In this conversational interview, the host checks in with Alana about her recent family trip to Hawaii and her current reading habits. Alana explains that she and her brother were encouraged to read on a plane before using electronics, and she recently picked up three classic works from the library: Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago (currently on page 27), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (about halfway), and a recent Emily Wilson translation of The Iliad (about three‑quarters complete). She reflects on the dense, descriptive style of Gulag compared to modern dialogue‑heavy fiction, noting the challenge of heavy description and limited dialogue. She shares limited prior knowledge of Soviet history, learning about Solzhenitsyn’s arrest from her father. Alana also discusses her past reading of classics, mentioning Jane Eyre and The Iliad as standout older works, and expresses curiosity about romance novels in the future. The conversation shifts to her summer schedule: intensive training that includes 2.5 hours of morning weightlifting, 1.5–2 hours of afternoon wrestling or jiu‑jitsu, occasional wakeboarding camps, and social time with friends nearby. She balances this with reading, art projects, and world‑building in the evenings. The host draws parallels to his own athletic experience and notes the fatigue that can affect intellectual work. The interview ends with plans to check back later in the summer.
Chapters
So happy Sunday, Alana. How are you?
Great.
Good. Your father posted a picture of you and your brother reading while you were on an airplane, which leads me to think that, A, you traveled somewhere. Where did you go?
Um, I think the most recent place we traveled was Hawaii for a family reunion. Gathering thing that they do annually. Um, and then I'm not sure what I was reading in that photo, but, um, my parents have us read for like an hour before we go on to electronics when we ride on planes because, um, you know, maybe we shouldn't be on electronics for a long time, for hours at a time. So maybe we just take breaks in between.
Got it. Um, so yeah, what are you reading more generally these, these days?
Um, well, first let's see if I can grab it because I can't pronounce the author's name. Um, I'm first going into Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago.
Um, Solzhenitsyn.
Solzhenitsyn, yeah. Um, I'm not sure how old the book is, but, um, it's definitely different from all the other books I've read. The first part is completely trying to define what the author thinks arrest is, which is interesting because I never thought about that, and how it changed, like being arrested by the government and how it changed. And then it goes into some of his own experiences of being arrested. And that's the part that I'm on right now. And I think it's really interesting and good so far. And I'm looking forward to keeping reading it.
Good. The audio is a little bit funny today. So if you could speak more loudly and clearly than normal, I'm not sure why it is, but yeah, my bad for sure. What— why— how— first of all, how did you find The Gulag Archipelago? What led you to that book?
A coincidence, kind of. We were dropping off some of my brother's books, my brother and my books that we were reading at the library. And then there was a bunch of books for free and my dad was looking through them while my brother and I were in the library and he picked it up.
So it's a free book at a library?
Yes.
Good. I've gotten a lot of great free books and some books that are not great, but I'm a big free book at the library kind of person. Um, and how far into it are you roughly?
Um, not that far. Um, I'm on page 27.
Okay. Um, and have you— you said you haven't read anything like this before. In what ways is this different from other things you've read?
Well, just because there's a lot of description, not much dialogue. Um, also it has the style of writing that I feel like authors don't use a lot nowadays. Um, I couldn't really describe it. It's not— it's not like Old English, but it's not— it's just in a different way than more modern writers write, I guess. I'm not really sure how to describe it like that, but maybe if you've read something like that.
Yeah, well, I've of course read a lot of things from the past. Have you read some other classics, you know, books from the 19th or early 20th century?
I have, and but not as much as I have read newer books that aren't classics. So that's why it's a little challenging and difficult for me to read, but still great anyways.
Of the classic books, older books you've read, which ones did you like best?
Um, I see. I didn't finish, but I was reading Jane Eyre. That was different and still really good. Um, and even though it was a translation, I didn't completely finish but did read most of The Iliad. Um, or that's not 1920s, but that's still a translation and a little different from um, all the books that I'd normally read. Um, those two stand out a little bit, but yeah, for sure.
Got it. How far through Jane Eyre did you get?
