Annie Kapur
Bio
I am:
šš½āāļø Annie
š Avid Reader
š Reviewer and Commentator
š Post-Grad Millennial (M.A)
***
I have:
š 280K+ reads on Vocal
š«¶š¼ Love for reading & research
š¦/X @AnnieWithBooks
***
š” UK
Stories (2894)
Filter by community
"The Island of Dr. Moreau" by HG Wells
The first time I read āThe Island of Dr. Moreauā by HG Wells, I was possibly about twelve yearsā old and really only read it because the cover looked really cool. It was pretty short and I asked myself how long it would really take me to finish and whether I could make it last the whole weekend because it was a Friday. I ended up taking two books home and the other one was āHeart of Darknessā by Joseph Conrad, so I had a somewhat interesting weekend ahead of me. My first reading experience of Dr. Moreau was intense. I actually couldnāt put it down, I was scared I would miss something. I read it like it was the last book I was ever going to read. I was absolutely immersed in the story of Edward Prendickās doomed journey. The book really did change my perspective on the fine line between adventure books and sci-fi/horror novels. There was a very fine line and I really couldnāt tell where this book was on it. Sometimes it felt like an adventure and other times it was absolutely terrifying.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
ā2666ā by Roberto BolaƱo
This book is based around a series of murders that happen in the location of Santa Teresa whilst a strange German man is committing acts of hedonism through his life. The plot is very strange because the two, upon first glance, have little to no connection. The book is divided up into five different sections, starting with āthe part about the criticsā and ending with āthe part about Archimboldiā. Along the way, we meet a series of wonderful and enlightening characters each with their own experience of being human and yet, each of them have had something to say about the way in which they perceive death as both a physical and an idea. The bookās genre eluded me to begin with. At first, I believed it was more of a thriller, maybe mixed with a saga or romance section here and there. But as I read on and on through the parts about Fate, crime etc. I came to the conclusion that the book itself is a piece of social commentary. Though the genre may be a psychological thriller, the book serves as social commentary on the safety of the individual when they are/are not connected to other individuals who do wrong and how you can often get dragged into things that do not directly involve you.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy
I read the book āAnna Kareninaā when I was around fifteen yearsā old and Iām not going to lie to you when I say that I bought a special notebook in which I wrote down the names of the main characters and who they were married to, who they were related to, who they were friendly and not friendly with. I would write key points about the places they lived and their personalities, I would write things about their often strained marriages - starting with the obvious affair that Stefan Oblonsky had with a French Maid. Therefore, you can imagine that my first reading experience of this novel was pretty intense stuff. I was entirely consumed and obsessed with it. Every detail fascinated me and I spent ages looking for that very particular point for when Anna becomes ostracised from high society Russia. This book entirely changed my perception of sorrow and grief in literature because no matter what Anna did wrong, it was normally done in good faith in order to escape a lifestyle in which she was either dealt a bad hand, or pushed and coaxed towards dulling or muting herself for the sake of another. Whether these can therefore truly be called āmistakesā on her part is still a question I have to answer.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
20 Books of 2020 (Pt. 29)
Today I would like to say a few words about pairing classic literature with a favourite drink. Now, I've always been one to love a drink whilst doing some classic reading not only because it helps with the mood and ease into it, but also because it helps somewhat with the atmosphere. I say 'somewhat' because it helps with the atmosphere when you've got the correct drink for the book. Now, you can interpret this 'correct drink' as you wish, but here are a few of mine that I would like to share with you:
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Guide to the Best Performances: Dean Martin
An original member of the famed 'Rat Pack' and nicknamed 'The King of Cool', Dean Martin is remembered as a great singer and actor and also a massive influence on to the music scene of jazz, blues and big band along the same lines as his good friend, Frank Sinatra.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
It has been a long, long time since I have first read Huckleberry Finn. When I was a little girl of about seven or eight, there was an illustrated version that was written for very small children, a simplification of the story that I would read. When I was about eleven, I sought out the real thing and pretty much skipped Tom Sawyer because I heard it wasnāt very good. I only read it when I was thirteen and managed to slip my fingertips into Don Quixote. I really donāt remember how that happened at all, I just remember having the book. No idea where i got it from. Huckleberry Finn managed to change my opinions of the possibilities for childrenās literature. Apparently, childrenās literature could be sophisticated and hyper-realistic even though it was written in a dialect and contained some questionable language uses. It was one of those books that when you first read it, it moves you in its sheer realism, its heartbreaking emotion and the way it takes you away on one of the greatest journeys the Mississippi River has ever seen.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
