Ken Reads The Classics

Dorothy and her friends meet the Hammerheads, travel to the Land of the Quadlings, and Glinda grants their wishes.

Dorothy and friends wreak havoc on the little china country and then the Lion becomes the king of the forest.

Trying one more time to get it right.

Today, the Wizard fulfills his promises to Dorothy and her friends...kind of.

In this chapter, we learn about humbugs and enabling. :)

Dorothy and her friends get lost on their way back to Oz. They call on their old friend, the Queen of the Mice, who tells them about the charm on the cap Dorothy acquired from the Wicked Witch of the West. She calls the Winged Monkeys and they take her back to Oz, but along the way, the King of the Winged Monkeys tells the story of Gaylette and Kaylala. Interesting indeed!

Dorothy and her companions must seek out the Wicked Witch of the West and kill her or Oz will not grant them their wishes.

Our merry travelers finally meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz but will they get all they desire? Or does Oz have something not so wonderful in store?

In this chapter we examine the Tin Woodman's complicated views on life and love and we finally get to the Emerald City.

Thank you for continuing to listen to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I hope you enjoy the episode.

In this episode, we meet the Tin Woodsman and the Cowardly Lion. They join Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and her little dog Toto too, as the journey to meet with the Wizard of Oz.

In this episode, I continue reading Frank L. Baum's classic tale The Wizard of Oz. You can find free, electronic form of this book at gutenberg.org. Enjoy.

In this season, I read Frank L. Baum's classic tale, a free electronic form of this book is available at gutenberg.org.

Hello and welcome to this bonus episode of Ken Reads The Classics. As I mentioned, I will, from time to time, review a modern book and this is one of those times.

I just finished reading Razzmatazz by Christopher Moore. Razzmatazz is the sequel to his novel Noir but rest assured it stands on it’s own. I know this because I haven’t read Noir before but after reading Razzmatazz, I plan on picking a copy of Noir up and enjoying that.

Razzmatazz takes place in post-World War II San Francisco. Moore created a host of engaging characters like Sammy, Moo Shus, The Cheese, and Uncle Ho among the human ones and the Rain Dragon and Scooter among the non-human ones.

This book grabbed my attention from the beginning, and I mean beginning with the trigger warning. Moore uses colorful language throughout the book, including some racial slurs, but he uses them to show the ignorance of people vice engaging in racial supremacist apology or justification.

Sammy is the lead character who couldn’t serve in the war due to physical defects and now that the war is over, earns his living as a bartender. He dates a energetic, former welder now turned waitress that he calls The Cheese but doesn’t want her to know that. Moore surrounds this duo with a multi-racial, multi-cultural team of people with Asian and African ethnicity to solve a mystery, well several mysteries actually, like the figurative onion with Moore peeling away layer after layer until you reach the center - of the earth - well, almost.

His energetic writing style kept my mind engaged as the story raced along; I admit to re-reading several sections, sometimes because I wanted to laugh again - this book is very funny, and other times because my brain couldn’t keep up with Moore. I appreciated the challenge though and I think you will too. If you can handle the many off-color jokes and a great deal of immature yet somehow just for adults language, then Razzmatazz is for you.

Thank you for listening and please joining me next time on Ken Reads The Classics.

In this episode we learn a king is willing to give his daughter away as a prize to either a flea, a grasshopper, or a leap-frog, whichever can jump the highest. Ah, the horrors of being a woman back in the day. 

Also, we hear the tale of a young boy who learns about his future from a dryad. 

Enjoy!

I just finished reading P.T. Duetermann’s The Last Paladin, a book about the U.S.S. Holland - a sub-hunting surface ship during World War II. I picked this book because I have a friend who is stationed in Hawaii and talking with her reminded me of my time sailing around Diamond Head as well as sailing in Japan and other parts of the world.

In The Last Paladin, Deutermann writes a fascinating story about the Holland, a fictional sub-hunter sent to destroy Japanese submarines in the vast, and I mean vast, Pacific Ocean. He uses a technique I have never come across before, writing in the first-person but from two different characters points of view - the Captain and the Executive Officer. As I read this story, I found myself fully engaged in the sea battles between the Holland and the six different submarines they attacked and sunk. To be clear, the Holland takes on each sub one at a time and in most cases alone. Lieutenant Commander deTomasi, Deutermann’s fictional captain, is a consummate hunter, evaluating his prey and devising techniques to scare the enemy subs to the surface or boxing them in with a new weapon - the hedgehog.

One of the challenges for me was the harsh comments and derogatory terms the captain and crew understandably made towards their enemy - the Japanese. These comments jumped out at me because I was stationed in Japan for over six years early on in my Air Force career. I found the Japanese people to be just like people all around the world, kind and generous and fun to be around. And now, of course, the countries of Japan and the United States of America are allies.  What a difference a day makes. This all gives me hope we can find a way to make our current adversaries into our future friends - without a horrific war. I don’t fault Deutermann as he used the terms to create a very realistic experience aboard a wartime vessel facing a determined enemy.

