Beyond the Walls Book Chat

We're moving on to a new book. Tonight's episode is all about the life and times of the incomparable Jane Austen.

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This is our final episode of Anne of Green Gable. Tonight we'll look at all the sides of symbolism, themes, and recurring images in this bright and cheery novel.

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Tonight's episode introduces some of the main residents of Avonlea whose lives are impacted by the red-headed sprite Anne Shirley.

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Tonight we look back over a history of powerful opening lines in classic books. Then we'll explore what we can learn from the very verbose opening Maud Montgomery writes for Anne of Green Gables.

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I'm beginning Season 7 with Anne of Green Gables. Tonight's episode gives a little author back story for the very complex, quiet, and famous resident of Prince Edward Island, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

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Tonight's episode begins with a correction from last week. Next, we'll go on to explore the unsteady, shifting ground of human philosophy and the solid rock of absolute truth. What does it mean that our world is spoken from the mouth of God? And how will our perspective change when stop looking inward and open our eyes to the wonder of the world God is writing all around us?

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After Victor refuses to make a companion for the monster things spiral out of control. The end of the novel takes us full circle back to Walton on the Arctic Ocean. Hopefully Walton has learned the lessons Frankenstein ignored.

*Correction in the episode. I say near the end that Shelley can't save her characters, but what I should have said is that she is unwilling to save them. 

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There are so many sides to the story of Frankenstein. Tonight's episode takes a pause in the middle of Volume III and looks at the possible arguments Mary Shelley could be making for one of the oldest of debates.

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The looming question of what happened to Frankenstein's monster is answered in Volume 2. Tonight we cover his story and the pitiful request he makes of his creator.

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After Victor succeeds in what he has been killing himself to achieve his eyes are opened to the horror of what he's done. But rather than step up, he runs away and tragedy eventually catches up to him.

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Tonight we'll hear the beginnings of the cautionary tale that Victor Frankenstein shares with Walton. But rather than listening to the words themselves we'll pay attention to what isn't being said. We'll dig beneath the superficial, romantic layers of his tale and ask the probing questions that no one around him dared to do. 

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The world Frankenstein was born into was fraught with emotional madness. His story is one of intense passion and despair but also full of caution for the man who wants to follow his heart against all sound reason.

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Tonight we cover the context and backstory of one of the most impactful novels of Western Culture. A young woman surrounded by tragedy and pain, poured her sorrow into authoring a fable that spawned a new literary genre and a character recognizable anywhere.

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What we read forms our minds. We will become what we behold.

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Tonight is a brief recap of my reading in 2025. 

Find me on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/betlapointe

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Beware the doppelganger. Find out how tonight's featured author reworks the timeless theme of the villainous twin.

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Tonight's episode reviews an old book that was banned from being printed until 1973. Why are some books challenged? Should their questionable content stop us from reading them? What's a better way to approach different ideas and viewpoints?

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How much of the cares of this world can one woman carry on her shoulders? Thomas Hardy tries to answer this question in his classic, Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Tonight's episode explores the worldviews Hardy struggled with in Victorian England and what he puts his heroine through to express to the world the tragic results of man-made religion and man centered philosophy.

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Our first episode of Season 6 looks at four things about better books that can change our lives when we read them.

If you have any questions or comments, please email them to me at beyondthewallsbookchat@gmail.com.

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Macbeth's hold on reality is in shambles, his fiend-like queen is being eaten up by guilt, and an army is marching to the gates of the castle. The house of Glamis is about to fall. What is special about Macduff that will allow him to be the victor and hand the throne back to Malcolm?

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"Since only goodness can raise a man above the level of humankind, it follows that it is proper that wickedness thrusts down to a level below mankind those whom it has dethroned from the condition of being human." -Boethius

In Act 4 Macbeth seals his fate with his latest treacherous act.

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Has Macbeth reached the point of no return? What is compelling him to kill again and when will he stop?

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In Act 2 Macbeth strikes the fatal blow to King Duncan and begins his slow descent into evil and madness. Throughout this part of the play Shakespeare alludes to the deep symbolism of sleep as death and demonstrates the corruption of Macbeth's soul in his brutalizing the blessedness of rest.

