was not its depictions of infidelity, but its use of cliché to expose French bourgeois lives constructed entirely of received ideas and second-hand emotions. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from the episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrwaor [https://lrb.me/applecrwaor] Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor [https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor] Further reading in the LRB: Julian Barnes on translations of ‘Madame Bovary’: ⁠https://lrb.me/realismep201⁠ [%E2%80%98He%20opened%20him%20up%20and%20found%20nothing.%E2%80%99%20These%20are%20the%20doctor%E2%80%99s%20findings%20at%20Charles%20Bovary%E2%80%99s%20autopsy%20near%20the%20end%20of%20'Madame%20Bovary'.%20Taken%20on%20its%20own,%20it%E2%80%99s%20a%20simple%20medical%20observation.%20In%20the%20context%20of%20Emma%20Bovary%E2%80%99s%20tragic%20story,%20it%20serves%20as%20a%20condemnation%20not%20just%20of%20Charles%E2%80%99s%20emptiness%20but%20the%20whole%20provincial%20world%20Flaubert%20has%20been%20describing.%20In%20the%20second%20part%20of%20his%20analysis%20of%20%E2%80%98Madame%20Bovary%E2%80%99,%20James%20Wood%20considers%20the%20major%20episodes%20leading%20to%20Emma%E2%80%99s%20death%20and%20argues%20that%20what%20made%20Flaubert%E2%80%99s%20realism%20dangerous%20was%20not%20its%20depictions%20of%20infidelity,%20but%20its%20use%20of%20clich%C3%A9%20to%20expose%20French%20bourgeois%20lives%20constructed%20entirely%20of%20received%20ideas%20and%20second-hand%20emotions.%20Further%20reading%20in%20the%20LRB:%20Julian%20Barnes%20on%20translations%20of%20%E2%80%98Madame%20Bovary%E2%80%99:%20%E2%81%A0https://lrb.me/realismep201%E2%81%A0%20Michael%20Wood%20on%20%E2%80%98Sentimental%20Education%E2%80%99:%20%E2%81%A0https://lrb.me/realismep202%E2%81%A0] Michael Wood on ‘Sentimental Education’: ⁠https://lrb.me/realismep202⁠ [https://lrb.me/realismep202%E2%81%A0]

‘Madame Bovary’ by Gustave Flaubert (part one)

Gustave Flaubert recalled in a letter that the critic Sainte-Beuve compared his style to a surgeon’s scalpel, an image taken from 'Madame Bovary'. This was not a compliment: Sainte-Beuve was anxious about the ambition of Flaubert’s ‘realism’ to cut to the bone of its characters and society at large. Karl Marx, on the other hand, praised realist writers who ‘issued to the world more political and social truths than have been uttered by all the professional politicians, publicists, and moralists put together’. In the first episode of his new series, James Wood considers the fears and criticisms that have dogged realism from its emergence in the 19th century through its long history of transformations up to the present day. He examines the ways in which Flaubert used detail (both significant and significantly insignificant), impersonal narration, lifelike dialogue and free indirect style to create realism’s essential grammar. This is part one of James’s analysis of 'Madame Bovary', going up to the moment that Emma meets Rodolphe Boulanger. He uses Geoffrey Wall's translation, published by Penguin Classics. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from the episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrwaor [https://lrb.me/applecrwaor] Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor [https://lrb.me/closereadingswaor] Read more in the LRB: Julian Barnes: Flaubert at Two Hundred https://lrb.me/realismep101 [Gustave%20Flaubert%20recalled%20in%20a%20letter%20that%20the%20critic%20Sainte-Beuve%20compared%20his%20style%20to%20a%20surgeon%E2%80%99s%20scalpel,%20an%20image%20taken%20from%20'Madame%20Bovary'.%20This%20was%20not%20a%20compliment:%20Sainte-Beuve%20was%20anxious%20about%20the%20ambition%20of%20Flaubert%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%98realism%E2%80%99%20to%20cut%20to%20the%20bone%20of%20its%20characters%20and%20society%20at%20large.%20Karl%20Marx,%20on%20the%20other%20hand,%20praised%20realist%20writers%20who%20%E2%80%98issued%20to%20the%20world%20more%20political%20and%20social%20truths%20than%20have%20been%20uttered%20by%20all%20the%20professional%20politicians,%20publicists,%20and%20moralists%20put%20together%E2%80%99.%20%20In%20the%20first%20episode%20of%20his%20new%20series,%20James%20Wood%20considers%20the%20fears%20and%20criticisms%20that%20have%20dogged%20realism%20from%20its%20emergence%20in%20the%2019th%20century%20through%20its%20long%20history%20of%20transformations%20up%20to%20the%20present%20day.%20He%20examines%20the%20ways%20in%20which%20Flaubert%20used%20detail%20(both%20significant%20and%20significantly%20insignificant),%20impersonal%20narration,%20lifelike%20dialogue%20and%20free%20indirect%20style%20to%20create%20realism%E2%80%99s%20essential%20grammar.%20%20This%20is%20part%20one%20of%20James%E2%80%99s%20analysis%20of%20'Madame%20Bovary',%20going%20up%20to%20the%20moment%20that%20Emma%20meets%20Rodolphe%20Boulanger.%20He%20uses%20Geoffrey%20Wall's%20translation,%20published%20by%20Penguin%20Classics.%20%20Read%20more%20in%20the%20LRB:%20%20Julian%20Barnes:%20Flaubert%20at%20Two%20Hundred%20https://lrb.me/realismep101%20%20Two%20Letters%20from%20Flaubert%20to%20Colet:%20https://lrb.me/realismep102%20%20Tim%20Parks%20on%20Flaubert's%20life:%20https://lrb.me/realismep103] Two Letters from Flaubert to Colet: https://lrb.me/realismep102 [https://lrb.me/realismep102] Tim Parks on Flaubert's life: https://lrb.me/realismep103 [https://lrb.me/realismep103]