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Listening to this conversation, I realized yet again that one of the things I liked best about the novel is the winding way it reveals itself. I like stories that unspool slowly and then suddenly start to come together in that way. I think one of the things that kept me going, for example, was wondering if we were ever going to hear about Jeevan again. I liked wondering why Arthur's life is relevant. I can't quite put my finger on why I felt certain it would all come together, but this was not a novel I was ever tempted to give up on. Maybe it is because of the Shakespeare.

I'm currently reading A Tale of Two Cities and that's another novel that takes a long time to show how everything is connected.

Also I totally didn't notice the thing about August's violin. I guess I'm not that close a reader.

One thing I hope you eventually talk about is why so many of the characters in the Symphony don't get names other than tuba, sixth guitar, flute, viola, seventh guitar, etc. Or whether there is any significance of Miranda being named after the character in the Tempest.

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founding
9 hrs ago·edited 8 hrs ago

Mmk guys, it’s KIRsten 🤪 Otherwise, Sean, I’m with you 100 percent - I also needed this therapy session in the double-whammy of WSIKR? that is this book and Mansfield Park. At least with MP I already trust Austen (though she’s got me wondering a bit)! I enjoyed the comparison in regard to Plot, Stakes, and Characters. It doesn’t help that I’m halfway through a reread of The Great Divorce and keep hoping every chapter that one dang ghost will listen to the spirit attending them! My reading is amplifying the liminality in parts of my life right now and it’s killin me 😂

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Thank you for this podcast! I loved hearing a more critical review of the book and Sean’s perspective helped me have some words to what I felt while reading the book. Personally, I didn’t enjoy the book which is exceedingly rare from a close reads list! But hearing the conversation I’m learning so much on how to “close read”. As Heidi says, this is why we read in community! Thanks so much!

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I am so interested in these conversations! I recently finished Station 11 and was captivated by the storytelling but also felt like it was missing something. I felt similarly after reading Sea of Tranquility last year. But, like Heidi, these books haunt me which makes me think there is something deeper there.

Also, are you guys going to chat about the TV show? It is so different. We aren't finished yet, but I would love to hear you guys talk about it!

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About the moral center. This might sound harsh, but I have read all six of her novels, and I really like them all, but I am not sure that Mandel has a moral center.

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