Talk Write

In today’s episode, I take a look at the iconic beginning of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and discuss what makes it so luminous. “Ulysses” is often credited with having a famous opening, but it’s worthwhile unpacking everything that Joyce is doing. How does the Irish sea symbolize a dead mother? How does he use rhythm and syntax to rhyme and pair his lines. Join me in today’s discussion! Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, I take a look at the turbocharged beginning of David Mitchell’s 2001 novel, Number9dream. Although not as highly regarded as some of his other work, Mitchell’s early novel still shows the trademarks of the master’s fireworking style: humor, clipped pacing, gorgeous details, quickcut characterization, and so much more! Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

A few weeks ago, I talked about what made the beginning of Dickens’s Bleak House so outstanding. Continuing on with this theme, today I take a look at Vladimir Nabokov’s demonic fairytale, Lolita. Everybody knows its euphonic opening line (light of my life, fire of my loins) but what else is Nabokov doing here? Join me and we’ll find out together! Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s video, I look at a piece of travel writing by Robert Twigger and discuss its mythological implications. Whether we admit it or not, mythic patterns are the grammar of our worldviews and are found not just in literature, but anywhere we encounter narrative. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In this series, I’ll be looking at some opening pages and talking about what makes them so great. Today, I’m beginning with Dickens’s “Bleak House.” It’s an opening I’ve covered before on my podcast, but there’s still so much to talk about. In twopages, Dickens not only manages to create one of the most unforgettable images of London fog, he does so while combining character, theme, and even plot, and all in a luxurious prose style that relishes words and never comes across as merely descriptive. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Among Shakespeare’s least-read works are his early, long poems: Venus and Adonis (1593), and The Rape of Lucrece (1594), and “The Phoenix and the Turtle” (1601). The last poem remains deeply enigmatic. What can it teach us today? And what sort of light does it shed on the rest of Shakespeare’s work? Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In 2025 I got to reread one of my all-time favorites, "War and Peace." While it's widely considered the gold standard for lengthy, 'classic' novels, this title can often discourage would-be readers from this work, which, while long, never drags. Here, I give you one of my favorite scenes that occurs midway through book one. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to 2026! But before we celebrate too hard, it’s important to reflect on what a new year actually is. Are we going to keep repeating the same cycles we always have? Are we going to go on making the same mistakes? Or are we going to recognize that Christmas is the date that marks the revolution in our hearts, and New Years an opportunity to set that change in place? GK Chesterton has a choice adventure story in today’s poem that gets to the heart of what a change looks and feels like. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In this video, I talk about T.S. Eliot’s 1927 poem, “The Journey of the Magi.” Dashed off in just forty-five minutes, Eliot’s poem looks at the Christmas miracle from the perspective of the Magi, now grown old and full of years. In the midst of the Christmas season, we can forget that the Birth was not just the beginning of a new world, but the ending of the old. What must it be like, Eliot asks, to live in the knowledge you are between two worlds, having outlived the old, and unprepared for the new? Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In this video, I talk about how Keats manages to find enchantment everywhere he looks: in nature, old books, the songs of birds, or here, on a Greek vessel which he’d read about in a magazine. Enchantment, however, is never a simple matter with Keats, who knows well that the spells Fancy draws can be fatal as well as fruitful. Be that as it may, Keats recognizes that enchantment, like beauty, fills and revives a world ever crouching towards death, and it is for this reason, he celebrates beauty wherever he finds it. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Today, I talk about one of John Keats’s most famous poems. In “Ode to a Nightingale,” the great poet creates not just an evocative description of a spellbinding song; he goes on a journey in which, bespelled by beauty, he falls into death and dissolution and is ultimately reborn. But how is this two-hundred-year-old poem still so powerful? Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

As the days darken and the temperatures cool, it’s worth visiting one of the most famous autumn poems of all time. Keats wrote this poem in 1819: an extremely prolific year which saw the writing of some of the most beautiful lyric poems of all time. Who needs Spring when you have October? Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

