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Audition by Katie Kitamura | Review | Booker Prize 2025 · Bookies' Favourite

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Hi, welcome. To the club bookies favorite
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book club. We discuss award-winning authors
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and nominated novels. This episode we'll be discussing
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Audition by Katie Kitamura, the first on our Booker shortlist.
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Read along. Hi, I'm Colin.
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I'm our resident writer and I'm currently living 2 separate
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realities right now. Yeah, I read this book audition
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in the paperback very, very quickly.
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In fact, I thought it was a very, very quick read.
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Very, very interesting read. Arguably I preferred Part 1 to
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Part 2, but I think we're probably going to talk about
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this a bit later. And I kind of like the direction
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Part 1 was going more than the way direction the direction of
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Part 2 in. But.
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I still liked it overall. Hi, I'm Lucy and I'm just going
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to be a Danish pastry for the rest of this.
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Just the Danish pastry. Just the Danish pastry, that was
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my second time reading it. And so for, because I knew the
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style of it and the way it was kind of split up, I was like,
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after this second read of it, I'm going to read alternate
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chapters from so if so, Part 1, I read chapter 1 and then I went
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to Part 2 and read the first chapter of that one.
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And then I went back to Part 1 and read the second chapter of
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it. And then I went, so I went
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alternate parts every time I read a chapter because I was
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like, I would like to have it fresh in my head, like what's
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happening in each part and how they're kind of connected.
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Don't know that it gave me any more insight at all as to what
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was happening because I kind of felt at the start I was like,
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I'm going to be able to find like similarities and maybe a
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clever person could have made that made some distinctions
1:56
there, but but not me. But I really enjoyed it.
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I think it's it's my like I've made him secret of it.
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I think it's my favorite of the shortlist.
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And so I'm excited to hear what you guys think of it.
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And I actually do agree with Colin there.
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I think I prefer the first part. I like the first part better.
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Hi everyone. I'm Hannah and I'm always going
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to be in the line in the coffee shop waiting for my coconut
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cappuccino every day I've read this book, oh, forever ago.
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But then I for the first time ever have read it on or listen
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to it sorry on audio book and I really enjoyed it.
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When the first time I read this book I was a bit like what if I
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just read second time around. I actually appreciate the novel
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for way more than I anticipated. But I'm excited to dive in and
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see what everyone else thought. I'm Aaron, our resident
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broadcast journalist, and I am in the audience for The Opposite
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Side. Or was it Rivers?
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I read this book over a couple of days.
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I thought it was fine, honestly. The twist is vaguely
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interesting, but I don't know if there's any actual meaning
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behind it. At least I can't understand it.
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And I was kind of disappointed with this book.
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If this is the most interesting of the six, I think I'm going to
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be very sorely disappointed by the rest of them.
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Spoiler warning from this point onwards if you haven't read the
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book yet and you're planning to come back to this discussion
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after you've done so. Let's start with a quote from
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Audition. There are always two stories
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taking place at once, the narrative inside the play and
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the narrative around it, and the boundary between the two is more
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porous than you might think. That is both the danger and the
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excitement of the performance. There are two parts to this
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book. They both have the same
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characters, and they both have the same setting, and a lot of
4:01
the same things are happening in each part.
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However, in the first part, the unnamed narrator is approached
4:08
by a young man and this man believes that he is her son.
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It's not the case however, and how their relationship develops
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through that part, it kind of. We're not sure what's happening
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in the second part. It is all the same characters,
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but it is as if he actually is her son and has been her son
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through her whole life. It's not like it's not like a
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continuation of the the first part.
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Our bookie of the week is Bob the Bookarer on YouTube.
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Hello, I'm Bob from Bob the Bookarer, and Talking about
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Audition by Katie Kidmura is an interesting challenge of a task
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because this is a book that in many ways defies easy
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definition. At the beginning of the book, we
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meet an unnamed narrator who is sat in a cafe waiting for
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somebody to arrive. He arrives, they have a
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conversation, and she becomes nervous because she sees that
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her partner has also walked into the cafe.
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And all of that spirals off into what then becomes a really wild
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novel. And the first half of this novel
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is all about the conversation between her and this young man
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who is convinced that he is her son.
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The book then shifts into a second part.
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And the second part seems to have a slightly different
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timeline of events where some things are different and some
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things are the same. And this all starts to set up
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this idea that maybe one of these is the truth and maybe 1
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is a lie, or maybe both of the truth, or maybe both are lies.
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And that is linked to the idea of audition in the title, that
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maybe one of these is a play that is written by one of the
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characters. Maybe one of these is the truth,
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maybe neither of them are. And I think that is what's so
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captivating about this novel is that it is a novel that very
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clearly wants to not be understood.
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It is pushing back against that quite strongly throughout the
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novel, and that's what I think is so interesting and so special
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about it. I like that.
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I think that's interesting because I, I know what he means
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when he says the stuff about is it a, is it a play written by
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one of the characters and that kind of thing.
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And that is something that kind of unfurls near the end of the
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last part. And but that's something that I
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kind of was like, I think you can almost with this kind of
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novel, take the bits you like and take them and run with them.
6:29
Because I don't, I didn't like that explanation of it.
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So I did not take that and I did not run with it.
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But I can understand how he's he's done that.
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I like the idea that like he's described in that the book is
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open to many different interpretations.
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So like you said, you can pick and choose bits of it and kind
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of see it for one thing versus the other.
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It almost feels like the, the book is like 2 possible plots
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that, you know, you're kind of jumping between, like I said
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obviously earlier, like split, split realities, and that's kind
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of what's going on here. But I think The thing is, it
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doesn't really, I think what like why Aaron was talking about
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A twist is because the book doesn't really set itself up to
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be this kind of story. And it does kind of come out of
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nowhere. It's not necessarily A twist,
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but it's just you're not expecting them to completely
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shift the direction of, you know, where the story's going.
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And I think the way it was going at the beginning with her like
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this, this man appearing in her life and trying to like, you
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know, convince her. And anyway, he wasn't being like
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weird about. He wasn't forcing himself into
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her life. It was like quite interesting
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because I was like, where this, where is this going to go?
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And then the second part, it felt like it began to like
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spiral in a way that I can't help but feel like a lot of
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modern contemporary fiction does that sort of spiraling of
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someone's mental, mental state. I mean, I'm not saying I didn't
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like that, but I think more interesting it was seeing the
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character dynamics in the first part and the second part became
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a bit more fantastical and less even realistic.
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Because even the plays that she performs in a very like grounded
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or the plays that are mentioned, they're very grounded and
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realistic, like grounded in reality.
