The CodeX Cantina

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We are looking at the comic masterpiece by Taeko Kono, a female Japanese author. A great story about going up in an elevator and the fantasies we have when people aren't nice. Our copy was translated by Jay Rubin. Taeko Kono Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzTDx1bPS7Y&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YB3hjjO0162...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Flannery O'Connor's first novel, "Wise Blood", was a 97-page gut punch. We were so impressed with its themes of redemption, religion, and nihilism. I'm sure we all want to know what does the ending of Wise Blood mean? Let's talk about that and more today as we analyze and discuss this masterpiece of literatur...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! August is #WomeninTranslation month and today we head to Japan to look at Yuko Tsushima's "A Very Strange, Enchanted Boy" which came to us via the Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories. An interesting tale about infinity, identity, and needs of a child against the needs of an adult.  Yuko Tsushima Playli...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's talk about books we plan to read in August! #WITMonth Hour of the Star - Lispector The Chicken by Clarice Lispector A Very Strange Enchanted Boy by Tsushima Yuko Flames by Tsushima Yuko In The Box by Taeko Kono Toddler Hunter by Taeko Kono The Tale of the House of Physics by Yoko Ogawa Dreaming of Kimch...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Sanshiro by Natsume Soseki  East of Eden by John Steinbeck   The BFG by Roald Dahl Green Lantern: Blackest Night Short Stories:  A Day's Wait by Ernest Hemingway  The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema by Haruki Murakami  The Elephant Vanishes Haruki Murakami  Sweetness by Toni Morrison...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's look at The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck. A very famous work that deals with genders and their roles in society. The heavy usage of symbols is quite strong in this too. We'll see the usage of yellow chrysanthemums and their meaning of scorned love and white has a different meaning as well. Let's tal...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Franz Kafka is one of the most influential writers to have ever picked up the pen! Let's look at "A Hunger Artist" (sometimes The Hunger Artist) with some modern interpretations of what art is and when it becomes a commodity? When is it no longer art? What does social media have to do with this? Our version w...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We're continuing our exploration of Haruki Murakami. This week we talk about "The Elephant Vanishes" and some themes of unity, pragmatism, and the unsaid in iceberg theory!  Haruki Murakami Playlist: Coming Soon! ✨Do you have a Short Story or Novel you'd think we'd like or would want to see us cover? Su...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's look at one of the greatest writers of all time, Toni Morrison! She only created two short stories for us, but they are both arguably perfect. Let's talk about colorism, or shadeism, in this story today as Sweetness raises her child in a post-segregation world but still living with prejudice. Toni Morri...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's talk about the environment as a symbol as well as infidelity and shame with "The Storm" by Kate Chopin today. Kate Chopin Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W0B6N5BNqE&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YBnXXvGuPT4Qe0QZY7gkuE8 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpfRIbCXmiFvqxIw?sub_confirmation...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! This story is hilarious. We loved "Why I Live at the P. O." by Eudora Welty. Lots of themes of communication, independence, and isolation in this one.  Eudora Welty Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwIOD17IxNA&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YC3KaicVWNjXLE8DNUd9_IU Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We're finally diving into some of Haruki Murakami's work. Let's talk about "The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema" and some themes of memory, experience, and more.  Haruki Murakami Playlist: Coming Soon! ✨Do you have a Short Story or Novel you'd think we'd like or would want to see us cover? Submit an entry v...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! The Original by Very Literary Kari: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEXZByQulIc #jfkbooktag #jfk #booktube The JFK Book Tag In this original tag, most of the books mentioned are Kennedy-related titles. You do not have to highlight any JFK books in order to complete this tag. Please feel free to interpret the...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! A very simple story. We learned afterward that this is a great piece for ESL students. Let's talk about communication and bottling things up. Ernest Hemingway Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oa13cjNZqw&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YB0TTfiXg0X_juRB2-GlyXO Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKp...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We continue our path on the beam. Let's talk Song of Susannah today which is the 6th book of the Dark Tower series. Certainly a divisive book. Let's talk about some of the self-insertion and themes in a non-spoiler chat today. Dark Tower Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF5AmyT-obI&list=PLHg_kbfr...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We'd love to hear from teachers today about their views on this story. Toni Cade Bambara writes wonderful stories with very relatable characters that seem to connect with many students today. Let's talk about one way to break down this story which is within the context of the hero's journey by Squeaky. She ha...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! What an incredible work of literature. Let's talk about the Meiji Restoration, Westernization in Japan, and more today as we explore "Sanshiro" by Natsume Soseki. Natsume Soseki Playlist: Coming Soon ✨Do you have a Short Story or Novel you'd think we'd like or would want to see us cover? Submit an entry via...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecodexcantina Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpfRIbCXmiFvqxIw?sub_confirmation=1 Did you enjoy the talk? Help us in running the channel with a one-time donation: https://ko-fi.com/thecodexcantina ================================= Books or Stories...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's look at "Everyday Use" which is heavily anthologized and frequently assigned to students today. Let's talk about the past and heritage and how we view those in our lives. Is it immutable? Does it change? Krypto will also walk us through a unique interpretation with important civil rights movements. Alic...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Wrapping up June with the books we read. Krypto tells us about his Nintendo Power collection. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpfRIbCXmiFvqxIw?sub_confirmation=1 Did you enjoy the talk? Help us in running the channel with a one-time donation: https://ko-fi.com/thecodexcantina ==============...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Wow, clearly one of the best Horror Short Stories we've ever read! Let's talk about "The Human Chair" (人間椅子 or Ningen-isu) by Edogawa Ranpo. Clearly a lot of Edgar Allen Poe influence in this Japanese horror short story. Let's talk about lookism and class elements too.  Playlist of Japanese Author Ta...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We continue to explore one of Japan's greatest short story writers, Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Let's look at "Yam Gruel" which deals with themes of desire, class, lookism and more.  Ryunosuke Akutagawa Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Swl-3ma8Lk&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YD4J02nxwzNMelsm5Cv5Ld_ Subscribe:...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! The 1842 classic "Dead Souls" up for a talk today! Only the first of an unfinished trilogy due to Nikolai Gogol passing away before he could finish it. Let's talk about commerce, Russia, and Frank O'Connor's comments on "The Little Man" in regards to Chichikov in this poem. Our copy was translated by Richard...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we look at "Afternoon" by Ralph Ellison. This isn't the only story about Buster and Riley but it's the only one we've read. Do you think we are missing out on much without reading the other stories? Ralph Ellison Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62b3BxbTMlM&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YCDqNlos-81FrZwVp...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! One of the most complex stories we've ever read: The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges was mind-blowing! Let's talk about the usages of metafiction in this post-modernist work. The complications of blurred lines and hyper-accelerated scenes only help to confuse and disorient the reader in a good wa...