logo
episode-header-image
May 2022
58m 56s

404 Kafka and Literary Oblivion (with Ro...

Jacke Wilson / The Podglomerate
About this episode

Author Robin Hemley joins Jacke for a discussion of Kafka, writerly ambition, and his new novel Oblivion: An After Autobiography, which tells the story of a midlist author who finds himself in the posthumous world where authors fade from obscurity into the world of Oblivion...unless they can manage to write their way out.

Additional listening suggestions:

Music Credits:

⁠Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba⁠” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the ⁠Free Music Archive⁠ / ⁠CC by SA⁠).

Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Jul 7
714 The Real Charles Dickens (with Stephen Browning and Simon Thomas) | Dickens and the Theatre
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) led one of the most colorful and interesting lives of any author. But while many of us are familiar with his unforgettable characters and fantastically successful novels, we often don't know the details of his difficult early life, his success as a rep ... Show More
1h 25m
Today
715 How Did George Eliot and the Victorians Respond to Climate Collapse? (with Nathan Hensley) | People at Museums Are Losing Their Brains! | My Last Book with Stephen Browning and Simon Thomas
What does feel like to live helplessly in a world that is coming undone? If you're alive in 2025, you are probably very familiar with this feeling - and if you'd been alive in the age of Victorian literature, you might have felt that way too. In this episode, Jacke talks to autho ... Show More
1h 12m
Jul 3
713 The Odyssey (with Daniel Mendelsohn) | The History of Literature Podcast Tour!
Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest surviving works of literature - and yet, somehow, it can also feel like one of the newest. The inventive narrative structure, complex hero, and surprisingly modern themes still feel fresh, thousands of years after the poem's genesis. In this e ... Show More
1h 34m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2022
Before the Law by Franz Kafka
Here is a story for those times when you only have a few minutes for a story. While not long itself, this incredibly Kafkaesque parable may leave you pondering its meaning long after you have listened to "Before the Law."Bohemian author Franz Kafka is considered one of the greats ... Show More
6m 51s
Jul 2022
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka ~ Full Audiobook
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka audiobook. Immerse yourself in the hauntingly surreal world of Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis,' a mesmerizing tale that plunges you into the life of Gregor Samsa, a humble traveling salesman who awakens one fateful morning to discover he has tra ... Show More
2h 39m
May 2024
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis - The Cook, Servant Girl, Lodgers, And Charwoman - Sadler's Lectures
This lecture discusses key ideas from the work of the 20th century novelist and short story writer, Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis" This lecture discusses the responses and attitudes towards Gregor on the part of different minor characters in the short story, namely the cook and ... Show More
15m 3s
Jun 2024
Orwell vs. Kafka: The Man Who Disappeared - Episode 1
Franz Kafka’s dark comic fantasy about an innocent’s misadventures in early 20th century America.After a mysterious family scandal, the young immigrant Karl Rossman is expelled from his Bohemian home and dispatched to America by his parents. Adrift in this strange new world, Karl ... Show More
57m 42s
May 2024
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis - Modes Of Alienation In The Narrative
This lecture discusses key ideas from the work of the 20th century novelist and short story writer, Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis" This lecture discusses different modes of alienation or estrangement within the story, largely but not solely concerning the character Gregor Samsa ... Show More
18m 28s
Nov 2023
Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick - Philip K. Dick Short Stories
The slovenly wub might well have said: Many men talk like philosophers and live like fools. Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.  Another 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, ... Show More
23m 21s
May 2024
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis - Gregor's Sister Grete - Sadler's Lectures
This lecture discusses key ideas from the work of the 20th century novelist and short story writer, Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis" This lecture discusses the character Grete, who is Gregor's younger sister. At the beginning of the story, she is a teenager with minimal responsib ... Show More
13m 45s
May 2024
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis - Gregor Samsa's Transformation - Sadler's Lectures
This lecture discusses key ideas from the work of the 20th century novelist and short story writer, Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis" This lecture discusses the transformation or metamorphosis (Verwandlung) that Gregor Samsa experiences at the very beginning of the story, but also ... Show More
19m 10s
May 2024
The Monsters by Robert Sheckley - Short Sci Fi Story From the 1950s
Cordovir and Hum encounter a mysterious metallic object balancing on fire! As they debate its origins, a chilling realization sets in: what lurks inside could challenge everything they know about morality and truth. The Monsters by Robert Sheckley, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi ... Show More
28 m
May 2024
Allan's Wife and other Tales by H. Rider Haggard ~ Full Audiobook
Allan's Wife and other Tales by H. Rider Haggard audiobook. In 1885, H. Rider Haggard introduced Allan Quatermain, elephant hunter extraordinaire, in his best-selling African adventure novel 'King Solomon's Mines'. Haggard went on to publish twelve Quatermain novels and several n ... Show More
8h 11m