Annie Kapur
Bio
200K+ Reads on Vocal.
English Lecturer
đLiterature & Writing (B.A)
đFilm & Writing (M.A)
đSecondary English Education (PgDipEd) (QTS)
đBirmingham, UK
Stories (1971/0)
Book Review: "To Cook a Bear" by Mikael Niemi
I have read many crime novels and a lot of them involving the strange beliefs of people whether they be supernatural or idealistic. Guillermo Del Toroâs âThe Hollow Onesâ was one of them where the masses believe in a supernatural entity. Another one could be âDevilâs Dayâ by Andrew Michael Hurley and âStarve Acreâ by the same author. But this one was something a lot different to the previous ones I have read, it is slightly more confusing and if you enjoyed the movie âThe Devil All the Timeâ then you will definitely enjoy this book.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Machines Like Me" by Ian McEwan
When it comes to Ian McEwan, I become divided. Normally, he is a great author with some brilliantly dark stories about the human psyche. Other times, he can be a good author with stories that involve love that is, more than often, unrealistic. And a lot of times, he is an awful author with some outlandish stories which you simply cannot connect to. I find that âMachines Like Meâ tends to fall into one of the two latter categories. First of all, we have the unrealistic nature of love, nobody thinks about another person that much that they cannot possibly focus on day-to-day tasks unless they are insane and require medical attention. Then we have the story of the machine or âAdamâ that is outlandish and impossible to connect to. Personally, I found this to be one of the worst books I have read by Ian McEwan and it almost turned me off reading him - but I remembered that I also read âCement Gardenâ - which was brilliant, and carried on reading his novels. Obviously, if you know me, you know I donât like namby-pamby romantic storylines, which this has to an extent. You know that I like a hell of a lot of atmosphere, which is not really provided in this book. You also know that I enjoy well fleshed-out characters who have a moral compass that is often questionable - not characters who try to reason sexual assault, like in this book. I found this book to be a bit tasteless. But anyway, here is what is it about.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Untouched by Human Hands" by Robert Sheckley
I am not one to read that much Sci-Fi and even though that is the case, I am still fascinated by the new collection of Penguin Sci-Fi Classics as they seem to involve things far beyond the norms of the genre. For example: I read the book âHair Carpet Weaversâ and honestly, it wasnât really like any other Sci-Fi book I had ever read. My problem with Sci-Fi is that I kind of roll my eyes at the thought of aliens coming to attack our planet and the likes of that. But, the new collection of Sci-Fi Classics by Penguin Books has taught me that there is so much range to this genre and that I probably shouldnât pigeon-hole it as being about one particular thing. This book I read is called âUntouched by Human Handsâ by Robert Sheckley and it is a group of short stories. Each story today could be called speculative fiction instead of just Sci-Fi seeing as a lot of the messages underlying the texts still prevail today. The writing is dark and often fast-paced with the stories themselves being no more than a maximum of about twenty or so pages each. Though the stories are short, they still convey their message with a strange vigour that puts the reader in a state of awe at the extended metaphor lying beneath.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
10 Horror Novels I Adored in 2021 (so far!)
I really do believe that anything that plays on the psychological is far more terrifying than any amount of blood, gore or monsters than can possibly be in literature and film. This is why a film like 'American Psycho' is normally considered more frightening than a film like 'Evil Dead'. Even though 'American Psycho' is not technically a horror film, it is still far more horrifying than the movie which contains more blood and monsters. Why? 'American Psycho' deals with the psychological. It deals with the fact that you could be at your normal office job with someone who murders other people at nighttime and you will never know how close you really are.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Horror
The Importance of Reading "The Confessions" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the fatherâs of the European Enlightenment. Born, like Victor Frankenstein, in Geneva - Rousseauâs own ideas would come back to haunt him after he expressed free-thinking and individualism to the extent that he may have accidentally started the ball rolling towards the first leg of the French Revolution and whatever it was that led to Robespierreâs âReign of Terrorâ during the years 1789-1799. In the book âConfessionsâ he tells his life story only a few years before his death. He begins even before the beginning as he starts with the lovely romance of his parents and the fact that his birth caused the death of his dreamy, romantic mother. This therefore crushed his father and instead of becoming averse to the child, he seems to have done the opposite - instead showering praise and attention on him since this was the last memory of his wife that he had. Rousseau tells the story of how he was his fatherâs favourite, how he was nursed by the adults around him as he was born a sickly child who couldâve died. The importance of this is for Rousseau to tell us the real story - he was not an underprivileged child, in fact he was adored, taught, nursed and praised by all of the adults around him. He tells us that there is no âsob storyâ apart from his motherâs death to which he did not actually experience. However, it is still an important story because it also teaches us how Rousseau became Rousseau. The man who started the European Enlightenment.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Adolescent" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
In my time I have read and enjoyed many works by Fyodor Dostoevsky. One of my all time favourite novels is âThe Brothers Karamazovâ which I read at about sixteen and Iâm not going to lie when I said it took me some time, but I have read it a few times since and it never fails to amaze me. I have read the brutal and yearning âCrime and Punishmentâ and his dark âNotes from Undergroundâ - I have enjoyed âThe Idiotâ and now, I have just finished a book quite different to any Dostoevsky novel I have ever read - I had never even heard of it before I started reading it. It is called âThe Adolescentâ.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Night She Disappeared" by Lisa Jewell
