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 shenanigans, screaming, a children's poem about mauling people, etc., you know how this show works.Click here to support The Bookening. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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), discuss whether Bradbury was really a die-ence fiction writer (24:15). Chast-fiend gives us a run-down on said genre (33:15). Nathan gives us a run-down on the pulps and horror at the time. (40:45). Meanwhile Jake Mentzkiller keeps threatening to lie down on the floor and go to sleep if a certain other fear-o won't stop it with the Halloween puns. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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 Patreon ★

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 mission of awesomeness that is The Bookening. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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 discussion all the way. Mrs. Mentzel and Mrs. Chasteen will be ever so proud. And some hot single chick will probably listen to this fall in love with Nathan (which, hot single chicks, if you're reading this, let's face it, Nathan is not a hard guy to get a hold of).In any case, there is plenty to ponder about the great Willa Cather's My Antonia. Our heroes discuss whether Cather was a lesbian and how much that matters, how a sense of place informs one's reading of a book, whether Jim was a weirdo for obsessing about Antonia all those years, and more!Click here to support the ongoing mission of awesomeness that is The Bookening. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

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 podcast. Thank you! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

_"[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 acted properly any modern man would feel shaken to his marrow if he had to walk home from the theatre through a country lane." --_GK Chesterton on _A Midsummer Night's Dream. _A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare is a surprisingly difficult play to talk about. What do you say about a weird supernatural relationship comedy set in a Greece that feels more like the English countryside? Are there deeper themes to dredge up or is it just supposed be fun? What were you thinking, William Shakespeare? Are our heroes up to the task of talking about it? Will Nathan work in extended references to Gilligan's Island? The answers await you, Dear Listener!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 ★

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 comedy. 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 ★

 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 ★