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Book Reviews Books

And The Wind Sees All by Guðmundur Andri Thorsson

This is one of my favorite books that I read in 2022. And The Wind Sees All is technically a novel, but is written in such a way that likens it closer to a short story collection. It’s an interesting …

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Book Reviews

Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig: Surprisingly Underrated

I’m surprised that this book isn’t more famous because according to the afterword, Stefan Zweig was the most famous writer in the world (!!) during the 1930s. Reading this made me a bit thoughtful.. Which of the writers that are …

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Book Reviews Books

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov: Ukrainian Dark Humor at its Best

Death and the Penguin, written by Andrey Kurkov, is a quirky and darkly comedic novel that takes the reader on a journey through the post-Soviet world of Ukraine. The protagonist, Viktor, is a struggling writer who takes on a job …

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Book Reviews Books

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin: The First Dystopian Novel

Before 1984, there was We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Written in 1921, this is the OG Dystopian novel, the one that started it all and inspired the likes of 1984, Brave New World, and even The Hunger Games series. Like a …

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Books Recommendations

Victober 2022: Reading Victorian Literature

In the past few years that I’ve gotten back into reading I’ve been keeping up with book releases and getting recommendations on books through what is often dubbed BookTube. One of the terms I hear most often on BookTube is …

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Misc

Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons

Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons differs from other 19th century Russian novels in that it is short (at just about 300 pages or so). Where it doesn’t differ, however, is in the philosophical questions it poses and criticisms is conveys.…

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Book Reviews

Life and Fate: the 20th Century War & Peace

Why do people have memories? It would be easier to die – anything to stop remembering. How could he have taken that moment of drunken folly for the deepest truth of his life? Why had he finally given in after

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Book Reviews

Reading the Victorians: Wives and Daughters

Despite my love of classic novels, I have barely read any English novels from the Victorian era so I have decided to remedy this by reading one or two Victorian novels a year (hopefully this post will be the first …

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Book Reviews

Meditations on (Post) Modernism : White Noise by Don DeLillo

This is one of the most unexpectedly enjoyable books I’ve read in the past 5 years or so. It’s just so entertaining and wonderful in its subtle humor and satire. It’s not in your face but will make you laugh …

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Book Reviews

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann, or “Damn, a 25-year old wrote this?!”

As I reach my 27th year, I am reminded that I am 2 years too late to write my first masterpiece. After all, Thomas Mann wrote his first novel Buddenbrooks when he was just 25.

First off, reading this book …