Possibly the most important part of any book club is the discussion! Obviously, over the next month you’ll hear plenty about my thoughts on the book. However, I want to encourage you to share your thoughts too – both with me, and with your fellow readers.
This month I’m so excited to have selected the new International Booker Prize winning short story collection, Heart Lamp, to read for our June Book Club. I decided to make the unilateral decision to go with this one, rather than opening things up to a poll like I usually do, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I like to stay abreast of the literary world’s ‘goings on’, so it’s always exciting to check out what an organisation like the International Booker is elevating. However, I’m also drawn to the collection independent of that.
Banu Mushtaq, born on April 3, 1948, in Hassan, Karnataka, is a distinguished Indian writer, lawyer, and activist. Her literary work, deeply rooted in the Bandaya Sahitya (protest literature) movement, addresses issues of caste, class, and gender oppression. Bandaya Sahitya, also translated as ‘Rebel Literature’, emerged in the 1970s in Karnataka as a response to social injustice, caste oppression, and economic inequality. It called for literature that challenged the status quo rather than celebrated it. Founders of the movement include Dr D. R. Nagaraj and Shudra Shrinivas, but Mushtaq is one of the more prominent contemporary practitioners.
As you may have spotted in the news coverage of the win, this is both the first time a collection of short stories has won the International Booker, and also the first time a work from the Kannada language has won.
One thing that I’m particularly interested in is the approach Deepa Bhasthi has taken to translating the writing. Bhasthi has been very involved in crafting this collection, having been the one to select the 12 stories for inclusion, from across Mushtaq’s wide-ranging oeuvre. However, the element which grabs my attention most strongly is a line-level phenomenon – specifically, the degree to which she has kept non-translated words in the text. Mushtaq's writing is characterised by its emotional depth and cultural specificity, often incorporating Kannada, Urdu, and Arabic terms. There’s a huge amount of these original languages still present in the translated writing. Another interesting consideration is Bhasthi’s choice not to use italics to denote non-English words, which I think is more or less the industry standard practice. Nonetheless, I really like this approach. As a reader, you have to work a little harder to keep up, but it’s a really rewarding endeavour. I also like the feel like the choice not to use italics is a brave one – and champions the work’s creative integrity.
Heart Lamp by the Indian writer Banu Mushtaq wins 2025 International Booker prize – a powerful collection of stories inspired by the real suffering of women – The Conversation
Read this to get the basics – a little about Mushtaq and her life, a little about the work, a little about the history of the publication. All the essentials, in other words.
The world at an angle: reasons to love short stories – The Guardian
I’m such a short story person, and I think we need to celebrate the fact that this is the first time the International Booker has ever been awarded to a collection of them.
Although India isn’t the most linguistically diverse country in the world, it’s not far off, and this plurality of language plays an important role in Mushtaq’s collection.
Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq on giving voice to India’s silent sufferings – Times of India
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
Jazz musicians can teach surgeons how to improvise
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
1. 91 Music Jokes That Totally Rock – Reader’s Digest
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
Ok, forgive the slightly dated vibes radiating off this video. You may have stumbled across it before (49M YouTube views!), but it’s a goody. It turns out, pop music could do with a little more imagination – and a few more chords.
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
A slightly meatier read, this piece zooms in on how Balzac didn’t just depict post-Revolutionary France – he reconstructed it. By narrating the lives of everyone from bankers to bootblacks, he created a literary architecture for a country trying to understand itself again.
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
What I Assume Honoré de Balzac Thought After Drinking Each of His Fifty Daily Cups Of Coffee – The New Yorker
Lost Illusions unfolds in the world of the printing press, journalism, and literary ambition. It turns out, a lot of the stuff we say every day finds its origins in printing jargon!
