For today’s new episode of Selected Novels, we talked to filmmaker and novelist Eliza Barry Callahan about Fleur Jaeggy’s Sweet Days of Discipline. This novella, translated from the Italian by Tim Parks, is a “precious text,” Eliza says, and one she’s read more than any other novel. We discuss what has drawn her over and over again to this glacial tale of one year at an elite Swiss boarding school, and what makes Jaeggy a master stylist—the result, Eliza suggests, of her almost shocking ability to be “gestural and pointillist at once.” We also try to figure out whether Eliza sold Zach his first Robert Walser book a decade ago.
Click here to listen to the episode, available on all major streaming platforms, and subscribe to keep up with new episodes each month.
One additional programming note: the podcast is now hosted on our Substack. Alongside Apple Podcasts and Spotify, you can now find the full archive of Selected Novels and Selected Essays (as well as a few other one-off episodes) here.
Have questions, comments or essay suggestions for us? Send an email to selectednovels@thepointmag.com—we’d love to hear from you.
Since it was founded in 2009, The Point has remained faithful to the Socratic idea that philosophy is not just a rarefied activity for scholars and academics but an ongoing conversation that helps us all live more examined lives. We rely on reader support to continue publishing.
