literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "Watermark" by Joseph Brodsky
Joseph Brodsky is one of the authors I have been exploring more often lately. I do not think I have read anything by him except a poem or two some years ago and one or two books more recently. I have been waiting to read his book “Watermark” for a long while. I was waiting on purpose because of the fact that I love books about traveling in Italy and I did not want to go in an not enjoy the writing style - so I got used to it first.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Last Call for Coal
Johnny was a small child of 11 when he wandered into the dense forest across the field from his parent’s farmhouse. He didn’t expect much from his days travel, not much of anything really happens in the small town of Marysville, PA. The rolling golden wheat in the field behind him faded to a green-white as he went deeper into the snowy pine trees. He carefully watched his step, being sure he avoids the jagged and mossy rocks that lined the bed of the forest.
By Grant Baublitz5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "War With the Newts" by Karel Čapek
It is well documented in World War Two that Karel Čapek was one of the people named as a public enemy of the Gestapo when his home country was invaded and he refused to leave or be silent. Upon pain of death, he sat in his place with the Gestapo looking for him and one of the reasons was because of this book. “War with the Newts” is a Sci-Fi novel in which these talking newts do all the menial jobs humans do not want to do, but at what cost? What happens when the newts unite and revolt against the oppressor? What happens when the oppressor becomes too powerful that they blur the lines between rights and responsibility so? Well, in this novel by Karel Čapek, there is something very clear about the way in which the newts are initially mistreated and then, revolution begins.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
The diaries of Jane
My name is Jane Roper. Wait, I don’t think that’s an appropriate diary entry. How about this. Today is January first. Today is also my sixteenth birthday, and the first day of super hero school. You might be thinking what? Super hero’s? Those are real? Yes they are. And my whole family is or at least has super powers. My whole life has been a crazy movie, you see it’s because I’m different. Mostly everyone has just one super power. But I have five, making me the weirdo out of the family. When I was seven I got the power to be able to light my body on fire. When I was nine, I became a Teconopath. When I turned twelve, I got my speed. At thirteen once I hit puberty, I developed mind reading. And just two weeks ago I got my fifth one. Flying. But I haven’t worked out the kinks yet so it’s confusing still. I don’t know why I have so many, it’s the first I’m my family. I am just hoping that I don’t become the freak at this new school.
By Dana Bergstrasser5 years ago in Geeks
Scavenge The Stars
No lie, I have been in a massive reading slump this year. It seems like the world is in complete chaos. You would think being stuck at home, I would have hit some massive reading records or something. While I love books, the truth is I barely scraped by. I couldn't bring myself to sit down and focus long enough to get through a couple of pages at a time. So while I purchased a bunch of new books, I found them collecting dust months after they arrived to my house.
By Kayla Lindley5 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘Windswept’
"A poignant and heartfelt journey." --Wendy Higgins, New York Times bestselling author of the Sweet Evil series, on Cold Summer Every day, Sam endures the same subway ride on her way to school, but when she meets a boy named Reid, suddenly her daily commute isn't so ordinary. Reid has the ability to teleport--or, drift, as he calls it--and for the first time, Sam has the opportunity to travel anywhere without a passport or plane ticket. But as their two worlds come together, Sam discovers her family had been keeping secrets from her, and meeting Reid was just the beginning of unraveling the truth. When drifters begin to disappear, Sam has no choice but to face the threat when she finds out her family is among the missing. As Reid and Sam start their search for the missing drifters, help comes from the most unexpected of places. After a significant breakthrough, Reid is taken, and Sam finds herself alone in a world she knows nothing about. With the enemy closing in, she soon realizes she's the only person who can save them all.
By Cyn's Workshop5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Snow Was Dirty" by Georges Simenon
I am trying to read more Georges Simenon because of the fact I have enjoyed certain books by him and yet hated others with a passion. For example: my opinions of good books such as “The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By” and “The Blue Room” are better than those I hold on books such as “The Mahé Circle” and well, this one. This noir-like book definitely reflects Georges Simenon’s more criminal fiction such as his murder mystery series and yet, it does not initiate the same reaction. It was not as exciting and was tinged with existentialism, except for the latter part the fact that it does not excite the senses as the former books do. When I say this I mean that after a few pages, this book can appear dry and often a bit too dry to keep interested in. I assure you that if you were to split the book into thirds, the second third is the worst but the first and third sections are somewhat better with the beginning possibly the best you’re going to get out of the book.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Morvern Callar" by Alan Warner
When it comes to Alan Warner, I have managed to stay away from his writing for so long, knowing it would not really rub me up the right way. For one thing, Alan Warner’s writing is not particularly my style - with my own preference being decadent and often over-the-top flowery descriptions lasting pages upon pages to take your breath away - Alan Warner’s writing is very dry, often almost too dry, I feel, for its purpose. I did not really find his female character very genuine in this book and it did not really sound like a female character had been initially planned. However, as the book progressed, it is not that which was my concern but the unfolding of events which seemed a bit too quick and simple - almost matter-of-fact - for my liking. Be that as it may, there were still some quotations in this book which are definitely worth a look at and the type of people who like these fast-paced novels with very little philosophical description would absolutely love this book - but I cannot say that I do.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "In the Making" by G.F Green
“In the Making” by G.F Green is one of those novels you just are not used to, and never will be used to, coming across. Why? Well, in detail, it describes the torment of a childhood that can only really be equated with the haunting of the two children in Henry James’s “The Turn of the Screw” and the murderous rampage of Susan Hill’s “The Woman in Black”. The book is fairly uncomfortable as it describes these [what are] basic human emotions in detail as the child [Randal] grows up in a school to become more and more aware of who his friends are and who are not his friends. Meeting a boy called Felton may prove vital to the story, but there is also a lot of stuff that happens before that which should ring alarm bells if anyone were actually watching this child properly. His strange obsession with certain people, his imagination which is sort of like a self-inflicted wound as it opens at inappropriate times, refusing to heal over and throw him back into reality. But as these lines draw parallel and become evermore blurred, I think it is safe to say what we are actually witnessing is a slow descent into madness. And he starts as a child so it makes it worse.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Foundation Pit" by Andrey Platonov
“The Foundation Pit” by Andrey Platonov is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. A depiction of the life of people in the pinnacle of Soviet Russia, it stands as a metaphor for what the government tells you as opposed to what they are actually doing. “The Foundation Pit” is filled with images of heartbreaking violence, of torment and existentialism. The main characters find themselves losing all sense of autonomy in a society which deems them fit to work as their mental state spirals out of control. In this book we are faced with the fact that even when the government thinks they do what is best for us, in reality it is an entirely different situation altogether. The government does not, will not and will never give a shit about you or me. That is the message of this book. We may as well be digging our own graves - it would make better use of our time than to work in a society where the top five percent work the ninety-five percent to absolute death. At least we would be doing something for ourselves. Platonov’s realistic and anti-establishment view is so raw and filled with hatred for his governing body and yet, it is so understandable because unfortunately, we still live within the confines of that reality. Timeless and brutal, it seeks to build us an alternative to listening to our dictators but our own tragedies would be far from over even if we did succeed.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
The Best Books I Have Read This Year
When it comes to literature, I love to read it all. I'm not going to lie to you, I spend more hours reading than everything else. I spend a few hours in the morning, a few hours at night (and when I say a few I really mean a lot) and I enjoy whatever I'm reading. If I don't like it, I don't buy it. I really know what I like when it comes to literature and I binge read certain things that I want to read. For example: sometimes I like to binge on true crime, sometimes I want to read paperback horror and other times I love modern classics (which I'm binging on as we speak).
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
