London Review Bookshop Podcast

In what may well be the largest work of public art in history, Turner prize-winner Mark Wallinger placed a uniquely designed labyrinth in each of London's 270 Underground stations. The project was commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of London Underground. His extraordinary art-work is documented in Labyrinth: A Journey Through London’s Underground, published by Art / Books in association with Art on the Underground and with contributions from Christian Wolmar, Marina Warner and Will Self. Mark Wallinger came to the Bookshop to talk about the project with Will Self. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vasily Grossman, now widely regarded as the greatest Russian novelist of the 20th century, died 50 years ago this month. The author of the remarkable Everything Flows and Life and Fate (the only manuscript ever to be itself arrested by the Soviet authorities), Grossman was a crucial witness to the multiple horrors of the period. He did not live to see his greatest books published. This was a unique evening of readings and discussion: Robert Chandler, Grossman’s finest translator, reported back from the first Grossman conference in Russia; historian Antony Beevor and journalist John Lloyd provided commentary; and Janet Suzman gave a reading of extracts and stories. The panel went on to discuss Grossman’s extraordinary achievement and his legacy both in Russia and internationally, in a conversation chaired by Gareth Evans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Meek came to the bookshop to talk about his new book, Private Island (Verso), a scathing assessment of the last two decades’ privatisation of public assets, ranging from electricity to postal services to municipal housing. What has been lost? Who has benefited? And what’s been the impact on Britain’s wider polity? In the words of John Lanchester, ‘some of it will make you sad, some of it will make you furious, but you are guaranteed to be left feeling that you understand this country much better.’ James Meek was in conversation with journalist Dawn Foster. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Self’s latest novel Shark explores the hidden history of the late 20th century, taking in the American invasion of Cambodia, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and reckless experimentation with psychotropic drugs. Self joined us at the Bookshop to read from Shark and take on questions from the audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karl Ove Knausgaard’s six autobiographical novels, published in Norway between 2009 and 2011 under the series title *Min Kamp* (‘My Struggle’) have excited controversy and critical acclaim in equal measure. Knausgaard’s unflinching and almost uncritical laying on of detail has led some critics to call him ‘the Norwegian Proust’. ‘There is something ceaselessly compelling about Knausgaard’s book’, wrote James Wood in the *New Yorker*. ‘Even when I was bored, I was interested.’ Karl Ove Knausgaard was joined by Andrew O'Hagan at Saint George's Church, Bloomsbury for a discussion of writing and the boundaries of autobiography. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ali Smith has been described by Kate Atkinson as ‘one of the few contemporary writers ploughing a genuinely modernist furrow.’ Her latest novel *how to be both* continues her almost reckless experimentation with form and content, adapting the artistic techniques of fresco painting to literature in telling a dual-time tale of art, love, injustice and redemption. Ali came to the Bookshop to give a reading from her novel, and went on to discuss it with Alex Clark of the *Guardian*. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Who has the temerity to call themselves a philosopher? The word “philosopher" is an honorific. It should be bestowed upon you by others.' Lars Iyer’s latest novel Wittgenstein Jr (Melville House) concerns the academic career of a group of Cambridge philosophy students, deeply under the influence of their teacher, whom they have nicknamed ‘Wittgenstein’. ‘Wittgenstein’s’ austere, exacting philosophy provides a tragicomic counterpoint to the chemical excesses of student life as the novel moves towards an unexpectedly hopeful and touching conclusion. Lars Iyer joined us at the Bookshop to read from his work, and to discuss it with the philosopher and Wittgenstein biographer Ray Monk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lydia Davis, an accomplished writer known for her unique body of work, made a rare London appearance at the Bookshop. She discussed titles, translation, and small thoughts with Adam Thirlwell. They explored the power of brevity in writing and the influence of translation on her writing. They also discussed the relationship between attention and story length, and the challenges and pleasures of translation.

Helen Macdonald and Tim Dee came to the Bookshop to talk about birds, and about writing about birds. Radio producer Tim Dee propelled himself into the front rank of British nature writing in 2009 with his remarkable birdwatching memoir The Running Sky, followed in 2013 by Four Fields. Helen Macdonald, writer, poet, naturalist, conservationist, historian and some-time falconer, has recently published H is for Hawk which recounts how, under the literary tutelage of T.H. White and in part as a strategy for overcoming personal grief, she acquired and trained a goshawk of her own. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the world commemorates the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War historian Douglas Newton recounts the hidden history of Britain’s decision to enter the conflict. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, including the private papers and correspondence of leading politicians of the time, Newton pays particular attention to the widespread and vehement opposition to the war, both inside parliament and in the country at large, and reveals how Asquith, Edward Grey and Winston Churchill colluded, against the wishes and instincts of many of their parliamentary colleagues, to bring the country into the war, by any means necessary. Douglas Newton was in conversation with Christopher Clark, author of The Sleepwalkers, on 4 August, the hundredth anniversary of Britain's declaration of war on Germany. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.