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Reading Assignments for the Long Weekend (Patreon)

Published:
2021-05-28 15:23:09
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

We have a long sunny weekend to look forward to here in the UK, which makes a nice change from the wind and rain.

So I thought I would throw out some optional reading avenues you might want to explore in a relaxed fashion.

We have some short story and poetry reading assignments to coincide with forthcoming lectures. 

Video Timestamps: 

  • 0:00 reading assignments 
  • 1:20 your Big Read  
  • 2:00 short story reading assignment (1) 
  • 3:30 poetry reading assignment  
  • 6:10 short story reading assignment (2) 
  • 7:20 recommended short story collection 
  • 7:30 living/writing assignment

Books recommended in the video:

Book Club Updates:

The latest Persuasion lecture has been recorded and will be out soon. We've got a lecture on one of my all-time-favourite short stories ('Library of Babel') coming out over the next couple of days, and lectures on Blake and the Romantic Sublime on the horizon.

We also have our Shakespeare Live Reading Group this Sunday. Even if you can't make it, let us know what short story you would recommend for us all.

And there's a new hour-long podcast episode up over on the YouTube channel and available on iTunes and Spotify answering some of your wonderful bookish questions. I thought it was a really fun episode.

Thank you all so much for reading along.

Happy reading, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Reading Assignments for the Long Weekend

0:00 reading assignments 1:20 your Big Read 2:00 short story reading assignment (1) 3:30 poetry reading assignment 6:10 short story reading assignment (2) 7:20 recommended short story collection 7:30 living assignment

Comments

Sharon xx

Good job it's payday weekend and thank goodness for a short delivery window from Amazon Prime. Ahem! :)

Florian Pesantes

Thank you for your suggestions, Ben. I’ve just ordered Borges and Maupassant. Currently I’m switching between ‘Persuasion’ and ‘Zarathustra’ . The former is a rather pleasurable lecture. I’ve no problem with the topic and the style as it reminds me a lot of Fontane’s ‘Stechlin’ in its low pace and melancholy about a fading world. Also the witty and humorous psychographic portraits of the characters. So very loveable. Your video was a very fine introduction and company. Your videos are always worth a revisit, they are so full of information and wit, dense in content and thought provoking. Zarathustra needs quite a lot of concentration and reflection in its poignant allegorical way to teaching life. Very rewarding. I remember how liberating Nietzsche was for me when I was a young man. A breeze of fresh air, rather a gale. Today it’s a quieter experience. I’m better at understanding him. Also see more the humorous qualities. Had to struggle a bit with chapter 18, as the gender relations aren’t so terribly much a topic of my concern. But your podcast precisely on that chapter was very helpful. My relationship with the women I know is naturally rather relaxed, and the toxic feminism doesn’t bother me either. But my bestie, young heterosexual in the mating age is really suffering a lot by the restraints on even the most delicate and respectful flirting. So it helps to understand his despair better. The next project I really want to give a try is Proust. You instilled quite an appetite. And I shall try to get a translation of one of my friend Arthur’s poems into German language. A really good translation which captures the spirit, the sound, the meter, if possible the rhyme. I have no experience in that. If I fail I will at least have developed a deep understanding of the one chosen poem.

Michael Kwong

Hi Ben! I’m wondering would it be possible to have a pinned post for the general discussions so we could all see and discuss tgt! I have mentioned this earlier but it came back to me becoz I have just finished Siddhartha this morning and I want to share it with everyone here :) but I just don’t know which post should I share in! Anyway, always thanks for your amazing content. Happy reading ☺️

hardcoreliterature
>>60910954

Hi Michael! Thank you for this - you have directly inspired me to create a revolving general book chat post. A dedicated space for this kind of discussion has been on my mind for a while, but just needed to hash out the logistics of it. I think we have a solution for now, so you'll see a general discussion thread pop up very soon :) And nice one on finishing Siddharta!!

hardcoreliterature
>>60833284

Your current literary diet is impressive, Florian. Look at that line-up! Nietzsche, Austen, Borges, Maupassant, Proust. Regarding that part of Zarathustra, I can't say it's been much of a concern to myself either and find myself consistently more enamoured of the feminine energy than the masculine. I have been enjoying Arthur's poems immensely and would be thoroughly keen to see them rendered in German and many more languages too!

Fiona Wang

Hey Ben, listening to your persistent (but gentle) push towards reading short stories and poetry made me realize that this is one of the many elements that separates this book club from others. It delivers what it promises and more. The title (i.e., hardcore) is appropriately named. The addition of short stories and poetry makes this not only a highly-valued literary community but also a well-rounded one. Who knew there would be such a market for this niche?

hardcoreliterature
>>61252221

Hey Fiona! I'm so happy to hear that :) I've personally been enjoying the short stories the most, and am looking forward specifically to the Kawabata and Maupassant lectures. And what a wonderful testimonial this would be for the book club!! Thank you so much. I'm also pleasantly surprised there is a market for this niche - I never would have thought it, but there's an invisible (now visible) community of deep readers all over the world.

Shahbaz Ahmed

I always feel nervous expressing myself in English. Anyway my big or slow read for this year is Les Miserables. I also have been reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. It’s amazing how much you can learn about yourself just by keeping a journal. Have you read Orhan Pamuk? I have read a few chapters of his book Istanbul. I tend to fall asleep reading it and imagining Istanbul. It’s not because it’s boring. It just makes me want to go back to Istanbul. I’ve always avoided fiction because I always thought that I could not appreciate the intricacies and to be honest bit scared of it. Facts are easy to read plus I love reading about history and politics. But this year I want to learn to appreciate great literature.

hardcoreliterature
>>62011775

Your English is wonderful Shahbaz, and very elegantly written :) Very nice choice with Les Misérables - I am personally so excited to read this one collectively. You're so right about journalling. Journalling really helped me at the beginning of the year when some people close to me were ill. I haven't read Orhan Pamuk, I'm afraid, but I have wanted to for a long time - I shall pick up Istanbul :) Thank you so much for the recommendation. I had planned to live in Istanbul myself a few years back, but life took me in another direction - I would still love to visit, as it looks a beautiful city.

Daniel Kalb

I found it thought-provoking but not emotionally engaging. Kafka does a better job of exploring such themes in a way that gets under one's skin.