The Bookening

If you love The Bookening, we really do need your help. Please click here to support The Bookening for a very low monthly amount and help us continue making the podcast. Thank you!In episode 40, our heroes talk about N.D. Wilson's young adult horror/fantasy/action novel _Boys of Blur. _For such a slim volume, this book packs a lot in, and our heroes find themselves with plenty to discuss, including small towns, football rivalries, race relations, C.S. Lewis-wannabees, useless clichés, useful tropes, extravagant character names that are good, and one character name that they weren't such a huge fan of. By the way, here's some footage from the event that Jake mentions involving Nate's dad Doug.Click here to buy the book.Next week, more _Boys of Blur. _After that, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

 'My father's relationships were always between equals, however old or young, distinguished or undistinguished the other person. Once, when I was quite little, he came up to the nursery while I was having my lunch. And while he was talking I paused between mouthfuls, resting my hands on the table, knife and fork pointing upwards. "You oughtn't really to sit like that," he said, gently. "Why not?" I asked, surprised. "Well..." He hunted around for a reason he could give. Because it's considered bad manners? Because you mustn't? Because... "Well," he said, looking in the direction my fork was pointing, "Suppose somebody suddenly fell through the ceiling. They might land on your fork and that would be very painful."'-Christopher (Robin) Milne on his fatherIt's another episode of _The Bookening _and this time our heroes are discussing _Winnie the Pooh _and _The House of Pooh Corner. _This proves to be a more delicate task than expected, as our heroes realize that while there are many things to admire and love about A. A. Milne and his creations, there are things to be wary of, too.There's something weird about these stories. Something sort of off. They're not quite children's stories. And the cumulative effect is a little different than just some silly stories a humble father made up for his kid. Plus, there's the matter of Milne's own history, and his relationship with his son Christopher, which wasn't half as magical as the stories make it out to be.Will our heroes get to the bottom of this Heffalump pit? Or will this journey into the 100-acre woods prove to be their undoing????????????????Click here to become a supporter (pretty please). Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Next time _Boys of Blur _by ND Wilson!  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

If you like episodes about literary theory and how literature works, this one is for you, as Brandon and Nathan go deep-diving, trying to figure out what on earth William Faulkner was trying to accomplish with As I Lay Dying and whether it was a good thing. Give us money here.Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Next we're reading The Complete Winnie the Pooh ... and after that _Boys of Blur _by ND Wilson  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

As I Lay Dying part 2 is still coming tomorrow.  But today we have a BONUS EPISODE about three ABSOLUTE LITERARY CLASSICS that are all on TV or coming to movie screens soon. We've got our hot take on the books they are based on. Also ... Give us money!!! Please and thank you.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This right here is an episode about William Faulkner's _As I Lay Dying. _Sadly, our heroes had to record this episode with Jake M.I.A. So that was weird, and is hopefully a rare occurrence.Left to their own devices, Nathan and Brandon ladle on the context, talking about everything from Faulkner's life to the Southern Renaissance in American literature to early Hollywood's penchant for misusing great writers.Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor keep coming up, possibly because both our heroes love Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor. Plus, with Jake gone, Nathan and Brandon are finally free to reveal his secret shame to the world. IT WILL SHOCK YOU!Give us money here.Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Next we're reading The Complete Winnie the Pooh ... and after that _Boys of Blur _by ND Wilson (we switched the schedule around in order to do our (very very tiny) part for Wilson, given his recent severe medical troubles. We encourage everybody to buy a copy and read along.) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

"Man, in short, is to storm the heavens and overthrow the gods, or even to become a god himself. There is nothing outrageously improbable in such a conspiracy. Indeed, at a moment when a single atomic bomb – of a type already pronounced “obsolete” – has just blown probably three hundred thousand people to fragments, it sounds all too topical. Plenty of people in our age do entertain the monstrous dreams of power that Mr. Lewis attributes to his characters, and we are within sight of the time when such dreams will be realisable."--From a review of _That Hideous Strength _by George Orwell In our final episode on C. S. Lewis's weird book, our heroes ponder modernism, post modernism, and the demise of western civilization itself!!!!!!!!!Special thanks again to our guest star for this series, Pastor Stephen Baker, dean of the most excellent Clearnote Pastor's College.Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Next month we're readingAs I Lay Dying. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

