How To Love Lit Podcast

Animal Farm - Episode #1 - Meet George Orwell and the array of world forces that produced this classic work!

Hi, I’m Christy Shriver.

And I’m Garry Shriver, and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast. Today we start another political tale- this time instead of a play written two-thousand years, ago, we will discuss a novel, well officially it’s a novel, but its author called it a fairy-tale, albeit without the prince charming, beautiful princess and the happily ever after ending. I’m not sure how it’s a fairy tale at all, actually.

HA! Yes, Orwell was very careful with his words and that bit of satirical language sets the tone for what’s to come in this strangely inspirational scary yet playful warning about the dangers of power and totalitarianism. And speaking about Orwell calling it a fairy tale- the American publisher omitted that title in the American edition a year after it was written and after that so did everyone else- I’m really not sure why. ,It’s an obvious fable that works on several levels. First, it’s a charming story about talking animals- and it works so well on that level and written so simply that there are libraries who mistakenly put it in the juvenile section of the library. And in some sense it is simple and that makes it a relief to read. I saw in a survey done by the Independent newspaper of Great Britain that it is THE most popular book adults remember from their school days- even beats out The Great Gatsby, Charlottes’s Webb and lord of the flies- and if I were to guess, and I will, I have a feeling, that’s because most of the books we make kids read have complicated vocabulary, old fashioned syntax and are just exhausting. Animal Farm is none of that. It has a simplicity of form that makes it simple to navigate- but if you read it ONLY in that way- you are making a grave mistake. It’s not the same as the jungle book or Beatrix Potter. It’s a biting satire about Soviet Totalitarianism as well as an important allegory on basic human nature- what people are really like- and exposing complicated people as simply as he did is where the genius rests- We should never mistake simplicity of form with simplicity of ideas- and an oversimplification of this story makes you the gullible fools he’s writing about and warning you not to be.

Another point mentioning is that this book has been controversial from before it was published. Orwell finished the manuscript to Animal Farm in 1943 but it wasn’t published until August 1945 by a company called Secker & Warburg. Frederic Warburg published the book despite his wife threatening to leave him if he did publish it. It was horrifying to publish a book so openly mocking the Russians who were our allies in WW2 and had lost so many men in the fight against Hitler. The book came out literally the same month in which the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki- and although no one would have known it at the time- there’s a bit or irony to think about the fact that the Manhattan Project, an effort basically committed to figuring out how to blow up the world, was literally going on at the exact same time Orwell was writing this warning about the political scenario that would lead to such a disaster- anyway- despite his wife’s protestations, Warburg published the book and the 4,500 copies he printed sold out in just a few days. Nine million copies were sold by 1973 and Warburg gained popularity from his connection to Animal Farm. The fact that the everyone knew the book would be controversial only made them want to read it more.

Even after WWII and the book’s obvious success there has still been some opposition to it in the classroom, although nothing like of mice and men or Huck Finn. In the sixties in Wisconsin the book was challenged because of its phrases about revolution, and people were afraid this would cause public revolt .At the same time in New York, there was opposition because Orwell was a socialist and they did not want to teach a book thought to be written by a communist. But in the end, it has been hailed in free countries as a great exposition of communism, and it’s banned in countries where control of free thought is government policy. Animal Farm is still banned in Cuba, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates according to the American Library Association. Only a censored version is read in China and the book was banned in Russia from 1945 until the 1980’s. Of course, on the other side of this issue, and this is kind of funny- Animal Farm is the only book I know of that the CIA actually funded, In the 1950s, the CIA actually paid to have an animated version of this book distributed around the world.

It does seem that that this unassuming “fairy tale”does ruffle feathers- it can’t be ignored. There is a lot to say about the different ways to approach this book. First we must look at it in its original historical context, the politics of Russia, Spain, the 1940s, etc...this is how Orwell intende...

The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka - Episode #1

Hi, I’m Christy Shriver.

