The Bookening

Sorry, those of you who like long episodes, this one came in a little short. But on the plus side .... THE BOOKENING TALKS ABOUT THE GREATEST AUTHOR OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!! Support us here! CHAPTERS: 00:00 Pleading introduction 07:50: Contextual Texan begins 09:13 Biography 18:20 Theme 21:52 Detective novel 24:51 A brief break for donor shout-outs! 28:30 Revenge of the Pulps 42:38 Down these mean streets, a man must walk ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this special bonus announcement episode, our heroes reveal what beloved book they're reading for their 100th episode celebration. Then a special guest shows up and threatens to derail their plans. It's complicated but basically we have several episodes on, yes, Harry Potter planned but we MUST get over $500 on Patreon in order to release them. Sign up to support us today! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Here we are, continuing our discussing of The Odyssey. You probably knew that. Support us here! This is an interesting episode because at a certain point it kinda sounds like we're beating up on the classical movement. But actually we're not doing that, exactly, so just bear with us here and don't get offended, because we obviously weren't talking about YOU. :) 02:22 Donor Shout-outs 07:05 Mythological history 11:25 Rome was not a fan 12:25 Is Odysseus a good guy? 17:16 Just 'cause it's old don't make it moral 26:00 Classical education 37:15 Homer was a greek 39:00 Redemptive sacrifice 44:58 What age should boys read it? ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes dig into The Odyssey in this episode, say smart things, and begin their dissertation on how the whole thing is about hospitality. Support our heroes here! 3:58 Donor Shout-outs 07:32 Lawrence of Arabia 09:16 Structure 13:20 Baggage 18:20 Blue flippin' stick 20:10 Page-turner 28:16 Characters that are dynamic (yeah yeah, you try and write these chapter marker titles) 32:00 Did the suitors deserve to die? 38:13 Hospitality 45:00 Xenia ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Finally! Our heroes are discussing The Odyssey! Sing to me, O Contextual Texan! 00:29 Nathan does none of his normal schtick + AVENGERS SPOILERS 05:25 Donor Shout-outs 10:04 Contextual Texan begins 12:05 An intro to Homer 18:00 He never existed? 22:48 Who did folks used to say Homer was? 25:00 Greece 29:00 Higher criticism 36:10 Homeric question 44:00 We continue to debate who wrote the darn thing ... 50:14 Epic 52:35 Translation ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

AVENGERS SPOILERS AT ABOUT 20:00 Our heroes are prepping for a big discussion of The Odyssey. It turns out their old nemesis (?) C.S. Lewis had lots to say about epic poetry, so they begin there. Also they answer a listener query about their Remains of the Day episode. A certain important Pastor who is a Master of Reading is notably absent from this episode, but we promise this will NOT become a thing. 03:00 Donor Shout-out 06:49 Brad asks about Remains of the Day 18:37 Exciting announcement! 19:15 The best thing C.S. Lewis ever wrote 20:00 AVENGERS SPOILERS 21:30 Preface to Preface to Paradise Lost 22:15 Lewis recap 25:00 How to judge an work 34:00 What's an epic? 37:00 No, seriously, what's an epic? 40:58 Poets use common vernacular 42:50 Ritual 44:00 Glory and fate 46:05 What's missing from Homer 49:10 Aside about T.S. Eliot 50:46 Imagination boasters 52:55 The repetitions ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Well. It's come to this. It would be a pleasure to burn ... HBO's terrible movie of Fahrenheit 451. It was really bad. And our heroes recorded an episode detailing all the ways that it stunk. Then ... the episode had technical problems. So (because schedules were tight) we recorded this slightly shortened redo. Sorry, it couldn't be longer, but frankly ... it got what it deserved. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes thought it would be fun to review the new Fahrenheit 451 HBO movie, which is something they will do, assuming it's not too HBOy. But in order to justify doing that, they had to review the book, which they didn't particularly have fond memories of. But it may or may not have held up better than they remembered. Listen! Help Jake build a mechanical hound! 00:00 Sundry matters 06:25 Donor Shout-outs 08:30 A great sentence 11:08 Baggage check 22:15 A good first novel 24:10 Parables 28:00 Un-self-conscious writers 33:00 Swinging for the fences 34:56 Mysterious nails! 36:00 Yuck, Ernest Cline 37:35 Yuck, Madeline L'engle 38:03 This book doesn't suck up to you 40:32 Hope 41:55 Weak character writing 44:50 Maturity ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes very much liked this book, and in this episode they talk about it, contrasting it with some of the other, lesser children's books they've read. 00:00 The show begins 03:43 Jake's baggage 05:03 Brandon's baggage 10:20 Bookening baggage 13:45 Nathan's baggage 14:45 Fundamentals!!!! 20:37 What makes this book so great? 24:33 Irony done well 30:29 Nathan closes the loop 33:06 Representative details 38:00 Sentiment free 39:57 Great literary spiders and existentialism 46:30 Donor Shout-outs! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Jake's children need shoes! This is kind of a weird episode, as Jake is MIA, and Nathan and Brandon have an extended discussion of what constitutes good style, using E. B. White's classic Elements of Style as a jumping off point. So that's pretty much what happens. If you're the sort of person who wonders where our heroes get off saying Ready Player One has BAD style, this is the episode for you!!!! No table of contents, but our heroes talk about style and they start talking about style pretty quickly by their standards, and donor shout-outs are at the very end. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★