The Empusium, Olga Tokarczuk’s haunting ‘health resort horror story’ may have wowed the critics, but how did it fare with Laura’s book club? Phil, Sarah and Laura join Kate to discuss it.
In September 1913, a young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen, a health resort in the Silesian mountains. Every evening the residents gather to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur and debate the great issues of the day: monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women born inferior? War or peace? Meanwhile, disturbing things are happening in the guesthouse and the surrounding hills. Someone – or something – seems to be watching, attempting to infiltrate this cloistered world. Little does the newcomer realize, as he tries to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target. A century after the publication of The Magic Mountain, Olga Tokarczuk revisits Thomas Mann territory and lays claim to it, blending horror story, comedy, folklore and feminist parable with brilliant storytelling.
We explore the novel’s setting in a sanatorium on the eve of World War I, its themes of health, death, and feminism. While making every effort to avoid spoilers, we discuss the critical reception, book club impressions, and the surprising afterword that casts a new light over the novel’s pervasive misogyny.
You’ll also find out the books we’ve been reading lately, and our suggestions for follow-on reads if The Empusium leaves you hankering for more.
Listen via the media player or your preferred podcast player with this podfollow link:
Books mentioned
The Sewing Girl’s Tale by John Wood Sweet
Two Step Devil by Jamie Quattro
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Strange Beach by Oluwaseum Olayiwola
The Fizcarraldo poetry subscription
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Sanatorium by W. Somerset Maugham
The Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki
The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
The Plague and I by Betty Macdonald
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Notes
The Paper Hound bookshop
