Stumbled onto this. Easily the best Franzen interview I’ve heard and I’ve listened to many! Lol at “there was no conceivable professional advantage in me talking to you.” 😂
Just for finished the book and wanted to wait to listen to this. What a treat. Your questions and her answers were insightful and inspiring. I loved the novel. I hope the Booker committee has it on their radar! Thank you for this,
I do not think they went on with their lives as if nothing happened. I found the epilogue of the book quite sad and it’s because everyone lives are horrible. Actually Richard is the one who has the “happiest” ending of the four of them. Francis is set up in a marriage with a woman and he tired to k himself, Camilla it’s completely alone with her grandma and she even tells Richard if you could see the way I live now. And I mean Charles, his life is shit, he’s a drunk living in a dump washing dishes (not that this is bad, but compared to the life he used to have). Even Henry says in his dream that not even dead he’s happy. What I got from the end of the book, is that yeah, they got away with murder but they cannot live life as if nothing happens, they are all living their on hell on earth. Even Richard goes back to California the place he hates and he can’t get over freaking Camilla. They are all stuck in the past, with this horrible guilt and remorse, and completely alone! Because non one but them can understand what they went thru, but life is life, and like Richard said it would had been horrible to be stuck with them forever.
I had only listened to the first 5-7 minutes of this when it came out, but now I’ve finally read Blackouts, so I came back to listen to the whole thing. Thank you for doing this and having it here to discover when one needs it.
hey Jaylen!! so glad to see you back on the tubes, I've missed you on here and your smart way of talking about books. I would definitely love to hear more in depth about the work that you do everyday and how it was that you transitioned from being a lawyer (I think it was) to being in publishing. lots of love 💗
Your comeback episode should be a summer reading guide with you and CJ. You two have such natural chemistry and I've found some of my favourite books from your recap and 'most anticipated' episodes.
I just subscribed after the Shiela heti interview because I got the sense we might have similar reading taste-I just finished Death in Her Hands last week and thought “wow this might be my favorite book ever”, and to hear you say that in this video confirmed my hunch lol. Brb adding all of the titles you mentioned to my tbr! RU-vid is so hard to keep up with especially with a full time job, but I have to say I love the podcast and hope you keep it up in whatever way is sustainable for you!
I was so excited to see a video from you pop up! So happy to hear your updates. As for the pod, you could even put out one episode a year, and I'm listening haha would love to hear you & CJ talk about the Lauren Oyler take downs. Also, dare I dream of a Cusk episode...? Our queen. Looking forward to having you back on the tubes! :)
Omg king is back!!! So good to hear your thoughts again. We’ve missed you! JUST finished the new Cusk and still wrapping my brain around it 😵💫 Also big shout out to BInder’s recs! He’s the best!
If they are reopened by the time you go you should definitely go to Electric Sheep Book Bar in Prague! The Globe is also a nice boostore/cafe in Prague as well
ummmm you've gotten even hotter and we all notice it king! So glad you're still loving your job in the bookish world, you deserve it! Speaking for myself I would love for the book club to return, I looked forward to chatting with everyone in the club and loved hearing everyone's thoughts : )
He’s back, he’s back, he’s back backity BACK! So here for chatty and rambly. Love it. So chuffed for you when I saw the Guardian mention, so deserved. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said just do what you want when you want. I need to remind myself of that sometimes. Lovely to have a catch up!
Glad to see you're back! I get the anxiety around talking about books you've worked on - do what feels best for you, even if it's a biannual wrap-ups. Summer is the best season to visit Berlin imo: grab a book and a drink and head to a park or go to an open air cinema. Also lots of cool bookshops/bookcafes like Shakespeare & Sons, Saint George and She Said (for fem & queer books).
That was a very quick year! So happy that your job has worked out for you and that you love what you’re doing. Your job is a book lover’s dream! I can relate to overthinking and anxiety so yes you made complete sense ❤
He's back! Jaylen is on my screen raving and rambling and all is right with the world. Love it. I've really missed getting your thoughts and recommendations. So happy to have my main resource for hearing about new books back in my life. I have added all these to my TBR. You look great btw and I'm so glad to hear everything is going well with the job. Congrats on that again. So cool! I think 12 pod episodes per year (aka one a month lol) sounds manageable and sufficient to me but do whatever you think works best for you. I'll be grateful for whatever you decide. I'm just so stoked that you're posting again. Love you and your channel so much!
I love that you love your job! It honestly sounds so amazing. Always here whenever you post, but definitely understand you’ve got a lot going on. I’d love to hear about the books you’ve been working on!
Great to have you back. Take as much time as you need /feel.No point doing it if you are not enjoying it or are not finding purpose or direction.Glad you are doing well at work and loving your job
the stack of books you’ve worked on is so iconic 😭 i am here for any and all content from you!! your more structured content is great but i also love a chatty chill update like this. i can only imagine how difficult it would be to balance content creation with your job!!
i think i’m picking up parade next, i’ve seen some mixed thoughts on it but hearing you talk about it has me extra excited. the way you described the structure kind of reminds me of the man who saw everything by deborah levy, but that’s only 2 parts. cusk hive rise!
oooh i have practice on netgalley, can’t wait to get to it!! the guest lecture comparison !!!!! can’t thank you enough for putting that one on my radar
it is always such a joy to see a new jaylen vid in my subscription feed!! i’m so happy for you and all the work you’ve done at random house. truly living the dream!! for what it’s worth, i will take new videos or podcast episodes in whatever form they take and in whatever timeframe works for you (drop the no judgment drama reaction now, not even kidding lol). i hope you can take comfort in the fact that we watch your content because we love to hear what you have to say. like…you were mentioned in the guardian!! that is major!! you don’t have to overthink it, we’re just happy to hear your bookish opinions. 🫶🏻
What a wonderful update. No matter what the format, it’s always awesome to see a new Jayden video. 😊😊. I can’t agree more how much some type of regular physical activity is so good for us in many different way.
"I'd rather have the book change the way you experience the world than the book be a new world".. aghh and thats exactly what her books do for me <3 loved this.
I think these people need to go and read a dozen dark academia novels and THEN revisit The Secret History. Within the genre, it’s impeccable. The individual dialogue scenes are gorgeous and hilarious - Tartt’s humour is particularly underrated. She’s very funny.
