Larissa Pham on her novel 'Discipline'
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Beth Golay, and this is Marginalia. Larissa Pham's debut novel, Discipline, follows Christine, a writer who has just published a novel that fictionalizes aspects of her relationship with her painting professor in grad school. It's a Me Too-inspired account that eventually attracts the painter's attention, years after the events occur. I recently spoke with Larissa Pham about Christine's experiences as an author and why she feels this book about revenge is actually a book about compassion. Here's our conversation.
What is Larissa Pham's novel 'Discipline' about?
Can you give our listeners a description of Discipline? Do you have an elevator pitch for it?
Yes. Discipline is a novel that follows Christine, who is herself a writer on tour for her debut novel. She's written a revenge fantasy inspired by this real life entanglement with her former mentor, which ultimately derailed her promising painting practice. And while she's on the road, the villain of her book, reaches out to let her know he's read it. And that reconnection ultimately draws Christine to Maine, where she confronts her old mentor and she's forced to consider this question, which I think is really the animating question of the book. What do we do with the people who have harmed us?
So when the book opens, we meet Christine and she's embarking on her own book tour and she has lost her luggage. Why was this the right place to begin our journey with her?
I really wanted to begin the book in a liminal space. I wanted Christine to be embarking on this journey that she couldn't really turn back from. It seemed important to almost like throw her in the deep end. And An acquaintance of mine had gone through a very similar luggage mix-up, which I didn't even think was possible, but it is. And that just seemed like such a wonderful way to get things going on the page, to give her a problem to solve in the very beginning of the book. And I think it says something about Christine's character, too, that she really just goes for it. She's like, I am going to find this person, and I am going to get my luggage.
How does Christine's book reflect on her past experiences?
So in the book, Christine has authored a fictional account of her own experience with an older professor, and she's recounting parts of that experience while on book tour. It felt very meta to me because you're an author, you've been on book tour. You're also embarking on a book tour for this book about a fictional account. How does it feel? I mean, you're in a similar position that Christine is in. How does that feel as an author?
It's funny. I love a meta narrative. And when I was writing this book, I was really enjoying the act of being a writer, writing about another writer, working on a book. But I will say with book tour, it's almost become like a little too meta. Like I'm like, I didn't anticipate this actually. And I will say that Christine is much more dedicated to her own book tour than I am. She's really, she's really put it together. She's really putting herself out there. But there are these funny moments of strange mirroring. I did a reading where the sound lagged quite a bit, and there's a similar moment in the text where Christine is like, oh, the sound's lagging. I don't know if it's actually me talking. And as I was reading, I was like, wait a second.
Like, I was reading that line, and I was like, this is the same thing. So there's that funny mirroring that happens, which is completely unintentional.
So one of the themes of discipline is the imbalance of power between Christine and her painting professor. In the novel, Christine says she started thinking about the novel during a season. And this is a quote during a season in which it seemed like every woman on the Internet was coming forward with a story of sexist mistreatment at the hands of a wealthy and powerful man. So Christine's encounter really changed the entire trajectory of her life, didn't it? I mean, what what did you want to explore here?
Yeah, I. Yes, so that that moment that Christine is referring to is is obviously the Me Too movement and. I remember that very clearly I was working in anti violence at the time, and I was really following the news and following media and so seeing all these narratives was like very, very just moving to me really impactful.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:37
2
What is Larissa Pham's novel 'Discipline' about?
0:37–2:14
3
How does Christine's book reflect on her past experiences?
2:14–21:27
4
What themes of power dynamics are explored in 'Discipline'?
21:27–25:03
5
How does the Me Too movement influence Christine's narrative?
25:03–29:22