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And the second part is like starts like that.
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And then the less last maybe 50 pages, it begins to like spin,
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spin out. Just something on what Bob had
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said about it being Part 1 and Part 2 being two different
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realities. I didn't get that interpretation
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at all. To me it's all the same reality.
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The only difference the between the two is the name of the play.
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I understand that her husband was like playing along in the
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second part, but then they revealed that that they had been
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playing along. Sorry, no, no, your version of
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events, this is really no, this is really interesting.
8:52
You could be right. Listen to him.
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I I have what what do you mean? The only difference is the name
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of the play. So.
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For my other differences, oh, can you tell me the other
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differences? I saw it from the fact that that
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Thomas and Xavier, aside from the fact that both of them were
9:17
playing along with the fact that that he was a member of their
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family, but they eventually dropped that act.
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Why? OK.
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So this is really. Interesting.
9:28
This is really interesting. So I read, I read a short story.
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I actually think I know what you're talking about, Aaron,
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because I read this short story not that long ago.
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And I think it really affected how I saw this book when I
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started reading it because So this short story, I can't, if
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anybody, I don't remember what book it was from or who wrote
9:47
it. So if anybody in the listening
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knows what it is, let me know. But basically it was kind of
9:52
like set in like, I don't know, a future kind of time where this
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girl to get money pretends like it's just like very big people
10:00
can hire actors and they pretend to be a family member.
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So she pretends to be this family's daughter and she like,
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gets this role of like, and it's almost like an auditioning kind
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of thing. And in the end, it turns out
10:12
that this, this man who'd hired her, the she thought she'd been
10:17
hired by both of them, like the parents, but she actually, the
10:20
man had hired a wife, found a child, and it kind of spiraled.
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And then she started not real. Like nobody believed that she
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was a person outside. Of this.
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You know, and it really, really reminded me of this.
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So I get what you mean when you say like, I felt as well when
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when, when the second part happens, it's like it's like
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Xavier playing this role and he's completely like, because he
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doesn't know where things are in the kitchen.
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And she says of the things where it's like, he doesn't know
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what's happening. And then he's like, oh, I read.
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And like, there's so many things there where you're like, this
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doesn't feel like he's actually their kid.
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And it doesn't feel like she remembers things that have
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happened. And like, it's so This is why I
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think it's so interesting. It's such an interesting book.
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It's like, I can totally understand why you're reading it
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like this, but I thought I read that like that because of that
11:10
short story, but it's interesting that you've read the
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same kind of thing. See, yeah, I can see where
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you're coming from, but I think the thing that you're maybe
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thinking about is they because the first part is like this and
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then the second part changes. They never don't say like you're
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the do you know, they're they that is the reality.
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Like they are like we're only bringing that knowledge because
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we know in the first part that's not the case.
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So we're questioning her and when she's questioning it, is it
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her splitting the veal almost? Is she like, you know,
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transcending back and forth between these in a way that she
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doesn't realize? I don't know, maybe it's not as
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sci-fi or fantastical as that, but I think like they they he
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genuinely is her son in the second part.
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Yeah, I because for me, the first half, in the second-half,
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I know this is like simplistic in a way, but it's like in a
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way, like some people shouldn't be mothers in a way.
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Because like the I think that's the idea of like some people
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think the idea of motherhood is something that they really want,
12:12
but in reality they struggle to be a parent because that's why
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this like for me, the whole separation of like, and now that
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you've said it, I'm thinking about it in a whole different
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way. But that separation of the child
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comes back to the home and it's not, you don't know how to
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interact, you know, with that. Like I can see that.
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Like I've known so many people and their families and their
12:35
weird interactions and that, but I automatically imagine that
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like I'd never even thought of like the idea of playing it like
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as a role. That's so cool.
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Like, I didn't even think about that.
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Well, can I just read you a quote that made me think that it
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was so obvious that this was all an act performed by Xavier and
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Tomas. So the the quote here is on page
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186, and this is where everything gets to a head and
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all of this wacky stuff is happening.
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So our narrator says when I spoke, it was with all the
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finality I did not feel. I spoke as if the words were an
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incantation of sorts. I said it's over.
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And although neither Xavier nor Tomas moved, instantly the space
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had transformed so that we were no longer a family standing in a
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room. A family with problems with
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dramas and resentments and everything else, but still a
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family. And instead 3 distinct people
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atomized, standing in a room suddenly devoid of meaning.
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And it then goes on to talk about how like Xavier is then
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like, OK, I guess I'm going to go like, this was fun.
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And I was like, why were they playing roles?
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Why was Tomas in on this where they just did?
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Was she having a delusion and they just played long?
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I I the part that I don't get is why Tomas played long.
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Well, I got the feeling right. OK, that so I have that quote
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underlined. I really love that bit.
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I think it's really good. And this just shows how I'm iron
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and me are becoming the same person and say I really felt
14:19
like they impose. No, I think it goes in between
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because I think it's like I don't think there's like a firm.
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This is what's actually happening.
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I think a lot of things are happening at once, but I think
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that's something that I really got.
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And this is what you're kind of saying.
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Aaron is like the fact I think they're all playing a role.
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And at times it's like she's almost, I don't have any like
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specific quotes, but it's like she's almost like looking at
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them going, they're not playing this role, right?
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Like she's like second guessing what they're going to.
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And she's like, but he wouldn't do that.
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That's not how he behaves or that's almost, he's given her a
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look and there's so much into like facial movements and like
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how people are performing and there's so much stuff about
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roles. I, I almost saw especially that
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second part as all three of them.
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It's not like I think it's turned into a play because I
15:04
don't think that's true. But I feel like they are all
15:08
really performing and it's about the performance and it's like
15:11
she's she's not on page with what how they're performing.
15:17
Yeah, but I think the the difference is that in in that
15:20
she it's because we're seeing it from her point of view.
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Like it's it's the first person she is the one who is clearly,
15:27
you know, going off the rails here.
15:28
Like she is seeing this in the second part is like what she is
15:32
imagining, like she knows acting, she knows this where
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she's trying to make sense of her own world through this veil
15:38
of of performance. Like I think it's her trying to
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grapple with what's going on. And I don't think she's well,
15:44
like, I think that's kind of the main thing here.
15:46
She is spinning out in some way and it's gradual and but like, I
15:52
mean, by the end, she is like kind of lost herself, completely
15:55
lost grasp of reality. I think that the kind of point
15:58
that I got from the book was the direction our lives can take
16:02
depending on, you know, what what happens to us and these
16:05
different things. And the first one, like you can
16:08
assume, like, you know, things are nicer in a way.