Back to the book, Deutermann creates some very memorable scenes in The Last Paladin. The most salient of which for me is that of Chief Petty Officer Garcia sitting ten feet above an unexploded Japanese torpedo lodged into the side of the Holland. The Chief sits in a bosun’s chair, smoking a cigar, over the top of unexploded ordnance, as the Holland makes five knots in calm seas and lists to port.

If action packed, seafaring stories are for you, then I can highly recommend The Last Paladin. You can grab a copy at your local library. That’s where I got mine. Thank you for listening and I hope you join me next time on Ken Reads The Classics.

In this episode, we finish up The Shoes of Fortune and then learn a lesson about happiness from The Fir Tree. Enjoy. 

This episode begins with Chapter IV of The Shoes of Fortune, a resident at a local hospital wears the enchanted galoshes and get stuck in a fence, attends a fortune telling event, and travels through the hearts of unsuspecting theater goers. 

In Chapter V we learn of a police clerk who turns into a poet and a chirping bird. 

We follow the adventures of some unsuspecting soles who unknowingly put on 'the shoes of fortune'. 

Today we have two tales by Hans Christian Anderson, The Swineherd - a tale of a prince who, having been rejected by a princess, seeks his revenge in a bewildering fashion, and A Real Princess about a Queen Mother who creates a bizarre test to see if a young lady who showed up at their door one evening truly is a princess. 

It's great to be back again. I hope you enjoy this reading of The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson. 

In this episode, we meet Gertrude who travels to Knotacentinim Towers (pronounced Nosham Taws) to act as governess for the children of Lord Knotacent, who - in turn, has a secret. In order to keep this secret, he insists his son, Ronald, marry and soon. Ronald refuses, wishing to marry for love. Wait! It seems a mystery surrounds Gertrude's inheritance as well. Will our heroine discover the truth? Will Ronald marry for family or for love? Will the English ever learn to pronounce English? Listen and find out. 

In this episode, we learn how strongly two people can love someone they have never met. Enjoy. 

This pstory cracks me up. I enjoyed reading and hope you enjoy listening to it. 

Hello,

I hope you all enjoy this first story in a series of stories written by Stephen Leacock in his book, Nonsense Novels.

I'm going to take a break from reading classical literature for the moment but please give a listen to my new podcast The Magical World of Rowan Farfington Blarney and travel to a different place and a different time. 

Scientists say trial judges should stop doing this immediately. 

The unexpected benefits of growing at unusual rates. 

Most people do this one thing while playing croquet. 

If you're a Mock Turtle in Wonderland, click on this link.

10 surprising benefits of the Lobster Quadrille.

What advice did the caterpillar give to Alice? Did you just call me a pig? Who wins the tea-cup shuffle? Learn all these answers and more in this episode of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 

Why are they trying to ban Alice in Wonderland? 

Top Five Reasons to Eat Cake.

Doctors urge Alice in Wonderland readers to stop doing this one thing. 

Is Alice growing or is the house shrinking? Listen to this episode and find out. 

Will more men die in the hunt for Captain Flint's buried treasure? Will Jim and the faithful crew return home to Bristol? What is Long John Silver's fate? Find out in the final chapters of Treasure Island.

Chapters 33 & 34. 

Dr. Livesey comes to treat the sick, Jim, Silver, and the doctor make a pact, the treasure hunt begins, the pirates hear a voice in the woods.

Chapters 30, 31, & 32. 

Jim sends Hands to the bottom of the sea, then returns to the house to recount his heroics. Silvers gains a hostage and Jim learns another hard lesson of life at sea. 

Chapters 27, 28, & 29.

Jim risks all to cut the schooner loose; he cruises in Ben Gunn's coracle, boards the now loose Hispaniola, strikes the Jolly Roger, and engages Israel Hands in a test of wills and wit. 

Chapters 23, 24. 25, &26. 

Young Jim Hawkins picks up the narrative once again; the mutineers attack the stockade; Jim goes truant once again. 

Chapters 19, 20, 21, and 22.

How did the Union Jack end up flying over the stockade? Will Jim meet up with the doctor, the squire, and the captain? Who will be the next to die? Find out in this episode of Treasure Island. 

Chapters 15, 16, 17, & 18. 

We learn what Jim heard in the barrel, the mutineers turn on their captain, the body count increases.

Chapters 11 and 12 of Part Two and Chapter 13 of Part 3. 

The Squire buys the Hispaniola, finds a ship's cook who just so happens to know lots of sailors looking for work. Secrets do not remain secrets for very long. 

Chapters 7 through 10

In this episode, the blind-man returns with his shipmates; Jim rides off  with revenue officers to see Dr. Livesey. Squire Trelawney, Dr.  Livesey, and Jim decide to go find buried treasure.

In this, the first episode of Ken Reads The Classics, we meet young Jim Hawkins, who along with his mother and father, runs the Admiral Benbow, an inn near Bristol, England. Soon, a cantankerous sea-captain comes to stay at the inn. His former mates come to call on the captain. 

Enjoy this comical tale of Mr. McWilliams and his struggle with modern technology.