literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare
When I was thirteen years’ old I went through a massive Shakespeare phase and the first thing I did was re-read all the plays that I had read before and then, I finalised to start a new one. The new play I started first and foremost was “Julius Caesar” and I can honestly say that even though I did not have high hopes for the play to begin with, I was absolutely entranced by the end of it. I did not want to play to be over, it was absolutely fascinating to see exactly how the conspiracy worked, and ultimately, why it didn’t work. The characters were each individual, even the guy who has his identity mixed up with a guy who has the same name as him and gets himself arrested. The symbols, ghosts and violence of the play is extreme and even the language is just what you’d expect from Shakespeare - multiple layers in which you definitely won’t get it all first time. From the plot which climaxes with the assassination of Julius Caesar to the downfall in which suicide and war are the only options, this play has everything you could want in a terrifying tragedy. It has the supernatural, the satirical, the murderous, the torturous, the conspirators, the violent, the fiery, the brutal and ultimately, the suicidal. It is possibly one of Shakespeare’s most violent plays after “Titus Andronicus” and I can honestly say that every time I have taught this play, it has been nothing but appreciation for Shakespeare’s over-the-top violence and gore. From start to finish, it was a masterpiece that thirteen-year-old me first opened up, only to be consumed by future re-reads throughout my teen years and beyond. It was like reading into a great painting from history. You don’t quite get it all first time - but when you see Rome covered in blood, you think you’re finally on your way to understanding what it is all about. At least, you hope so.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
The Wicked King
Writing: 4/5 Character: 5/5 World: 4.5/5 Plot: 5/5 Thoughts: The cruel prince wasn’t my favourite book in the world, but the wicked king is a whole other story! The world builds in this story focusing much more on political intrigue which carries the bulk of the story’s plot. The plot in this book took twist and turns, some of which I guessed easily and some of which I never saw coming! For me, it was the perfect balance. However, the characters and their bonds is what made me love the books and I didn’t feel the plot overshadowed the characters. I loved watching the characters develop and where each one was bad in the cruel prince they only got that much more wicked. Jude and Cardan’s relationship is not all that healthy, and there are definitely some things that happen that I wish were either held off or wish it was done differently, but I will say their dynamic is interesting to read. I can’t wait to see what happens with them in the final instalment of this trilogy. My problems with the first book thankfully, didn’t apply to this book. I actually liked the perspective in this book and while the writing wasn’t amazing it improved. I’m really glad I powered through the first book because this book was SO worth it!
By Jessica Harvey5 years ago in Geeks
"The Iliad" by Homer
This is a book I first read when I was fifteen years’ old and honestly I can say that I was so entranced by it and so invested in it, I really didn’t want it to end. It took me a while to read because upon first time, there was a lot of stuff about Ancient Greece and the Trojan War I had to look up whilst doing so, especially the stuff concerning geographical locations and the section about the ships. However, when I finished it, I felt some sense of loss, like I had finished something that had just changed my life entirely and I had no idea what it would do to me in the coming future. From the raging wrath of Achilles to the burial of Hector, breaker of horses - this book came to change everything I had once believed about war. In war, there’s always a side that’s less violent, a side that’s right and a side that’s moral - but not here. Not in “The Iliad”. In this text, both sides were as violent and blood-thirsty as each other and both had a complete disregard for the well-being of anyone on the other side. They were trained to hate each other and racially, though they may not be so different - they were completely different in all of their views concerning the key woman and her status - Helen of Troy. This book was one of the most immersive things I had ever read in my life and I have read it a few times since, I have even taught it to students who have called it one of the greatest war books they have ever read. Why? Well because it’s not all out war. It’s rage, it’s difference, it’s backstabbing and deception, it’s regret and sadness and finally, it’s a one-on-one showdown between the two great heroes of the epic from the two opposing sides: Achilles of the Greeks and Hector of the Trojans. And the prize? Well, nothing but the dignity of their side over the death of innocent Patroclus. Patroclus who meant zero harm whatsoever and only want to fight on behalf of Achilles, who would not. All in all, we could say that this is Agamemnon’s fault for stealing Briseis from Achilles in the first place. But this is not a feasible excuse for Achilles’ behaviour of rage, wrath and ignorance.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
"A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest J Gaines
I first read this book in school whilst I was first reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and even though Harper Lee’s book absolutely wowed me, this book hurt me in ways I couldn’t even imagine. If you want to read about how African American people are mistreated by the justice system, and how they are systemically made to look evil and violent then you definitely need this book. I recently re-read it and it made me cry yet again like it did last time. There’s something incredibly dark and uncomfortable about this book and yet, it is enlightening because it teaches us so many things about injustice, prejudice and the value of human life as seen by three different sides: the teacher, the individual and the reader. It is unbelievably moving in its writing style, its storytelling technique, its politics, its time, era and order, the way in which America is prejudice against the outsider and finally, we get various lessons in what it means to be alive and what it means to die. The high emotional stress of this book gets me every time I pick it up and ever since I first read it, I have been moved by it every single time. There’s nothing more emotional than seeing someone convicted of something they didn’t do and absolutely nobody believes them. They turn to their teacher and yet, it almost feels like it could never be enough. There’s something holding it back and stopping it from having a contented ending. You’re left feeling a little hollow and a little guilty, as if you wanted to scream out that this man is innocent. It is heartbreakingly good and the book will always remain with me for as long as I live.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Imaginary Friend
This one has taken me quite a while to write. To be honest, I fell away from reading for a little bit over the last month, and this book took me longer to finish than it should have. “Imaginary Friend” had been sitting on my shelf for quite a while, but I’m glad that I picked it up and finally read it. Although it was a little confusing in places, I was hooked, and the desire to figure out exactly what was happening kept me reading.
