The Book Club Q&A Show (Coffee: Episode XXIII) (Patreon)

Thank you all for your wonderful questions. They have, once again, resulted in a great bookish conversation for this episode of our Q&A Show.

Topics of discussion include: where to find meaning in our lives, differences between Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, how to remember what we read, commonplace books, how to identify true love, ChatGPT, Shakespeare’s audience, overrated literature, dealing with overwhelm, and much more.

As this was a long show, please feel free to jump to any topic/question you’re most interested in by using the timestamps below. You can also listen on iTunes and Spotify. 

We had so many amazing questions, so the ones we didn't get to this time will roll forward into our next show.

Audio Timestamps:

• 0:00 expressing my gratitude for you
• 3:31 how to find meaning in our lives?
• 20:44 advice on keeping a commonplace book?
• 27:00 your thoughts on French Literature?
• 32:37 your favourite films and shows?
• 40:42 entry recommendations for big classics?
• 45:20 your process for making connections?
• 51:30 a master plan behind the syllabus?
• 53:15 can you riff on Tolstoy’s sense of love?
• 58:35 how to love someone for who they are?
• 1:03:40 character names in Shakespeare?
• 1:06:05 three writers you would have coffee with?
• 1:07:48 what is your literary guilty pleasure?
• 1:09:00 what is the greatest decade ever for novels?
• 1:11:00 what podcasts do you enjoy listening to?
• 1:13:17 are you concerned about artificial intelligence?
• 1:19:30 a difficult dilemma: rereads or new reads?
• 1:22:10 what are your favourite Japanese works?
• 1:24:20 interest in a behind-the-scenes show
• 1:25:00 tell us more about Shakespeare’s audience?
• 1:30:59 supposedly great books that are overrated?
• 1:33:16 how to deal with feelings of overwhelm?
• 1:39:10 do books appeal to different temperaments?
• 1:41:47 your elevator pitch for getting into literature?
• 1:46:55 what are the essential book club lectures?
• 1:52:30 recommendations for book club newcomers
• 1:53:00 talking about the questions for the next show

Thank you all for your great questions, and let us know your thoughts on anything we discussed today.

• What films and television series do you love?
• What is your 'elevator pitch' for convincing others to read great literature?
• Would you rather: only be able to reread old books? Or only read new books?

And, as always, do let us know if you have any questions about reading great literature for our next Q&A show.

Happy reading, everybody!