Halfway through Lost Illusions, I'm still enjoying it, though I’ve hit one of those slower patches that come with big 19th-century novels. What started out feeling gripping and full of promise – youthful ambition, romantic entanglements, the bright lights of Paris – has now given way to the gritty, unglamorous mechanics of revenge. Our poet-hero, jilted and alone, is deep in the weeds of learning the corrupt and cutthroat business of writing and journalism, and while it's a bit dry at the moment, I can tell Balzac is laying the groundwork for something bigger. The writing remains excellent, and the themes are as compelling as ever. I'm hanging in there, and I’m hopeful things will pick up again soon! I’m not sure how many of you are coming along for the journey with me on this one (it’s a challenging beast, I’ll admit), but if you are reading Lost Illusions, leave a comment and let me know how you’re finding it! If you want a more complete picture of my current thoughts about the book, check out my most recent Instagram update at the link below.
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
Ok, this is maybe a divisive one. I don’t advocate watching the full movie, but sometimes I think just a trailer can be helpful if you’re really struggling to crack into a challenging text. A tiny taster to get the ball rolling.
2. What Is So Special About Balzac’s Thousands of Characters? – LitHub
This one’s a lot of fun – it’s a profile of Honoré De Balzac in the Atlantic. Specifically, in their issue from June of 1886. It turns out, the magazine has been running since 1857.
This month’s pick is a true classic-amongst-classics. Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac tells the story of Lucien Chardon, a talented young poet from a small town, who dreams of literary fame and social ascension in glittering Paris. Eager to make a name for himself, he moves to the city and quickly discovers that it’s full of lies, corruption, and people who care more about money than art. Essentially, a tale as old as time.
I’m really excited to be tackling this book in the Lit With Charles Book Club, because I think it’s one that might make a lot of people nervous. We’ve gotten the opportunity to sink our teeth into a lot of great texts so far, and some truly iconic works of world literature, but this is the first pick that feels like something a reader might baulk at. So, the name of the game for enrichment content this month is going to be ‘sending out a helping hand’ – and proving that 19th Century French literature isn’t as scary as it seems.
Honoré de Balzac was a French writer born in 1799 in Tours, France. That’s sort of 250ish kms southwest of Paris, in the Loire Valley – famous for wine and castles, like most of the rest of France. He was born to a middle class family, with a father in a respectable administrative job, and was sent to a good school in the hopes that he might, like dear Papa, pursue a stable, sensible career. However, much to his family’s chagrin, after a brief attempt at studying Law in the nation’s capital, he decided to throw it all in to pursue literature.
Balzac's early literary efforts were not successful. He wrote several gothic and historical novels under pseudonyms, most of which were commercial failures. He also tried (unsuccessfully) to make money through various business ventures, including a printing press and a publishing house, which left him heavily in debt – where he would essentially stay for the rest of his life.
However, after a while, Balzac struck gold. His most important endeavour, according to anyone who’s anyone, is what is referred to as La Comédie Humaine ("The Human Comedy"). This vast literary project aimed to depict all aspects of French society in the aftermath of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. All up, the project includes more than 90 finished works (short stories, novellas, and novels – one of which we’re reading together!) and dozens of unfinished ones. It’s populated by a whopping recurring cast of over 2,000 characters – often reappearing from one book to another. Think, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a touch more highbrow. Frankly, it’s a pretty audacious undertaking.
Balzac died in 1850, but his work remains hugely influential and is considered a major part of French literature. He helped lay the groundwork for the realist novel and inspired writers such as Charles Dickens, Émile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust, and even 20th-century figures like Henry James.
Now, I want to let you all in on a little secret. I haven’t actually read any Balzac before. Shock horror, I know. As a half-French person, I think this is technically illegal. However, I’m choosing to do the brave thing and let you know that we’re all in this together.
Book Club Enrichment Content
This month I’m so excited to have selected the new International Booker Prize winning short story collection, Heart Lamp, to read for our June Book Club. I decided to make the unilateral decision to go with this one, rather than opening things up to a poll like I usually do, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I like to stay abreast of the literary world’s ‘goings on’, so it’s always exciting to check out what an organisation like the International Booker is elevating. However, I’m also drawn to the collection independent of that.
