Good Scribes Only

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! 

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. 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

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Newsletter

Jeremy's Website

Dan's Website

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 

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. 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. Third stop, Guatemala! 

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 

Episode Notes

0-5 min — Intro

5-15 min — Casting the movie

10-15 min — Part 1 plot summary

15-20 min — Why use humor?

20-25 min — Depiction of totalitarianism

25-30 min — Viewing culture from the outside

30-35 min — Character overview

35-40 min — Part 2 plot summary

40-45 min — Political history in Latin America

45-50 min — The power of fiction

50-55 min — Plot conclusion

55-60 min — Wrap up

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Newsletter

Jeremy's Website

Dan's Website

About the Episode

In this episode Dan and Jeremy share personal experiences around traveling and doing business as Americans on the African continent

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: 'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah  is at once the story of an African boy's coming of age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of traditional African patterns by European colonialism. It presents a major African voice to western readers, depicting how Africans had to adjust to the new reality of European colonialism. The result is a page-turning saga that covers the same territory as the novels of Isak Dinesen and William Boyd, but does so from a perspective never before available on that seldom-chronicled part of the world.

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 'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah.

Good Scribes Only on Instagram

Find Jeremy Online

Find Daniel online

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. 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. Stop two, Tanzania! 

'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah  is at once the story of an African boy's coming of age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of traditional African patterns by European colonialism. It presents a major African voice to western readers, depicting how Africans had to adjust to the new reality of European colonialism. The result is a page-turning saga that covers the same territory as the novels of Isak Dinesen and William Boyd, but does so from a perspective never before available on that seldom-chronicled part of the world.

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 'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah.

Episode Notes

0-5 min — Intro

5-10 min — Casting the movie

10-15 min — Plot Summary

15-20 min — On “form” in novels

20-25 min — The multiculturality of Africa

25-30 min — History of Tanzania

30-35 min — European and religious influences

35-40 min — Plot continued

40-45 min — The garden motif

45-50 min — Underlying philosophies in the book

50-55 min — Yusuf’s coming of age and title significance

55-60 min — Conclusion and final thoughts

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Newsletter

Jeremy's Website

Dan's Website

About the Episode
In this mini-episode, Daniel and Jeremy explore their personal reflections, tips, and thoughts on travel. This week's read was “Flights” by the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, a fascinating book in the way that mysterious, chin-scratching things are fascinating. It is sometimes a work of fiction, but also a treatise in her theories on anatomy, philosophy, and human nature, all centered around the experience of traveling, both through the world and over time in the body. 

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 'Flights' by  Olga Tokarczuk.

Good Scribes Only on Instagram

Find Jeremy Online

Find Daniel online

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. 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. First stop, Poland! 

“Flights” by the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk is fascinating in the way that mysterious, chin-scratching things are exciting….It is sometimes a work of fiction, but it is also a treatise in her theories on anatomy, philosophy, and human nature, all centered around the experience of traveling, both through the world and over time in the body. 

The narrator, an unnamed Polish writer is a modern-day hunter-gatherer: she has an unending need for exploration, picking up ideas and filling them into a book of many strange parts: there are mini-essays on airports, hotels, travel psychology, guidebooks, ruminations on language, excursions into historical figures like Chopin. Some less than a page, while the fictional tales stretch 20 plus pages, all over the world and time periods. Flights is a book unlike any we've read, and if you can make it through this episode, it’s definitely worth your time.

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 'Flights' by  Olga Tokarczuk.

Episode Notes

0-5 min — Intro

5-10 min — Movie Casting

10-15 min — On Flights’ form and structure

15-20 min — Fragmentation, exploring cultures, and the human body

20-25 min — Authenticity in travel

25-30 min — Plot discussion

30-35 min — Network state and technological confusion

35-40 min — Discussion of the author

40-45 min — Anatomy and the human body

45-50 min — The spiritual side of travel

50-55 min — Favorite passages

55-60 min — Conclusion and rating

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Newsletter

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. Season 2 focuses on the cardinal vices and virtues: Lust and chastity, gluttony and temperance, greed and charity, sloth and diligence, envy and kindness, wrath and patience, pride and humility.

Oftentimes, fiction books can take us out of life’s everyday tangles and help us see reality with new eyes. To further explore your own relationship with all Virtues and Vices, look no further than Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. We hope you enjoy!

Good Scribes Only on Instagram

Find Jeremy online

Find Daniel online

0-4 min — 😂

4-10 min — Romanticism, “westerns”, and introductory thoughts

10-18 min — Casting the TV Series

15-20 min — Plot summary

20-25 min — Realism in the novel

25-30 min — What sets this book apart

30-35 min — Can we read the author’s intentions?

35-40 min — Gnosticism and Evil in Blood Meridian

40-45 min — Discussing an important passage

45-50 min — Thoughts, metaphysics, and the human mind

50-57 min — Is there redemption?

57-64 min — Story’s conclusion

64-67 min — Jeremy and Daniel’s rating

Website

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Newsletter

Jeremy's Website

Dan's Website