The Bookening

In this episode our heroes have an extended discussion of Ray Bradbury's style in Something Wicked This Way Comes. It's archaic, it's overwrought, it's hyperbolic ... AND THEY LOVE IT! (See what we did there?????) That part begins at 17:53, Time-Code Fans! Before that, our heroes discuss their (in Nathan's case, copious) Bradbury baggage, beginning at 6:00. Before that, there are various shenaniga...

Our fear-oes begin their extra spooky Halloween series on Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. Brandon Chast-fiend offers some much needed context on Bradbury's life (7:52), even including a die-scription of the "slush" pile from which short stories were selected by magazines like the New Gore-ker in those days (17:45). Our heroes admit to mixed feeling about Scare-en-heit 451 (20:00),...

Our heroes continue to discuss GK Chesterton, including what makes him great (2:40), the famous quote he never said (13:00), and why nobody should try to rip off his style (14:00). This expands into a discussion of style and creativity in general, but, as usual, our heroes bring it all home with aplomb. Also just for kicks they play an audio clip of Chesterton (48:18). Support us on Patreon here!...

Our heroes express their love for the Prince of Paradox himself, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, while also tackling some thorny questions such as whether Chesterton was a racist (pretty much) and if his fiction is any good (not according to at least one grouchy podcaster). Next week more Chesterton and then Something Wicked This Way Comes . Throw us a couple bucks on Patreon! ★ Support this podcast on...

Sometimes a man sets out to write a good episode description for an episode of The Bookening about My Antonia and he just doesn't have it in him. Not that it's a bad episode or a bad book, mind you. But sometimes even the best podcast episodes about the best books don't really inspire one to write a good podcast blurb. Life is weird like that. Deal with it. Click here to support the ongoing missio...

Having apologized profusely for some recent meanderings last episode, our heroes engage in no such hogwash/balderdash/poppycock this go around. At no point do they discuss Nathan's recent endoscopy, or awesome roller-coasters, or anything like that. Nor do they spend a bunch of time trying to figure out if it's AnTONia or ANtoNEEa or what have you. It's just straight-ahead collegiate-level book di...

First up, Nathan and Jake have some thoughts on last week's episode they wish to share. Then we're taking the week off, so sorry about that! We did include a bonus episode from another fine Wahorn podcast for you to enjoy, if you haven't already heard it. Our heroes thank you for the breather! Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podca...

_"[O]ne touch is added which makes the play colossal. Theseus and his train retire with a crashing finale, full of humour and wisdom and things set right, and silence falls on the house. Then there comes a faint sound of little feet, and for a moment, as it were, the elves look into the house, asking which is the reality. “Suppose we are the realities and they the shadows.” If that ending were act...

This is technically part 1 of our series on Midsummer Night's Dream, but it also serves as a good primer on all things William Shakespeare, as Brandon leads our heroes through the tangle of what we know about the Bard, what we don't, and how we should feel about it. Plus, our heroes discuss life in Elizabethan times, and Jake goes mano a mano with some philosopher named Aristotle on the origin of...

 When a damsel in distress feels oppressed by a not-completely-crazy-and-almost-kinda-reasonable article on why Christians shouldn't read fiction, our heroes jump to her rescue!   Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Murder on the Orient Express! Our heroes ponder whether it is ever acceptable to take the law into your own hands, answer questions from Schmoop, and solve their very own murder mystery. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END WILL SHOCK YOU! Featuring MVP guest star, Dani McNeilly. Give a trillion dollars to the McNeilly's campus ministry to Indiana University .  Please click here to support The Bookening for a...

Agatha Christie --  expert plot mechanic or good storyteller? Our heroes attempt to solve this mystery with a little help from their pal Dani McNeilly. Nathan is dubious about "good storyteller", until Dani points out some things which (it's easy to take for granted, but) Christie does really well.  See if Dani will let you follow her on Instagram , then go and give a trillion dollars to the McNei...