Banu Mushtaq, born on April 3, 1948, in Hassan, Karnataka, is a distinguished Indian writer, lawyer, and activist. Her literary work, deeply rooted in the Bandaya Sahitya (protest literature) movement, addresses issues of caste, class, and gender oppression. Bandaya Sahitya, also translated as ‘Rebel Literature’, emerged in the 1970s in Karnataka as a response to social injustice, caste oppression, and economic inequality. It called for literature that challenged the status quo rather than celebrated it. Founders of the movement include Dr D. R. Nagaraj and Shudra Shrinivas, but Mushtaq is one of the more prominent contemporary practitioners.
As you may have spotted in the news coverage of the win, this is both the first time a collection of short stories has won the International Booker, and also the first time a work from the Kannada language has won.
One thing that I’m particularly interested in is the approach Deepa Bhasthi has taken to translating the writing. Bhasthi has been very involved in crafting this collection, having been the one to select the 12 stories for inclusion, from across Mushtaq’s wide-ranging oeuvre. However, the element which grabs my attention most strongly is a line-level phenomenon – specifically, the degree to which she has kept non-translated words in the text. Mushtaq's writing is characterised by its emotional depth and cultural specificity, often incorporating Kannada, Urdu, and Arabic terms. There’s a huge amount of these original languages still present in the translated writing. Another interesting consideration is Bhasthi’s choice not to use italics to denote non-English words, which I think is more or less the industry standard practice. Nonetheless, I really like this approach. As a reader, you have to work a little harder to keep up, but it’s a really rewarding endeavour. I also like the feel like the choice not to use italics is a brave one – and champions the work’s creative integrity.
Heart Lamp by the Indian writer Banu Mushtaq wins 2025 International Booker prize – a powerful collection of stories inspired by the real suffering of women – The Conversation
https://theconversation.com/heart-lamp-by-the-indian-writer-banu-mushtaq-wins-2025-international-booker-prize-a-powerful-collection-of-stories-inspired-by-the-real-suffering-of-women-257287
Read this to get the basics – a little about Mushtaq and her life, a little about the work, a little about the history of the publication. All the essentials, in other words.
The world at an angle: reasons to love short stories – The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/06/the-world-at-an-angle-reasons-to-love-short-stories
I’m such a short story person, and I think we need to celebrate the fact that this is the first time the International Booker has ever been awarded to a collection of them.
The race to find India's hidden languages – BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20211014-the-man-who-found-indias-hidden-languages
Although India isn’t the most linguistically diverse country in the world, it’s not far off, and this plurality of language plays an important role in Mushtaq’s collection.
Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq on giving voice to India’s silent sufferings – Times of India
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/from-village-courts-to-world-stage-how-banu-mushtaqs-stories-of-women-and-margins-won-the-booker/articleshow/121328606.cms
Please forgive how odd the graphic design is on this website – but the direct interview is well worth a read.
Enrichment Content
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
Jazz musicians can teach surgeons how to improvise
https://theconversation.com/jazz-musicians-can-teach-surgeons-how-to-improvise-14020
Honestly I hope surgeons aren’t improvising too much, but I’m glad the jazz is helping!
How Music Resonates in the Brain | Harvard Medicine Magazine
https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/how-music-resonates-brain
A little bit of science makes everything better.
All together now – three evolutionary perks of singing
https://theconversation.com/all-together-now-three-evolutionary-perks-of-singing-35367
Singing in the shower is good for you – pass it on.
Is banning phones at gigs really worth it?
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/is-banning-phones-at-gigs-really-worth-it/
This feels like a potentially generationally-divisive issue.
Enrichment Content
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
1. 91 Music Jokes That Totally Rock – Reader’s Digest
https://www.rd.com/article/music-jokes/
*Cue the groaning*
2. Was Leonard Cohen a better lyricist than Bob Dylan? – Far Out Magazine
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/was-leonard-cohen-a-better-lyricist-than-bob-dylan/
This feels like something you should have an opinion on.
3. Hear the world’s oldest instrument, the 50,000 year old neanderthal flute – Classic FM
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/flute/worlds-oldest-instrument-neanderthal-flute/
Time to get down to the dulcet tones of the world’s oldest instrument.
