I was recently honored to be a guest on Dr. Andrew Seeley and Patrick Boduch’s podcast, Glittering Caves: A Catholic Journey Through The Lord of the Rings. For the podcast, Andrew and Patrick took almost two years to record their discussions about the entire trilogy at the pace of one chapter per week. I loved listening to their talks. I even used them as a resource while planning the discussions I held in my after-school book group over the past year. The two thoughtful readers recently completed their discussions of the whole trilogy, and then had me on as a guest to talk about the methods I used to teach the books to my students.
Glittering Caves is a treasure trove of insight to anybody who is curious about The Lord of the Rings. Whether or not you happen to be a teacher, or even interested in education, and even if you’re not Catholic, I recommend it whole-heartedly. I happily credit Andrew and Patrick with helping me enjoy my experience reading through the trilogy (read about that here), as well as with helping me make the most of my book club. My students and I enjoyed our journey mightily, and much of that is due to the preparation I did while listening to Andrew and Patrick talk about each chapter.
In each episode, Andrew leads Patrick in a discussion of the assigned chapter. Being a long-time devotee of the trilogy, Andrew is well-suited to this task. Through his gentle questioning and attention to important details, both Patrick and the listener become awakened to the beauty of Middle Earth, which so many readers miss. Patrick, a first-time reader of the trilogy, is thoughtful in his reading, and he brings earnest and admirable curiosity to the table. I can attest to how difficult it is to stick with the trilogy sometimes, and Patrick never complains once. He is also quick to express his own initial reactions to things in the story, which definitely helped me appreciate my own reactions more. Andrew and Patrick play off of each other perfectly, making for a very appropriate Legolas-Gimli dynamic. (If you know, you know.)
The name of the podcast is a reference to the story that I really enjoy. I think it’s perfectly named. I don’t want to explain it to you, though. I think you’ll enjoy figuring it out while listening to Glittering Caves and reading The Lord of the Rings!
You can listen to my guest appearance on the show here. They were very gracious and let me talk for a long time. Glittering Caves is available in the usual podcast places, but here is the website.