16:11
And the second one, it's like, maybe if she had had this child,
16:14
would this have led to this sort of, you know, spinning out?
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It's almost like the the two the two paths you choose.
16:20
Can I just ask? I'm still so confused as to how
16:24
everyone thought that this is 2 parallel stories.
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I think I think the phrase yours the the code you like read.
16:33
I can understand that from your point of view, but I think from
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my view, she is saying we're three individuals because this
16:40
family that we had, this dynamic is gone.
16:43
Like it's, it's eroded. It's not that it's, it's
16:45
realistic. It's not like it was a
16:47
performance there performing. It's like the family is gone.
16:50
You know that dynamic. Yes, well, but OK, what I mean
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is there's so much evidence to me that the only difference
17:00
between Part 1 and Part 2 was a time jump and the, and the name
17:04
change of the play and the fact that.
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So, OK, for me, what happened during between Part 1 and Part 2
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is that our narrator had told everyone that this was her son.
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As far as everyone else was concerned, maybe she did have
17:27
that previous baby that she had given up.
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Xavier was just going to believe that because that's the theory
17:34
he had to begin with. Why would anyone else doubt
17:37
that? Tomas is the only one that I
17:39
don't understand as to why he played along with the delusion
17:44
and even in Part 2 they talk about she refers back to things
17:48
that happened in Part 1. I don't agree with you there.
17:51
I don't think that it's like I don't think that the two parts
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are a continuation exactly of 1 to the next.
17:59
I don't think that's. True.
17:59
Yeah, it is funny that I but I may also point you to the book
18:05
cover because I think the book cover gives a few clues away
18:08
here. So the book cover beautiful, the
18:10
colour scheme, what's going on? But the book, the words
18:13
themselves are cut and diced, almost different versions of the
18:17
same word, like kind of intercut with each other.
18:20
I think that's getting trying to illustrate to us that this is
18:24
multiple split, you know, views on things in terms of like her
18:29
perception of reality. I see that as more like it's
18:33
cracked, like her her her reality is cracked and.
18:39
I mean, I can see that too actually, not that you said
18:41
that. I mean, I kind of agree with
18:43
Colin and the idea of like these different versions because we're
18:47
talking about the character herself from like when she's
18:49
younger, the version of herself as like a young actress to even
18:55
she know does it with Xavier because there's a part where
19:01
they talk in the 1st. I think there's a chat about
19:04
this earlier. But like the idea of that as we
19:08
become older, we're more like invisible.
19:10
And she notices that through him because there's a part where she
19:13
talks about him walking into her room and she notices like all
19:16
eyes are on him. And I just thought it was really
19:19
clever to her to like address. It's such a topic that a lot of
19:23
women I've known here, a lot older than me now that bring up
19:26
this idea is that the older you become, the more invisible you
19:29
are. I can even relate to that in
19:31
that being a chunkier person myself, like I've noticed times
19:34
where like, even if I've lost loads of weight, the more people
19:37
talk to you or chat to you. And I just love this idea of
19:40
like people addressing that because I don't think many
19:44
people realize that even as they age or the way they look can
19:48
really affect how people talk to them and things like that.
19:52
So I really like that idea of like, like Colin said about the
19:55
cover and the different versions.
19:57
But like, for me as well, it's the different versions of like
19:59
life without a child. Like what's a child's maybe, I
20:02
don't know. There's just so much in this
20:04
book, but you can like dip in and out of I think.
20:07
That's so interesting. I kind of agree with you,
20:09
Hannah. It's, it's that's, I remember
20:11
reading that part and being like really interested, but I was
20:13
like, I don't think I've ever experienced.
20:15
Maybe it is because I've never looked any different than I
20:18
currently look. I was like, I can't relate to
20:20
her here because I don't think I've ever like, do you know what
20:23
I mean? And I was kind of like, it must
20:24
be an, it must be an annoying way like to live your life, but
20:28
then also to experience the, the, the difference between how
20:32
you felt when you were younger and how you felt people
20:35
perceived you and then how you feel people perceived you.
20:39
Do you think she has some sense of jealousy then towards Xavier?
20:42
Do you know, like in terms of like he's getting all this
20:45
attention, Hannah, is that kind of where you're coming from with
20:47
it? I don't think it's necessarily
20:51
her being like jealous of it. I think maybe there is a slight
20:55
bit of like envy in it, but it's like acceptance in a way of like
20:59
becoming old and a lot of like in chatting with a lot of women
21:05
who like I've talked to them about these kind of topics.
21:09
It's the invisibility and loneliness that comes with it
21:12
because people stop maybe like talking to you or starting a
21:15
conversation. But I think she's just
21:18
highlighted maybe for this, like this is what some women
21:21
experience. But I don't think it's like a
21:24
jealousy, like that's the main thing in it.
21:27
She is also unnamed, which I mean, I think also echoes that
21:30
point of like, you know, she is just a stock character really in
21:34
these people's lives. Like we're seeing it from her
21:36
point of view. And I think like this is what
21:39
it's a quite a meta book in that it talks a lot about like acting
21:43
is mentioned a lot, but there's actually like there's no
21:45
performance. Like she it's not like she's
21:47
talking about being a performer and like going to set and
21:50
whatever else we are. The performance is the book.
21:53
It's her character and these people in the story.
21:56
And I think part of the problem is there's only two parts to
21:59
this book. I think if we had one more part
22:02
that showed another different reality or something in between,
22:05
I think it would wrap up. Aaron, where you're coming with
22:08
this. But also in Time War, I think 2
22:10
is not enough. It kind of reminds me of Trust
22:12
by Hernan Diaz. It's four parts, I believe, and
22:17
each one builds upon the other to show what is truthful and
22:21
what is the honest story going on between these different
22:25
tellings of it. And I think that that kind of
22:27
would have benefited here. I know that's very different
22:29
because that's a very, there's a very real story in the center of
22:33
those four here. It's not quite like that.
22:34
But the real thing in this, I think is the performance angle
22:39
of of, you know, she's a stock character.
22:42
The thing that I really like liked about it and the thing
22:44
that really drew me to it was the performance aspect of the
22:47
fight. The idea that actually without
22:49
even being actors or actresses, it's like we find these roles
22:52
where like this is this is my role that I'm playing and this
22:55
is how I'm going to play it. And almost not being that sure
22:58
of yourself in some ways you're like, oh, I'm playing this role,
23:01
but how am I going to play it? And how are other people?
23:04
Like a pastor syndrome in a way. Yeah, even the simplicity of the
23:08
the role of like in the morning, she's putting on that
23:13
performance of like this beautiful wife who goes to like
23:18
the cafe and gets the coffees and the pastries.
