Aug 18, 2026 · 1 hr 42 min · 14 segments
This week we're discussing "Possession" by AS Byatt. Topics of conversation include literary pastiche, the pleasures and perils of genre, and The Middlebrow. As always, we hope that you enjoy the…
[laughs] Yeah, so, uh, Ben, was this a book you were familiar with before I suggested doing it for the show?
Not at all.
Um, and I think the one that it reminded me the most of was Name of the Rose, which was interesting.
Hmm.
Interesting.
But I had not heard anything about it.
Really? I, I mean, had you heard of it at least?
No. I-
Oh.
Yeah, I hadn't heard about it at all.
Um, I was talking with friend of the pod, Chris.
Uh, Chris thought A.S. Byatt was a man.
[laughs]
So I don't think the people out there are reading A.S. Byatt.
So yeah, I had, I had not heard anything about it.
Interesting.
Interesting.
So this was a book that had been on my, like, to be read for a while, and when we were putting together the list of books for this, uh, season, you know, we were looking at stuff that maybe we could find a way to, like, dovetail a little bit with The Tunnel.
Uh, so I suggested this book given kind of...
I was familiar with it.
It'd actually been on my to be read for quite a while.
Hmm.
Oh, that is nice
... a few years ago and just had not, like, found the right time to pick it up.
[laughs] Yeah, so, uh, Ben, was this a book you were familiar with before I suggested doing it for the show?
Not at all.
Um, and I think the one that it reminded me the most of was Name of the Rose, which was interesting.
Hmm.
Interesting.
But I had not heard anything about it.
Really? I, I mean, had you heard of it at least?
No. I-
Oh.
Yeah, I hadn't heard about it at all.
Um, I was talking with friend of the pod, Chris.
Uh, Chris thought A.S. Byatt was a man.
[laughs]
So I don't think the people out there are reading A.S. Byatt.
So yeah, I had, I had not heard anything about it.
Interesting.
Interesting.
So this was a book that had been on my, like, to be read for a while, and when we were putting together the list of books for this, uh, season, you know, we were looking at stuff that maybe we could find a way to, like, dovetail a little bit with The Tunnel.
Uh, so I suggested this book given kind of...
I was familiar with it.
It'd actually been on my to be read for quite a while.
Hmm.
Oh, that is nice
... a few years ago and just had not, like, found the right time to pick it up.
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