In Defense of Gratuitous Violence

Marlon and Jake take on violence in fiction: what makes it effective, what makes it gratuitous, and whether “gratuitous violence” is even a useful distinction. Tune in as they discuss the difference between violence on the page and on screen and why extended cruelty can be harder to stomach than violence itself. Subscribe to our River-herd digital newsletter and our print newspaper, The Eddy, for sneak peeks of our upcoming books, free giveaways, and exclusive content: https://sites.prh.com/the-eddy-newspaper. Lord of the Flies by William Golding All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Cities of the Red Night by William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy The Godfather by Mario Puzo The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess 2666 by Roberto Bolaño Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Hamlet by William Shakespeare King Lear by William Shakespeare Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman Frankenstein by Mary Shelley