23:20
And she even says like, oh, I don't really even know.
23:23
Like this just got happened one day and then we've just kept it
23:26
going this whole time. But like, that feels like a role
23:29
in itself, her performance that she puts on every.
23:31
Day, it's like running lines, like the same in lines every
23:33
night and the performance you know.
23:35
It's interesting how in the different parts, there's like
23:38
different reasons for why she does it.
23:40
And like, because one in one part, the first part, I think
23:43
it's the reason she does it is to make her herself feel well,
23:48
to make herself feel better by making her husband feel better
23:51
about the fact that she's cheating on him.
23:53
And then in the second part, it's like, I think there's
23:55
there's more of a can't remember exactly what it is, but there's
23:57
more of like a nice holistic reason that she doesn't like,
24:02
you know, family, but. Then think she gets called out
24:04
for that, doesn't she? Like someone called Tomas calls
24:08
her out and says why did we start doing this?
24:11
Yeah, dress breakfast or something doesn't mean anything
24:14
to. Him.
24:15
No, I think it's so different. It's so interesting like that,
24:18
that, and I think that aspect of performance then comes back to
24:21
that because it's like you, you do these things that are so
24:24
important to you and you have a reason for doing them, but
24:26
actually to the other person, it doesn't, it doesn't have the
24:31
same meaning and it doesn't have the same like you're like,
24:34
you've attached so much meaning to this.
24:35
And well, some of that I was kind of like, is she trying to,
24:38
you know, build that unreliable narrator in in the narrator,
24:43
like in the sense that it's like, can we actually believe
24:45
the things she's saying because they seem to to mass especially
24:49
seems to kind of contradict the things she says quite often.
24:52
I am now thinking, does Tomas also suffer with some kind of
24:59
delusion and was he also brought into this scenario that this was
25:08
their son? Because to me, the reason why he
25:13
says this is just breakfast, it doesn't matter to me is because
25:19
she she she needed, I can't remember the exact scenario, but
25:23
I think it was she needed to do this.
25:25
It was like her routine and she needed to stick to it.
25:28
And she felt like she was a failure if she wasn't going to.
25:31
And I think he was like, so like, yes, we do it every day,
25:35
but our son is who's more important.
25:38
Like this is what what matters. And so I think I didn't read it
25:43
as being as him not thinking of it the same way as her.
25:49
I read it as her trying to hold everything together and couldn't
25:53
stand things changing. And he was like, it doesn't
25:59
matter if things change. Like it's just breakfast, So
26:02
what if our routine changes? But I didn't interpret that as
26:06
him dismissing their routine, if that makes sense.
26:10
I, I agree with you. I think that that that
26:13
interpretation works. I think there are other other
26:15
things throughout it though that make you go, Oh, his
26:18
interpretation of things is very different from hers.
26:21
And especially with, with the second part and, and Xavier
26:23
coming in and like she's kind of some of the stuff she says and
26:28
about like their relationship, she's like, oh, got to be
26:32
worried about umm, I guess it is it like to mass not wanting
26:37
Xavier to stay or all these kind of things.
26:39
And then it kind of flips a couple of chapters later where
26:42
it's like she's the one that Xavier has an issue with.
26:45
And I think it's really interesting that she seems to
26:49
think in her own head that she's really warm.
26:52
You get the feeling like when you're reading from her point of
26:55
view, you're like, you know, she's talking about how much
26:57
she's so excited that he's going to live there.
26:58
And you get those maternal feelings and you feel like, Oh,
27:01
she's very maternal towards them.
27:02
And then the things that the other characters are saying,
27:04
like later on makes you think, oh, they have this kind of
27:07
frosty relationship. And it's not all that he, Xavier
27:12
and Tomas obviously don't think that you have this extreme
27:16
relationship and also his relationship with Anne.
27:19
And we haven't mentioned yet, but she is the producer of the
27:23
play, but also who Xavier works with in both scenarios.
27:28
And they almost have this kind of mother son relationship as
27:32
well. That's kind of throughout it,
27:34
which I think as well adds to the idea that everybody's
27:36
playing a role. Like in life, everybody plays a
27:40
role. Yeah, because she begins like
27:42
there's parts where she seems threatened by Anne, even though
27:46
Anne is just like, you know, it's like she says like, oh,
27:49
Anne like kind of talked over me there and like, you know, give
27:53
me the cool shoulder when I was trying to talk to my son or
27:55
whatever. And it's like, but that's just
27:57
like, she's probably like thinking back to it, I'm like,
28:00
she probably was imagining this, that Anne is acting this way.
28:02
And Anne's probably just like I'm talking to my employee, you
28:06
know, like my assistant. Yeah, I think it comes back to
28:08
this idea that's like the main things of the book is that like
28:11
what's real and what's a performance like?
28:14
I think that's a constant theme for me that like runs throughout
28:17
it. So I, I do think that the
28:21
narrator is, she sees things very emotionally and she thinks
28:29
this person hates me. They are doing this to ruin my
28:33
life. And it's like, oh, like if you
28:36
just think about the basic things that they're saying and
28:39
the basic actions that they're doing, her interpretation, like
28:44
she's gone way off the deep end with her interpretation of why
28:48
they're saying these things or why they're doing these things.
28:50
So I think she is just very emotionally loaded.
28:53
But for me, the biggest theme throughout this entire thing,
29:00
and the reason why all of this has kicked off is because of her
29:04
obsession, whether it's her obsession to be a mother or her
29:08
obsession specifically with Xavier.
29:12
She starts the entire book, starts off with us thinking that
29:18
she's having an affair with him. And she's just kind of like
29:23
sprinkles a little bit of information here and there until
29:27
you eventually realize it's not an affair that they're having,
29:30
that he just thinks that he might be her, her son.
29:35
And I think she can't handle the fact that this beautiful young
29:40
man, I, I think she is enjoying the fact that people are making
29:45
up these stories about her. She looks at other people in the
29:48
restaurant and it's like they think that he's that I'm having
29:53
an affair with him. They think that I have paid this
29:56
young man and he's an escort and Tomas has come in and he's going
30:02
to think that I'm having an affair with this beautiful young
30:05
man. I'm in my workplace.
30:07
All these other people around me are going to think, how do you
30:10
know this beautiful young man? He's walked into the room and
30:13
we've all stared at him. So I think she has tied herself
30:17
to to him so that she can be attached to this beautiful young
30:25
man. And even whenever like what?
30:28
What I think it was Lucy that you were talking about when I
30:34
don't know who was talking, but you were talking about Anne and
30:38
the relationship that the narrator has with Anne.
