"In such a crisis as this, some women begin to hate."

Let's go baby, things are getting steamy. Rich isn't sure if he's turned on or terrified by Dorothea, Cam can't figure out whether he'd take blood money, and Ben is torn about whether marrying a psychopath is worth it if she's a hottie.

The middle section of this 800-page whopper is a tournament of injured pride. Casaubon exits early, Will (stupidly?) can't take or give a hint, Rosamund becomes Lydgate's worst nightmare, and Fred ... somehow fumbles his way back into credibility??

Question of the ep: Is Mary Garth a stand in for George Eliot who, as it happens, was described by Henry James as "magnificently ugly, deliciously hideous."

Listener mail: a non-native English speaker writes in to say Cam's sentences are hard to follow. Cam accepts the feedback with unusual grace.

Full transcript for this episode (and every episode) is available at doyouevenlit.com, where you can filter and search by key ideas, authors, etc.

(00:00:00) fiction as thought experiment (or: anti-thought experiment?) (00:07:44) Dorothea's arc: the crisis of rejection (00:18:00) Will Ladislaw in the vicinity (00:26:23) Bulstrode's pawnbroker past revealed (00:30:51) would you take the blood money? (00:37:40) Featherstone's will surprise — enter Rigg (00:44:45) Fred finds his feet with Caleb Garth (00:47:56) Farebrother's impossible magnanimity (00:51:36) is Mary Garth a George Eliot stand-in? (00:55:03) Lydgate and Rosamund: the marriage goes off a cliff (00:59:40) the sexual politics of Lydgate's mistake (01:06:05) listener mail: Cam gets roasted

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Next up

- Finish Middlemarch

- ???

For our big summer read we're cracking into Middlemarch, the 1871 doorstopper written by Mary Ann Evans under her pen name George Eliot.

This chat covers the first 30 chapters. Not a whole lot has happened so far but it's a very cosy read.

On Eliot and Tolstoy: which way does the influence go? How does this compare with our beloved Anna Karenina?

Worst honeymoon ever: did we buy Dorothea and Casaubon as a couple? how were age-gap relationships treated in ye olden days? Did they even bone? And if girls like Dorothea exist in real life, where might we find them today?

Lydgate and Rosamond: who he will vote for as chaplain at the new hospital? Tyke or Farebrother? The stakes are higher than they might first appear.

Fred and the Garths: a charming failson coasting on a rich uncle's dangled inheritance. We debate whether every heir ought to be lightly humiliated before they're allowed to inherit.

Plus, from the listener mailbag: have the boys ever read a book by a black person?

Full transcript for this episode (and every episode) is available at doyouevenlit.com, where you can filter and search by key ideas, authors, etc.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00:00) the guardian's #1 novel, aka English Anna Karenina (00:10:40) Dorothea as wish-fulfilment fantasy for sperges (00:20:08) Elliot's language: the civilised art of the subtextual dagger (00:29:50) worst honeymoon ever (00:34:06) Casaubon is a little too much like us (00:41:48) Lydgate the ambitious outsider (00:58:39) TYKE VS FAREBROTHER!!!! hold onto your seats (00:58:39) Fred the affable failson (01:16:29) Listener mail: on the merits of assigning authors by race

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NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

- The rest of Middlemarch ???

Raymond Carver's Cathedral might be one of the most simple and beloved American short stories, but Benny is determined to overthink it anyway.

On meta-deception: before we dive in, Benny obsesses over “meta-deception” and feels betrayed by magicians.

On jealousy: is it OK for your wife to write intimate poetry about another man tenderly stroking her face? Also, what does it take to be a good host?

Moment of transcendence: what is the narrator transformed by drawing the cathedral, or is this just an over-interpreted moment in American fiction? We talk about sincerity, empathy, and seeing other people.

Full transcript for this episode at doyouevenlit.com enriched with links, ideas, authors, etc.

CHAPTERS:

(00:00:07) benny mad at magicians using magic (00:04:55) carver’s plain writing (00:07:19) poetry not the first thing we pick up (00:07:48) tribulations of being a good host (00:12:46) getting reality from tv (00:17:12) boundaries on friend zones (00:20:41) dining in the dark (00:26:42) winding down for the night (00:28:24) describing cathedrals (00:35:23) on gaining empathy (00:38:02) what we get from cathedrals (00:41:17) on still being a good host (00:44:54) benny still not getting it (00:49:20) next book announcement

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