And I’m Garry Shriver, and this is the how to love lit Podcast. We’re glad you’re listening- thank you. We hope you enjoy exploring great writing with us, and I want to remind you- if you enjoy our work please forward an episode to a friend. Obviously, it’s by sharing that we all grow and build- which, as the last series on American documents informs us- building is always the goal. Today, however, we are leaving the Americas, and entering the beautiful and historically rich Bohemian city of Prague where we will meet one of its notable native sons, Franz Kafka- in order to look at his famous novella “Metamorphosis”.

Of all the writers we’ve done so far, I have to admit, Kafka intimidates me the most. And it’s not just because he’s one of the most analyzed writers on earth after Shakespeare and the writers of the Bible- although that’s a factor. But kafka gets in people’s heads in a way that is different than other people- the world he creates is a world that we all live in, but at the same time we’re all terrified of- to some degree. Everyone can find themselves in Kafka, and yet- who wants to admit to it- his world feels like a nightmare- in fact, some people call it surreal or dreamlike, except it isn’t.

Which takes us to the term that carries his name kafka-esque- Even if you haven’t heard of Kafka or read his work, you may have heard of or even used the term ‘kafka-esque”- a term usually meant to express an experience that is absurd, ridiculous, nightmarish yet terrible.

Yes- it does mean that- but in some ways- it means more than that- and it embodies something all of who live in the modern world understand. What Kafka tries to show in all of his works is how the modern world is both absurd, frustrating, cruel but ridiculous to the point of funny. He also wants to show us that we are in part responsible for the messes we make in this world. For example, I remember when I was kid in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we were at the mall (which unlike in the US is a really nice place to go) and I wanted to purchase a hamburger. I went to the counter and asked for the hamburger, the lady said- you have to go over there and buy a ticket at that other counter, then you come back here with your ticket. So, I went to the other side of the store to the cashier and asked for a hamburger- the cashier said they didn’t have hamburgers only cheeseburgers. I asked if I could have a cheeseburger with no cheese. She said she didn’t know, she was just the cashier. I’d have to talk to the manager. So, I went to the manager, waited in a third line, to ask to purchase the cheeseburger He gave me permission, but wrote me a note that I took to cashier. I bought the cheeseburger, but then had to go back to the first lady who then made my burger- she had to conference back with the manager- I waited quite some time, but somehow it had cheese on it and I had to take it off myself- that situation is kafka-esque- frustrating, angering, nonsensical- pointless- but it was all about the bureaucracy of modern living- the thing thst’s supposed to make things easier. But, it’s also funny if you think about it- so much so that I remember it.

I think everyone has a story like that. I remember when I left my job at Shelby County Schools to go to a private school, I then decided to take a part time job from Shelby County Schools at their Virtual Academy. When I went to fill out the application, they asked for a letter of confirmation of employment from my previous employer- and I told them- but YOU are my previous employer. They said, that didn’t matter, I would have to go to downtown office and get the letter regardless. Kafka-esque- a expression of a system that is a tyranny without a tyrant and serves no one but itself to paraphrase the great German-American political theorist Hannah Arendt.

The machine is in charge. And the machine isn’t a person- it’s a frustrating. Nothing.

The legacy of the term kafka-esque describes what has evolved from this unusual man- he knows how to express the frustrations and discouragments of modern life metaphorically in the most vivid and horrifying ways. There’s so many different directions we could take in exploring Kafka, and we’ll do our best to highlights the big ones. The real scholars- which is not us-btw- will tell you all of his works kind of piece themselves together like a sodoku game and if you read all of them they somewhat fit together to create a unified vision of the world- and I, obviously agree with that assessment, although I’ll admit I havent’ read all his works- although honestly, there aren’t THAT many full length works- most of his writings are letters, but even his fiction consists of a lot of short stories. But the novella Metamorphosis is the most well-known.

I want to add- if you’re not up for an entire novella, or even a short story- there is one...

Wuthering Heights - Episode 2 - Tantrums, Crazy Relationships, Rejection, Revenge!

Hi, I’m Christy Shriver. We’re here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.

I’m Garry Shriver and this is the How to the Love Lit Podcast. Thank you joining us with this educational adventure- we love being here every week with you; Also, as We ask every week, please tell a friend about us or text them an episode- word of mouth pretty is much how we grow. And if you remember, while you’re listening, scroll down to the bottom of your app and hit the five stars or give us a review or both. This week is our second episode in our Wuthering Heights series.