30:45
She literally says at points like, Anne will never have the
30:48
kind of relationship with Xavier that I have because she wishes
30:53
that she was his mother, but I am his mother.
30:57
So I just really felt like she was completely obsessed and
31:01
wrote herself into his life like that.
31:04
I don't know. I think first part, she's not
31:06
obsessed at all. I think in fact, she's probably
31:08
like the complete opposite where she's like, what's this boy
31:11
looking for? And then do you know, and then
31:14
she starts to be like, oh, about the child I gave up or whatever.
31:17
When she's thinking of that. But she's she's thinking those
31:20
motherly thoughts, but I don't think she's obsessed.
31:22
It's Part 2 where she's like, I must be the mother.
31:25
But why does she keep meeting him and keeping everything a
31:30
secret if she isn't? Like if you think she's
31:36
completely like clear headed and is trying to distance herself
31:40
from him, why'd she also has this thing that she keeps doing
31:44
where she keeps blaming everyone else for her actions?
31:49
Where it literally from the very first part where she's like, oh,
31:53
I was standing outside the restaurant but I wasn't going to
31:55
go in, but a man held the door open for me and it would be rude
31:58
for me not to walk in if he's holding the door.
32:01
And then she walked in and said to the host of the restaurant,
32:04
I'm sitting with him. And he was like, oh, yeah, I'll
32:07
take you there. And then she was like, oh, I
32:10
didn't have to follow him. I could have turned around and
32:12
walked out of the restaurant, but it would have been rude for
32:15
me not to follow him now that I've told him that I'm going to
32:18
go have dinner with him. So I think she was lying to
32:22
herself the entire time and couldn't accept the fact that
32:25
she was trying to enjoy this little secretive story she was
32:36
building for herself. I don't know if I agree with you
32:40
100%. I think there's something there
32:43
that maybe made sense to me, but I, I don't, I think she maybe,
32:49
yeah, she I think there's, she's maybe got a bit of a hang up of
32:52
the idea that that she doesn't, she, she knows people actually
32:58
will see her as maybe being like a bit of a pervy old woman.
33:01
And I think she's got a bit of a hang up about that.
33:03
And definitely how she's perceiving how other people are
33:06
perceiving her is, is a bit off. But what I, I don't, I don't
33:09
know that I would say that I think she's massively obsessed.
33:12
I think she's curious in the way that I think every human being
33:15
would be curious. And yes, maybe you might lie to
33:17
yourself a little bit on the way, but I think if, if someone
33:20
that's very attractive wanted to speak to you and like, I don't
33:24
think that it necessarily involves an obsession.
33:27
And I think as well, when she walks out, she clearly actually
33:31
isn't that fast. I don't think she has to see him
33:33
again and he emails her, but I don't think she really anyway, I
33:39
don't think he never appeared in her life again.
33:41
I don't think she would have tried to get.
33:44
Him to appear in. Her life I don't.
33:45
Think. I just think it's curiosity too,
33:47
because she talks, obviously she talks about like having the
33:53
miscarriage and things like that.
33:55
And then but like there's probably a part of that in my
33:58
head, it's like she has a curiosity of like someone who
34:01
could fit, you know, the description of what her could be
34:04
sudden, you know, would look like or be like.
34:08
There's a part of curiosity for me that like she would want to
34:11
maybe meet them even though it's not complete reality at all, you
34:15
know, I don't know. There's like, not for me.
34:19
It's not an obsession. It's more like a curiosity in a
34:22
way of. Well, just another aspect to
34:25
what I seen as obsession. We haven't talked about this
34:29
character yet, but Hannah gets introduced.
34:33
Your name Say Hannah. Hannah's are just chaos, you
34:36
know, we love to, we love to cause chaos.
34:40
And then all of a sudden the narrator is like her life is
34:48
being ruined by Hannah, and she thinks that Hannah is the worst
34:51
person ever and she's trying to steal Xavier away from her.
34:55
And she can't handle this. She can't handle that Xavier
34:58
would put his attentions on another woman.
35:01
So. I think that's motherhood.
35:04
I think that's motherhood more than.
35:05
Yeah, I think it's her fighting back against a woman coming into
35:09
her son's life more important. Than other women being more
35:12
maternal to her own son than her.
35:16
I think it's such a trigger for her I.
35:19
So I don't know if I agree with any views on this, but I I kind
35:24
of saw it as her almost, and maybe maybe I'm a bit agreeing
35:30
with you, Hannah, but I almost thought I loved when she first
35:33
met Hannah and she first starts talking to Hannah and it's
35:36
almost like you can feel her going into this trope of
35:39
mother-in-law. And she's she doesn't want to go
35:42
into that trope, but she's like falling into it and she's like
35:45
she Hannah's playing the role of daughter-in-law so well and like
35:50
she knows where things are. That was something that was so
35:52
strange as well. It was like Xavier when he first
35:54
goes into the house, he doesn't know or the apartment, he
35:56
doesn't know where things are and the apartment.
35:58
But it seems like Hannah when she first goes in, she knows
36:01
where everything is and she's playing that role of the
36:03
daughter-in-law and she's come in and she's playing it so well.
36:06
And especially considering the fact that it's almost like the
36:09
the narrator doesn't know the scenes and she doesn't know
36:12
what's happening. So she doesn't know the
36:14
relationship between Hannah and Xavier.
36:16
And it's like that just fascinated me, that part.
36:19
But I think it's more about she's she doesn't want to be
36:24
falling into those roles and she realizes like she's catching
36:26
herself on she's like. But I also do think Hannah is
36:30
hamming it up a bit with the roles and also Hannah on on this
36:34
podcast. As usual.
36:38
Just kidding. But I feel like chaos and
36:41
whatever I get with my flaws, I. Really love those bits, but I
36:47
don't think it's like a she's mad at any.
36:52
I think she can. She knows what's happening and
36:54
she knows. She can't.
36:56
Help it. She can't help.
36:57
Herself, well, I think this is the thing where she starts to
37:00
become more and more unhinged. And Hannah is like someone who
37:03
speeds this along this unhinged element where she is reaching to
37:07
become to be whatever this maternal figure she believes
37:10
herself to be. And obviously no one else in
37:12
this in this family thinks this. And Hannah, like she will like
37:16
at first when she's meeting Hannah and she's like talking.
37:18
Then as it goes on, she's like, oh, Hannah looked at me funny
37:21
that when she said that, you know, when she begins to like
37:24
say these things where I think she is like projecting.
37:27
Like a lot of this is projection of her own mental state onto
37:30
these people in her lives. Like like what you were saying,
37:33
Aaron, where it seems like Tomas is like, you know, playing along
37:36
with her. It's her projecting this like
37:39
perform putting him into a character as well.
