literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
50 Great American Novels
The Great American Novel (or the GAN as it is sometimes called) is something that has always been up for debate because of the fact America has had such an incredible output of literature in a far shorter space of time than other countries. The question of which epic best represents America was never really there, but the question of which piece of literature best represents the American experience has always been there since the country first put out its literary culture upon the world.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘Infinity Son’ (Infinity Cycle #1)
Synopsis A New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and IndieBound bestseller! Balancing epic and intensely personal stakes, bestselling author Adam Silvera's Infinity Son is a gritty, fast-paced adventure about two brothers caught up in a magical war generations in the making. Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers--a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures. Brighton wishes he had a power so he could join the fray. Emil just wants the fighting to stop. The cycle of violence has taken a toll, making it harder for anyone with a power to live peacefully and openly. In this climate of fear, a gang of specters has been growing bolder by the day. Then, in a brawl after a protest, Emil manifests a power of his own--one that puts him right at the heart of the conflict and sets him up to be the heroic Spell Walker Brighton always wanted to be. Brotherhood, love, and loyalty will be put to the test, and no one will escape the fight unscathed.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
‘Of Silver and Shadow’ Review
Synopsis Ren Kolins is a silver wielder--a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won't see a single coin until they overthrow the King. Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King's Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King's Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King's Fang title. But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Just One of the Groomsmen - Book Review
Not going to lie, I started this book off extremely wary. I’m always leery of romance novels because I find they are often cheesy, have flat characters, and can be incredibly boring when the subplots (if there even are any) show up. However, that wasn’t the case for Just One of the Groomsmen! It was funny, relatable, had amazing characters, and the subplots intertwined with the main storyline beautifully!
By Mary Knutson6 years ago in Geeks
"The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri
It has been a very, very long time since my first attempt at the Divine Comedy. I was thirteen when I first read it and I probably still have the notebook where I kept all my notes on what was happening in the text somewhere as well. This is a book which changed almost everything about me and made me really believe in the unlimited possibilities of literature. The book changed the very essence of my personality, it came to change my belief in poetry and its possibilities, it came to change the way I saw the Renaissance and finally, it changed my loves and likes, my interests and my intentions in reading, film and even my interests when it came to my own future. It is possibly the book that has had the greatest effect on my existence since I read “The Picture of Dorian Gray” at eleven years’ old.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
The Struggles of a Reader
When I was little, I always had a book in my hands, little ten page kid books, that ginormous leapfrog e-reader every kid had, even some of my parents books trying to make sense of it. Naturally, I was an avid reader. As I got older my books got bigger, not drastic size changes, but still it seemed like a big leap for a Kindergartener. By first grade I had worked my way up to reading Harry Potter with help from my mom, but by the time Order of the Phoenix rolled around, I was done reading. That is because by second grade, my dyslexia had manifested into everyday life. Words began to swim around the pages, letters never seemed to stay in the right order, lines were non-existent, even numbers would roam and flip around. The only solid word I could make out was “I” and that is only because “I” is a one letter word. Soon enough, you could not find me anywhere near a book.
By Caroline Davis6 years ago in Geeks
The Best Works: Franz Kafka
Known as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Franz Kafka was actually a lawyer working for a company selling insurance. He wrote in his spare hours and compiled many short stories and a few short novels. Kafka's works are often known to depict the extremes of emotional and mental torture in human beings, dystopian as they may be - Kafka nearly always drew on his real life experiences to write symbolistically about the political situation and the emotional turmoil of everyday life in his country and time.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
“Life and Fate” by Vasily Grossman
Vasily Grossman’s “Life and Fate” has normally been called the 20th century’s answer to “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy. Set in the midst of Russia’s turmoil at the battle of Stalingrad. The book goes through the various characters’ lives and grieves as they live through not only great turmoil but also great loss. The question of whether death is really glorious at war is one of the things it differs from when it comes to “War and Peace”. In comparison to when people die in death camps to Prince Andrei dying in his home after listening to how Natasha was being unfaithful towards him but forgives her on his deathbed. “Life and Fate” though not as great as its 19th century counterpart by Tolstoy. Throughout the book, there are many quotations, chapters and small speeches by characters that relate to the violence and wrongs of war, the way in which the characters deal with death and how the battle sends many, many people to their demise. But the real question is in this novel is how the lives of the everyday person can survive when the only means for having that life, in this novel, are through violence. It is a very poignant aspect of the novel since the first page states “if you attempt to erase the peculiarities and individuality of life by violence then life itself must suffocate” (p.3). The main message of this book, I believe, is that battle keeps people in fear of dying and in fear of their loved ones dying and so, nobody can really live their lives to the full since they are so focused on how this is all going to end and whether it is going to end at all.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
20 Books of 2020 (Pt.28)
I have been fairly sick recently. For days I was unable to eat, drink or speak until finally, I began to get ever so slightly better. It's a slow recovery but it's getting there still. Throughout those days, I had been reading in order to keep my mind occupied. I was re-reading favourites of mine like "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and newly found favourites like James Shapiro's "Shakespeare in a Divided America" (which continues to wow me even now!). When it comes to comfort reading and re-reading favourites, I have absolutely no problem with whatever it is you like to 'comfort read' as long as it is comfortable.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
"The Odyssey" by Homer
It’s been about ten years since I first attempted my read of both the Iliad and the Odyssey. I would like to admit that I preferred the latter to the former because I was far more interested in the grand adventures of trying to get back to his beloved Ithaca rather than a bloody and brutal war in which I already knew the outcome before reading the book. The first reading experience I had of the Odyssey completely changed my entire view on the adventure genre. It changed my perception on what was possible for literature and it definitely made me believe in the fact that adventures could all grand, depressing, dangerous and purposeful at once. There was a great amount that I had to write down. I made a flow chart of each adventure Odysseus encountered on his ten-year journey back home and even rated them out of five on how dangerous I believed them to be. The most dangerous, in my fourteen-year-old opinion, was the cyclops. Even though I read this book about ten years ago, I have read it a few times since and I cannot help but losing myself in the rhythm of the seas every time I read it.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Geeks
