The Bookening

In this episode our heroes finally tear into the meat of War and Peace, talking about all those wonderful characters, Pierre, Natasha, Andrei, Boris, the professor, and Mary Ann. Many wise things are said. You should really read this book. Seriously. It's the best. Next week we begin a little Tolkien!

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Hey, folks! We're finally talking about the nitty gritty of War and Peace. First we open some absolutely great presents from a friend, in our patented mailbag segment. And then ... this episode is a little over a place, but it's because we love the book so much, we just kinda jump in and start gabbing about it. You'll hear our thoughts on which is better, Anna Karenina or the novel in question. And some of the best scenes and moments and insights and things that make Tolstoy the greatest writer of all time. We'll be back next week with some (slightly) more linear thoughts on all the same stuff. Love you.

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In this episode of The Bookening podcast, Nathan says something silly near the beginning, Brandon says something nerdy about a book  somewhere in the middle, and Jake says something impassioned and pastoral somewhere near the end. It's a pretty unique episode that way. What is the subject you ask? Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, Baby. One of the top three books our heroes have done on The Bookening. 

We'll be doing some Tolkien content here asap. Thanks to all our patrons for making the Year of Tolkien happen! 

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Leo Tolstoy was a colossal genius of the first order, and War and Peace is one of the best books that The Bookening has ever or will ever do. So that's why you should listen to this episode, in which Brandon provides some much needed context on Russian history, the life of Tolstoy, and more. Listen today. Yay!

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Support us here! You have six days to get the "year of Tolkien" thing we've been promising.

Merry Christmas! Our heroes read two Russian Christmas stories: Tolstoy's “Where Love is God is there also” and Dostoyevsky's “Beggar Boy at Christ’s Christmas Tree." Um, they weren't that great. But it's still a fun little Christmas episode with some discussion of short stories. So yay! Next week War and Peace, baby. 

What would happen if Jane Eyre teamed up with Reepicheep the Mouse, or the White Witch fought King Henry from Shakespeare? You'll find out in this very episode of The Bookening, as our heroes finish up their fantasy draft of different characters and objects and settings from 2019's booklist. Be sure to go to our Twitter or Instagram this Friday after 12pm to vote on which of the novels our heroes came up with is the best.

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Our heroes announce their entire booklist for 2020. Yay! Then they begin an awesome fantasy draft of all the characters and objects from the novels this year. It's a lot of fun, don' skip it. 

Here's our list: 

Feb—Sense and Sensibility

March—Johnny Tremain/ Trumpet of the Swan 

April—Moon and Sixpence 

May—Waiting for Godot 

June— To Kill a Mockingbird 

July— Dangerous Laughter 

August — The Hollow Crown, Part 2 

Sept — Never Let Me Go 

October — horror stories (TBD) 

November — 1984

December—Brothers Karamazov

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Let's get this out of the way. This episode was recorded late at night and is fairly slaphappy. But once it gets going, our heroes do discuss their individual top 7 things about Narnia, and, we daresay, provide some good insight into what makes Narnia so darn magical.

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A novel that's profane and silly and over the top and pretty much a masterpiece--Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Our heroes have plenty of thoughts about this one, as they finally delve into the nitty gritty. Is this an angry novel? Is it political? Is it good for Christians to read the darn thing? Will it become part of the canon? Why does Brandon like it so much? Listen to find out.

Next week, we'll wade into Narnia one last time, and then we've got some stuff to wrap up the year before 2020 begins with War and Peace (a wonderful novel that is totally worth the effort, by the by).

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It's part 2 of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Kind of. Also the story of how Nathan got married.

You'll hear a disclaimer at the beginning of this show. Not because there is anything bad, but because we ended up spending an hour being friends and getting all personal and stuff. This book holds a dear place in more than one of our lives, for reasons you will hear. So, yeah, not a lot of literary analysis in this one, but if you like Nathan, Brandon, and Jake, and want to hear some stories about important things that may or may have happened to them, you should like this episode. Plenty of analysis of Midnight's Children next week.

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