37:41
You know, I think she is the director as well as the actress
37:45
I think in this. Do you want to jump into
37:47
Hannah's favorite chapter? I don't know if it's your
37:50
favorite chapter, but it's definitely one that you were
37:52
excited to talk about. OK, so for everyone who's read
37:56
it, Chapter 12. So I was like, I get the
37:59
comments about being unhinged and things like that, but
38:02
there's this part where our narrator is like coming home and
38:06
sees that like the lights are on in the apartment building.
38:10
But the part that gets me about this right is that she goes up
38:14
and she goes into the apartment or whatever, but like they're
38:17
running like, what are they like running on all four?
38:21
They're playing like a game. Yeah.
38:23
Like hide and seek, almost. And then there's that moment
38:26
where like her husband touches Hannah and then like her breast
38:31
or something. And then like it all seems to
38:33
like explode like. I just.
38:37
So my my interpretation of that is that she is seeing her
38:43
husband. I think he was picking her up
38:46
off the floor. And in her mind she was like,
38:49
how dare you do this to this beautiful young woman?
38:53
Like you are cheating on me. But I don't think that he was.
38:58
It would have been so weird for him to literally just do that in
39:02
front of everyone. I think again, we're seeing it
39:05
from the narrator's eyes, not actually how it played out.
39:08
Because why would he literally do that in front of everyone?
39:12
It just doesn't make sense to me.
39:14
I don't think she wants us to make sense of.
39:16
This in a way I just love the line.
39:19
You know, back on. Chapter 12 And it's just, it's
39:22
so silly, but like the part where like she comes in and
39:25
they're all galloping around and her husband is like, it's just a
39:28
game. Like it's just a game.
39:30
I don't know why. I really loved that line.
39:33
It's like so simple but like it makes me think, is this all a
39:37
game? Like his life all.
39:39
Just a game in a way I don't know.
39:42
This part is just a good part that I don't.
39:44
Understand and I can't grasp and I would love to understand it
39:47
more, but I think there's something to this.
39:48
I think that she's, I think she's saying something bigger
39:52
and I think she's saying something more broad.
39:55
And I think I'm too bogged down in like the events as they're
39:59
happening and I don't. I don't get this.
40:02
A woman who can no longer distinguish.
40:03
Between what is real and what is not real.
40:06
That's like one of my favorite quotes of the book.
40:08
I think that's why the. Sense of her losing sense of
40:12
like reality is so like, I think that's why the most compelling
40:16
evidence, because even this character is starting in this
40:19
world is starting to see her falling apart.
40:23
Well, to me. That is further.
40:25
Evidence of the way that I interpreted this entire thing.
40:28
That that. She is saying or that that quote
40:32
is saying that like she can't figure out what is real and what
40:36
isn't real. So she was under the illusion
40:39
that or she had convinced herself that that actually is
40:42
her son. And this is also, sorry, just
40:45
another thing that's coming to me.
40:47
She couldn't remember his childhood.
40:50
She talks about how it feels like there's so many gaps in his
40:56
childhood and it doesn't make sense.
40:57
Like why was she not able to remember all of these parts of
41:02
his childhood? To me, that was because she made
41:04
it up. It didn't actually exist.
41:06
I know. I think there's evidence.
41:08
Going for what you're saying, but I don't think you can go
41:10
that happened. I don't think there's like a
41:12
smoking gum where you're like she's telling this
41:14
straightforward story. I think that you it's a theory,
41:17
but I don't and I don't think that this book is supposed to be
41:20
read like that. Like I think that this book is
41:21
supposed to be read that it's out of that.
41:24
And I think this probably you will add to your thing, but I
41:28
really like the quote on page 187 where she's talking about
41:33
like the whole fantasy of a family and the idea what was a
41:37
family, if not a shared delusion, a mutual construction.
41:41
Again, this is I think she's teasing with this theory, Aaron,
41:45
but I don't I think you're you're going this is it.
41:48
This is what's happened. This is 100%.
41:50
And I just know, sorry with you're not grasping the other
41:54
elements of this book, which is the fact that it very much could
41:57
be her real child. I I appreciate that.
42:01
I appreciate this discussion because it has given me the view
42:06
that I thought it was really obvious that that the way I
42:13
interpreted it was how it went. I think, I think you, her or her
42:19
in our. Podcast are like you, you are
42:21
seeing it from your point of view this reality.
42:25
No, no. But I understand.
42:27
My mind is just blown about the fact that I'd like to me, it was
42:32
so obvious. My interpretation was so obvious
42:35
that hearing your guy's impressions, I'm like, this is
42:38
crazy how we've had completely different interpretations when I
42:43
thought it was so clear that the way I interpreted was actually
42:46
the way it was that everyone would.
42:49
This podcast furthers my idea. Of this novel in that people can
42:53
look at the same book and come come away with two completely
42:56
different ideas and what it is. But I think that's just this
43:00
book. I think that's possibly why it's
43:03
so. Controversial because I think if
43:04
you're searching for a story that has like these clear, like
43:09
plot and clear all these things, I think that you're not going to
43:12
get it in this story and you're not going to get this.
43:14
It's not a nice, neat little package.
43:16
It's, it's about bigger things and it's about she's exploring
43:19
these different themes and she's exploring them in a way that's
43:22
not helpful to the person reading them.
43:26
And I like that about it. And I think that that's
43:28
something that makes me think that, you know, she's she's just
43:32
kind of going on all like throwing everything onto the
43:34
canvas and being like, this is how rules work.
43:37
And this is this is where I'm kind of like, for me, I'm really
43:40
struggling with it because I'm like, I don't know if I'm fully
43:43
getting what she's saying, but I don't know that searching
43:47
through the plot and going through like we did with Aidan
43:49
Shore is ever the answer to this type of book.
43:52
It's not that type of book. It's something else.
43:54
Something else is going on here and I would like someone to
43:57
explain to me. I don't know if anyone else
43:59
picked up on. This, But there is a trend
44:03
throughout the entire novel about opening doors.
44:10
So in Part 1, it's the narrator who opens all of the doors for
44:17
Xavier. Now from the very start a a
44:22
stranger opens the door for the narrator to walk inside.
44:26
But can I interrupt? This is why I love you, Aaron,
44:32
because you're reading the real story.
44:36
You what? I think Hannah and Colin, their
44:39
their faces look reserved. But I am about to tell you and I
44:42
really hope that you come up Trump's with this Aaron.
44:45
But I think that Aaron is about to say something really on the
44:49
money. So I I don't know if I.
