Good Scribes Only

In episode 3, we discuss Kazuo Ishiguro's Booker-Prize winning novel, Remains of the Day. This Japanese-born British novelist is  one of the most decorated  living writers. Remains of the Day is Ishiguro's first novelistic venture outside of Japan, and the novel is fresh and smart and filled with the originality of a master storyteller who is capable of travel and metamorphosis. In this show. we discuss: unreliable narrators, dignity, banter, the pursuit of goodness, and much more. Thanks for listening. And enjoy✌️ WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

If there were ever a man who embodies the "Good Scribe" it's Kurt Vonnegut. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut is lauded as one of the 20th century's greatest writers and social critics. He published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, five works of nonfiction before his death in New York City in 2007 at the age of 84. Thematically, this book is a boilerplate. In this black comedy, Vonnegut puts under the microscope: writing, fame, consumerism, American social values, freewill, race and many other themes most authors actively avoid. Breakfast of Champions lives in the Pantheon of literature, alongside other novels by Kurt Vonnegut such as Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, and Welcome to the Monkey House. After this conversation, we hope you'll read (or re-read) what might be the bestnovel from one of the greatest novelists to ever do it. Enjoy ✌️ Website TikTok Instagram YouTube Newsletter Jeremy's Website Dan's Website

In this episode, we discussed Ted Chaing's short story collection: Stories of Your Life and Others. Mr. Chiang is, to put it lightly, a rare breed of science fiction author. Perhaps this is because, before becoming a novelist, was a technical writer in during the American software boom. He is one of the only sci-fi authors either of us have read who manages to successfully balance a rigorous understanding of science and technology with authorial emotional depth. We spent most of our time on two of the stories in the collection: Tower of Babylon and Story of Your Life. Babylon is a science fiction, fantasy novelette and Chiang's first (and towering) published work. As you might expect, the story examines the Tower of Babel myth from the Old Testament and this story won the 1991 Nebula Award for Best novelette. Story of Your Life is perhaps Chiang's best known work, mostly because of the popularity of its film adaptation arrival, starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. For the Story of Your Life portion of the podcast, we focus our attention on the written version, and its major themes like language and free will. Enjoy ✌️ Website TikTok Instagram YouTube Newsletter Jeremy's Website Dan's Website