Our heroes invite a woman on the podcast and chaos ensues. Also they discuss Dame Agatha Christie and _Murder on the Orient Express. _Co-starring the wonderful Dani McNeilly . Please click here to support  The Bookening  for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Please click here to support  The Bookening  for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! Here's something different for those of you who like different things. Our heroes conclude their discussion of _Heart of Darkness _by interviewing their good friend Pastor Lucas Weeks, who actually grew up in the Congo. He's played with monkeys, seen terrifying native tribal da...

Please click here to support  The Bookening  for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! Let's face it. Nathan, Brandon, and Jake are probably the three bravest men ever to have walked the face of the earth. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that in this episode, our heroes delve fearlessly into the murky depths of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, asking tough...

Please click here to support  The Bookening  for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! This week Nathan, Jake, and Brandon begin their journey into ... THE HEART OF DARKNESS! (Nolanesque musical sting). Our heroes discuss Joseph Conrad's journey from Polish orphan to French sailor to English novelist, why King Leopold of Belgium was a real jerk, and whether Jake'...

Please click here to support  The Bookening  for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! Kids certainly do say the darndest things, and given that 3 of our heros' kids had read N.D. Wilson's _Boys of Blur (_and what's more, loved _Boys of Blur), _we figured they'd have the darndest things to say about it. Spoiler: we weren't wrong. Special thanks to Elissa, Eliot,...

Please click here to support  The Bookening  for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! In today's episode, our heroes (sadly sans Brandon) continue their discussion from the Newbery ep about why reading is not some kind of big inherent virtue like so many educators and pundits make it out to be. As our heroes point out: Reading, like any discipline, requires actu...

_Mr. Popper's Penguins. _ Call It Courage. Maniac Mcgee. _The Bridge to Taribithia. _ Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. What do these books have in common you ask? They're Newbery Medal winners of course, and in this episode our heroes use Newbery as a springboard into a discussion of the invention of kids lit and young adult fiction, and whether kids should be taught to read what they enjoy ... or en...

If you love The Bookening, we really do need your help. Please click here to support The Bookening for a low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! Here's a pretty pickle. Our heroes like N.D. Wilson and what he's doing in Boys of Blur. On the other hand, they did have some difficulties with the book that made for some interesting discussions about literature, writing,...

If you love The Bookening, we really do need your help. Please click here to support The Bookening for a very low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you! In episode 40, our heroes talk about N.D. Wilson's young adult horror/fantasy/action novel _Boys of Blur. _For such a slim volume, this book packs a lot in, and our heroes find themselves with plenty to discuss, includi...

  'My father's relationships were always between equals, however old or young, distinguished or undistinguished the other person. Once, when I was quite little, he came up to the nursery while I was having my lunch. And while he was talking I paused between mouthfuls, resting my hands on the table, knife and fork pointing upwards. "You oughtn't really to sit like that," he said, gently. "Why not?"...

If you like episodes about literary theory and how literature works, this one is for you, as Brandon and Nathan go deep-diving, trying to figure out what on earth William Faulkner was trying to accomplish with As I Lay Dying and whether it was a good thing.  Give us money here. Click here to buy the book from Amazon.  Next we're reading The Complete Winnie the Pooh ... and after that _Boys of Blur...

As I Lay Dying part 2 is still coming tomorrow.  But today we have a BONUS EPISODE about three ABSOLUTE LITERARY CLASSICS that are all on TV or coming to movie screens soon. We've got our hot take on the books they are based on.  Also ... Give us money !!! Please and thank you.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This right here is an episode about William Faulkner's _As I Lay Dying. _Sadly, our heroes had to record this episode with Jake M.I.A. So that was weird, and is hopefully a rare occurrence. Left to their own devices, Nathan and Brandon ladle on the context, talking about everything from Faulkner's life to the Southern Renaissance in American literature to early Hollywood's penchant for misusing gr...