Weekly Readings #199 (11/24/25-11/30/25)
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Pale Fire
12 min read
The article extensively discusses Nabokov's experimental novel, including its verbal and structural genius, moral encryption, and questions of nihilism - understanding the novel's unique structure as a 999-line poem with unreliable commentary provides essential context
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Edward Said
15 min read
The article quotes Said's provocative claim that 'we Arabs have no unconscious' and discusses his complex relationship with psychoanalysis, imperialism, and cultural criticism - understanding Said's intellectual biography illuminates these tensions
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Hamlet
13 min read
The article concludes with 'Planet Hamlet' and references 'that within which passeth show' multiple times, using Shakespeare's play as the central metaphor for reflexive consciousness and the 'invention of the human'
A weekly newsletter on what I’ve written, read, and otherwise enjoyed.
Do you have a friend, loved one, colleague, pet, or other associate who longs to disappear into an immersive and absorbing novel, a novel that offers a fresh perspective on contemporary culture along with a panoply of fascinating characters, rich symbolism, and eloquent prose, one that’ll have readers pondering long after they’ve turned the final page? If so, then you might consider giving the gift of my new book, Major Arcana, this holiday season. You can find out about the novel and order it in all formats (print, ebook, audio) here; you can also find it in print wherever books are sold online.1 You can buy it directly from Belt Publishing, too—we receive more of a profit that way—or you might also suggest that your local library or independent bookstore acquire a copy. Please also leave a Goodreads, Amazon, or other rating and review. Thanks to all my readers!
Then there’s The Invisible College, my literature podcast for paid subscribers. This week I released “A Game of Worlds,” a comprehensive episode on Nabokov’s experimental novel Pale Fire. In the episode, I discuss my admiration for Nabokov’s verbal and structural genius, as well as the moral passion he may encrypt in his complex fiction, while also registering my qualms about this chessmaster’s intellectual gamesmanship; I even consider the neglected possibility of total ethical and epistemological nihilism in his work, including Lolita. Next week: we explore the mystery of language in Don DeLillo’s first unambiguously major novel, The Names. Of The Invisible College in general, the great Henry Begler says,
both the books I love in these lectures and the books I didn’t love have been equally fruitful, and you should go throw John eight bucks a month if you aren’t already doing so.
A paid subscription to Grand Hotel Abyss buys you access to The Invisible College’s ever-expanding archive, with almost 90 two- to three-hour episodes on subjects from Homer to Joyce, and from ancient to contemporary literature. (A paid subscription might also make a good present for the reader in your life in this most magnanimous season.) Thanks to all my current and future paid subscribers!
Finally, my appearance (alongside other luminaries of this very platform2) in the distinguished academic journal3 Literary Imagination continues to attract
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.