The Bookening

We were tired. It was late. We had an hour of tech trouble before we could get going. Is this the greatest episode of all time????! 

Probably not. But enjoy. King Arthur next week! 

It's time to finally litigate it. Is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison the great American novel? Or at least a great American novel? Should people read it in spite of the rough content? Does it have anything to say about race (or anything else) that's worth hearing? THE BOOKENING IS ON THE CASE!

Did Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man predict everything that's happened regarding race in the last few years? Also, is Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man the best novel about race in modern America? Yes it did and yes it probably is. Listen to this podcast to hear us discuss. 

Conservatives reject a lot of great twentieth century art by people of color for one simple reason. The Bookening discusses all this and more as Brandon provides some MUCH NEEDED context for Ralph Ellison's great novel, Invisible Man. 

In many ways, Klara and the Sun repeats all of Kazuo Ishiguro's favorite themes. But it differs in one crucial and very interesting way. Any guesses what that is? Nathan and Brandon discuss this in today's episode. And Jake stops by too!

(Forgive the tech issues, we're working to get back up to snuff.) 

Should you read a bad book or short story for your college class? The Bookening considers the age old question, in this VERY SPECIAL EPISODE (ONE OF THE POINTS THEY MAKE WILL SHOCK YOU!).

What makes a good children's book? Simplicity? Empathy? Revenge? Our heroes sort out all kinds of deep questions as they review Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. 

Roald Dahl ... children's author, fighter pilot, spy ... misogynist? Racist? Or does the internet like to blow these things out of proportion? In any case, he had one of the most interesting lives of anybody we've talked about in six years of this podcast. Listen to our episode to find out more. Yay! 

Jane Austen wrote six novels and we are discussing them all. Which one is the best? Who is the best villain? Best heroine? Best hero? What do you think? Let us know. We want to hear. (We more or less got it right though, right?)

Modern teenagers are no less in a fantasy world than Catherine Moreland in Northanger Abbey. That's one of the many amazing insights in this podcast. Listen today!