Um, about halfway or a little less, I'd say.
Uh-huh. And do you think you'll resume, or did it kind of lose your interest, or why did you not finish?
Um, I didn't resume just because I had a lot of— I was very busy, I had a lot of things going on. But, um, I'm for sure gonna resume, um, somewhere later on. It was really good.
What was happening when you left off in the book?
Um, I believe that we were going through the school days of Jane Eyre when she got— or a little after she got moved from her home with— I forget their names— to the school. Um, it was describing her relationship with the children and how she made a friend, and even though that friend was different while the other kids, they still found that they had fun together and things like that. Got it.
So it had not gotten into any of the romantic parts?
No, not yet.
Okay. I'm pretty sure, again, I haven't read Jane Eyre since kind of maybe I was a little bit older than you were, but probably 16, something like that is when I read Jane Eyre. But as I recall, I think there were definitely romantic parts. Does that sound likely?
Well, right now I'm still her as a schoolgirl, teen. So maybe.
Got it. Okay. Um, and in general, uh, have you read— how do you have an appetite for romantic books, or not at all, or occasionally, or what's, what's your relationship to those themes?
Um, I guess I've only read semi, like, books with small relationships in, like, fiction fantasy books I've read, not like, like just a romance book. Never. I've never been given one, so I've never been given or around them so that I haven't read one yet. But maybe later sometime in the next couple of years, maybe I'll pick up on it more.
You know, it'll be interesting what you think of the rest of Jane Eyre. I remember it being very, very dramatic, you know, and a lot of intense emotion. That's what I remember about it. Um, and with Solzhenitsyn, would you say it's a little bit difficult, or just do you look up words? Tell me a little bit how it is to read it for you.
Um, I don't need to look up words per se. I think I have enough information and knowledge about them to be able to go through it pretty clearly. Um, it's difficult in the way that Well, I guess it's kind of hard to describe other than the fact that it being not double-spaced, so there's even more words on the pages. Since there's a lot of description and not a lot of dialogue, for me it flows a little less smoothly than when I read most books, which are mainly consistent dialogue. Like, for example, I've heard that Moby Dick, which I haven't read yet, has a lot of description. I don't think it's quite like that, but a little bit. Like, I flip through it and there's only dialogue in some scenes. I think that's the most challenging part, but other than that, I've been having a good time.
Moby Dick is the most extreme in that respect, and it's a long— yeah, there are definitely chapters with lots of drama and action, but there are chapters in Moby Dick that are totally devoted to the description of certain aspects of whaling, and I would say those aspects in some ways are a little bit boring. But if you really want to get into the world of what it's like to be on a 19th century whaling ship, you know, I believe the role of description there is to really give you a very concrete sense of what's going on there. And, you know, for me, being on one of these sailing ships and hunting whales and, you know, harpooning them, it's such an alien world. Certainly from anything I've ever experienced, that I'm willing to indulge Herman Melville, the author, in, you know, his deep, over-the-top level of description. Does that make sense?
Yeah, for sure. I don't know anything about that either.
Yeah. So with respect to the Gulag Archipelago, do you know anything about the Soviet Union or Uh, Solzhenitsyn, or do you have any background at all, or are you just picking this book up kind of raw?
Um, I had no background when I picked it up, but there was a part where he was describing one of his own arrests, and he was in the military and he was fighting in a war, and there were a couple details that I picked up on it. I asked my dad and he explained a little bit of it to me. Don't have a ton of background now, that's all I have. And I think it might have changed scenes from then too, or at least gone into more description. But I know it was a war that he was in. It involved Ukraine. And now he's going to war or prison.
And why was he arrested?
I believe it was because He— oh yeah, he was friendly or did something nice or helped out a soldier that he didn't know was from the other side of the line or the other side.
And does that make sense as a reason to be arrested, or not make sense, or is it explained as something that's rational, irrational, or necessary, not necessary? What's the— how does he see that arrest?
