If you're enjoying the Hardcore Literature Show, there are two ways you can show your support and ensure it continues: 1. Please leave a quick review on iTunes. 2. Join in the fun over at the Hardcore Literature Book Club: patreon.com/hardcoreliterature Thank you so much. Happy listening and reading! - Benjamin 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