literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "Six Crimson Cranes" by Elizabeth Lim
Fairytales and Folklore have become some of the most famous aspects of literature, especially when it comes to writing fantasy. I have read so many books about fairytales and honestly, I can say that there are increasing amounts of great books written on other worlds, other times and tales of old from other places. Recently, I read “For the Wolf” by Hannah Whitten and I have also read novels such as Coraline by Neil Gaiman and others in the far past. To be perfectly honest, everyone thinks that they have grown out of fairytales until they read a book based on a fairytale that immediately takes them to another world entirely. And that is the most modern thing to do with fairytales - to build an entirely new world with them. Escapism is possibly the most common reason for reading such fantastical tales in your older years and so, authors want to make sure that you are as far away as physically possible from yourself. “Six Crimson Cranes” by Elizabeth Lim definitely takes you some place weird and magical, away from the mundane and everyday lives we lead. The creation of the worlds in this novel is one of its biggest strengths and yet, there are so many more things to celebrate about it.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Victoria: A Life" by A.N Wilson
A.N Wilson has been under fire as we know, for his book about Charles Darwin which nobody seemed to understand was not supposed to be a scientific novel, but rather a novel about Charles Darwin’s deep and personal characteristics, how they intertwined with the time he lived in and whether he was the product of that time and place or not. The same goes for his book on Queen Victoria. I have seen many reviews stating that the book is ‘convoluted’ or ‘difficult’ or ‘jittery’ and even, yes ‘disorganised’ which many people ended up giving reviews of only two stars to. I am here to say that this simply is not the case. It really is not that difficult to follow as long as you know what you are reading. You are not just reading a book about the life of Queen Victoria in the royal courts. You are reading a book about Queen Victoria in the royal courts, how this had an impact on her character and how her character had an impact on the emotions of an entire nation. This book is not just a biography because seriously, we all know the story of Queen Victoria - this is rather a biography of the Victorian Age with Queen Victoria fitting in right at the top. This book is about the reasons why she fits where she does and what made her this way.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Kabuli Wala By Rabindranath Tagore: Story Summary
Five-year-old Mini and Rahamat, sellers of dried fruit in Kabul, are the main characters in the "Kabuliwala" story. Kabuliwala patiently listens to Mini who is talkative and innocent, calm, and who gives his load of nuts to someone who has been suspended. Mini's father is friends with the young man and is delighted to see him laughing at Mini when he visits and talks to him about life in Afghanistan and what he has seen on his journey among the Kabuliwala fruit sellers.
By Rashmi Dahal4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" by David Starkey
David Starkey has been one of my historical heroes for a long time. I think he is such a smart guy and he can articulate the information well enough so that anyone can understand it. He has written some great stuff in his time and has been able to communicate some of the most turbulent and difficult times of English History to audiences from everywhere. The most recent book I have read by him is called “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” and rightly so as it concentrates less on the King of England and more on his wives, what they were like, the politics surrounding them and from the moment that he had married his brother’s widow - I knew that things were not going to turn out well for all of these women. An absolutely engrossing book, it really does take you into the court of King Henry VIII as there are details from everything, such as: Henry VIII’s philosophies and theologies, what went on in the courtroom when he was divorcing his wives, the fall of Anne Boleyn and what really caused it and finally, upon Henry’s death - what happened to Catherine Parr. It is a wonderful book and even though it is over eight hundred pages long, I would not be put off at all. Just be prepared to step into a whole world that you thought you knew, but in reality you only knew a small slither of the story.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Disney A Twisted Tale Series Retrospective - Part One. Top Story - August 2021.
A couple of weeks ago, Disney+ premiered the new Marvel animated series What If?, an anthology which provides a set of “What if?” stories changing established parts of the Marvel mythos. What if Captain America’s British girlfriend got the Super-serum instead? What if the Avengers were killed off by a mysterious force before they could get together? This sort of reimagining plays very well with fans, as it allows them to take familiar characters and see how they are shaped by new and intriguing scenarios. In 2015, Disney created the A Twisted Tale series, which applies this AU formula to the Disney Animated Canon. Each A Twisted Tale book is based on a Disney Animated Classic, with these stories changing elements at the beginning or end of the original story to create hundreds of pages of complications for our heroines and heroes to overcome. The A Twisted Tale series currently consists of eleven books - Six have been written by Liz Braswell, three by Jenn Calonita, and two by Elizabeth Lim. The eleven books adapt Disney Animation hits old and new (from Snow White to Frozen) with tones ranging from psychological horror to romantic fantasy, from epic quest narratives to dystopian actioners. However, all of them maintain a more serious and mature approach, with a greater sense of danger and threat. There are plenty of updates for contemporary sensibilities, such as more developed romantic relationships and several new female characters to even out the gender gap. Despite this, a lot of Disney’s upbeat fantasy charm remains intact, and fans will really enjoy seeing their favourite leads earn their happy endings.
By Fairy Tale Fanboy4 years ago in Geeks
12 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021 (so far!)
I love reading nonfiction from time to time. Some of the best nonfiction books I have ever read have been about events that, at the time I read them, were current and thought provoking. Books such as The Brothers by Masha Gessen and the famed Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell have become some of my favourites over the course of the past ten years with one being about the events of the current time I was reading it (The Boston Marathon Bombings) and the other being about times gone by (George Orwell's time before he became a heavy hitter) - both were incredibly interesting to read. When it comes to nonfiction, I do not just read things that are considered biographical, I also like to read historical books about very particular things like the reigns of certain monarchs in Britain or the Russian Revolution, or the Holocaust or even the way in which New York City changed throughout the 20th century.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
5 Great Books I Read in August '21
Things are starting to open up. However, COVID-19 has yet to die down. I think that the best thing to do still is to only go out when you need to - including restarting some aspects of social life. I make a thing to go out socially at least once every two weeks or so to keep myself sane and to keep my agoraphobia down (fearing that if I were to leave it too long, I will start taking steps backwards in my recovery). Supermarket trips are minimal and of course, post office trips are a necessity only if they are necessary.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Machiavelli: His Life and Times" by Alexander Lee
I spent a very long time reading Machiavelli back when I was in university. I wrote a number of papers on him (only one of which I was able to release in part - but not the whole thing). If you would like to read the only released partial paper, then you can do so by clicking here. I have studied how Machiavellian authority pervades over the stage of the 16th and 17th centuries and honestly, I have been always pleasantly surprised at the amount of fame Machiavelli garnered in his own time. After this, I covered bits and pieces of Machiavellian theories on my M.A, without much luck I saw, when it came to early German film. However, I was still able to apply the theoretics of the Italian Political Philosopher to the more modern ideas eyed in more modern movies. But that wasn’t really the point. I have never really read a biography on Machiavelli, rather I have never really read an amazing biography on Machiavelli. That was until I came across Alexander Lee’s biography of Machiavelli - including contextual devices and ideas on where the theories that Machiavelli had, came from. To be honest, I do not think I have read a biography like this on any historical figure, let alone just Niccolo Machiavelli himself. It was a brilliant book that I stayed up until 4am the next day finishing because I was engrossed in Machiavelli’s world.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
