literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Afghanistan Literature
With the media attention being on Afghanistan’s situation, we can’t help but feel worried for the future of the people of Afghanistan. Literature helps us learn empathy; empathy for other human beings living in remote areas of the world under strict, horrifying conditions that we as readers, only dare read about in books. We know that books can only do so much, but as bibliophiles, trying to understand the struggles that these Afghanistan people go through, is the least we can do.
By Willy Martinez4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Therapist" by B.A Paris
I have read B.A Paris before. The novel “The Dilemma” is probably one of the better domestic thrillers I have encountered in a long time. Domestic thriller is a term that not many people are able to work out, does it mean in the home? Does it mean as a part of a family? Does it mean something entirely different altogether? Well, a domestic thriller is a combination of the two - it is a crime/thriller novel that takes place predominately in the home and with a set of main characters who are all family. In this next read by B.A Paris, I was expecting to see similar themes of secrecies and more developed characters (I really can’t tell you how much I enjoyed “The Dilemma” so, just read the review here), plus I was hoping for something that mimicked the style of “The Dilemma”. What I ended up getting was something slightly different and though I like slow-burning books, I have to say in some respects the pace was a bit all over the place and there were far too many characters. Apart from this, the book was an enjoyable read and I did, in fact, still read it in one sitting. Let us take a look at what it is about:
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "To Cook a Bear" by Mikael Niemi
I have read many crime novels and a lot of them involving the strange beliefs of people whether they be supernatural or idealistic. Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Hollow Ones” was one of them where the masses believe in a supernatural entity. Another one could be “Devil’s Day” by Andrew Michael Hurley and “Starve Acre” by the same author. But this one was something a lot different to the previous ones I have read, it is slightly more confusing and if you enjoyed the movie “The Devil All the Time” then you will definitely enjoy this book.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Reason Behind Harry Potter’s Magical Wizardry And Popularity
We have been through a lot of books and series throughout our life. But why is Harry Potter being magically popular than any other? Among millions of famous and experienced writers, how come Rowling made her debut book a best-seller of all ages? Is it really possible to make your first writing worldwide? Or was that luck or something else?
By Rakshit Shah4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Machines Like Me" by Ian McEwan
When it comes to Ian McEwan, I become divided. Normally, he is a great author with some brilliantly dark stories about the human psyche. Other times, he can be a good author with stories that involve love that is, more than often, unrealistic. And a lot of times, he is an awful author with some outlandish stories which you simply cannot connect to. I find that “Machines Like Me” tends to fall into one of the two latter categories. First of all, we have the unrealistic nature of love, nobody thinks about another person that much that they cannot possibly focus on day-to-day tasks unless they are insane and require medical attention. Then we have the story of the machine or “Adam” that is outlandish and impossible to connect to. Personally, I found this to be one of the worst books I have read by Ian McEwan and it almost turned me off reading him - but I remembered that I also read “Cement Garden” - which was brilliant, and carried on reading his novels. Obviously, if you know me, you know I don’t like namby-pamby romantic storylines, which this has to an extent. You know that I like a hell of a lot of atmosphere, which is not really provided in this book. You also know that I enjoy well fleshed-out characters who have a moral compass that is often questionable - not characters who try to reason sexual assault, like in this book. I found this book to be a bit tasteless. But anyway, here is what is it about.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Untouched by Human Hands" by Robert Sheckley
I am not one to read that much Sci-Fi and even though that is the case, I am still fascinated by the new collection of Penguin Sci-Fi Classics as they seem to involve things far beyond the norms of the genre. For example: I read the book “Hair Carpet Weavers” and honestly, it wasn’t really like any other Sci-Fi book I had ever read. My problem with Sci-Fi is that I kind of roll my eyes at the thought of aliens coming to attack our planet and the likes of that. But, the new collection of Sci-Fi Classics by Penguin Books has taught me that there is so much range to this genre and that I probably shouldn’t pigeon-hole it as being about one particular thing. This book I read is called “Untouched by Human Hands” by Robert Sheckley and it is a group of short stories. Each story today could be called speculative fiction instead of just Sci-Fi seeing as a lot of the messages underlying the texts still prevail today. The writing is dark and often fast-paced with the stories themselves being no more than a maximum of about twenty or so pages each. Though the stories are short, they still convey their message with a strange vigour that puts the reader in a state of awe at the extended metaphor lying beneath.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
The sources of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer undoubtedly comprise the earliest work of literature in English of lasting merit. However, their author was a well-read man who sourced his tales from many places, some being of foreign origin.
By John Welford4 years ago in Geeks
The Importance of Reading "The Confessions" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the father’s of the European Enlightenment. Born, like Victor Frankenstein, in Geneva - Rousseau’s own ideas would come back to haunt him after he expressed free-thinking and individualism to the extent that he may have accidentally started the ball rolling towards the first leg of the French Revolution and whatever it was that led to Robespierre’s ‘Reign of Terror’ during the years 1789-1799. In the book “Confessions” he tells his life story only a few years before his death. He begins even before the beginning as he starts with the lovely romance of his parents and the fact that his birth caused the death of his dreamy, romantic mother. This therefore crushed his father and instead of becoming averse to the child, he seems to have done the opposite - instead showering praise and attention on him since this was the last memory of his wife that he had. Rousseau tells the story of how he was his father’s favourite, how he was nursed by the adults around him as he was born a sickly child who could’ve died. The importance of this is for Rousseau to tell us the real story - he was not an underprivileged child, in fact he was adored, taught, nursed and praised by all of the adults around him. He tells us that there is no ‘sob story’ apart from his mother’s death to which he did not actually experience. However, it is still an important story because it also teaches us how Rousseau became Rousseau. The man who started the European Enlightenment.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
The Well of Ascension Review
Synopsis: The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler—the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years—has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.
By Nathan Charles4 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Adolescent" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
In my time I have read and enjoyed many works by Fyodor Dostoevsky. One of my all time favourite novels is “The Brothers Karamazov” which I read at about sixteen and I’m not going to lie when I said it took me some time, but I have read it a few times since and it never fails to amaze me. I have read the brutal and yearning “Crime and Punishment” and his dark “Notes from Underground” - I have enjoyed “The Idiot” and now, I have just finished a book quite different to any Dostoevsky novel I have ever read - I had never even heard of it before I started reading it. It is called “The Adolescent”.
By Annie Kapur4 years ago in Geeks