50 Great American Novels
The Great American Novel (or the GAN as it is sometimes called) is something that has always been up for debate because of the fact America has had such an incredible output of literature in a far shorter space of time than other countries. The question of which epic best represents America was never really there, but the question of which piece of literature best represents the American experience has always been there since the country first put out its literary culture upon the world.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
The Best Works: Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico Garcia Lorca is possibly one of the most recognised names in 20th Century poetry. During one of the greatest ages of European Modernism, Spain's 'Generation of '27' (referring to the year 1927) came to prominence with his works at the forefront. Not only a poet, but also a man of plays, Garcia Lorca is also famous for being a rival of Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. He was killed by them in 1936 and his body has yet to be entirely located.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Poets
"The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri
It has been a very, very long time since my first attempt at the Divine Comedy. I was thirteen when I first read it and I probably still have the notebook where I kept all my notes on what was happening in the text somewhere as well. This is a book which changed almost everything about me and made me really believe in the unlimited possibilities of literature. The book changed the very essence of my personality, it came to change my belief in poetry and its possibilities, it came to change the way I saw the Renaissance and finally, it changed my loves and likes, my interests and my intentions in reading, film and even my interests when it came to my own future. It is possibly the book that has had the greatest effect on my existence since I read āThe Picture of Dorian Grayā at eleven yearsā old.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
The Best Works: Franz Kafka
Known as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Franz Kafka was actually a lawyer working for a company selling insurance. He wrote in his spare hours and compiled many short stories and a few short novels. Kafka's works are often known to depict the extremes of emotional and mental torture in human beings, dystopian as they may be - Kafka nearly always drew on his real life experiences to write symbolistically about the political situation and the emotional turmoil of everyday life in his country and time.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
āLife and Fateā by Vasily Grossman
Vasily Grossmanās āLife and Fateā has normally been called the 20th centuryās answer to āWar and Peaceā by Leo Tolstoy. Set in the midst of Russiaās turmoil at the battle of Stalingrad. The book goes through the various charactersā lives and grieves as they live through not only great turmoil but also great loss. The question of whether death is really glorious at war is one of the things it differs from when it comes to āWar and Peaceā. In comparison to when people die in death camps to Prince Andrei dying in his home after listening to how Natasha was being unfaithful towards him but forgives her on his deathbed. āLife and Fateā though not as great as its 19th century counterpart by Tolstoy. Throughout the book, there are many quotations, chapters and small speeches by characters that relate to the violence and wrongs of war, the way in which the characters deal with death and how the battle sends many, many people to their demise. But the real question is in this novel is how the lives of the everyday person can survive when the only means for having that life, in this novel, are through violence. It is a very poignant aspect of the novel since the first page states āif you attempt to erase the peculiarities and individuality of life by violence then life itself must suffocateā (p.3). The main message of this book, I believe, is that battle keeps people in fear of dying and in fear of their loved ones dying and so, nobody can really live their lives to the full since they are so focused on how this is all going to end and whether it is going to end at all.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
20 Books of 2020 (Pt.28)
I have been fairly sick recently. For days I was unable to eat, drink or speak until finally, I began to get ever so slightly better. It's a slow recovery but it's getting there still. Throughout those days, I had been reading in order to keep my mind occupied. I was re-reading favourites of mine like "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and newly found favourites like James Shapiro's "Shakespeare in a Divided America" (which continues to wow me even now!). When it comes to comfort reading and re-reading favourites, I have absolutely no problem with whatever it is you like to 'comfort read' as long as it is comfortable.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