Well, to me, there wasn't any violent outcome and all that came from it was good for both of the guys. So I don't think it was totally irrational. If you're trying to stay out of trouble and just do your job, then it might have been irrational. I forget exactly what he did, but I don't think it was that big of a deal. Um, and maybe he shouldn't be sent off to prison for it, but I'm not sure.
Got it. Um, have you read any books about people going to prison or arrests or those sorts of things? Is this also a new direction for you?
This is also a new direction for me.
Okay. Would you say maybe 70% of what you used to read or usually read is more or less fantasy, or not quite?
Yeah, I'd say so, especially when I was younger.
Okay. So in the last year, you've kind of started to do other things?
Yeah, pretty much.
How about the Iliad? How was the Iliad for you?
It was great, and I liked how it was in like a poem form. I didn't get through it all the way, but I do know the whole story from different retellings. But reading it in that translated and poetic form was really interesting. And since I knew what happened, I could kind of translate the parts that I didn't really understand, even though it was in English, but maybe I didn't understand the wording and things like that. But, um, I was able to decipher it because I knew the story.
Do you know which translation you were reading, who the, who the person was who translated it?
Um, I don't remember her name, but I was— believe it was a woman.
Was— do you know if it was a recent translation, say the last couple of years?
Um, well, I'm not sure, but I have it right here. Let me check.
Go ahead and look.
Um, It was translated by Emily Wilson.
Yep, that's a recent translation. It's very famous. Uh, how far did you get through The Iliad?
Uh, about 3/4, I think.
Okay. Do you think you might pick it up and finish it?
For sure, one of these days. For sure, one of these days.
Good. Um, yeah, no, a lot, lots, lots interesting there. Um, I've not read Solzhenitsyn, by the way. I've of course read The Iliad more recently. I've read the Iliad several times. I'm much more familiar with the Iliad. Jane Eyre, yeah, when I was an older teenager, but not Solzhenitsyn. But I'm very interested in Russia and Marxist Russia and the Soviet Union and all of that. What's your schedule like over the summer? Kind of how many hours a day are you working out? How many hours reading? How many hours hanging out and having fun? How many hours doing math? What's kind of a sense of your schedule?
Um, well, I've been spending most of it, um, training. So I trained about 2.5 hours in the morning, um, weightlifting maybe 2 days of the week. So I, uh, we did take a break because the older girls were gone competing. Um, and then after, in the afternoon, I train another 1.5 to 2 hours, um, either wrestling or jiu-jitsu. So I think it's about like 5 hours, 5 and a half, depending. Sometimes it goes longer, sometimes it goes shorter. Um, and then in between that, usually we're— oh, this past week we had like a summer wakeboarding camp on the water, which was really fun because we only get to do those kind of things during the summer. Um, but usually in between, we're at home. We— last year, late last year, we moved into a new home and we moved in right next to our friends from jiu-jitsu, my brother's best friends and my friends. So we hang out with them a lot, which is really cool. And we get to do a lot of things because it's summer and school's out. And there's a park right next door, so I get to spend a lot more time than I used to hanging out with friends and playing. And then sometimes in between, I'll also read, or at night I'll read. I'll work on art projects or a little bit world building or something like that. Um, but I'm really enjoying it because during the summer I can do a lot more things and there's a lot more training, which is tiring but fun. But yeah, that's kind of my schedule.
No, well, first, great that you're having fun and next to friends. It does sound like an intense workout schedule. That's very intense.
A lot of driving too.
Do you find that you're pretty tired at night so it's hard to read much when you work out that much?
Yeah, usually for dinner I'll like spend a little bit of time and then go to sleep. Yeah. Especially during the summer cuz it's hot and everything's really draining. But yeah, I love it though. So it's really fun.
No, I've, I've never trained as intensively as you have, but when I have been on competitive teams, I used to both run, long-distance running, and then cross-country skiing. I would say when I was in-season training, I would be so tired it was hard to do a lot of intellectual work, because if you're working out many hours a day, you're tired. But very cool that you're reading Solzhenitsyn. Cool that you got halfway through Jane Eyre and three-quarters of the way through the Iliad. And we'll check on other things later in the summer, okay?