4. Is there such a thing as an objectively ‘bad’ song? – The Conversation
https://theconversation.com/is-there-such-a-thing-as-an-objectively-bad-song-98960
Whatever the science says, it still feels like the answer should be yes?
Enrichment Content
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
1. Listen to This Playlist – Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Gj9P7W0BqFGc3Ab8RCTyZ
Ok, this one’s obvious. When you get a moment, listen to this Listen to This playlist.
2. The physics of music: playing fire, ice and jelly trumpets - with Anna Ploszajski – The Royal Institution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Gl4tfh3KA
Music isn’t just an art – it’s also a science.
3. The 50 Greatest Rock Memoirs of All Time – Rolling Stone
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/books-greatest-rock-memoirs-of-all-time-161198/
Rock on.
4 Chords – The Axis of Awesome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ
Ok, forgive the slightly dated vibes radiating off this video. You may have stumbled across it before (49M YouTube views!), but it’s a goody. It turns out, pop music could do with a little more imagination – and a few more chords.
Enrichment Content
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
Reading Hard Books is Good, Actually
https://bookriot.com/reading-hard-books/
A little encouragement to remind you of the value of reading books that challenge you, as well as some that are just easy and fun.
When Is It Okay to Not Finish a Book? - The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/08/quit-give-up-book-reading-habits/679516/
A little reassurance for those times you decide that a book simply isn’t for you.
In Defense of Reading Slowly - Writer's Digest
https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/in-defense-of-reading-slowly
And a little fortitude for those still soldiering on.
Honoré de Balzac’s Legendary Love Affair With His Anonymous Critic – Literary Hub
https://lithub.com/honore-de-balzacs-legendary-love-affair-with-his-anonymous-critic/
This story’s a great one – and it’s fun to be reminded that complicated romantic entanglements are a tale as old as time.
Balzac and the Reassembly of France by Jérôme David – The Paris Review
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/04/10/balzac-and-the-reassembly-of-france/
A slightly meatier read, this piece zooms in on how Balzac didn’t just depict post-Revolutionary France – he reconstructed it. By narrating the lives of everyone from bankers to bootblacks, he created a literary architecture for a country trying to understand itself again.
Enrichment Content
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
What I Assume Honoré de Balzac Thought After Drinking Each of His Fifty Daily Cups Of Coffee – The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/what-i-assume-honore-de-balzac-thought-after-drinking-each-of-his-fifty-daily-cups-of-coffee
I forgot about this insane little sidenote. No wonder La Comédie Humaine was 91 novels long!
Balzac: Worth the Trouble – Julie Pesano
https://juliepesano.com/2019/10/10/balzac-worth-the-trouble/
One woman’s account of visiting the Balzac museum in Paris. Worth a read!
How to build a cinematic universe: the secret to Marvel’s enormous success among a history of failures – The Conversation
https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-a-cinematic-universe-the-secret-to-marvels-enormous-success-among-a-history-of-failures-250510
Balzac did it first – but how does one do it best?
Everyday Phrases You Didn’t Realise Originated From Print – instantprint
https://www.instantprint.co.uk/printspiration/be-inspired/everyday-phrases-you-didn%E2%80%99t-realise-originated-from-print
Lost Illusions unfolds in the world of the printing press, journalism, and literary ambition. It turns out, a lot of the stuff we say every day finds its origins in printing jargon!
Halfway through Lost Illusions, I'm still enjoying it, though I’ve hit one of those slower patches that come with big 19th-century novels. What started out feeling gripping and full of promise – youthful ambition, romantic entanglements, the bright lights of Paris – has now given way to the gritty, unglamorous mechanics of revenge. Our poet-hero, jilted and alone, is deep in the weeds of learning the corrupt and cutthroat business of writing and journalism, and while it's a bit dry at the moment, I can tell Balzac is laying the groundwork for something bigger. The writing remains excellent, and the themes are as compelling as ever. I'm hanging in there, and I’m hopeful things will pick up again soon! I’m not sure how many of you are coming along for the journey with me on this one (it’s a challenging beast, I’ll admit), but if you are reading Lost Illusions, leave a comment and let me know how you’re finding it! If you want a more complete picture of my current thoughts about the book, check out my most recent Instagram update at the link below.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIbRzuDqPSs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Enrichment Content
Great books don’t exist in isolation, and these weekly extras are designed to help you connect to the wider world surrounding the story. Whether it’s historical context, critical interpretations, or just fun stories, this enrichment content will hopefully deepen your appreciation of the work.