As the days darken and the temperatures cool, it’s worth visiting one of the most famous autumn poems of all time. Keats wrote this poem in 1819: an extremely prolific year which saw the writing of some of the most beautiful lyric poems of all time. Who needs Spring when you have October? Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, we come at last to the end of the journey. Dante has experienced “the three lives of the spirit.” Having passed through the torments of Inferno and Purgatory and seen literally everything between Heaven and Hell, Dante is at last prepared for his final vision. In this ecstatic world of dizzying heights, he beholds Father, Son, and Spirit as a vast circle of one circumference and differing lights. But language breaks down here. With a humble prayer he turns his thoughts to things eternal: the lights of the stars. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Saint Bernard guides Dante through the heavenly mysteries of the Divine Rose. In this heavenly tapestry, all opposites are united: those who proclaimed Christ before His Incarnation, and those who believed in Him after; the Hebrew women of the Nation of Israel, and the Apostles who spread His Word afterwards. After unveiling the mystery of infant baptism and salvation, Bernard takes Dante through a series of holy pairs: Adam and Saint Peter; St John the Baptist and Moses; Anna and Lucy. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante, enraptured by this vision of heaven, turns to express his wonder to Beatrice, only to find that she has gone, translated higher up into the Divine Rose, with her place taken by Saint Bernard (1090-1153). However, rather than bewail her loss as he did the loss of Vergil almost thirty cantos ago, Dante offers up to her a prayer of gratitude, for which he receives one of her radiant smiles. How far we’ve come since Purgatory! Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante gets his first look at the Divine Empyrean: the reality of all realities. Having ascended through all nine levels of Heaven, he comes to the Garden of Paradise. But things are still not in their final form: to see the light without blemish, he must drink deeply from the waters of Paradise (recall the river Lethe in Purgatory, Canto 28), at which point the garden expands into a giant rose: a symbol of the totality of the redeemed. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Beatrice continues her explanation of the angels. We are blessed in proportion that we hunger and thirst for God. No angel envies its neighbor their proximity to God, for all receive love in the same measure that they desire love. Having articulated this, Beatrice then decries the modern tendency of religious leaders to forego the truth of Scripture in favor of their personal interpretation. I wonder what kinds of criticism Dante would have for the Church today! Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante is given a vision of God himself, surrounded by his nine choirs of angels. God is pure, radiant light, and the angels surround him like Saturn’s rings, each ring moving faster the closer it is to the center. Beatrice explains the divine physics at work: the closer we are to God, the more alive with His love we become. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante has finally passed all three virtue tests and is ready to move into the Empyrean…but not before Saint Peter has a final say about the current papacy. Turning literally with righteous indignation, the first pope lets loose all holy ire in a (not quite final) rage against the corruption of holy offices. This heard, Dante looks again to Beatrice, and leaps into the final circle of stars. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante completes the last of his three examinations on the theological virtues. Having answered correctly, his blindness is stripped away, revealing a fourth light: his forefather, Adam. Dante’s questions about Eden, the Fall, and the First Language all get settled as he prepares to ascend further from the Fixed Stars and into the Empyrean. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, having gotten Saint Peter’s dance of approval, Dante ascends to the next examination. Hope, in which he is lectured by Saint James, is not mere optimism, but a powerful force that enables us to overcome darkness, despair, and depression: everything Dante faced when exiled. As in his last exam, Dante passes with flying colors, although the sudden appearance of a ray of light leaves him stricken with blindness. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante meets the first of his three examiners. Saint Peter asks Dante what he knows about faith and in what he puts his faith. In true, dry scholastic method, Dante lays out his case perfectly: the ideal pupil. In exhaltation, Saint Peter dances thrice around the student. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante, having passed through the realms of the contemplatives, enjoys the full radiance of Beatrice’s smile. Given a rapturous vision of Christ Triumphant, he is now ready to mount even higher. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante meets St Benedict, prince of the contemplatives. As ever, Benedict has some choice words for the state of the monasteries now. Having met the contemplatives and passed through all seven heavenly spheres, Dante is now ready to move into the fixed stars, but not before he spares a final, pitying glance on the “dirty threshing floor” of the earth. