Many of us have significant relationships with our grandparents, but is this reflected in literature? From Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Olive Kitteridge, which fictional grandparents have stayed with you? This month, we’re really excited to welcome the author Anuk Arudpragasam to talk about his second novel, A Passage North. It’s a beautiful, meditative book about a young man named Krishan, who must take a train from Colombo to Northern Sri Lanka to attend a funeral. His relationship with his grandmother is a central part of the story, so we’re dedicating this show to the elders of literature. We’ll be asking what grandparents symbolise in family dynamics, and wondering why there seem to be so few grandparents in contemporary literature, so put the kettle on, get comfy, and imagine we’re offering you a Werther’s original for the next hour of Literary Friction.
Recommendations on the theme, Grandparents:
Octavia: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Carrie: Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
General Recommendations:
Octavia: Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
Anuk: A Book of Memories by Peter Nadas
Carrie: Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
Find lists of all recommended books at: http://uk.bookshop.org/shop/litfriction.
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This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador
