The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker - Book Review

10/28/22 • 24 min

In this spooky halloween episode we review “The Hellbound Heart”, a 1980’s horror novella by Clive Barker. Barker is a banned author/painter/playwright, who’s been described by Stephen King as “the future of horror”. The Hellbound Heart makes it plain to see why — rendering demons, killers, and the prospect of unending torture in a terrifyingly vivid light. When Frank, a suave hedonist - opens the cursed Lemarchand configuration, he’s transported to a world where one experiences pain to a point that they can no longer differentiate it from pleasure. But after Frank manages to escape back to earth, its up to a young girl named Kirsty to confront him and the demons he’s pursued by. Join us as we explore the further regions of experience in this novella, and discuss what elevates it above typical genre horror. Happy Halloween!
0:00 Intro
1:25 What the novel is actually about
4:35 Characters in the novel
8:00 Who is the most evil character in the novel?
10:30 Does the novel earn its violence?/The language of the novel
15:32 Can this novel have an impact on someone who doesn’t believe in hell?
19:40 Stephen King vs Clive Barker
21:45 Hellraiser movies compared to The Hellbound Heart
23:00 Outro

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Previous Episode

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert - Book Review

In this episode, we review “Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert. Published in 1856 - the novel was deemed a threat to morality and caused Flaubert to face charges in the French court - because of the searingly detailed account it gives of protagonist Emma Bovary’s romantic affairs. But the book is anything but romantic - widely considered to be the first ‘modern novel’- Madame Bovary ushered in a new era in fiction by handling its controversial subject matter with a camera like neutrality. The infrequent good, the overwhelmingly banal, and the repulsively ugly details of life are on full display here, - presented in a distanced ‘coolness’ that shaped the mold for modern fiction. Join us as we discuss one of the most influential banned books in history.
Links:
Atlantic Article on Flaubert:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1882/08/a-note-on-flaubert/633293/
James Woods - How Fiction Works
https://slate.com/culture/2008/07/james-wood-s-how-fiction-works.html
It’s Too Late to Apologize - Book Review on Madame Bovary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNZCSodyvQQ&ab_channel=It%27sTooLatetoApologize
A note on Flaubert
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1882/08/a-note-on-flaubert/633293/
0:00 Intro
3:10 About the Novel
7:10 Why it’s banned/style of writing
9:10 Who is Emma Bovary?
13:10 Gustave Flaubert’s Realism/ Style of Writing
22:10 More on realism/Best scenes
27:30 Message of the novel
31:50 Analysis of Emma Bovary
36:20 Charles Bovary / Leon & Rodolphe
43:00 Final Thoughts

Next Episode

The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq _ Atomised - BOOK REVIEW

In this episode, we discuss Atomised by Michel Houellebecq, who’s been called among other things — France’s greatest literary export, Enfant terrible, provocateur, and a jerk. The story follows half brothers Michel and Bruno, whose lives are sent on painful and seemingly dissimilar trajectories as consequence of their hippie mother’s neoliberal ideology. The book goes on to chart the evolution and spread of neoliberalism in western society, using the lives of Bruno and Michel to illustrate the conditions it creates for modern life — in which (Houellebecq argues) things like living and loving are rendered impossible. Doesn’t that sound fun!? Come join us and make up your own mind — Is Houellebecq onto something here? Or is he just a cranky incel?