literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: Summer Days & Summer Nights
“What is life, it comes to me, without the occasional risk of pizza?” Rating: 9/10 Synopsis: As everyone knows, summer is the perfect time to fall in love. This book focuses on all the classic scenes of summer: beaches, county fairs, zombie-infested movie theaters – you know, stuff like that. No matter what mood you’re in on these sweltering, sunny days it’s guaranteed that you’ll find at least one of these twelve love stories written by popular YA authors to match.
By Veronica Traggiai5 years ago in Geeks
"American Notes" by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens’ “American Notes” is a travelogue detailing a trip Dickens took to North America between the months of January and June in 1842. This was also part of the inspiration for his later writing of “Martin Chuzzlewit”. Charles Dickens and his wife sailed for North America just a month before Dickens’ 30th birthday and even though he was initially in good spirits, the journey on sea was no so positive. He would travel America by coach, by steamboat, and even writing a whole chapter on his journey on the American Railroad. Dickens could not forgive America for it having a continued use for slavery and comments about the treatment of black people in America as being incredibly horrid. He gives reasons and observations for major flaws in the society of the USA and makes analyses on everything from violence to prisons, hospitals and schools. Often enjoying the picturesque of the country, he comments on liking Boston the most in terms of sight and New York, it seems, the least.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: Born Survivors
Book Description The Nazis murdered their husbands but concentration camp prisoners Priska, Rachel, and Anka would not let evil take their unborn children too—a remarkable true story that will appeal to readers of The Lost and The Nazi Officer’s Wife, Born Survivors celebrates three mothers who defied death to give their children life. Eastern Europe, 1944: Three women believe they are pregnant, but are torn from their husbands before they can be certain. Rachel is sent to Auschwitz, unaware that her husband has been shot. Priska and her husband travel there together, but are immediately separated. Also at Auschwitz, Anka hopes in vain to be reunited with her husband. With the rest of their families gassed, these young wives are determined to hold on to all they have left—their lives, and those of their unborn babies. Having concealed their condition from infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, they are forced to work and almost starved to death, living in daily fear of their pregnancies being detected by the SS. In April 1945, as the Allies close in, Priska gives birth. She and her baby, along with Anka, Rachel, and the remaining inmates, are sent to Mauthausen concentration camp on a hellish seventeen-day train journey. Rachel gives birth on the train, and Anka at the camp gates. All believe they will die, but then a miracle occurs. The gas chamber runs out of Zyklon-B, and as the Allied troops near, the SS flee. Against all odds, the three mothers and their newborns survive their treacherous journey to freedom. On the seventieth anniversary of Mauthausen’s liberation from the Nazis by American soldiers, renowned biographer Wendy Holden recounts this extraordinary story of three children united by their mothers’ unbelievable—yet ultimately successful—fight for survival.
By Rachel Carrington5 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘The Circus Rose’
Synopsis From a New York Times best-selling author, a queer retelling of "Snow White and Rose Red" in which teenage twins battle evil religious extremists to save their loves and their circus family. YA fantasy perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Mackenzi Lee, and Laini Taylor. Twins Rosie and Ivory have grown up at their ringmaster mother's knee, and after years on the road, they're returning to Port End, the closest place to home they know. Yet something has changed in the bustling city: fundamentalist flyers paper the walls and preachers fill the squares, warning of shadows falling over the land. The circus prepares a triumphant homecoming show, full of lights and spectacle that could chase away even the darkest shadow. But during Rosie's tightrope act, disaster strikes. In this lush, sensuous novel interwoven with themes of social justice and found family, it's up to Ivory and her magician love--with the help of a dancing bear--to track down an evil priest and save their circus family before it's too late.
By Cyn's Workshop5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review - Robin Hood: Hacking, Heists and Flaming Arrows
In 2003, former private investigator Robert Muchamore came to prominence when he wrote The Recruit. the first book in the CHERUB series of YA novels. This told the story of a volatile young orphan who ends up being recruited to CHERUB, a secret organization which trains orphans and foundlings to work as spies. A fusion of secret agent adventures and secondary school soap (the romantic entanglements received as much focus as the high-risk missions), the CHERUB series lasted 12 books published over 7 years. Readers grew up with protagonist James Adams and his friends as they went from irresponsible youngsters to expert secret agents. It also spawned a prequel series, (Henderson’s Boys) and a five book sequel series which featured protagonists both old and new. Muchamore has done several teen books outside the CHERUB universe (including the Rock Band series and the standalone novels Killer T and Arctic Zoo) , but his new Robin Hood series, which begins with Robin Hood: Hacking, Heists and Flaming Arrows is his biggest project since the CHERUB franchise concluded for good in 2016.
