The Bookening

Our heroes dig into East of Eden and particularly the Hamilton family in this spoiler-filled episode. 

First they discuss their extreme admiration for prophet/poet/closet-drunk/all-around-good-guy Samuel Hamilton—and for Steinbeck for creating and sustaining him. Then they find that they all have a lot of affection for Liza Hamilton too, fearsome though she be.

They talk about what type of home the Hamiltons had, what lessons we can learn as parents, and why bad sons sometimes happen to good dads. Finally, Jake and Brandon both rhapsodize on the sweetness and joy of fatherhood, as Nathan no doubt looks on with silent envy and despair (it's a podcast though, so you can't tell one way or another).

**SPOILER FREE EPISODE** (You can listen to this podcast even if you haven't read _East of Eden.) (_And hopefully it will make you want to read East of Eden.) (Because you should read it.)

Our matchless heroes cast one last lingering look at Jane Austen, along with a withering glare at some Austen spin-offs, knock-offs, and sequelizations. 

Then it's on to John Steinbeck and his magnum opus _East of Eden. _Which you should read if you haven't because (SPOILER) it's great. 

The gang offer an overview of the book, it's themes, and why you're a bad person if you won't read it. The Rootin' tootin' Contextual-Texan (Brandon) talks about why the Lost Generation was a bunch of babies and how Steinbeck stood apart. Jake and Nathan compare John Steinbeck to a dithering grandfather and somehow it comes out to a compliment. Our heroes all agree that Steinbeck was, above all, a storyteller, and it is the art of the storyteller that he is practicing so magnificently in _East of Eden, _moreso perhaps even than the writer's art. 

We really like this book a lot. Please read it if you haven't. Seriously. 

In the final episode re: _Pride and Prejudice, _our heroes wax poetic on why Charlotte Collins (nee Lucas) may NOT have made such a lousy choice of husband after all. Brandon compares P&P to Shakespeare, Jake compares Darcy to Boaz, and Nathan hopes to toss the old pigskin with Jane Austen one day.

Then everybody hates on that awful Keira Knightley movie, which they all correctly and sensibly despise as the piece of utterly worthless garbage that it is, effectively saying to the movie,”Could you expect us to rejoice in the inferiority of your Darcy?—to congratulate ourselves on the hope of watching a movie whose hero is so decidedly beneath the novel’s?” 

In conclusion, we hate that movie. But the book is good. 

Our heroes continue their discussion of P&P.

First, they return to the issue of who is better feminine role model—Jane or Elizabeth Bennett? Then they pile disgust on Mr. Bennett until they feel like maybe they've gone too far. And that leads to them wondering whether J.A. in fact went too far in her disgust with Mrs. B. 

Then they look at Lydia and Wickham—and the Lydia and Wickham that exist inside each one of us. It's deep, man.

In which Nathan Alberson, Brandon Chasteen, and Pastor Jake Mentzel introduce themselves to the world of podcasting. Brandon provides a rootin’ tootin’ Texas introduction to the world of Jane Austen. Jake talks about how he first experienced_Pride and Prejudice_ in its most obnoxious and Keira-Knightleyian form. Nathan could not be less enthusiastic about Chiclits chewing gum. Then Brandon and Jake are forced to leap to Elizabeth Bennet’s defense when Nathan posits that she might be kind of annoying if you met her in real life.