44:51
Have an actual answer for why this is a trend but the door at
44:59
every point in part one that a door needs opened, it's the
45:03
narrator opening the door for Xavier, which I mean is pretty
45:06
obvious like I'm opening doors for him like helping him in his
45:11
career, helping him in his life, blah blah blah.
45:13
In Part 2, we then have her talking about how Han is opening
45:20
doors for Xavier and we no longer have the narrator opening
45:27
doors for Xavier. In fact, the narrator isn't
45:32
opening doors at all. It's now Hannah that's opening
45:36
doors for her. So to get into the cafe, it's
45:40
the, it's the, it's Hannah who opens the door for her.
45:44
Maybe who opens the door is the person who's in control.
45:48
I don't know. Sure, Aaron.
45:50
I mean, I'm happy to go. With this if like I have no
45:54
counter argument to this, but like yeah, well researched.
45:59
Don't know if it's real or not, but good job you think that
46:03
makes a lot of sense. I'm.
46:05
Happy with that, I think. I think.
46:08
Yeah, you could be right. That she's trying to Katie
46:12
Kamara, the author, whose name have we even mentioned?
46:15
I think she is trying to, to get.
46:18
So maybe something with this door opening thing.
46:21
I do remember doors being opened quite frequently, but I do
46:25
remember taking a note of who was opening the doors.
46:29
And but the idea that, yeah, the narrator is the door opener and
46:33
she's the one opening people's lives, you know, I have no idea.
46:38
Aaron. Sorry.
46:40
I'm like Aaron always comes. Up with something or find
46:43
something in the book that I completely skip over or don't
46:46
even think to realize. So like hats off to you for
46:49
that. But secondly, what I gather from
46:51
this novel is that everyone needs a Hannah to open doors for
46:54
you. So I could be the door opener
46:56
for you guys. So let's jump into.
46:59
A new kind of new We started this with Eden Shore, but we
47:03
didn't really give it a name. So for each book that we read, I
47:08
plan on making a baked good or cooking food and whatever it is
47:16
that that's mentioned throughout the book.
47:18
And this time I wanted to make breakfast pastries, specifically
47:23
croissants, but then I realized that they take 16 hours to make,
47:27
and I just don't have that kind of lifestyle.
47:30
And so I went to a local bakery and I got croissants.
47:32
So I've been snacking on a croissant this entire episode.
47:38
And is that what that was? I thought that was a pizza.
47:41
Slice I was eating pizza. I was eating pizza.
47:44
Before we started recording OK. So.
47:50
Like. Our last series on the
47:53
International Booker. Colin loves to give everything a
47:56
new title. So Colin, do you have a new
47:59
title for Audition? What would you call it?
48:02
I do. Drum roll please.
48:07
I think a better title for Audition would be Actress
48:16
because it's from the point of view of this unnamed character.
48:19
We don't know who she is. It's all of her view and
48:22
everything. Uh, it ties into the performance
48:24
angle. She is an actress, but also she
48:26
is an actress in her own life and all the other people are
48:29
also characters and stuff inhabiting this.
48:32
I think audition, while at the end it's supposed to be like she
48:34
was auditioning for this role that was being written for her.
48:38
I think actress is a better cohesive image of this and ties
48:41
more into what we were all kind of agreeing on and that these
48:44
people are performing at least some part in their lives well.
48:49
I'm going to maybe slightly disagree.
48:50
With you, Colin here because I feel.
48:54
Like the audition? Element adds to the fact that
48:57
she doesn't think that she's getting the role.
49:00
Like she's falling short of the role at times and she's not
49:04
quite there yet. I feel like the audition gives
49:08
you that bit of like maybe more of a flexibility about the fact
49:13
that it's not working out. Yeah.
49:15
But then would you say that she's not?
49:17
So so I would I disagree with this.
49:19
If we take actress away, I say I'm a writer.
49:23
Some people say because I'm not published, I could shouldn't be
49:26
called a writer. I think she can still be an
49:28
actress even if she's not working as an actress right now,
49:32
you know? But I feel like the audition.
49:34
Element of it makes it less concrete, which I think the the
49:38
book is less concrete in general because it's like she's not
49:42
necessarily like she's not in the role yet and she's not quite
49:47
and she's but she could. Be.
49:49
Auditioning and everybody almost feels like in the thing that
49:52
they are auditioning for something.
49:54
Yeah, but I think that's exactly.
49:56
Audition actress, It works the same way because every character
49:59
is an actress. It doesn't mean that they have
50:02
the role is what I'm saying. I think that's still open-ended
50:05
in the same way the audition is open-ended.
50:07
It's just a different way of being open-ended.
50:09
I mean, I think Audition is a fine title.
50:11
It's just, you know, a possible alternative.
50:14
My alternative title. Suggestion is very in line with
50:19
this, but I think it's more appropriate rehearsal because to
50:23
me she already has the role. There's no auditioning and but
50:29
whether, and I think this works for any interpretation, whether
50:33
it's her trying to find her character, as in herself trying
50:37
to having this delusion where she's trying to find herself,
50:42
whether it's her, whether all of this is a play and she's trying
50:47
to figure it out, whether it's alternative realities where
50:50
there's different versions of herself.
50:53
That's all rehearsals. Like you play out the character
50:57
in different ways in rehearsals and find them.
51:00
And to me, audition just it didn't feel appropriate because
51:04
audition is like the very start and like, are you going to get
51:07
the role or are you not? To me, she's already cemented
51:10
herself in this role from the very beginning.
51:12
So yeah, I don't know. I think rehearsal, yeah, I think
51:18
rehearsal works, but. Then I would also say just like
51:22
our many interpretations of this book, all of these different
51:25
words are different interpretation of the actual
51:27
main conceit or concept of the book.
51:29
Like all of them work in whichever angle you're going to
51:32
take it, you know, and I think some maybe to more people to
51:36
some people in different ways because they think that's what
51:39
it's going for. I think this kind of just is
51:42
again provoking the the idea that this book is open to so
51:45
many different viewpoints and there is no one answer to this.
51:48
So let's. Give our final thoughts on this
51:52
book. Let's start with Bob the book or
51:54
from YouTube. That is our bookie of the week
51:57
in terms of whether this book will win.
51:59
Or not. That is something that's perhaps
52:01
interesting to see. It's been very divisive amongst
52:04
readers and sometimes that is the case for winning books.
52:07
They tend to have a strong flavour in some sense, and
52:11
particularly given the audition is a book that demands to be
52:14
reread because of the complicated nature of its
52:17
narration and its narrative, it does seem like a book that
52:20
probably could win. My personal favorite, if not
52:24
audition, would probably be either The Land in Winter or
52:28
Flesh by David Salloy. Colin, what are your thoughts?