Wuthering meaning strong winds not withering meaning humiliating.- so confusing- although there is a sense where both apply for this book

Yes- I think everyone who first hears that title makes that mistake- I doubt if anyone except Emily Bronte even uses the word Wuthering- I’ve not heard it before. So, blowing through the intro-

Is that a pun

Yes- I thought I’d breeze that one by if I could

Another one gusted right through

Oh my-plowing ahead- by way of review, last week, we introduced, as we always do, the author’s life, and in Bronte’s case a little bit about her incredible family. We also analyzed to some degree chapters 1-3 of the book. We introduced the concept of the frame narrative, if you were unfamiliar with that, and we introduced our first unreliable narrator, Lockwood, a genteel fashionable Englishman who has rented a house from a man who he calls “a capital fellow”, Heathcliff who lives just a little bit up the road in a neighboring estate. As any lodger might be expected to do, he chooses to visit his landlord and ends up spending the night at Wuthering Heights. It’s less than a perfectly hospitable stay; he’s basically run off by his dreams or a ghost (we’re really not sure which), but at the end of chapter three he’s bumbling back across the moor through pits, mounds, swamps through clouds and snow back to his own rental lodging called Thrushcrash grange.

Yes- and in chapter four, he stumbles inside where he is met with his housekeeper, Nelly Dean- who will become our second narrator, and I’ll suggest more unreliable than Lockwood. He asks her how long she’d lived in the house- basically he wants the down low, the 411, the dish, he wants the tea.

And apparently, she’s more than willing to share, and so we all settle in for Nelly’s story. Which today we’ll try to get through chapter 9, maybe a bit into chapter 10.

Charting this book and keeping up with all the back and forth in time is so confusing because the first part of the book is a flashback- but even it jumps around sometimes years at a time. Nelly’s going to tell the story of who is ultimately going to be the main character of the story, a man named Heathcliff. She starts from the time he shows up at Wuthering Heights until the present day or the day Lockwood originally shows up at that house on that day in chapter one- so dates and times, ages and names are all extremely confusing the whole way through the book. In fact, the first time I read this book, I have to be honest, I was so lost, I printed out a family tree and a time chart and kind of kept it next to me while I read with the names and dates on it. But hopefully, we can walk you through that madness and save you the hours of research- if it’s just as confusing for you. We’ve also included a link on our website to a very helpful website wuthering-heights.co.uk- it has a fabulous timeline that I would recommend everyone taking a look at.

Christy, if I may ask, why do so many authors do things like strange narrative styles? Are these things trends or something of the time? Is there a thematic purpose?

Well, of course, yes and yes- they are trends- and they do come and go- but I will say for a book that is this popular for so long, there’s got to be something to it, and I think there is. And we can see this right here at the beginning of chapter 4, but it’s something we can follow through throughout the entire. What Bronte is doing is creating something a a double narration technique- now let me say- doubles is the name of the game in this book- besides two narrators, there are two houses, two love interests, two children, two Cathy’s- there’s basically two of everything the whole way through. But in the case of the narrators, what is does is give you this double perspective- on the one hand you have the guy, Lockwood who comes in from the outside, he’s a stranger and he’s so fascinated with everything he sees. Then on the other hand you have this narrator who we are going to see is extremely intimate with everything that goes on- she’s also invested and has strong opinions about how thing SHOULD be with this family she’s lived with her entire life, and really feels a part of. In some sense she’s an outside observer because sh...

Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol - Episode 1 - The Architect Of The Victorian Christmas!

/Hi, I’m Christy Shriver and we’re here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.

I’m Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast. If you are listening to this in real time, we are nearing the end of 2021, a year that has been lackluster by most measurements albeit an improvement to 2020. Most of us began 2021 tucked away in quarantine. I was teaching on Zoom; Christy was meeting with only half of her students half the time on a hybrid schedule. No year, in my lifetime, has began in such a strange way. In some ways, it felt that the Covid era would never end.

