The Bookening

In 1941, the Pulitzer Board convened to decide what work they were going to honor with their prestigious prize for fiction—and it didn’t take long for the entire group to come to an enthusiastic decision for Ernest Hemingway’s bestseller _For Whom The Bell Tolls. _But by the time the meeting came to its bitter end, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction was going to … nobody. What happened?Apparently, Nicholas Murray Butler happened. He was the President of Columbia University (which administers the Pulitzer) and he was NOT okay with the prize going to an “offensive and lascivious book” like FWTBT. How dare the committee even think about sullying the University’s name by associating it with Hemingway’s book?It ended in deadlock and defeat, no Pulitzer for any writer of fiction that year, and none for Papa Hemingway until _The Old Man and the Sea _in 1953.The real question this raises is whether there is a Pulitzer Prize for Podcasting. And if there is, when will our heroes of The Bookening win it? Will it be for this—their brave foray into Ernest Hemingway’s _For Whom The Bell Tolls? _Is the book an offensive, lascivious piece of macho garbage? Or a sweeping meditation of death and sacrifice? Just who exactly does the bell toll for, and why don’t they answer?Never fear, our heroes are on hand to ponder these very questions in the most macho way possible—Rugged, Red-Blooded Jake Mentzel, Brawny Brandon Chasteen, and Exceedingly Masculine Nathan Alberson.Could this be the manliest episode of The Bookening yet??????????!?!? ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Pelican huh?War and what? The Immortal who of Stratford upon what?This is part 2, the nerdier part, of our series wherein our heroes recount their Top Five Childhood Books. Except really we're coming out of childhood now, as we finish our discussion of the books that played a formative part in molding and shaping our heroes. Yeah. Not much more to say about it then that. Listen to it if you like things that are awesome. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The Little House stories ...Narnia ...Goosebumps?!?! What do these three things have to do with each other?Well, they are clearly all series of books. That's for sure.Also, they are all books that may or may not appear on Nathan, Jake, or Brandon's respective lists of their Top Five Favorite Books from Childhood.That's right, our heroes are taking us on an autobiographical journey through their own pasts, revealing the stories and books that molded them into the upstanding gentlemen the are today.You'll find out which story horrified Young Nathan so badly that he spent the next many years of his life trying to recreate the experience. You'll meet young Jake the Jock (Undercover Nerd-in-Training).  And you'll be introduced to Young Brandon, a nerd who was ... not so undercover.Whether you were a public school kid who got to order Boxcar Children Books from the Scholastic catalog, or a home-schooled dork who had to stick with the Cooper Kids or Trailblazers, this episode is sure to evoke some warm memories, and maybe suggest a few books to read with your own children. And maybe a few to avoid.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this thrill-a-minute episode of The Bookening, our heroes wipe the East-of-Eden tears from their eyes,_ _and plunge into the murky depths Rudyard Kipling's  The Jungle Book.Initially, they can't think of all that much to say about it, which leads Nathan to introduce a dangerous piece of podcasting contraband into the proceedings. When said device proves to be more dangerous than they could possibly imagine, our heroes must use all their wits to properly comprehend Kipling ... OR BE DESTROYED IN THE PROCESS!Will Nathan, Jake, and Brandon live to read another tale??!??!?! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

“Mr. Steinbeck has written the precise equivalent of those nineteenth century melodramas in which the villains could always be recognized because they waxed their mustaches …” —Anthony West in a _New Yorker _review of East of Eden entitled “California Moonshine.”From it’s publication in 1952, John Steinbeck’s _East of Eden _has always been more of a popular than a critical favorite. As another great twentieth century author (Raymond Chandler) wrote, “The average critic never recognizes an achievement when it happens. He explains it after it has become respectable.”There are parts of _East of Eden _(the characters of Lee and Cathy, some of Steinbeck’s prose styling) that may never be respectable. It’s one of those books that’s too much of a potboiler for certain members of the (ahem) Critical Intelligentsia, and too much like Literature for certain blockheads who only read potboilers.Not that any of this matters to the heroes of The Bookening.They love it all_ _unabashedly. Read it and you will too.In the final part of their series on John Steinbeck’s _East of Eden, _our heroes wax elegant on Adam Trask and his sons, crush on Abra, love on Lee, and try to understand the mystery that is Cathy. Do they succeed in saying everything they have to say about this awesome book? They mayest.Timshel, Bro. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes dig into East of Eden and particularly the Hamilton family in this spoiler-filled episode. First they discuss their extreme admiration for prophet/poet/closet-drunk/all-around-good-guy Samuel Hamilton—and for Steinbeck for creating and sustaining him. Then they find that they all have a lot of affection for Liza Hamilton too, fearsome though she be.They talk about what type of home the Hamiltons had, what lessons we can learn as parents, and why bad sons sometimes happen to good dads. Finally, Jake and Brandon both rhapsodize on the sweetness and joy of fatherhood, as Nathan no doubt looks on with silent envy and despair (it's a podcast though, so you can't tell one way or another). ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

**SPOILER FREE EPISODE** (You can listen to this podcast even if you haven't read _East of Eden.) (_And hopefully it will make you want to read East of Eden.) (Because you should read it.)Our matchless heroes cast one last lingering look at Jane Austen, along with a withering glare at some Austen spin-offs, knock-offs, and sequelizations. Then it's on to John Steinbeck and his magnum opus _East of Eden. _Which you should read if you haven't because (SPOILER) it's great. The gang offer an overview of the book, it's themes, and why you're a bad person if you won't read it. The Rootin' tootin' Contextual-Texan (Brandon) talks about why the Lost Generation was a bunch of babies and how Steinbeck stood apart. Jake and Nathan compare John Steinbeck to a dithering grandfather and somehow it comes out to a compliment. Our heroes all agree that Steinbeck was, above all, a storyteller, and it is the art of the storyteller that he is practicing so magnificently in _East of Eden, _moreso perhaps even than the writer's art. We really like this book a lot. Please read it if you haven't. Seriously.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In the final episode re: _Pride and Prejudice, _our heroes wax poetic on why Charlotte Collins (nee Lucas) may NOT have made such a lousy choice of husband after all. Brandon compares P&P to Shakespeare, Jake compares Darcy to Boaz, and Nathan hopes to toss the old pigskin with Jane Austen one day.Then everybody hates on that awful Keira Knightley movie, which they all correctly and sensibly despise as the piece of utterly worthless garbage that it is, effectively saying to the movie,”Could you expect us to rejoice in the inferiority of your Darcy?—to congratulate ourselves on the hope of watching a movie whose hero is so decidedly beneath the novel’s?” In conclusion, we hate that movie. But the book is good.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Our heroes continue their discussion of P&P.First, they return to the issue of who is better feminine role model—Jane or Elizabeth Bennett? Then they pile disgust on Mr. Bennett until they feel like maybe they've gone too far. And that leads to them wondering whether J.A. in fact went too far in her disgust with Mrs. B. Then they look at Lydia and Wickham—and the Lydia and Wickham that exist inside each one of us. It's deep, man. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In which Nathan Alberson, Brandon Chasteen, and Pastor Jake Mentzel introduce themselves to the world of podcasting. Brandon provides a rootin’ tootin’ Texas introduction to the world of Jane Austen. Jake talks about how he first experienced_Pride and Prejudice_ in its most obnoxious and Keira-Knightleyian form. Nathan could not be less enthusiastic about Chiclits chewing gum. Then Brandon and Jake are forced to leap to Elizabeth Bennet’s defense when Nathan posits that she might be kind of annoying if you met her in real life. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★