Summer Reading with the Diehls
Husband and wife Adam and Whitney Diehl team up to discuss a classic work of literature each Summer. Season 1 covers William Faulkner’s 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!. Season 2 covers Flannery O’Connor’s 1965 short story collection Everything That Rises Must Converge. Season 3 covers Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1878 doorstop The Brothers Karamazov. Season 4 covers Virginia Woolf’s 1925 day-in-the-life novel Mrs. Dalloway.
Episodes
In this introductory episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, English teachers Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney discuss why they chose to begin the series with a discussion of William Faulkner's 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!, which overlaps with his classic 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury through the father-son-college roommate trio Jason Compson, Quentin Compson, and Shreve McCannon. They give a detailed overview of the...
In this first episode proper of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney discuss the first main character of William Faulkner's 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!: Rosa Coldfield. They analyze her place and purpose in the novel, her power as a narrator (and possibly as a heroine), and her predicament in regard to Thomas Sutpen (a.k.a. "demon"). Is she a persuasive voice in Quentin Compson's life?
In this second episode proper of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney discuss the man whom Faulkner called the protagonist of his 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!: Thomas Sutpen. They consider him as a name, as a person, and as a design. Does this novel give readers an accurate portrait of Thomas Sutpen?
In addition to Sutpen and his vision, they also cover a central word for the novel: innocence.
In this third episode proper of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney discuss the first dynamic duo of William Faulkner’s 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!: Charles Bon & Henry Sutpen. According to Adam, the two characters make up “a world-class bromance.” Why, then, would Henry shoot Charles at the front gates of Sutpen’s Hundred?
This episode also considers the novel’s sub-genre: Murder-Mystery...
In this fourth episode proper of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney discuss the second dynamic duo of William Faulkner’s 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!: Quentin Compson and Shreve McCannon. Are these two narrators merely LARPing the Civil War through Henry Sutpen and Charles Bon (respectively)? Or are they the True Detective(s) that will solve the mysteries of the Sutpen family?
This episode al...
In this fifth episode proper of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney discuss the original and final titles of William Faulkner’s 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!. What does an Old Testament story have to do with Thomas Sutpen & co.? How does the Civil War parallel the story of David, Absalom, Amnon, and Tamar? For a title so brief and mysterious, it is surprisingly fitting for the content (and de...
In this sixth episode proper of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney take a break from the content and themes of the novel and discuss the style of William Faulkner’s 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!. Do the words, sentences, and designs of this novel combine to make realistic, impressionistic, or abstract portraits of the characters? Would this story "hit different" if the prose was more straight-fo...
In this seventh (and final) episode proper of Summer Reading with the Diehls Season 1, Adam Diehl and his wife Whitney discuss the lasting value—and place in American literary history— of William Faulkner’s 1936 novel Absalom, Absalom!. Is this book in the running for the mythical Great American Novel? Why or why not? As Whitney said in the previous episode, Absalom, Absalom! is a “meditation on Time, Power, Survival”; this final p...
Married English teachers Adam and Whitney Diehl return with a new season, where they discuss why they picked Flannery O'Connor's short story collection EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE.
On this episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls, English teacher spouses Adam & Whitney Diehl discuss "The Comforts of Home" and the title story "Everything That Rises Must Converge" from Flannery O'Connor's second and final short story collection.
On this episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls, English teacher spouses Adam & Whitney Diehl discuss Flannery O'Connor's short stories "Greenleaf" and "The Enduring Chill" from her posthumous collection Everything That Rises Must Converge.
On this episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls, English teacher spouses Adam & Whitney Diehl discuss the short stories "A View of the Woods" and "Judgement Day" from Flannery O'Connor's magnificent collection Everything That Rises Must Converge.
On this episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls, English teacher spouses Adam & Whitney Diehl discuss the not-so-short story "The Lame Shall Enter First" from Flannery O'Connor's collection Everything That Rises Must Converge.
On this episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls, English teacher spouses Adam & Whitney Diehl discuss the unforgettable story "Parker's Back" from Flannery O'Connor's collection Everything That Rises Must Converge.
On this episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls, English teacher spouses Adam & Whitney Diehl discuss the humbling, hilarious, and beautiful story "Revelation" from Flannery O'Connor's collection Everything That Rises Must Converge.
On this Omega episode of Summer Reading with the Diehls, English teacher spouses Adam & Whitney Diehl discuss and reflect upon the captured lightning that is Flannery O'Connor's collection Everything That Rises Must Converge.
In the opening episode of Season 3, English teacher spouses Adam and Whitney Diehl discuss why (on Earth!) they chose Fyodor Dostoevsky's magnum opus, The Brothers Karamazov.
English teacher spouses Adam and Whitney Diehl discuss the opening pages of Fyodor Dostoevsky's magnum opus, The Brothers Karamazov. They also discuss the (quite) memorable narrator...aka the True Detective?
Married English Teachers Adam and Whitney Diehl discuss the two fathers of Fyodor Dostoevsky's magnum opus, The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov + Father Zosima!
English teacher spouses Adam and Whitney Diehl discuss the intellectual superman Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov from Fyodor Dostoevsky's magnum opus, The Brothers Karamazov. Picture unrelated!
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