The Bookening

Did Shakespeare actually have a relatively small vocabulary? Yes he did, and we talk about why that matters in our third episode on the The War of the Roses plays. We also talk about why Shakespeare seemed to have such a chip on his shoulder about women in power, when he was in fact writing plays for a Queen who was very much in power. What was the deal with that? And how did our heroes like Series 2 of The Hollow Crown (hint: it was no series 1).

What exactly was the War of the Roses? Who was on what side? Why? What happened? The Bookening attempts to make sense of all this complicated English history before they read the rest of the William Shakespeare's plays on the subject. 

What is it that makes Shakespeare so darn great? It's time for The Bookening to discuss the immortal bard again! So our heroes are talking about William Shakespeare and providing some context for The Hollow Crown, which is the BBC adaptation of Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3. Plus Richard III. We'll be back next week with more historical context for The War of the Roses. 

Was J.R.R. Tolkien a racist? The answer is not a simple yes or no. So the Bookening is devoting an entire episode to the issue. Listen to it. It's Thought Christmas, y'all!

Who is the greatest monster in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien? What makes a good monster anyway? What does Gollum have to teach us about addiction? Is Gollum an entirely original character or does he have his roots in mythology somewhere? The Bookening answers all those questions and more as it considers the Frodo and Sam section of The Two Towers. 

Steven Millhauser is one of the coolest, most uncanny, weird, beautiful, mysterious writer's writers that a lot of people haven't heard of, kind of a cross between Borges and Poe and Leave it to Beaver. And today The Bookening is talking about one of his best story collections, Dangerous Laughter. 

Is Gandalf a Christ figure? Is it even good to look for Christ figures in literature? Or is there a point at which a wizard fighting a Balrog is just that ... a wizard fighting a Balrog? Brandon and Nathan (Jake was away on Important Pastor Business) discuss all this and also HELM'S DEEP, YES!

Our Lord of the Rings reviews continue, as our heroes talk The Two Towers. Ents, men, and Tolkien the Environmentalist are all subjects of discussion. Plus we get into an extended conversation about Tolkien's style and the tricksy way it morphs as the novel continues. 

It's our 200th episode. To """""celebrate""""", we watched Cats. This does give Brandon an excuse to talk about T.S. Eliot though. Yay! 

In our fourth (been a while since we've done that many) episode on Harper Lee's immortal To Kill a Mockingbird, our heroes discuss the characters. Is Atticus intended as a flawed human being? Is he one whether he was intended that way or not? Is this Jem's story or Scout's? Other intriguing questions you should listen etc. we love you.