Part two of Lesley Blanch's Sabres of Paradise is takes us beyond beyond introductions and scene setting and places the reader in the middle of the push and pull of rebellion. (Though many scenes are still set and characters introduced in Lesley Blanch's signature prose). The Russians acclimate to fighting in the Caucasus and the people of the Caucasus hold fast under the relentless onslaught of Russian invasion. We discuss where Murid resistance frays in the examples of Hamzad Beg and Shamyl's own son, the early examples of guerilla tactics and counter-insurgency present in the Murid War, the and the terrifying counterfactual of horse-sized war cats.

Intro and outro Music: Laudanum by Velvet Cacoon

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam found yet another way to escalate many of the themes and motifs that defined Gundam. The young pilot is only 13! The main crew is such a scrappy resistance that their base of operations is a big truck! The battles depict more desperation and destruction from the perspective of people that simply want to live normal lives.

This was Yoshiyuki Tomino's first Gundam TV Show since 1987's ZZ Gundam and we could not have been more excited to return to that particular style of pacing, world-building and characterization.

This was easily one of our favorite iterations of Mobile Suit Gundam so far and we hope that you enjoy our rambling conversation about it as much we enjoyed having it.

Leslie Blanch's epic biography of Imam Shamyl and the Russo-Caucasian struggle that defined his life for almost 30 years is now mostly remembered for having been a major influence on Frank Herbert's Dune, but it's place as a classic of literary history-writing deserves to be celebrated.

Blanch's ambition to cover such a complicated period of time seems incidental to the passion evident in every exquisitely rendered sentence describing the Murid freedom-fighters and the mountains they call home. Blanch travelled the world, interviewing descendants of the characters in this book and combing through Russian military dispatches, not only to provide a thorough accounting of the Murid War fought in the early 19th century, but to convey the depth of passion this region and this conflict seemed to have inspired in all who crossed.

There are a ton of digressions through anecdotes, literary criticism, ekphrasis, and personal observations that might seem out of place in a traditional history, but are essential to the feeling this book plunges you into.

We had fun discussing Part 1 of this book in our meandering way and we hope you do too.

For more on Sabres of Paradise's influence on Dune: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-secret-history-of-dune/

To email Pleasant Evenings Book Club: eveningspleasant@gmail.com

The second of the Gundam OVAs cements what War in the Pocket had confirmed: that the world of Gundam is rich and exciting enough to sustain and inspire many stories outside of Tomino's original vision. In this case, it is to tell a relatively straightforward wartime melodrama. We discuss the highs and lows of this series. And using the negative provided here, we uncover what exactly the "Tomino Touch®" adds to a project.

Skip the first 6 minutes if you'd like to jump straight into the Gundam talk.

Really proud of how this one came out. Ice is an incredibly slippery novel to try to pin down. The book teeters back and forth between dark anti-romance, bleak rumination on a dying world, and on one occasion, a James Bond parody(?) The story itself is unsteady about its facts and chronology, employing some perspective altering rug-pulls. We had an interesting conversation exploring the emotional landscapes Kavan draws before addressing the shadow that the author's own troubled life casts on her work.

Truly one of the most unique books I've ever read and one we're glad to share on Pleasant Evenings Book Club

Our initial reaction of F91 was as a beautiful but flawed movie. A stylish and emotional evolution of the themes and aesthetics of Gundam that never truly got to bloom. In way that lost potential somehow makes F91 an even more alluring and curious artifact that has only grown in our estimation since our initial reaction.

This recording is closer to that initial reaction but even then the budding love we have for this movie is clear in our conversation.

It's hard to find new things to say about The Stranger. Occupying a space of historical importance in literature, philosophy, and youth culture across three continents and ultimately around the world, The Stranger is enduringly popular (especially so among people who lack the self awareness to consider whether their opinions are worth sharing).

It's no wonder that this episode came out to a little over two hours. We attempt to be thorough in our discussion of the book and open with our reactions. This was a conversation between someone reading for the first time and someone who had the enviable pleasure of reading it as a teenager. It made for a pleasant evening to discuss the book and hopefully it will be an equally pleasant experience listening to our thoughts (they are very deep because of how Authentic and Existential we are).

I'm starting to think that War is actually bad!

This side story in the Gundam universe is the first series not overseen by Yoshiyuki Tomino; and it reflects a difference in style, tone, and scope. Instead of an operatic 50 episode epic, we zoom in on ordinary civilians and disposable grunts for only 6 episodes. The result is one of the most impactful works, not only in Gundam, but in the medium.

Our conversation kind of goes all over the place, but we never stray far from effusive praise of almost every element of this production.