1. Lost Illusions (2021) Film Trailer – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc68AURE-O0
Ok, this is maybe a divisive one. I don’t advocate watching the full movie, but sometimes I think just a trailer can be helpful if you’re really struggling to crack into a challenging text. A tiny taster to get the ball rolling.
2. What Is So Special About Balzac’s Thousands of Characters? – LitHub
https://lithub.com/what-is-so-special-about-balzacs-thousands-of-characters/
Hopefully by the end of the month you’ll have your own answer!
3. Paris in the Summer of 1820 – Shannon Selin
https://shannonselin.com/2017/08/paris-summer-1820/
The plot of Lost Illusions starts in the early 1820s. Click here to jump in a little time machine and check out what Paris was like then.
4. Honoré De Balzac – The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1886/06/honore-de-balzac/634466/
This one’s a lot of fun – it’s a profile of Honoré De Balzac in the Atlantic. Specifically, in their issue from June of 1886. It turns out, the magazine has been running since 1857.
Weekly Thoughts
This month’s pick is a true classic-amongst-classics. Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac tells the story of Lucien Chardon, a talented young poet from a small town, who dreams of literary fame and social ascension in glittering Paris. Eager to make a name for himself, he moves to the city and quickly discovers that it’s full of lies, corruption, and people who care more about money than art. Essentially, a tale as old as time.
I’m really excited to be tackling this book in the Lit With Charles Book Club, because I think it’s one that might make a lot of people nervous. We’ve gotten the opportunity to sink our teeth into a lot of great texts so far, and some truly iconic works of world literature, but this is the first pick that feels like something a reader might baulk at. So, the name of the game for enrichment content this month is going to be ‘sending out a helping hand’ – and proving that 19th Century French literature isn’t as scary as it seems.
Honoré de Balzac was a French writer born in 1799 in Tours, France. That’s sort of 250ish kms southwest of Paris, in the Loire Valley – famous for wine and castles, like most of the rest of France. He was born to a middle class family, with a father in a respectable administrative job, and was sent to a good school in the hopes that he might, like dear Papa, pursue a stable, sensible career. However, much to his family’s chagrin, after a brief attempt at studying Law in the nation’s capital, he decided to throw it all in to pursue literature.
Balzac's early literary efforts were not successful. He wrote several gothic and historical novels under pseudonyms, most of which were commercial failures. He also tried (unsuccessfully) to make money through various business ventures, including a printing press and a publishing house, which left him heavily in debt – where he would essentially stay for the rest of his life.
However, after a while, Balzac struck gold. His most important endeavour, according to anyone who’s anyone, is what is referred to as La Comédie Humaine ("The Human Comedy"). This vast literary project aimed to depict all aspects of French society in the aftermath of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. All up, the project includes more than 90 finished works (short stories, novellas, and novels – one of which we’re reading together!) and dozens of unfinished ones. It’s populated by a whopping recurring cast of over 2,000 characters – often reappearing from one book to another. Think, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a touch more highbrow. Frankly, it’s a pretty audacious undertaking.
Balzac died in 1850, but his work remains hugely influential and is considered a major part of French literature. He helped lay the groundwork for the realist novel and inspired writers such as Charles Dickens, Émile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust, and even 20th-century figures like Henry James.
Now, I want to let you all in on a little secret. I haven’t actually read any Balzac before. Shock horror, I know. As a half-French person, I think this is technically illegal. However, I’m choosing to do the brave thing and let you know that we’re all in this together.