52:31
Do you? Think that this book could or
52:33
should be the winner, and what would you give it out of five?
52:36
Yeah, I like this. I think it could win.
52:38
Again, I have no idea what they're doing with the list this
52:40
year. So I mean, who knows?
52:42
I'm not even going to predict. I think it's probably going to
52:45
be my favorite on the on the list we're going to be reading.
52:47
But like I haven't read all the rest yet to know.
52:50
While I would like this book overall, and I think it has some
52:55
really interesting themes and I really enjoyed our our
52:57
conversation. In fact, I think our
52:58
conversation bumped it up a little bit for me in terms of
53:01
what I would have rated beforehand.
53:03
I think she misses the mark. And I understand Lucy, you're
53:06
coming from a dice. She is.
53:08
There's something we're not getting.
53:09
I lucked by that more as the failure of the writer to get
53:13
that across to us. And some more succinct, clear.
53:17
It doesn't have to become crystal clear.
53:19
I think in some clear way, I think I would give this a 3.5
53:22
out of five. Lucy, what do you think?
53:24
See, although I don't think I understood.
53:26
It I really, really enjoyed it as my Up there with C Scraper,
53:31
which is a very different book as to the favourites in the long
53:34
list. I'm so glad that I read The Long
53:37
List, if just for reading this book, because I really, really
53:40
loved it. I'm going to give it a 4.5.
53:43
The reason I don't think I'd give it a 5 is, as Colin said, I
53:47
don't think that I understand it fully.
53:50
And again, you know, that could come with like a third or fourth
53:54
or fifth read or something where I kind of like, I get what she's
53:57
getting, but also at the same time, imagine that maybe I could
54:00
read this 100 times and not get it or not feel like I got it.
54:03
But I still got those core elements of like performance
54:06
and, and those kind of things that I really enjoyed.
54:08
So that's why I'm, I'm marking it so highly.
54:10
I also think it was really well written and I love so much of
54:13
the like phrases and the way she said things.
54:15
And so, yeah, it's very high for me.
54:17
Hannah, what's your view for me to like make it into?
54:21
Like a four or above, I, it has to be something that makes me
54:24
like I have to sit with it for a while and still has that.
54:28
Like I still think about it for days on end, but for me and give
54:33
this book a 3.5 out of five. Like, I really, really enjoyed
54:37
it and I really liked that we all had like different
54:41
interpretations and there was so much you can read into it.
54:45
I just, yeah, there was just something that was like missing
54:47
for to push it over to make it that like forward for me.
54:52
But overall, thinking about the books to come and if it's this
54:56
one could be a potential winner. I keep going back to this quote
54:59
I seen, you know, before the shortlist was announced for the
55:02
judges were talking about that they were looking for excellent
55:05
works that reward rereading. And I think for this, you could
55:10
reread it a million times, like you said, Lucy, and get
55:13
something different or not understand it again and again.
55:15
So I think this is a potential winner, but not not mine.
55:20
Like, I love it, but like, I don't know, there's something
55:22
missing. What do you think, Aaron?
55:24
So yeah, this I was. Disappointed by this book, I was
55:28
hyped to listen or to to read it because of what I had heard from
55:33
everyone else. I think with my interpretation
55:36
of it, it just, it was a bit of a flop.
55:40
It really give me vibes of perfection and it just felt like
55:46
it was OK. It wasn't amazing.
55:49
I I was disappointed. I'm giving it three out of five.
55:54
I hope that I enjoy some of these other books much better
55:59
than this, but if this is going to be the best book, I think I'm
56:03
going to be very disappointed with the rest of the shortlist.
56:07
I could see it winning. Based off what other people have
56:10
said, I would not pick this as my winner.
56:14
So you can share your thoughts on Audition or any of the other
56:17
books on the short list with us on our social media.
56:22
That is what some of our listeners did for Audition.
56:26
Jake, who designed our artwork for the podcast is on Instagram
56:34
at Studio under score Ajax and these are his thoughts on
56:39
audition. Audition from KD Kudumura was.
56:42
Actually one of the best books that I've read this year and I'm
56:44
honestly extremely happy that this is the first book that I
56:47
read from your shortlist. It is enticing.
56:52
He grabs you from the moment you pick it up and you are not able
56:56
to put this thing down. I read this in pretty much one
56:59
day and as a person with dyslexia that says a lot.
57:04
One thing about this book is it finds a way to grab you and put
57:09
you in the shoes of this person who is struggling between a
57:12
personal life and a family life. And it makes you love some
57:17
characters and hate them and figures out a way for you to
57:21
feel both emotions towards that character.
57:24
One line that I think sticks out this whole time in the book is a
57:29
line that says it was that here the gap between my private and
57:36
performed selves collapse and for the.
57:40
Briefest of moments. There was only a single unified
57:44
self. It's.
57:46
Brilliant. A few of Chai's favorite things
57:49
who may or. May not be, my alter ego said I
57:52
can't describe it, but I'm so glad a book like it exists.
57:55
Kitamura is incredibly talented and I agree with her.
57:59
She's correct, Sarah Sadie Smith said.
58:01
I. Loved it, but can very much
58:03
understand those who'd absolutely hate it and Maddie
58:06
Crosby said. Just started it yesterday and
58:09
love it so far. I'm also curious if anyone's
58:13
read any of other Kitamura reads.
58:17
How does this compare, you know, to audition?
58:20
Let us know and in the comments so you can read the shortlist
58:23
along with us. And.
58:24
Share your thoughts on Instagram.
58:25
We are at Boogie's favorite book club.
58:28
You can also e-mail us. We are at
58:31
bookiesfavoritebookclub@gmail.com. Lucy, do we have Goodreads?
58:36
Hannah, we do have Goodreads. Excellent.
58:39
It's not kept up with very. Well, but I assume I'll reject
58:45
things. And also, according to Colin,
58:47
we've got a newsletter coming out.
58:50
Yeah, WIPW. IP.
58:52
We'll be uploading an episode each.
58:54
Week in which we discuss a book from the shortlist.
58:57
Next week we'll be covering the Land.
58:59
In Winter by Andrew Miller. Subscribe on whatever podcast
59:02
platform. You're listening on so you don't
59:04
miss the next episode and share this episode with the book lover
59:07
you think will enjoy this book. Read this podcast. 5 stars.
59:11
Let's end on a final quote from audition.
59:14
I could say the life that was. Performed on a set or in a
59:18
theatre, times feel more real to me than my actual life.
59:23
Until next time, bookies.