In my time, I have read an awful lot of crime and thriller novels. Being a person to shovel through the paperback bin in the WH Smith or the Asda, I have never turned away from those cheesy âchick-flickâ thrillers you find in the store for one or two pounds. I have also never turned away from an authorâs next big novel. In the case of Lisa Jewell, the first novel I read by her was âThe Family Upstairsâ and I think it was a Reese Witherspoonâs Book Club Pick but donât quote me on that. âThe Family Upstairsâ was one of those books where I thought I would never find out what was actually going on because of the way the story kept spinning around. However, with âThe Night She Disappearedâ I did not quite feel the same way. There are advantages and disadvantages to this book (but mainly advantages to be perfectly honest) and I wonât be taking away points for personal preference because that is not entirely fair. Lisa Jewellâs newest novel made me feel different, but not bad and with its very âGone Girlâ and âGirl on the Trainâ atmosphere, she is already establishing herself to be the new superpower of crime/thriller novels.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
- Top Story - August 2021
10 Weird Books of 2021 (so far!)Top Story - August 2021
Over the past year, I have focused on different types of reading including: folk horror, nonfiction and crime/thrillers of the Golden Age of British Crime Fiction. But, one thing that I have noticed along my reading is that there are books I would say are very 'weird' as in, I have not read anything quite like them before. The storylines shocked me, the characters enveloped me and there are tons of stuff about these books I would recommend (I'll be tagging my full reviews unless they contain spoilers) and tons of themes and symbols you can really get stuck into.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein" by Peter Ackroyd
When it comes to books about Mary Shelleyâs Frankenstein that either incorporate the main themes or rework the story, there are several that stand out to me as being brilliantly written and those include things like âFrankenstein in Baghdadâ and obviously, Peter Ackroydâs brilliant thriller of âThe Casebook of Victor Frankensteinâ. When we look at Peter Ackroydâs writing one of the books we see is the great, dark and terrifying novel âDan Leno and the Limehouse Golemâ which is, in my opinion, one of his greatest achievements. About a killing spree done by the infamous âLimehouse Golemâ there is a lot of similarities in Peter Ackroydâs writing style between that book and âThe Casebook of Victor Frankensteinâ. For example: both books employ a sense of punk violence. Someone is fighting a system of rules and so, the morality question gets underway - is this person in over their head or are they just trying to break the rigid rules of society by any means necessary? When does the reader decide that this has become far too much to handle? When does the character decide that they are going to be persecuted? Peter Ackroyd is the best person at asking these questions in extreme circumstances such as: arrest, isolation and situations in which the main character is running out of options.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Christ Stopped at Eboli" by Carlo Levi
I have read some few books about exile in my lifetime and honestly, I have never read something as harrowing as this about exile. Normally, exile is something that is almost self-sustained, the protagonist just tries to get used to it whilst they wander around. In Shakespeareâs Richard II, we see that the exile of the two men impacts one far more than the other with Thomas Mowbray asking what this sentence is but death that ârobs (him) from breathing native breathâ and Henry Bolingbroke accepting the circumstances of his exile for hurting the Kingâs feelings and disturbing the peace. In this novel though, Carlo Levi never really gets used to his exile, he seems to just go with it with each chapter offering something new and harrowing in every case. Every time something massively emotional pops up, we get these massive speeches about how religion and civilisation have stopped as if nothing of faith has ever been let into Eboli. It is a really upsetting book in my opinion and after reading it, I just had to stop for a bit because all of that was a bit much to take in at once.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Ninety-Six: Cleveland's Story" by James A Carter
I love reading independently published literature. People who write a novel and then publish it out of the want to actually get their story out and not for the marketing deals or to make money are some of the purest forms of literature you can find. Though they are few and far between, it is always a good idea to check out the Kindle Unlimited sections of Amazon in order to find some hidden gems. Amazon has really helped me find more and more independently published people, self-published authors and books which for some reason, hardly anyone has checked out yet. I have, in my time, found a ton of great books because of Amazonâs Kindle Unlimited sections and by looking at things such as âCreateSpaceâ (an independent publishing space) and I have also managed to find things published by friends and stories by people I have met online in these spaces. Recently, I have read a story called âNinety-Six: Clevelandâs Storyâ by James A Carter which starts with a prologue explaining who Cleveland is in almost a news-like style. Then, we get the real story and go back. It is here that we see the real history behind the family represented by the most turbulent parts of modern US history.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV"
Sir Alfred Hitchcock is one of the brightest film minds of the 20th century. The proclaimed âMaster of Suspenseâ has made some pretty great films with my own personal favourites including but not limited to: âVertigoâ, âStrangers on a Trainâ, âPsychoâ, âTo Catch a Thiefâ and âRear Windowâ. Some of the most iconic cinema shots of the 20th century were filmed by this one man. These include shots such as: the plane overhead in âNorth by Northwestâ which has been parodied by other filmmakers all the way down to The Simpsons, the shower scene from âPsychoâ that was famously reshot by Janet Leighâs own daughter - the Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis and even the carousel scene from âStrangers on a Trainâ which has been copied by other movies in different styles such as the anti-gravity fight scene in âInceptionâ and even again, The Simpsonâs parodied the scene on their Halloween special dedicated to âStrangers on a Trainâ and âDial M For Murderâ. It is incredible how Sir Alfred Hitchcock has had such as indelible mark on the film world, with his stuff that may not be entirely original but has possibly been used in the best way he could think of to create the most amount of suspense. When I first watched âVertigoâ (1958), I have to say that I was completely bawled over at the greatness of the film. From actors such as the amazing James Stewart, to the handsome Cary Grant, the incredible Princess Grace Kelly and the legends that are Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren and amazing acting talents of Farley Granger - Sir Alfred Hitchcock was able to create some of the most unforgettable films of the 20th century.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks