Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

How To Read More Books (Video)

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If you want to know how to read more books, I give you 15 tips in this video. Some unconventional tips, battle-won from years spent carving out deep reading habits. I hope you enjoy it. How To Read More Books Secret Book Recommendations: Beginner Intermediate Advanced Free Audible Credits: Audible Free Trial Mentioned in the […]

The Silence of the Lambs Podcast

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Kicking off Season Two of the Hardcore Literature Podcast with a good one: Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs. Let me know how you like the new opening intro music. The Silence of the Lambs Podcast: Hardcore Literature S2 E1 We’re talking about: 0:34: “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice […]

Reading Shakespeare Chronologically: The Journey Begins (Video)

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I’ll be vlogging my journey reading Shakespeare chronologically in a year. There will be meta-commentary videos like this one along the way: There will also be long lectures, deep dives into each play, mini-documentaries, attempts to break specific scenes and language and characters and themes apart. I also have a secret project in store for […]

How to Put the Ghosts of Your Past to Rest

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The painting is called ‘Ghosts in a Tree’. The artist is Franz Sedlacek. The year 1933. The movement New Objectivity, a relative of Magical Realism.  Twenty-two skull-headed figures, in bedraggled dress, perched on branches overlooking the misty morn. What do you do when you see this painting? When you stand and confront it with an […]

Saturday Morning Reading Recommendations

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Here’s what’s on my bedside table this Saturday morning. Links to books, articles, blogs, and videos below. Books: Walden by Henry David Thoreau: Was Thoreau autistic? Read his essay in this wonderful collection ‘On Reading’ and tell me what you think. It’s been hypothesised before. Something to think about. On an unrelated note, Thoreau is […]

The Poetry of Reddit: Vol. 1 (Video)

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One of my favourite pastimes is being an absolute snob. I like to scroll through the poetry subreddit, r/Poetry, and lightly shit-talk the criticisms and selections. So why not turn the camera on for that? The Poetry of Reddit: Vol. 1 This tentative first episode contains poems by: Bukowski Shakespeare D. H. Lawrence Mako Iwamatsu […]

Boycott Academics

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When you set out to read Shakespeare chronologically, you run into a few problems. First, and most obvious, no one can agree on the correct chronology for Shakespeare.  Did he write the cycle of Henry VI plays first? Or did he write The Taming of the Shrew? Or, should we say, The Taming of A Shrew? […]

How to Read Shakespeare in a Year (Video)

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I’ve talked about how to read the complete works of Shakespeare in a year. But I’ve recently decided to read everything Shakespeare wrote in chronological order and document my journey in video form, kicking off with this introductory video here: I’ve decided on reading Shakespeare chronologically because I want to know Shakespeare the man, the […]