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante surreptitiously advances to the seventh realm of the blessed. Here dwell the spirits of the great spiritual contemplatives. Dante’s 11th century guide, Peter Damiano, instructs him through spiritual physics, all while spinning like a happy dredl. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante is astonished to learn the identities of the saved. Of course, Kings David and Solomon are numbered among the just, but what are we to make of Ripheus, who appears in Virgil’s “Aeneid,” calling himself a Christian? Dante’s amazement at those whom God chooses to save is truly well-voiced. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In Canto 19, the Roman Eagle of Justice speaks. While Dante wishes to know what becomes of those just rulers who do not profess Christ, the Eagle chides him that this is the wrong question. Man cannot work out God’s justice through moral reasoning. Better is it to look to himself and his own deeds, rather than worry about others. Indeed, at the end of times, we will be surprised by how many just pagans are counted among the blessed, especially in light of how many unjust Christians there are. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today's reading, having been treated to a parade of the great warriors of God, from Joshua to the heroes of the Crusades, Dante ascends to the next rung of Paradise: the sphere of Jupiter. The poet is treated to a fabulous light show of illuminating souls, which then transforms into the body of a great eagle: a symbol of the just and temperate rulers. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Caccuiaguida tells Dante what he can expect in the future. Violence. Betrayal. Banishment. Nevertheless, Dante is told to keep the hope—although his future will be a bitter pill to swallow, his future will long outlast those of his enemies. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, Dante’s grandfather Cacciaguida walks him through the greatness that once was Florence, compared to its present degeneracy. After taking his grandson through a whirlwind tour of the great and not so great families of his own time, Cacciaguida references bitterly the murder that sparked the present civil war, and ultimately led to Dante’s banishment. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s reading, having ascended to the fifth level of Paradise (Mars), Dante encounters his grandfather, Cacciaguida. Paternal and wistful, Cacciaguida recounts how things used to be in Florence, before the hideous faction rivalries that would ultimately lead to Dante’s banishment. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Beatrice asks a pertinent question: what will glory be like in the resurrection? None other than Solomon the Wise answers her, using the beautiful image of a glowing coal. Then, hardly realizing what is happening, Dante ascends to the fifth sphere of Heaven, where he sees an image of the cross of Christ: a promise of the resurrection to come.Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Thomas Aquinas performs yet more intellectual winnowing on Dante, explaining how it came to be that none arose wiser than Solomon. To do this, he resorts to much succinctly reasoned Scholastic syllogizing, in which he employs the theory of Platonic forms and decries the largely useless metaphysical hair-splitting of so many thinkers and philosophers. Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, we look at the second of Dante’s two great poverty-marrying patrons. We hear Bonaventure wax poetic on the life of Dominic, whose intellectually-minded approach to the question of poverty remains a lodestone for believers today. Just one question: what happened? Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, still in the fourth sphere of the Sun, Aquinas waxes poetic on the state of the Franciscan order and its patron, Saint Francis. The Church is at her best when she remembers her duties: prayers, alms, and poverty. Saint Francis married poverty despite the ire of his father, but doing so he reignited a church gone lethargic. Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Dante ascends to the fourth sphere, that of the sun, where he encounters another of his intellectual heroes: Thomas Aquinas. Here repose the souls of the wise and the great intellectual defenders of the Church throughout history. Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Dante is still in the sphere of Venus, where he encounters two souls: Cunizza Da Romano and the onetime Bishop of Marseilles, Folquet. How are the amorous saved, and what does it mean to give up a life of worldly love for divine love? Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Dante and Beatrice ascend to Venus, the third sphere of Paradise, where they encounter Charles Martel, the Medieval king of Hungary. Dante asks the king how it is, if men are made through the divine harmony of the heavenly spheres, that so much disharmony can arise. Charles Martel rehashes the timeless nature v. nurture debate. Wise words for us to hear, even 700 years later!Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Dante has some choice questions for Beatrice. How exactly does atonement work? How can the sin of humanity be wiped out? How does Christ’s suffering our punishment translate into redemption? Beatrice as ever answers Dante in good, reasonable scholastic method, and even delivers him a few nuggets of wisdom about the final resurrection of the body. Tras. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Today, Emperor Justinian discourses about the history and trajectory of the Roman Eagle. From its humble origins among the brood of Romulus to the most powerful empire in Western History, the eagle flies over history, left and right. In addition to that, Justinian discusses the age-old problem of sacred church and secular powers. How much relationship between these two is too much? For Dante, it’s a thorny issue: it was owing to too much state in the Church that he was exiled from Florence. Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Beatrice finishes her discourse on the will. Take vows seriously! You’re offering up nothing less than your freedom to God; sacrifice that, and you tear the terms of the covenant. That being said, “like an arrow driven with such might it strikes its mark before the string is still” Beatrice and Dante rocket up to the second rung of Paradise, Mercury, where a blessed soul soon makes itself known…Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s canto, Dante asks how is it that Picccarda Donati, whose vow was broken through no fault of her own, could still be punished. Beatrice is on hand to explain things: a will broken through outside interference is still a will unperfected. Want to see a will in perfect alignment with God? Look to Father Lawrence, Bishop of Rome, martyred by slow roasting over an open fire. Divine justice is perfect indeed, but that makes it no less difficult a pill to swallow. Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Dante and Beatrice ascend to the first level of the blessed. In the Ptolemaic scheme Dante employs, the moon stands at the furthest reach of God’s paradise. It’s home to those who were inconstant in their vows towards God; even those who were forced to break vows through some outside influence are nevertheless fated to rise no higher in the divine scheme. Yet there is no animosty here or talk of injustice: in the words of Piccarda Donati, forced to leave her nunnery for an arranged marriage, “In His will is our peace.”Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Canto 2! In today’s podcast, we take a look at Dante’s famous theological “trigger warning” to the reader. Faced with the impossible task of representing the completely unrepresentable, he resorts to the abstract to help him describe heaven’s glories. Also, those spots on the moon come from what, exactly? Dante says a change in substance; Beatrice (as always) corrects him and says it’s actually God’s intelligence, permeating every particle of existence.Trans. John Ciardi Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Today marks the beginning of our thirty-three-day examination at Dante’s “Paradiso.” What makes this work such a towering achievement? Despite its being the crowning achievement of the whole Comedy, why does it remain one of the lesser-read books in comparison to the “Inferno?” How does Dante describe the undescribable, and render the unrepresentable? These are just a few of the questions we will be exploring over the next month, so strap in and join us in the stars! Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Today, we’re revisiting an episode from February. What makes Dickens’s “Bleak House” so compelling? A number of factors, not least of which is his as-always remarkable powers of description, mood, and setting-building. Nothing exemplifies this better than the opening pages of this middle masterpiece. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Today, I offer my thoughts about Edward Said’s classic 1978 study, “Orientalism.” According to Said, for the past three hundred years, Western powers have built up a series of representations and traditions about Eastern culture which now forms the background to everything said or thought about Eastern culture. Listen to my thoughts about Said’s thesis, and where I think it goes astray. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Today, we’re talking about what gives this 1827 novel by Allesandro Manzoni the claim of “Greatest Christian Novel Ever Written.” Is it the celebration of marriage? The dauntless, magnanimous characters? The humanity shown for even the most depraved villain? All of the above? Absolutely! Not to mention the fact that it’s a wonderful action-adventure historical novel of the highest quality, a page-turner, and chock-full of characters you love and characters you love to hate. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe

Today, we take a look at classicist Gilbert Highet’s delightful travelogue-poetry collection “Poets in a Landscape.” Showcasing the works from the best of the Roman poets—Vergil, Catullus, Horace, and more—Highet walks his readers through the Latin Golden Age of Poetry in a way that is at once accessible, interesting, informed, and passionate. Get full access to Talk Write at brandoncookwriter.substack.com/subscribe