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Foggy, rocky, foul, and mysterious the Scottish Play opens on the blasted heath. Nothing is as it seems. False faces hide traitorous thoughts, and weird sisters whisper cryptic predictions. Act 1 of Macbeth leads us into an uncertain and dark world where sinister spirits lie in wait.

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Tonight's episode looks at the context for Shakespeare's Macbeth. What was happening in England around the time it was written? What's the historical source for the characters and is that source reliable? What are the questions the bard asks of humanity, and can we find his answers or opinion in the text? I'm diving into the deep end with this exploration. I hope I'm up to the challenge.

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The Western canon and beyond contain the building blocks of all our stories. Tolkien called these blocks the Soup of Stories. Tonight's episode is based on this article by Angelina Stanford from The Classical Reader: "The Foundations of a Literary Education."

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Books 10-12 of The Aeneid wrap up the great epic that is the founding of Rome. How does it all come together and what's the deal with the abrupt ending? All this is covered in tonight's final episode discussing Virgil's opus.

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Even though Aeneas has guided his men to their future home the conflict is only beginning. Rather than allowing a peaceful transition Juno goes on a rage and sets the people of Latium and their neighbors the Rutulians against the Trojans. So Aeneas must sail farther up the Tiber to forge new alliances and plan for another epic battle.

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Tonight we follow Aeneas across the sea to Sicily for an entire book of games and competition, sadly followed by disaster. From there Book 6 takes Aenea into the underworld to meet with his father and see the future glories of Rome...or maybe he doesn't travel to the underworld. What was it that Virgil really wanted us to believe about this ancient obligation to travel to the world below?

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Things were looking up for Aeneas. But he took his eyes off his goal with terrible consequences. Tonight's episode will stay inside Book IV of The Aeneid and explore the fate of Carthage's tragic queen, Dido.

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The first three books in the Roman epic are full of examples of Aeneas rising as a strong leader. After 2000 years how does this book hold up to our expectations of leaders today?

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Tonight we begin an exploration into the world of Virgil and his epic poem, The Aeneid. Why did he pen this grand masterpiece? What was his inspiration for the Roman narrative? And who is the hero, Aeneus? This is only the first episode of many that will peel back the many layers of what we can learn from this leader of the ancient world.

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Tonight is the last episode of Dracula. The action speeds up as our heroes hunt Count Dracula from the English Isle across Europe. They must catch him before he reaches his castle. Just when they think they've lost the trail an unexpected character steps in and makes a plan. Stoker never slows down; the tension stays to the very end.

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As the tension builds and the story structure becomes more complex we as the readers have two ways of looking at this book. Tonight's episode covers what Stoker is doing to weave his storytelling and how it's important to us to slow down and let him set the pace.

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Count Dracula is arriving in England, and oh what terror there is in store for the people of Whitby! Tonight we look at the structure of this story. Stoker designs his book differently than a typical hero's journey tale. The weaving of the plots and subplots, high points and pinch points, and the personalities and backstories of the characters produces a beautiful tapestry of a gothic tale. 

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The genius storytelling of Stoker is evident as the terror builds immediately in the book as we move from foreign worlds of wildness and mystery to a crumbling castle where Jonathan Harker is held prisoner. Tonight's episode covers the imagery and sensations that Stoker uses to draw us in to the tension and captivity of the British solicitor.

This lecture gives great insight into the context of Dracula:

Great Books: Dracula, by Bram Stoker

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Before we get into the storyline, plot devices, and symbolism, we need to review the main (and not so main) characters. Tonight's episode reviews the cast of Dracula and looks closer at who the real heroes are.

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Kicking off season five tonight's episode begins a journey through the Victorian world of Dracula. What's the true historical context behind the novel and what storytelling beauty are we missing when we project a 21st century face onto the text?

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Tonight's episode is a continuation of the thoughts from last week. I've attempted to clarify better what I mean by old books, and I've also included some modern reading recommendations.

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Tonight's episode walks through C.S. Lewis's reasons to read old books followed by mine. I don't believe my argument is fully fleshed out and next week I hope to have more details, definitions, and maybe even some book suggestions, so please check back. Enjoy!

Below are the videos and book I reference in the episode:

the fall of book editing (why books are bad now)

re: Why everyone stopped reading.

Why everyone stopped reading.

The Shallows | Nicholas Carr

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