_WARNING: DUE TO THE THEMES AND IDEAS OF THE BOOK BEING DISCUSSED, THIS EPISODE CONTAINS MUCH MORE (AND MUCH MORE FRANK) DISCUSSION OF SEX THAN IS USUAL IN OUR PODCAST. LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. _The advisory above is no joke. This episode is pretty much all about marriage, sex, and eroticism. Mostly because that's what That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis is pretty much all about. Well, that and Mr. Bultitude the Bear. Listen as our heroes plunge bravely into the nature of the sacred erotic bond between Man and Woman, as expounded by a then-47-year-old professor of Medieval and Renaissance Litetature (and up to that point lifelong bachelor).As in the previous episode, they are much aided by the irrepressible Pastor Stephen Baker (Dean of Clearnote Pastor's College), who explains why every college student on the face of the planet should be forced to read this book. His theory on Mr. Bultitude is that he is "just a bear." Brandon has other ideas about Mr. Bultitude but they go repeatedly and terribly awry. Jake has a amazing pitch for who should play Fairy Hardcastle in the movie version. Nathan plays it cool. Arguably this week's topic is out of his wheelhouse, and anyway, he's never one for vain speechifying. Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Next month we're readingAs I Lay Dying. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

 In this episode our heroes begin their discussion of C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength. They spend much of the time discussing Lewis himself--who he was, the larger context of his life and work, and whether he is a trustworthy influence on Christians today. You'll learn why the Space Trilogy actually shouldn't be called that, what kinds of trashy novels C.S. Lewis was a sucker for, and how Lewis thought a novel of adventure, fantasy, or escapism should work. You'll also learn why, even given some of Lewis's more egregious doctrinal errors, if you found yourself in his shoes, you wouldn't have done any better. So haters be cool.Our heroes are aided immeasurably by the presence of their first ever guest star, Stephen Baker, huge Space Trilogy nerd (he wouldn't like us calling it that), associate pastor of Clearnote Church, and Dean of Clearnote Pastor's College (aspiring pastors, check it out!).Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Next month we're readingAs I Lay Dying. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

On November 21, 1994 a film began production that would change the course of cinema--along with one young man's life--forever. The film was Amy Heckerling's immortal comedy classic Clueless_ _and the young man was Jake Mentzel. Over twenty years have passed since that fateful day. Mentzel has earned well-deserved repute as an associate pastor of Clearnote Church and the executive director of Warhorn Media. Yet his love for the film that once so inspired and spoke to him remains undimmed.Given all this, one might have expected Mentzel to approach the source material for said cinematic masterpiece with some trepidation. Jane Austen's Emma! Ha! More like Jane's Austen's coal, which Amy Heckerling and Alicia Silverstone fashioned into a dazzling diamond of celluloid delight.Mentzel was pleasently surprised, however, to find that _Emma _did have its charms and diversions. But try as it might, it could never achieve anything remotely on the level of the glories of that great film that will stand forever as a testament to the human spirit eternal.Anyway here is part 2 of a podcast about _Emma, _sorry it's not about _Clueless, _it's pretty informative and enjoyable anyway though, at least we hope so, also parts of the above narrative may be horrible lies, who knows which parts though, thanks for listening. Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Coming next month, C. S. Lewis's amazing conclusion to what was otherwise a kinda boring space trillogy. Also coming soon, a new Warhorn Media podcast called _Sound of Sanity. _What is it? You'll have to wait and listen to find out ... ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

It's Jane Austen. She's the best. This is one of her novels. Our heroes talk about it. What else do you need to know?Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Coming next month, maybe C. S. Lewis's weirdest, most violent novel?  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★