Episode 3 – Jerusalem: The Boroughs (Part 2)
Intro – We try and figure out the best way to approach reading this book.
Chapter 4: X Marks the Spot (skip to 4:40) – Brother Peter, a 6th century monk has traveled from the holy land after the crusades, carrying a heavy burden to deliver to “the center of his land.”
Chapter 5: Modern Times (skip to 23: 20) – An actor who goes by the names Francis Drake, Oatsey, or Charles Jr. has a smoke while waiting outside the theatre and encounters some Northampton locals in 1908.
Chapter 6: Blind, but Now I See (skip to 35:45) – Henry, or “Black Charley”, has a bike ride, and learns some disturbing information about his favorite song.
Chapter 7: Atlantis (skip to 50:35) – Benedict Perrit is a published poet! Since the wife and kids left him he lives with his mom and mostly worries about his next drink and what’s gone wrong with his life more than getting actual work. On a night in 2006 he wanders the boroughs and encounters some characters we’ve met before.
Welcome to The Hashish and Superiority Book Club, a podcast where we hope to tackle the large and weighty tomes of great (or not so great) fiction we find pertinent to the modern world – heretofore to be referred to as Hell World. Each season of the podcast will tackle either one large work or one author, dissecting what makes them lasting and important to the modern hellscape.
We are Kickers of Elves (kickersofelves.com, @kickerspodcasts), a group of podcasting thirtysomething sad bastards consisting of Wade Bowen (@bogmad), James Nolen (@jamesnolen), and Hugh Crawford (@hughbotcrawford).
For Season 1, we have decided to read the entire 600,000 word, 1300pg doorstop by Alan Moore named Jerusalem (2016).
Publisher Blurb:
Begging comparisons to Tolstoy and Joyce, this “magnificent, sprawling cosmic epic” (Guardian) by Alan Moore—the genre-defying, “groundbreaking, hairy genius of our generation” (NPR)—takes its place among the most notable works of contemporary English literature. In decaying Northampton, eternity loiters between housing projects. Among saints, kings, prostitutes, and derelicts, a timeline unravels: second-century fiends wait in urine-scented stairwells, delinquent specters undermine a century with tunnels, and in upstairs parlors, laborers with golden blood reduce fate to a snooker tournament. Through the labyrinthine streets and pages of Jerusalem tread ghosts singing hymns of wealth and poverty. They celebrate the English language, challenge mortality post-Einstein, and insist upon their slum as Blake’s eternal holy city in “Moore’s apotheosis, a fourth-dimensional symphony” (Entertainment Weekly). This “brilliant . . . monumentally ambitious” tale from the gutter is “a massive literary achievement for our time—and maybe for all times simultaneously” (Washington Post).
Some links to purchase the book:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BX7S1M2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (We hate these robber barons, especially Jeff Bezos. Don’t use Amazon if you can help it, but we are huge hypocrites for James and Hugh both recommend reading the book on Kindle.)
Powell’s https://www.powells.com/book/-9781631494727
If you like this podcast, we hope you check out our other ongoing podcasts covering every single episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (The Rules of Acquisition – {link?}) and our highly critical struggle session with Star Trek: Discovery (A Discovery Home Companion {link}).
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