Good Scribes Only

About the Episode 

GOAT ALERT 🐐 

For the 1910's episode of Season 4, we read Portrait of the Artist as a Man by James Joyce

Rich in details that offer vital insights into Joyce's art, this masterpiece of semi-autobiographical fiction remains essential reading in any program of study in modern literature. The book follows its main character, Stephen Dedalus, from childhood to adulthood on a  quest to find identity. Through art, Dedalus gradually emancipates himself from family, religious, and claims of Ireland itself. Both an insight into Joyce's life and childhood, and a unique work of modernist fiction, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.

We hope you enjoy!

About the Book

Rich in details that offer vital insights into Joyce's art, this masterpiece of semi-autobiographical fiction remains essential reading in any program of study in modern literature. The book follows its main character, Stephen Dedalus, from childhood to adulthood on a  quest to find identity. Through art, Dedalus gradually emancipates himself from family, religious, and claims of Ireland itself. Both an insight into Joyce's life and childhood, and a unique work of modernist fiction, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.

About the Show
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. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.

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About the Episode 

In this 3rd episode of Season 4, we read Portrait of the Artist as a Man by James Joyce

Rich in details that offer vital insights into Joyce's art, this masterpiece of semi-autobiographical fiction remains essential reading in any program of study in modern literature. The book follows its main character, Stephen Dedalus, from childhood to adulthood on a  quest to find identity. Through art, Dedalus gradually emancipates himself from family, religious, and claims of Ireland itself. Both an insight into Joyce's life and childhood, and a unique work of modernist fiction, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.

We hope you enjoy!

About the Show
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. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.

Episode Notes

0-5 min — Poor excuse for Irish accents

5-10 min — Introduction to James Joyce

10-15 min — Plot summary

15-20 min — Irish Independence

20-25 min — Meaning of the title

25-30 min — Genius in art

30-40 min — Plot continued

40-45 min — On retreats

45-50 min — Religion at the time

50-55 min — Final thoughts on the book

55-60 min — Ratings and conclusion

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About the Book

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.

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. In Season 4 we’re traveling through the 20th century, decade by decade, because Dan really wanted to see what the world was like before plumbing was a common thing.

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Newsletter

Jeremy's Website

Dan's Website

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

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

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Jeremy's Website

Dan's Website

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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