And yet, here we are, celebrating the end of 2021 with family and friends. We started this end of year holiday season cooking turkey and ham for Thanksgiving dinner in our home- American staples. We have attended friendsgivings, Christmas parties and on December 23rd we will participate in another Memphis tradition that was suspended for the 2020 year, attending with most of our children: Anna, Lizzy, Ben and Rachel- Theater Memphis’ annual performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. For those who don’t know our family dynamic, we are a growing blended family. Anna and Lizzy have lived in Knoxville, TN for most this year as students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxviille. Ben and Rachel live her in Memphis, and Emily and Joel live in Atlanta with their three children- Selma, Polly and Ezra.

I love Christmas. I love the food, decorating our home, visiting with friends, the special services at church- all of it.

Well, I do too, but I will say, since marrying into the Shriver family, I have learned to take it to the next level. Shriver’s are notable for their holiday passion- all holidays really but especially Christmas. I will also say, that before studying for this podcast, I had no idea so many of the Christmas traditions that we love so much we owe to Victorian England.

Oh for sure, in fact, Christmas was not even a federal holiday in this country until 1870. And even then it was an unpaid holiday. It didn’t become a paid holiday until 1938.

Well, that is very Scroog-ish. So, let’s talk about which Christmas traditions we inherited from Victorian England- many of which have found their way all around the globe. You know, growing up in Brazil, just by nature of the weather we had different holiday traditions- we were in the Southern hemisphere, so instead of wishing for a white Christmas- we were always looking forward to heading to the beach after Christmas, but even in a climate with more palm trees than pine trees although, my friends parents were putting up little Christmas trees and other decorations- I emphasize little not because they were belittling the traditions but there was much more limited economic access ( remember Brazil in those days was a military dictatorship with high government control) but even as such- It’s interesting to see some of these same Victorian traditions.

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I’m Christy Shriver and we’re here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.

I’m Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love lit Podcast. This is our third episode in our four part series on Aldous Huxley’s negative utopia Brave New World. In episode 1, we met Huxley and toured London’s Central Hatchery, covering chapters 1 and 2. In episode 2, we discussed chapters 3-5 meeting two characters from the novel. I want to point out that they are main characters, and when they were introduced, I expected them to be heroes, but these two are definitely not heroic- Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne. Through the first five chapters we accompany them on an average evening, an average evening for everyone in the brave new world- not just for them- and average evening in this world consists of two things- soma-taking and sex. Now in episode 3 we accompany these two as they cross the Atlantic to the American continent and then return in chapters 6-11. They bring back with them a character who comes closest to being a hero, he comes closest to being us, John Savage from the reservation. Our plan today is to explore primitive life on the reservation and the contrasts Huxley creates for us as well as watch John the Savage as he interacts with the Brave New World on his return.

Christy, before we get into that I want to revisit a few important ideas from earlier episodes. As we think about how Huxley drew these standardized humans, and their lives, it’s more and more obvious that Huxley, himself, is not advocating for life a comfortable and happy life, at least in the way he defines these terms. Comfortable meaning no anxiety; happy meaning full of distractions and entertainment.

No, we have to read this entire book as irony- everything he is defending is the opposite of what he’s describing. It’s what makes this book confusing to many readers. The farther we get into the chapters, the more bitter the irony- even positive words like hygienic and beautiful and happy are used by Huxley to make us question if even these are really good things at all.

One place to pay attention is when reading how the characters talk to and about each other. What we see is that there is zero sense of what we consider to be meaningful relationship. They talk about each other and to each other as if they were merchandise, or to use Huxley’s term- meat- dead or alive. Huxley as a student of biology and psychology really pushes the scientific boundaries and even our imaginations to the limits. He asks how far will society, or the power structure of our world go when it comes to psychological manipulation through conditioning? Are there ethical limits or boundaries in the messages we hear from political or commercial leadership- and Huxley does not really see that there is a difference between these two. And not just through repetition and peer pressure but also through government/cultural sanctioned drug use and sexual behaviors. All of this, of course always expressed as being for the common good. Not even the world leaders in a Brave New World have nefarious motives. There is no obvious villain, no Hitler or Stalin out there murdering innocent people. The government is doing everything in the name of general good, and yet, we, as readers are made to question if this is really the case.

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