Critical Readings

@CritReadings

Thoughtful Analysis of Essential Literature.

Poetry and Prose

Joined June 2019

2Following

798Followers

Pinned

Critical Readings@CritReadings · May 5

Our 14-week summer special begins tomorrow! Laurence “Larry” Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.

CritReadings's tweet image. Our 14-week summer special begins tomorrow!
Laurence “Larry” Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.

1.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jul 21

CR Episode 281: Tristram Shandy, Part XII criticalreadings.com/2025/07/21/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses the books seven and eight, with particular attention to the parallel narratives used to describe the approach to Lyons, the different forms of bad luck Tristram encounters there…

419

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jul 14

CR Episode 280: Tristram Shandy, Part XI criticalreadings.com/2025/07/14/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses narrative lines straight and winding in book six, and parallel trips in France in book seven, including Tristram’s three visits to Auxerre: as a child, as a young man, and…

1.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jul 7

CR Episode 279: Tristram Shandy, Part X criticalreadings.com/2025/07/07/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses the majority of the sixth book, with attention to the ‘picture’ of the Widow Wadman, the story of Le Fever and his orphaned son, the mode of classical dress, and the…

1.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jul 3

CR Episode 278: Tristram Shandy, Part IX criticalreadings.com/2025/06/30/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses the conclusion of the fifth book, with attention to how the hobby horses of Trim and Toby reappear, and what they suggest about the potential truth in ancient knowledge and the …

507

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jun 30

This week’s episode (no. 278) will be a few days late as we reschedule due to illness. Whilst you wait, we recommend a look through our back catalogue of episodes, all of which are online and ad-free!

155

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jun 23

CR Episode 277: Tristram Shandy, Part VIII criticalreadings.com/2025/06/23/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses the beginning of book five, including the extreme discomfort of riding post-chaise, the concupiscent meanings which attach to ordinary words thereby rendering them unusable, and…

1.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jun 16

CR Episode 276: Tristram Shandy, Part VII criticalreadings.com/2025/06/16/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses the conclusion of the fourth book, including Walter and Toby stuck on the stairs amidst further discussion of the definition of a nose (or noes), and the inflexible irrevocabili…

627

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jun 9

CR Episode 275: Tristram Shandy, Part VI criticalreadings.com/2025/06/09/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel reads the conclusion of book three and the beginning of book four in which the topic of noses recurs and features prominently, providing an opportunity to examine how Dr. Slop and Walter …

1.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Jun 2

CR Episode 274: Tristram Shandy, Part V criticalreadings.com/2025/06/02/cr-…

148

Critical Readings@CritReadings · May 26

CR Episode 273: Tristram Shandy, Part IV criticalreadings.com/2025/05/26/cr-…

848

Critical Readings@CritReadings · May 19

CR Episode 272: Tristram Shandy, Part III criticalreadings.com/2025/05/19/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses book II, chapters 6–17 and Sterne’s use of metanarrative focus on the correct art of oratory, the use of puns and textual elisions, the need to fill in details or leave th…

1.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · May 12

CR Episode 271: Tristram Shandy, Part II criticalreadings.com/2025/05/12/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses Tristram’s father’s theories about nominative determinism, the different translations of identical biblical names, and the latest contemporary French developments re…

2.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · May 5

CR Episode 270: Tristram Shandy, Part I criticalreadings.com/2025/05/05/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel begins the summer reading of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman with a biographical overview of Laurence Sterne, followed by the first eighteen chapters, with a focus on …

2.0K

Critical Readings@CritReadings · May 3

CR Episode 269: Pygmalion, Part V criticalreadings.com/2025/04/28/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel reads the final act of Shaw’s Pygmalion, and then excerpts from the epilogue, with particular attention to Shaw’s preference for realism over romanticism, the utilitarian mind…

645

Critical Readings@CritReadings · May 2

This week's episode will go live today! Thank you for your patience!

CCritical Readings@CritReadings · Apr 29

This week’s episode will, unfortunately, be slightly delayed. Our co-host is wrestling with a bit of a cold, but we’ll post our next episode as soon as he’s well enough to record. Thank you for your patience!

437

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Apr 29

524

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Apr 21

CR Episode 268: Pygmalion, Part IV criticalreadings.com/2025/04/21/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel reads the fourth act in full, with a discussion of Prof. Higgins’ narcissism and its collision with his deepening feelings, an examination of the contemporary social strata in Briti…

953

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Apr 14

CR Episode 267: Pygmalion, Part III criticalreadings.com/2025/04/14/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses the third act, in which the antisocial Higgins and the gallant Pickering are exposed as juveniles by the savvy Mrs. Higgins, and Liza’s speech proves insufficiently convin…

798

Critical Readings@CritReadings · Apr 8

CR Episode 266: Pygmalion, Part II criticalreadings.com/2025/04/07/cr-…

CritReadings's tweet card. The panel discusses Shaw’s work on Wagner and a brief overview of the classical inspiration for his Pygmalion, before reading the second act with attention to the characters of Professor Higg…

740