HoP 456 - Touch Me With Your Madness - C...

The “Quietists” Jeanne Guyon and François Fénelon argue that self-love can be overcome by cultivating a “pure love” for God. Their reward: to be accused of heresy. 

How the “neo-classical” tragedies of Racine explore the battle between passion and reason. 

Molière’s famous comedies scandalize Paris and dramatize themes from French moralism, especially the danger of hypocrisy. 

Nowadays, "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha" has no shortage of accolades. You'll hear it called the first modern novel, one of the greatest works in the Spanish canon and so on -- and it's always been a blockbuster, even when the first part of the novel initially ... Show More

With its multiple narrators, superb and complex characterisation, the influence of Don Quixote de la Mancha has been acknowledged by great writers through the ages as a masterpiece, and hailed as one of the most important novels in the history of literature.On the surface the nov ... Show More

<p>Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read</p> <p>Edith Grossman's definitive English translation of the Spanish masterpiece, in an expanded P.S. edition</p> <p>Widely regarded as one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don ... Show More

Claire and I talk about the strange wonderful pleasure of this book, focusing on the first 250 pages. More Cervantes discussions to come! 

I chat with Megan and Maura about the first 3rd of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. We discuss why its opening sentence has become one of the most famous sentences in English, the pros and cons of presenting history through fiction, what makes Dickens' style so appealing, how the f ... Show More

Part stunning literary thriller, part gothic novel, the book The Shadow of the Wind is a page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead. It is a potent mix of a coming-of-age novel and a tragic love story set in Barcelona's po ... Show More

In this episode of The Classical Mind, Fr. Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johnson dive into Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, the first Gothic novel and a cornerstone of literary history. They examine its groundbreaking blend of medieval romance, supernatural terror, and fami ... Show More

How novelists working across popular genres like crime, horror and fantasy are overcoming literary snobbery to get their work the credit it deserves and broaden the definition of what makes truly great writing. South Korean horror writer Bora Chung, shortlisted for the 2022 Inter ... Show More