By Kurt Mason5 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Set Fire to the Gods'
Set Fire to the Gods blends Avatar: The Last Airbender and Gladiator to create something new and unique. Used together, the authors were able to create a novel that expands upon both. The gods of the elements have separated the world into countries they govern, but there are more than the four basic elements. These authors have also created two more: flora and beast talkers. It is interesting to see these additional elements and the exploration of this rare soul element. Giving the story these added elements gives the story the edge it needs to be genuinely compelling.
By Cyn's Workshop5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Antkind" by Charlie Kaufman
The debut novel by the director behind one of my all-time favourite movies - “Synecdoche, New York” - has come to light and though it may not be a great work of fiction, it is definitely an interesting one for the beginning of the book does not reflect the middle and again, the middle does not reflect the end. The writing style that pervades through the novel changes as the character encounters more details of his own personality mixed with this ‘lost film’ discovery of stop motion animation of puppets that we see come from a friend of an old age. The book on the whole is a great discovery for post-modern pseudo-biography, but in terms of interest, it leads back and forth on a scale of moderately immersive to flat-out boring. Though the language style is often diverse and packed with second meanings, I fear that the character os Rosenberg himself is a cliché of the now cookie-cutter character given to us in pieces by Chuck Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” and was practically perfected by Bret Easton Ellis in his novels “Less than Zero” and “Imperial Bedrooms”. On the whole, the book is average in its approach to being a post-modern novel, great in its attempt to be a linguistic roller coaster, and terrible in its attempt to create a character that is both believable and someone the reader would care about enough to read such a long book on their ramblings and references.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
"Columbine" by Dave Cullen
I read this book for the first time whilst I was in university and honestly, it scared the living daylights out of me. When I first bought it, I already knew what it was about but seriously, I couldn’t resist but read it. I was hoping it wasn’t overly gory with details of the actual shooting but I was also hoping that there was a good amount of investigation in the books into why, where and when. The fact that it was Columbine that caused a number of other school shootings in America with a lot of them doing it in order to feel belonging and fame, means that this book is highly relevant not only to its own time and decade but to ours as well. When it comes to school shootings, there is one thing that they all have in common - they have a child or young person with a high temper, emotional strain and anxieties and depression wielding a weapon in which they have no or very little control of their actions. This book seeks to prove that not only that is true but influence and this almost cult worship culture has intensified the culture and association around the school shooting and massacre history over the years.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
Immerse Yourself into the Angel Crust Saga
Today’s Book Spotlight: The Angel Crush Saga by Violette Meier Violette Meier is at it again. She is the author of many speculative fiction books including her first, Out of Night: The First Chronicle of Zayashariya, Tales of a Numinous Nature, and Ruah the Immortal. And now she is focusing on her Angel Crush Series. Here is a list of them and a short description.
By Spirit Guide Communication through the Art of Divination5 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Utopia Avenue" by David Mitchell
Honestly, I am slightly biased seeing as David Mitchell is one of my personal favourite authors ever. He is able to create such brilliant realities within his novels such as “The Bone Clocks”, “Slade House” or, his magnum opus, “Cloud Atlas” which was made into a film with Tom Hanks and Ben Whishaw in 2012. One thing that this book does that the others do not is that it takes a single reality and shows it to us through this psychological evolution. The other novels tend to span over different realities and then turn and come back on themselves. This novel is, wait for it…linear. Linear realities are not really very common in the wonderful literary world of David Mitchell and guess what? I like it.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
"Down and Out in Paris and London" by George Orwell
This is a book I read once whilst I was in school and not again until recently, about last year. I had completely forgotten all about it and now, I feel like it’s so important to talk about my first reading experience of it because it was such a memorable study of Orwell. By the age of fourteen, I only knew George Orwell as writing “Animal Farm”, “1984” and “Keep the Aspidistra Flying” and yet, I had never even heard of this book before. When I began reading it, I realised that it wasn’t anything like any of George Orwell novel I had ever read. This one felt more realistic, it felt more like my own world and yet, it was so different to my own as well. I remember my first reading experience being so immersive that when I actually finished it, I went back to read certain quotations and pages again. Especially the ones about the economy and the deception of large companies and organisations. When I came back to read it again, I was about twenty-three and I noticed so much more than I did before, especially having experienced more about the key themes in my own life and times. It was like reading an autobiography and I know that it is supposed to be, but I have to wonder how much of it is completely true - it’s just in my nature.
By Annie Kapur5 years ago in Geeks
