literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "A Burning" by Megha Majumder
When I was in my teens, I was one of those Asian girl who loved the books of Khaled Hosseini. I read “A Thousand Splendid Suns” maybe at least three times purely because each and every time, it would break my heart. I was a big fan of Arundhati Roy and her seminal book “The God of Small Things” - I even have a signed copy of one of her later books. When it comes to the culture of South Asia, which is where my own heritage lies, I can honestly say that I am pretty well read in the popular books. Apart from Khaled Hosseini and Arundhati Roy, there is also: Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Jhumpa Lahiri, RK Narayan and the great Kiran Desai. When it came to reading “A Burning” by Megha Majumder, I already had a little bit of a background into her as her book was showcased as the October Book of the Month pick for the ‘Everyday Racism Book Club’ on Instagram. I was already impressed by the very moment I heard of the novel and yet, it took me forever to get myself a copy. I was itching to read it and when I did, I can definitely say that it did not disappoint in any way whatsoever.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Lighthouse Witches" by C.J Cooke
There are certain books I have read in my time that are atmospheric classics. Books such as: The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and even Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. But, I had yet to read a book which told the atmosphere of the dark sea scenes so well within its writing. Of course, we have the scenes at sea of books such as: Moby Dick by Herman Melville in which the scenes at sea are atmospheric yes, but far more about whales than about the haunting nature of the sense of place, The Old Man and the Sea I find is a lovely example by Ernest Hemingway but still - not as haunting and brooding as I would like and finally 20’000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne which is most obviously the darkest and most brooding of the three. The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke though, is a completely different thing. Whilst we have the very normal atmospheres of everywhere else, whether it be light or dark - the parts set at the lighthouse overlooking the sea seem far darker, always seem very dangerous and all of a sudden, like a wave, it rushes over you and brings you into the same feeling the characters have of impending doom.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Childhood(Tolstoy novel)-Review
Tolstoy's novel is a series of three legends about human history beginning at the age of 23, after he left university, and left the distractions of a wealthy young man whose parents died young. I read the Kindle program for works collected by Tolstoy in translation.
By Shreya Poudel4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Major Labels" by Kelefa Sanneh
When I read books about music I normally choose autobiographies of musicians or biographies written by people well-researched and well-versed in the subject. For example: I have read the autobiography (no matter how true or false) of Bob Dylan entitled: “Chronicles”. I have also read numerous biographies of Bob Dylan, the seminal ones including the expansive “Song and Dance Man” by Michael Gray and the experimental but mind-blowing accounts of “Friends and Other Strangers” by Harold Lepidus. I have read numerous biographies about Charlie Chaplin (yes, he sang to - so it counts!) and also, his heartbreaking autobiography - which seems to surpass them all. When it comes to books about people, especially musicians and actors I really do prefer to see some really extensive research going on and not for the book to look like one big Wikipedia Page. Sometimes though, this is not wholly possible and the book must be presented as a series of chaptered articles on particular subjects in order to get the message across. I have not come across many that do this in a way that is compelling until now. “Major Labels” is not a ‘long Wikipedia (page)’ as stated by some reviewers. Instead, it is a compilation of chapters on subsections of genres of music - helping us to see the stories within stories and the meaning behind some of the greatest genres ever to be performed.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Ranking all 20 'The Royal Diaries' Books. Top Story - October 2021.
Since the dawn of time, well, 2018, when I started reading and ranking children's books (see here, here, and here), people have been clamouring for a Royal Diaries ranking. After enough peer pressure, it's finally time to put aside my anti-monarchist beliefs and give the people what they want.
By kit vaillancourt4 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'House of Salt and Sorrows'
In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed. Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods. Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that her sister's deaths were no accidents. The girls have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with? When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next. House of Salt and Sorrows is a spellbinding novel filled with magic and the rustle of gossamer skirts down long, dark hallways. Be careful who you dance with...
