In this 1st episode of Season 4, we read a book whose original version has never been seen. The Jungle that we know, by Upton Sinclair, is the version that was highly censored because of its political context.  To gather information for this novel, Sinclair spent seven weeks undercover working in the meat packing plants of Chicago, ultimately exposing the horrific conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, that led to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

The main reason for the censorship, however, as Sinclair’s belief in socialism. It’s at that point that Dan and I start to goof in good old Upton Sincy. It’ll make sense why if you manage to make it to that point in the pod.

We hope you enjoy!

About the Episode 

Episode Notes

0-5 min — Introduction

5-10 min — About the author / Casting

10-25 min — Plot summary

25-30 min — Corruption in 20th-century Chicago

30-35 min — Deep fakes and post-truth

35-45 min — On socialism through history

45-49 min — The Jungle vs Grapes of Wrath

49-55 min — Closing

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In this final episode of the season, we rank all our stops on the world tour. As you know, we believe you don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Often, fictional stories can help us explore worlds outside our own, take us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allow us to widen our perspective. 

About Good Scribes Only

Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along and can help do the same. 

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About the Episode

You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Often, fiction books can help us explore world's outside our own, take us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allow us to widen our perspective. Seventh stop, Asia!  We hope you enjoy this discussion about '1Q84' by Haruki Murakami.

About the Book

This was our biggest disagreement yet, and widest split in rankings. Murakami's most ambitious work is love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s 1984. The book was an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of the most revered contemporary writers. 

About Good Scribes Only

Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along and can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview.

Episodes Notes

0-5 min — Introduction feelings

5-10 min — Murakami’s style

10-20 min — Casting the “movie”

20-25 min — Book I and Book II Plot summary

25-30 min — On the author

30-35 min — The best chapter

35-40 min — Book III summary

40-45 min — Religion and Power

45-50 min — Passages on writing and ghostwriting

50-55 min — Problems with the book

55-60 min — Style of the novel

60-66 min — Conclusion and Rating

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About the Episode

You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Often, fictional stories can help us explore worlds outside our own, take us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allow us to widen our perspective. Fifth stop, Oceania!  We hope you enjoy this discussion about 'Celestial Bodies' by Jokha Alharthi.

About the Book

In the village of al-Awafi, Oman, we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries following a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a feeling of duty; and Khawla, who refuses all marital offers and awaits a reunion with her true love, who has moved to Canada. Against the backdrop of a country modernizing from a traditional, slave-owning society, we follow the losses and love affairs of these three women and their families. Through the sisters, we’re provided a panoramic view into Omani society from the poorest slaves to the families who profited off capitalism, globalism, and modernization. Spread over several decades and generations, the narrative structure is both original and impressive and is a prime example of the beauty and power of fictional storytelling.

About Good Scribes Only

Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along and can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview.

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Newsletter

Jeremy's Website

Dan's Website

About the Episode

You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Often, fictional stories can help us explore worlds outside our own, take us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allow us to widen our perspective. Fifth stop, Oceania!  We hope you enjoy this discussion about 'Celestial Bodies' by Jokha Alharthi.

About the Book

In the village of al-Awafi, Oman, we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries following a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a feeling of duty; and Khawla, who refuses all marital offers and awaits a reunion with her true love, who has moved to Canada. Against the backdrop of a country modernizing from a traditional, slave-owning society, we follow the losses and love affairs of these three women and their families. Through the sisters, we’re provided a panoramic view into Omani society from the poorest slaves to the families who profited off capitalism, globalism, and modernization. Spread over several decades and generations, the narrative structure is both original and impressive and is a prime example of the beauty and power of fictional storytelling.

About Good Scribes Only

Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along and can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview.

Episode Notes

0-5 min — Introductory thoughts

5-15 min — Casting the actors

15-20 min — Title and broader significance

20-25 min — Tradition vs Progress

25-30 min — The three sisters

30-35 min — On arranged vs choice marriages

35-40 min — Kowla’s self-deceit

40-45 min — Subtle power of women in the community

45-50 min — Self-acceptance vs resignation from social roles

50-55 min — Conclusion and structure of the novel

55-60 min — Thoughts on the book

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Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview.