By Fairy Tale Fanboy5 years ago in Geeks
"Collected Maxims and Other Writings" by La Rochefoucauld
La Rochefoucauld was a French author and nobleman most famous for his memoirs and his maxims. Part of the literary movement of classicism, his maxims often dealt with very human struggles that can be related back to philosophies found in aspects of Plato, Socrates and even Xenophon and Zeno. There are three parts to his writings that are split accordingly and all include some sort of philosophical enquiry into his own times: there are the memoirs in which he details his own life alongside its importance or lack thereof, there are his maxims which are the most famous and famed for being existentialist questions interpreted as double edged swords of the human experience - relating both good and bad actions to the passion and the reason of human nature. Finally, there are the letters in which he corresponds often using aspects of his own philosophy to either rationalise or complicate his own feelings in a way that often only he can comprehend, leaving the correspondent imaginably quite baffled and introspective. Within the writing of the “Maxims” there has been frequent alterations made by the author during his life, a few made after his death and in translation and editing, the text has been again corrupted from its original source.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Stephen King & The Ambiguously Gay Trope: The Sequel
Stephen King is an author known for effortlessly capturing the constant reader in webs of fear with only disturbed characters for company. The tale-spinner is credited for the creation of many nightmare inducing horrors yet there is almost always a bit of beauty attempting to play devil’s advocate for what King writes best. Endearing characters and soft friendships often soften the blow from the ghoul-of-the-hour. Perhaps the most common way King breaks the tension is through a special bond talked about in a previous article. The author has crafted multiple intimate & affectionate relationships between two male main characters whose romantic chemistry outshines their friendship. The common King trope gained some recognition (from fans & King himself) after IT Chapter 2’s decision to portray the Reddie chemistry just last year. But beyond that pair, exist many more bonds that exceed ordinary friendship. Through his less widely recognized skills in captivating character work, Stephen King has inadvertently created a world of ambiguously gay relationships. These pairs even break off into their own deeper Stephen King stereotypes. Looking specifically at the Jock/Nerd trope, one finds those ‘couples’ with a protective bond in which one character feels the strong need to protect the other as their found partner.
By Jaime Burbatt5 years ago in Geeks
"The Complete Stories" by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was an author that, when I was growing up, I wasn’t overly interested in. By the time I had first read his short stories, I had already read the books “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “A Farewell to Arms” and I didn’t particular enjoy either of them. At the age of about thirteen, Hemingway’s writing can seem bland, dry and almost dull but, as I grew up and re-read the short stories, I noticed that I was very wrong indeed. In fact, it is the dry nature of the stories that make them so interesting and fulfilling to read. I first read the short stories at the age of thirteen and yet, I couldn’t make head or tail of them.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: The Rest of Us Just Live Here
“Not everyone has to be the Chosen One. Not everyone has to be the guy who saves the world.” Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: Mike, Mel, Henna, and Jared live in a small town which, yes, does occasionally have to deal with vampires and soul-sucking ghosts - but that’s not their problem. They’re just trying to survive their last year of high school and graduate before the school gets blown up…again. They’re not the chosen ones, but that’s okay because normal life is already hard enough.
By Veronica Traggiai5 years ago in Geeks
Spiritual Truth & Blindness to Reality
On the stage, the hero’s journey to discover the truth behind the atmosphere of the play and the circumstances which have put these characters into these positions which the audience witnesses from the comfort of their seats, can be seen over and over again through time and history. However, most audiences see only the essential journey for which the story’s protagonist must embark and accomplish, followed by the spectacle which glazes the actions of the protagonist and the other characters which he or she encounters along the way; like hot fudge and caramel on an ice cream sundae. This essay is not shaped for such meager and sportive tricks. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how the protagonist’s journey for spiritual truth, fulfillment of revenge, and fulfillment of redemption in such works as Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannous, and William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, can leave themselves blind to their environmental realities.
By Jacob Herr5 years ago in Geeks
8 Books I Don't Regret Reading in 2020
8 Books I Don’t Regret Reading in 2020 When 2019 was coming to an end, I decided that I would become a more frequent reader. I felt as if I wasn’t using my brain enough. More than that, I was struggling with a lot of mental health issues and I heard reading can help you. I read both fiction and non-fiction, and I challenged myself to read just about anything. This ended up really helping my mind slow down and focus on the beauty of story instead of the busy thoughts running through my tired brain.
By Kayla Morgan5 years ago in Geeks
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court" by Mark Twain
I first read this book on a road trip when I was in school. I must have been around fourteen or fifteen and I had a really old and battered copy of the book. In fact, it was so battered that the pages were falling out and eventually - it fell apart not so much as a year later. The book was an old, coverless copy and I would sit in the car reading it and laughing to myself at the very suggestion that a man could travel back in time and visit the courts of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. The book itself was a short and rather funny take on a classic tale and I definitely read it more than once. I have always enjoyed the poetic tragedy of Sir Lancelot and so, reading Twain’s comedic text was like reading someone from the Southern States of America mixing up Lancelot with Huckleberry Finn with a side of William Faulkner like satire of the changing world. It’s like the perfect book to cheer you up and the most exciting novel that Twain wrote apart from Huckleberry Finn.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
