The CodeX Cantina

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We did this story along with The Deanie. "The Paper Menagerie" is a 2011 fantasy/magical realism short story by Ken Liu. It was first published in "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction." It is the first work of fiction to win all three of SF's major awards: the Hugo, the Nebula and the World Fantasy...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we look at "A Once Perfect Day for Bannafish" by Mieko Kawakami. This is an imagining of what would happen to young Sybil from the J. D. Salinger story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." This is an interesting piece with a shift in narration and some themes on recurring events in one's life and how we proc...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's talk about syphilis, final sacrament, and more religious implications with James Joyce's "The Sisters" today. If you have a Short Story or Novel you think we'd like or would want us to review, let us know here: https://forms.gle/41VvksZTKBsxUYQMA Read for Free: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2814/2814-...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we look at "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" by J. D. Salinger from the collection Nine Tales. Salinger has a knack for using children to represent innocence. This is a haunting tale with "shell shock" or PTSD impacting a vet's attempt to reintegrate into society.  Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's review "Nailbiter" today by Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson! One of Image Comics' horror comics. We will have this chunked out like a reading blog to get our takes fresh off the press of reading them. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpfRIbCXmiFvqxIw?sub_confirmation=1 ===========...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Happy Bloomsday! We're celebrating this year by doing "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce along with our friends Noah and Lucas. Lots of people have asked for tips on reading Joyce and the best place to start reading James Joyce. If you chose this book, let's talk about some of the backgr...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we look at "The Thing Around Your Neck" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. An amazing piece that I think will resonate with a lot of people and allow them to see themselves or have a window into a life that is different than theirs. Let's talk about what is the thing around your neck and what does it mean? Wi...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's talk about some class commentary and mortality in James Joyce's "The Dead" this week. Read for Free: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2814/2814-h/2814-h.htm 0:00 Introductions 0:18 Publication Info 4:07 Context 7:15 Analysis 9:10 Analysis - Class Interactions 18:28 Analysis - Mortality #JamesJoyce #Dubli...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's talk about "The Memory Police" this week by Yoko Ogawa. I think this piece can be hard for many to feel comfortable in offering an interpretation. We think the marketing of this one was tough with it appealing to SciFi as well as Literary Fiction fans. Maybe it sat between genres? Maybe there are many m...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's talk March Wrap up and April TBR as well as Krypto's phobia. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpfRIbCXmiFvqxIw?sub_confirmation=1 ================================= Books or Stories Mentioned in this Video: Novels:  Wrapped in Rainbows by Valerie Boyd  The Brothers Karamazov b...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we jump into Books 8 (Mitya), 9 (The Preliminary Investigation), 10 (The Boys), 11 (Ivan), 12 (A Judicial Error), and the Epilogue of "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. We're going to move at lightning speed through just some of the analysis points we want to talk to. Let's be honest, you co...

We talk about Free Indirect Speech and a little bit of James Joyce's past in this video. Eveline makes a lot of choices in this piece and at a young age. Did you guys connect with this character at all? Let us know in the comments below. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpfRIbCXmiFvqxIw?sub_confirmation=1 Read for Free:  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2814/2814-h/2814-h.htm...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! "Report on the Thing" (Original title is "O relatório da coisa") was published in "Where Were You at Night" by Clarice Lispector. A very original work. Maybe there was no intent but we take that on as readers to see if something has value in our lives. We're going to explore our view of this story! Clarice Li...

Is Shirley Jackson's The Lottery America's Greatest Short Story? Read for Free: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpfRIbCXmiFvqxIw?sub_confirmation=1 #ShirleyJackson Forgive the old men as they pretend they can use Social Media: http:/...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we look at masculinity and relationships in "Muttsy" by Zora Neale Hurston. A wonderful piece that looks at marriage and relationships as well as what makes us happy. Zora Neale Hurston Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g87mIBBjubw&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YBoK2V_iUrDZbr-d8WSF6zp Subscribe: https://w...

I think we all want the ending explained. We explore some of the usages of Light and Dark as well as Religious References in this piece. This is just an interpretation and discussion we offer. We know there are plenty of other opportunities to interpret. We've seen great ones in regards to the modernity and Celtic revival. Let us know your favorite in the comments below. Subscribe: https://www.you...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we jump into Books 5, 6, and 7 of "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. We're going to move at lightning speed through just some of the analysis points we want to talk to. Let's be honest, you could make this video 12 hours and you still couldn't cover it all! In fact, you could probably spend...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we look at "The Lady with the Dog" (sometimes "The Lady with the Toy Dog") by Anton Chekhov. Widely regarded as his best story of all time. We talk about some of the themes of private and public as well as some concepts of mortality that could be injected from Chekhov's personal life. We didn't have tim...

Ryunosuke Akutagawa wrote two short stories, "Rashomon" and "In a Grove", that heavily influenced Akira Kurosawa's film, Rashomon. Let's crack into these two masterpieces and talk about some possible interpretations. Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Read for Free: Rashomon: https://www.shortstoryproject.com/story/rashomon/ In a Grove: https:...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We're looking at "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid this week. A very interesting story. The format is unlike anything we've looked at on this channel. With themes and topics in raising children, advice, and more, let's break down what's so engaging in this story. Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzdqkkUKpf...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! We return to the wonderful and enigmatic world of Clarice Lispector. We dive into "In Search of Dignity" (In Search of a Dignity or even sometimes In Search of Some Dignity) and talk about regret, fig trees and Jesus, and masculinity and stuck in a state.  Clarice Lispector Playlist: https://www.youtube....

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we're looking at the controversial author series with Flannery O'Connor. She brings up topics of racism as integration and civil rights sweep across the country.  Flannery O'Connor Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFTSFjtIDWg&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YBZyUx5j397gVRR65-YafCt Subscribe: https://w...

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Let's look at "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston today. We looked at oppression in marriages, religion, and racial divides today. This was some incredible dialect writing and we are looking forward to reading more from her! We wanted to select this piece after recently having read "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlot...

Ryunosuke Akutagawa wrote two short stories, "Rashomon" and "In a Grove", that heavily influenced Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon. Let's crack into these two masterpieces and talk about some possible interpretations. It's also worth noting that the names can be spelled as RASHŌMON and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Our version was translated to English by Takashi Kojima. Read for Free: Rashomon: https://www....

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! A great little piece on blending cultures. What did you think of the local Native American rituals and Catholicism in this story? Other Literature from Native American or Indigenous Authors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9wx3uwGDUc&list=PLHg_kbfrA7YAiawEORQYT5Af7Pngzb7Vx TABLE OF CONTENTS: 0:00 Introdu...