By Cyn's Workshop4 years ago in Geeks
The Tragic Trend of Anne of Green Gables
Content warning: This article discusses depression, mental health, and suicide. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, published between 1908 and 1921, consists of eight books that follow Anne Shirley’s life. The first book takes place between 1876 and 1881, and the last book ends in 1918, along with the First World War.
By Svetlana Sterlin4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Morning Star" by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Everyone was talking about this book as being the next big book in literary fiction and that is not just because the hardback is absolutely massive. I had heard, before purchasing the book, many things of what to expect. Last year, I read a book that was somewhat similar in style to this one called “City on Fire” in which it covers a bunch of New Yorkers on New Years’ Eve during the 70s and goes around telling each story as they slowly converge on each other in space and time. A beautiful, thick bulk of a book, but beautiful nonetheless. I think that this book by Karl Ove Knausgaard is a bit similar in the fact that we take a group of people that seemingly have nothing in common and we give them something to have in common. As time and space converge, so do the stories and each character seems not so different from the last at all. A book dealing with the idea of togetherness in times of need, when I read this book I honestly could not stop thinking about how each character though reacting differently to a situation realises how they need to do the best thing for themselves in order to move forwards.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
The Bible
The Bible sometimes called the Holy Bible or the Authorized Version, is a collection of many religious writings of Judaism and Christianity, which together comprise the Old Testament and The New Testament, which is also called the Traditions. The word Bible also comes from the Greek erythro-kata, erythro meaning "to divide into two" and kata meaning "law" or "rule." The Bible is also referred to as the Canon which consists of the writings of men called the Canon, who wrote between the third and thirteenth centuries.
By Susanna Flavius4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars." by Joyce Carol Oates
When I think of Joyce Carol Oates, I normally think of the woman who wrote the dark almost folk horror novels such as “The Corn Maiden and Other Stories”. I have read a bit of Joyce Carol Oates apart from that but, the following novel is really something I have never experienced by her before. When it comes to socio-political novels that deal with family dynamics as well as issues of racism, classism and police brutality - Joyce Carol Oates is probably not the author that comes to mind. Instead, authors like Toni Morrison, Harper Lee and others do. That is perfectly fine. But this novel by Joyce Carol Oates has really put her on the map as one of the great writers of the American Lifestyle novel. Examining the state of America through a small family in upstate New York is one of the joys of this book, the other is to be able to witness the interior family dynamics in comparison to the exterior social and political world. Both have an impact on each other and I think that the further you get into the story, the more you find yourself wondering how you didn’t notice this book before.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Ghostland" by Edward Parnell
October is the time for ghost stories and Halloween tales and I always get into the spirit by trying to read something that is a bit different once in a while. Not just the MR James ghost stories or the Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson or Stephen King. I like to see new stuff that challenges what we understand to be horror fiction and ghost stories. Last year, I read a book called “The Monster Show” which is a book about Hollywood Monsters and the way in which Horror Film was made from the early ages of Hollywood all the way down to the 90s and onwards. The year before that, I really enjoyed the workings of the movie tie-in book “The Wicker Man” by Anthony Shaffer and Robin Hardy. So we can definitely tell that during the October season of spooks and ghosts, I like to delve deeply into different ideas concerning the genre, looking at different subgenres such as: speculative fiction, sci-fi horror and of course my favourite, folk horror. When it comes to Edward Parnell’s “Ghostland”, I was very excited to see this newer, more critical and more biographical take on the genre rather than simply focusing on the essence of horror fiction. It was a wildly interesting read filled with beautiful passages and an amazing plot line.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
5 Beautiful Passages from Books
Books are filled with beauty. From short story anthologies and poetry anthologies all the way through the longest novels ever written. There is normally something that we can find that is beautiful to us. Maybe it is a character, or a theme, or something we relate to. But in this article, I want to show you how beautiful language can be and how beautifully novels can be written.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
