Welcome to The Span, the single best culture newsletter Defector has ever offered. This week, we’ve got a look at a recently translated Brazilian novel, a review of the new Ben Lerner, an edible-tinged meditation on Monet, and an essay you can send to anyone considering watching the new Harry Potter series on HBO.
Plus, we have an insane development in our Middlemarch Madness bracket. We didn’t see this one coming!
Here are some cool blogs from Defector:
The Gentle Parenting Of Ben Lerner’s ‘Transcription’
The novelist returns with a slender and dreamy meditation on digital life.
Monet, Through The Iris
“As I got closer, I could almost smell warm dirt and growing things. I could feel the heat of the sun on my skin.”
It’s Time To Grow Up
What you feel in your heart towards the series is almost entirely irrelevant. What matters is what you do.
Here are some books we’ve been loving:
Repetition
Our childhood never really leaves us. In Repetition, Vigidis Hjorth whirls us through the constant hum of memories and the misery of adolescence.
Lives of the Saints
Sultry, hilarious, and digressive, this is the perfect book to read in an afternoon.
Middlemarch Madness: Our final is set!
In a truly stunning upset, the final of Middlemarch Madness, which begins today, will not include Middlemarch. One suspects that the exclusion of Middlemarch from the final of Middlemarch Madness must be the result of vote tampering from some nefarious Janeites, but our excellent voting experts (Sean) have found no evidence of fraud. The mind reels! Goodbye, Dorothea. Goodbye, evil Casaubon! We will miss you.
Instead, after two very close Final Four games, the final will come down to Persuasion against Moby-Dick. Their gameplay could not be more different. It’s Britain versus America; slender volume versus hefty tome; woman versus man; love versus whale. But which will be crowned the best novel of the 19th century?
Only you can decide! Vote for the final winner here! Crown the Middlemarch Madness champion!
