Episode 8.1: ‘Black Chalk’ by Christopher J Yates
Welcome to season 8 of The Dark Academicals!
We’re kicking off with ‘Black Chalk’ by Christopher J Yates, a psychological thriller campus novel from 2013, that features on nearly every dark academia reading list out there. It’s much more similar to the earlier dark academia than our explorations of modern dark academia so we were eager to really give it a go.
One game. Six students. Five survivors. It was only ever meant to be a game played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University; a game of consequences, silly forfeits, and childish dares. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal and more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, 14 years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round. Who knows better than your best friends what would break you? A gripping psychological thriller partly inspired by the author's own time at Oxford University, this is perfect for fans of The Secret History and The Bellwether Revivals. The author's background in puzzle writing and setting can clearly be seen in the plotting of this clever, tricky book that will keep readers guessing to the very end.
With an Oxford setting, a dangerous game, and fracturing friendship, this has the makings of everything we look for for the podcast. Will it make the cut?
In this episode we discuss:
The rocky road to character development throughout the novel, particularly for Jolyon, Dee and Emilia
How Yates relies on assumed knowledge of Oxford as a setting
The way that dark academia has moved on from 2013 to now
You can listen to it here:
TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘Black Chalk’ by Christopher J Yates
‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt
‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh
‘His Dark Materials’ by Phillip Pullman
‘My Oxford Year’ by Julia Whelan
‘Babel’ by RF Kuang
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)
‘Gilmore Girls’ (2000-07)
If you fancy taking a chance on ‘Black Chalk’, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
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