literature

Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.

When Reality Slides
Reality—however you define it (and most define it as a deeply “multi-layered onion,” to borrow from Jim Goad)—cannot be denied having its own hypnotic, imprisoning power. We know, ultimately, that everything is an illusion, a surface. A blink of an eye, the pull of a trigger, and all is forgotten—all erased. Instantly.
By Tom Baker6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Last Tycoon" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Even that afternoon, I could still see the remains of the atmosphere of failure hanging over from the Depression” - "The Last Tycoon" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
Regency Roadsters
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a literary character in possession of a distinct personality, must be in want of a car. And so, in the spirit of modern matchmaking, I've traded in carriages for convertibles, estates for engines, and discovered which each Pride and Prejudice character would drive today- from Mr. Darcy's brooding luxury coupe to Lydia's questionable convertible choices.
By Brie Boleyn6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Loitering with Intent" by Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark is a wonderful author. One of my most recent reads by her before this one was The Driver's Seat and it was so dark and delicious that I was captivated from start to finish. The philosophy that drives the novel is often quite flexible, and therefore not very strong - and that's the whole point. The character is painted as floundering, barely keeping their head above the surface of the proverbial water and once they drop, they end up somewhere they didn't intend to with someone they didn't intend to be with. The Driver's Seat, unfortunately for this book, is still my favourite Muriel Spark novel. But that doesn't mean that this one wasn't worth the read. It definitely was...
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Flight to Arras" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Suddenly an absurd image comes to me: stopped clocks. Every clock, stopped. Church clocks, station clocks, Mantelpiece clocks in empty houses. The clock-maker has fled: in the window of his shop, an ossuary of dead clocks. It's war...no one winds the clocks. No one gathers the beetroot. No one repairs the carts. And the water, captured and piped to quench thirst or to whiten fine Sunday lace for village girls, runs into a spreading pool outside the church. And we die, in summer..."
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "POPism" by Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett
You have probably read my review of The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and if you haven't then you probably want to get yourself over there. POPism is a much longer book and has more of Andy Warhol himself in it - it is less about his philosophy and more about his life. It begins in a pretty odd place and sometimes he even talks about getting shot. At the moment, I'm pretty confused about the state of Jackson Pollock but on the whole, I've enjoyed this text. Don't worry, there's no narrative about weird stuff I find in a book to go with this one. But the book itself is a whole different story...
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence
Published in 1913, Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence is a semi-autobiographical novel that draws heavily from Lawrence’s own experiences growing up in a working-class mining community in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The novel was Lawrence’s third, following The White Peacock (1911) and The Trespasser (1912), and it marked his emergence as a significant literary figure.
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Butcher" by Jennifer Hillier
I've never read a book by Jennifer Hillier before and well, I got this one on my phone because it was cheaper. I want to read more creepy and scary novels because obviously, Halloween is coming up. The Butcher is a book that fits that scary vibe but alongside that it also has a comment on power dynamics in which we can see the modern world through the lens of something that is horrifically wrong. There are so many possibilities in this book and though it keeps you on the edge of your seat, it also gives you a lot to think about.
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Maggie Cassidy" by Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac is one of those writers I read a lot of in university. I had a great time in my teens with books like On the Road and The Town and the City. But when I got to university, I found a whole new sea of books to read by him with one of my favourites being The Sea is My Brother. When it came to Maggie Cassidy, I think I must have skipped over this one or just missed it out. Books like Mexico City Blues got me obsessed in my university years too - I have no idea how Maggie Cassidy missed my gaze though. Well, the language is beautiful and the writing is simply fantastic. Let's see what it is about then...
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Holy Sinner" by Thomas Mann
One of the great novels of the 20th century is Thomas Mann's Lotte in Weimar and, if you've been paying attention, I've also written about his book Death in Venice in the 'Why it's a Masterpiece' series. His novel Dr Faustus is, in my opinion, one of the great novels of his time and The Magic Mountain has often inspired other great novels such as Olga Tokarczuk's The Empusium (which I also enjoyed and reviewed). How I completely missed The Holy Sinner I will never know but here we are, with another used book costing a very small amount of money. The book is practically falling apart but isn't that all the fun of it?
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks
The Echo in the Red Dust: My Martian Garden and the Memories I Carried
The air on Mars smelled of metallic dust and something faintly sweet, a scent unique to the synthetic atmospheres our habitats provided. It was not the crisp, earthy aroma of rain on fertile soil that I remembered from Earth, but after twenty years, it was home. My name is Elara, and I am a gardener on Mars, nurturing life where once there was none.
By Hussein Gazo6 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Night" by Elie Wiesel
I've read this one before but it was a while back now. It was definitely time for a reread because since a couple of years' ago, I have been seeing it everywhere. Forgive me for this statement of pure idiocy but: the 'universe' was telling me to reread this book. I honestly forgot how upsetting this book was, some of the images are just harrowing and the fact that it is a real account of what happened from a person who was actually there just makes it all the more horrifying. So without further introduction, let us explore one of the most important books of the 20th century...
By Annie Kapur6 months ago in Geeks