This episode is a follow up to this week's  discussion about The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

If you missed it, here's that episode Cheat Sheet

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About the Episode

You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Often, fictional stories can help us explore worlds outside our own, take us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allow us to widen our perspective. Fifth stop, Oceania!  We hope you enjoy this discussion about 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' by Richard Flanagan.

About the Book

🦘 Welcome to Australia. This week we read The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a book about war’s cruelties as well as the impossibility of love. The novel follows a single day in the life of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian doctor working as a slave in a Japanese labor camp in 1943. The novel jumps around in time and setting, journeying from Tokyo to the Burma railway, from the caves of Tasmania to a pre-war beachside hotel, ultimately providing the reader a view into just how challenging it can be to find meaning and love after an intense war experience.

In this episode Dan and I discuss memory, time, the dual nature of man, art, eastern vs western culture, ethnocentrism, and the challenge of love. It’s a dark, intense, poetically written book and a great stop for the Australia episode of this season.

About Good Scribes Only

Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview.

 We hope you enjoy this discussion about The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

Episode Cheat Sheet

Episode Notes:

0-5 min — Squirrel gate!

5-10 min — Book introduction

10-15 min — Casting the movie

15-22 min — Plot summary

22-25 min — Novel’s structure

25-30 min — On memory

30-35 min — Post-war treatment of enemies

35-40 min — Dorrigo’s affair

40-45 min — Dorrigo’s struggles

45-50 min — Philosophies behind the novel

50-55 min — Fame and reality

55-60 min — Final thoughts

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You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literature. Fourth stop, North America! 

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About the Episode

You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literature. Fourth stop, North America! 

About the Book

Published in 1939 and set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, the Grapes of Wrath follows one family's repeated collisions with the hard realities of America at the time, and what emerges is an intensely human yet majestic, tragic, stirring view into those who find (or fail to find) dignity in hard times. A snapshot of the tension between high and low class Americans, of one man’s inspired responses to injustice, and one woman’s unyielding courage, the novel probes the very core of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic tale, road novel, social commentary, and philosophical discussion, Steinbeck’s magnum opus  may be the most American book in the canon of North America's best literature.

About Good Scribes Only

Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview.

 We hope you enjoy this discussion about Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

Episode Notes

0-5 min — Introductory comments

5-10 min — Background on the time

10-15 min — Casting our movie

15-20 min — Character introductions

20-30 min — Religion and runaway capitalism

30-35 min — The “fambly” leaves Oklahoma

35-40 min — California and the American dream

40-45 min — Classism in Grapes of Wrath

45-50 min — The family struggles in California

50-55 min — Themes and devastating conclusion

55-60 min — Title meaning and final thoughts

60-65 min — Ratings and conclusion

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You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literature

This weeks book: The President by Miguel Angel Asturias is as ruthless as it is hilarious. It chronicles the tale of a cruel dictator and his plots to eliminate just about every political opponent in his path. The book has long been lauded as one of, if not the greatest, depiction of the harmful affects of totalitarianism within a country, and its people. 

In The President, Asturias draws from personal experience as a journalist in an oppressive time in Guatemala's history, but it's not as dark as some other books we've discussed. He uses humor, satire, and absurdism to illustrate the kinds of governmental transgressions he dealt with, and how living in a police state warps an individual’s psyche. Asturias was famously outspoken against all forms of injustice in Guatemala, and it earned him a reputation that brought both awards and imprisonment. But the man was clearly a trailblazer for his time: In his Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech, for example, Asturias vowed that his work would "continue to reflect the voice of the Latin American people and their problems." Part satire, part who-dunnit crime drama, part social commentary, The President is a great read for anyone interested in social commentary and/or in that bizarre (and unfortunate) moment in Latin American history.

About Good Scribes Only

Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview.

 We hope you enjoy this discussion about The President by Miguel Angel Asturias 

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