Batman is the most popular super hero in existence, but his depiction as the grim, humourless Dark Knight hasn't been the whole story of his 82-year history. In this episode, Paul explores the critical period from 1986-1989 that completely redefined the character through four texts.

Miller, Frank. The Dark Knight Returns. DC Comics: New York, 1986. 

Moore, Alan and Brian Bolland. Batman: The Killing Joke. DC Comics: New York, 1988.

Morrison, Grant and Dave McKean. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth. DC Comics: New York, 1989.

Starlin, Jim and Jim Aparo. Batman: A Death in the Family. DC Comics: New York, 1988. 

Batman theme (1989 and 1992) composed by Danny Elfman.  

I'm just kidding with that title, but it's pretty clear that the majority of people who have encountered the Godfather in the past forty years have encountered it as a film first. I finally sat down to read the novel and compare it to the two fine films.

Coppola, Francis Ford. The Godfather. Paramount Pictures: USA, 1972.

Coppola, Francis Ford, The Godfather Part II. Paramount Pictures: USA, 1974.

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. Signet: New York, 1999. 

"The Godfather Waltz" composed by Nino Rota

In films and novels, writers often write the hero as someone like themselves. In this Rambling episode, Paul looks at a few writers who are heroes. Sometimes they're the Hemingway type--an action hero with a typewriter, but usually they're just a regular person caught up in events. 

Viking Stuff! (well, Anglo-Saxon stuff)

The starting place of English literature. An epic poem difficult to translate and even harder to adapt.

Paul Talks Beowulf. The poem, it's themes, its characters and monsters, its influence. As well, Paul discusses some noteworthy (not always good!) film and novel versions. 

Donaldson, E. Talbot. Beowulf: A New Prose Translation. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1966.

Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

Tolkien, J.R.R. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary. London, Harper Collins, 2014.

Paul freakin' finished War and Peace!

(It's a happy coincidence that this episode is being released on MLK Jr. Day in the US!)

To Kill a Mockingbird is Harper Lee's 1960 masterpiece and has remained noteworthy and controversial for its entire history. It's never been out of print, is taught in schools across North America, and in Paul's opinion is one of the books everyone must read.

Its heroes and villains are simple to see and understand, its themes clear. And yet, because it is told from the point of view of Scout Finch, a young girl, there is still so much that is unexplained and implied.

In this episode, Paul looks at how the motif of light in darkness is used in several key scenes and in relation to some of the key characters, including Scout, Atticus, Jem, and of course Boo Radley.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central, 1982.  

Paul talks about some of his favourite reads of the past year, as well as some of the most significant albums he heard. 

A walk through a troubling year with a back and forth between books and music.

You can view the full Booklist here:

 https://vikingpaul.blogspot.com/2021/01/booklist-2020.html

Paul discusses four (+ 1 bonus) of the most successful pure science fiction films of the past decade and what each of them sprang from and means.

Gravity by Alfonso Cuaron
Interstellar by Chirstopher Nolan
Arrival by Denis Villeneuve
Ad Astra by James Gray
(and special bonus The Midnight Sky by George Clooney)

In John Steinbeck's Great Depression novel Of Mice and Men, Chapter 4 is dedicated to the interaction of four marginalized characters: a man-child with superhuman strength, an old man with one hand, a black man with a crooked spine, and a woman in an unhappy marriage. This episode is a microcosm of the book's overall themes. 

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1993. 

Not exactly as ambitious as it sounds, but Paul talks about the importance of the bible generally as a text, and how it's often hard for non-believers to get around the whole matter of faith thing. Discussion about the contradictory interpretation of both Testaments together occurs as well. 

The inspiration for this comes in the form of a reference Paul makes to the book The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, recommended by Paul's good friend Carley. Thanks Carley.

Jacobs, A.J. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007