literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "A Very Easy Death" by Simone De Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir is one of the great writers of the twentieth century and I have read many of her books in the past few years. One of the books I loved by her was "The Second Sex" and honestly, I thought it was really well written and made a lot of good points. Simone de Beauvoir was an incredibly articulate woman and her knowledge of her own culture, time and place, her knowledge of her own philosophical context and the way in which people interact, remember and operate made her a woman way ahead of her own time. This book deals with the death of her mother. I was initially not very overly enthusiastic about this, being sure that Joan Didion's book about the death of her husband - "A Year of Magical Thinking" - would be better written. But I was wrong. I enjoyed this book a lot more because it is far more graphic, it is based more in realism and you can actually see it happening as the story goes along and the mother becomes weaker and weaker.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Native Realm" by Czeslaw Milosz
Czeslaw Milosz is a writer I have been interested in for a while and I have read a couple of his works before reading "Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition". I have previously read the book of selected poetry published by penguin books and I have also read a brilliant book entitled "The Captive Mind". Milosz is always great at portraying the most difficult and confusing emotions to articulate through a series of vivid an psychological descriptions of the human mind put straight into anxieties. As we know, Milosz lived in a turbulent time and was obviously in Poland during this time and honestly, I cannot see anything more horrifying than having to see one of the worst atrocities in human history being committed in your very own country.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
5 Books I Dislike
I don't like every single book on the planet even though sometimes, it might seem that way. I have read books in my time that have made me think that it would be less painful to put my head through a brick wall. I have read books that I have often thought about for ages afterwards and then garnered the result: I hate them. But I would never say that I hated or disliked a whole author. If I don't like a book by them, I always give them the benefit of the doubt and read another book they have written with an open mind. It's more of me hoping that I dislike an entire author's work.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Island of Dr. Moreau from Montgomery perspective
The voyage back to Moreau’s island has been a difficult one. There has been trouble with the men on the ship, and the captain especially. That captain is a behemoth and a mess with little regard for his cargo. There is little to do for the next several days while we await our return home, however the journey is almost finished now. We have had trouble on several occasions with the men’s reactions to M’ling which I wish to recount here, as to remember them when Moreau is being difficult with him.
By Tj Wetmore5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Black Unicorn" by Audre Lorde
I have read other works by Audre Lorde before that led me to take a look at some of her poetry. "Zami" and "Sister Outsider" are two of the books I have read before by her and I am, as of yet, planning to read "The Cancer Journals" as well. But, as I have been reading "The Black Unicorn" and honestly, I have been surprised as to why I have waited so long before I chose to read this one. "The Black Unicorn" is possibly my favourite Audre Lorde book so far because the poetry is so vivid, exciting and so well written that I might just go right back to the beginning to take the entire thing in again.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘These Violent Delights’
The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang--a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette's first love...and first betrayal. But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns--and grudges--aside and work together, for if they can't stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
By Cyn's Workshop5 years ago in Geeks
The Requirement for World Literature
There is a massive requirement for world literature from a very early age in children. When a child first learns to read, the child requires a large and diverse range of stories and each culture and country offers this. As the child grows into a teenager, they will become introduced to different literary sub-cultures like the Russian Golden Age, the Age of Islamic Mysticism, the British Modernist Period, the Italian Renaissance and many, many more. Since the GCSE studies of Great Britain made the syllabus just British about five years’ ago, I have been concerned with teenagers not getting the same experience I did of literature from around the world written in different times and places from people who lived in the time of Shakespeare and Elizabeth I to people who were fighting the crusades, from people who were living through the Spanish Civil War to people who fought in the Mexican Revolution, the Bolsheviks Overthrow of Russia, the American Civil War and even down to the South African Abolition of the Apartheid. Unfortunately, as it comes further and further down the line, the teenagers of Great Britain are being deprived of literature from overseas to a degree that is actually disturbing, in favour of just re-reading pretty much the same stories just written by different authors over and over again. As adults, I can also see a drop in British people, especially Caucasian British, who have not really explored the realm of world literature and more specifically of Eastern World literature. So, I wanted to just see what the big deal is with reading world literature and why I am so concerned about my own generation and the next.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Song of the Lark" by Willa Cather
Willa Cather is normally an author I have avoided. Since reading “O Pioneers!” I have not really been too into her work. I find that the stories are all rather the same and I have read about three of her books now to think that. “The Song of the Lark” though, is actually something refreshingly different to her normal doomed romances filled with fleeting estranged friends and distrust etc. “The Song of the Lark” is actually mildly disturbing at times. It is sad at times as well. But most of all, it is not very well written. Yes, it might be refreshingly different in storyline and it might be a bit disturbing now and again and the girl seems like she is being exploited for her singing voice by others - but the book is badly written. It is dry and it is dull. I am not going to lie, this really is not like the other experiences I have had with Willa Cather. Normally, I am quite fond of her writing style, which seems super deep and dark, tearing away at the soul with a rugged-cloth covered knife. However, this book just seemed a bit sad and a bit dull. It just did not have the same impact as the other novels by her.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Some Men Don't Read Female Authors...
V.S Naipaul, author of the legendary book “A Bend in the River”, once stated something along the lines of the fact that female writers are overtly emotional and so their writing is not as good as men’s writing. Since then, there has been a massive discussion about men who actively do not read female writers due to the fact that:
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
African Stories That I Love
When it comes to literature, nearly everyone knows of Charles Dickens, Maya Angelou, J.K. Rowling, and Victor Hugo. Western literature has been celebrated for centuries and for many, these authors represent the apex of skilled writers. But what about a continent with a long storytelling history? Where folktales and oral traditions have paved the way for modern tales about life rich in culture and influence? As great as American and European literature have come to be, African literature deserves its place on our shelves next to The Hate U Give and To Kill A Mockingbird.
By C.R. Hughes5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Truce" by Mario Benedetti
When I first heard about this book I was very surprised I had not read it and this was because a few months ago, I took it upon myself to read all the books written by Mario Benedetti and somehow I missed this one. “The Truce” is about a man who falls in love with a woman - so that’s pretty simple isn’t it? No, it isn’t. A man sees his life falling apart and falls in love with this woman who he has been crushing on for a while, clearly. When they get together, the book gets incredibly happier and happier. Their lives are on the up, but then the climactic point of the book comes and changes the entire situation. It is something that I do not want to actually say but it is really, really upsetting and it is literally something I did not see coming. But the book itself is as well written as the last book I read by him which was “Springtime in a Broken Mirror” and his writing always has this tone of a mix between romanticising life and being brutally honest about opinions. When he wrote this into “The Truce”, he used the voices of the main characters as the narrators through diary entries and, by doing this, has heightened the experience of love, romanticisms of life and brutally honest reflections to the point of no return. It is pure brilliance.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
