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 (1970/0)
Book Review: "The Hollow Ones" by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
I have read quite a few books that bore some amount of resemblance to the television show âThe X Filesâ and honestly, every time I do, there is always something that I have to say about it. This âsomethingâ is normally associated with the fact that I find a section or subplot somewhat unbelievable. There is always some aspect of the book that I feel does not make sense and it has nothing to do with the âsupernaturalâ aspect of the storyline. It actually has to do with the way in which the characters respond to the supernatural ideas that are presented to them, especially if they are not used to working with supernatural ideas. In this book, I found it rather difficult again, to believe that a character such as the reasonable Odessa would reply to a supernatural incident with believing it head on rather than spending time questioning the behaviours of it. I do not think that an FBI agent with all of their training would be inclined to see and watch for these things that leave the human body. It may have destroyed part of the story for me.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
The Danger of Nature in Mary Shelley's âFrankensteinâ
Written and revised by Mary Shelley, âFrankensteinâ has since become one of the most adapted and best-selling gothic novels of all time. Focusing on the studies of anatomy by Victor Frankenstein, it details his creation of a living monster. Victor later loses the monster and goes mad looking for him in dangerous conditions that often threaten the lives of those nearest and dearest to him. Apart from the deaths of physical people, nature presents something threatening to Victor as well. As a scientist, he must be reasonable - echoing back to the age Mary Shelley was born just after, the Age of Reason. But, Victor proves to be a romantic when it comes to his discussions of the sublime aspects of the natural landscape and therefore echoes the modern period in which Mary Shelley herself is thriving - the Romantic Age. Nature is often presented as something not just threatening, but something that is directly dangerous to either the physical or psychological being of the protagonist/narrator at the time. Through science, it is often presented as the subject that should be left alone to flourish rather than bent to oneâs own will. Victor Frankenstein, learning this the hard way, will pay the ultimate price for attempting the bend nature and play God. The human condition cannot flourish and cannot thrive in an atmosphere and scene that is filled with creations that are known to be against nature and thus, things in the Monsterâs path die out or become damaged.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Chianti Flask" by Marie Belloc Lowndes
I have read so many of the British Library Crime Classics Books that now, I am actually just waiting for more and more of them to come out so that I can read the newer ones. One of the more recent ones I read included a foreign man who was hunted down but, I think that this book - âThe Chianti Flaskâ was very different than the usual requests I have of a crime novel. As you know, I am in love with classic crime. Crime novels and films of the 1930s and 1940s are among some of my favourite re-reads and replays on my bookshelf and DVD player. The books of John Dickinson Carr and the like alongside the films of Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and the classic Hollywood era. But I think that âThe Chianti Flaskâ has truly changed my perception on what classic crime novels can be. More focused on the way in which there is a psychological perception of crime through the accused and their social circles - this book is fantastic at moving the genre forward into the new, darker criminal fiction age.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Woman in the Purple Skirt" by Natsuko Mamura
Over time, I have read many books from the land of Japan. Japanese fiction is some of the most incredible, heartfelt and magnificent fiction in the world. You cannot go wrong with a traditionalist family gone awry like Junichiro Tanazakiâs âThe Makioka Sistersâ and you definitely cannot shy away from Yasunari Kawabataâs mind-bending narratives of the human psyche pushed to the edge such as: âDandelionsâ, âThousand Cranesâ and âThe Sound of the Mountainâ. Reading Yukio Mishimaâs âConfessions of a Maskâ, âThe Sound of the Wavesâ or the disturbing âThe Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Seaâ is like being on a trip through the less-explored and more explicit parts of modern 20th century Japanese Culture. In our own 21st century we have had great authors such as: Haruki Murakami, Yoko Ogawa, Hiromi Kawakami, the great Koji Suzuki and who can forget Koushun Takami - creator of âBattle Royaleâ. It is not uncommon to say that Japanese Literature from about 1930 until now has been in its golden age. We are witnessing some of the novelists that will go down in history as greats and legends and the same can be said for this newer novelist - Natsuko Mamura.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Nowhere City" by Alison Lurie
Books about failed marriages, broken relationships and movement which is neither looked forward to nor wanted is a big thing for the modernist, realist and post-modernist eras. Authors such as Richard Yates and his moving âRevolutionary Roadâ, âEleven Kinds of Lonelinessâ and âA Good Schoolâ which all demonstrate different types of failed relationships between lovers, friends and acquaintances have been part of one of the biggest movements in the literary emotions of humans. Authors such as Christopher Isherwood have taken this one step further with both familial relationships and those with homosexual undertones at a time when the LGBTQ+ movement was still fighting for their human rights. Novels such as âBrideshead Revisitedâ all the way through to âCloud Atlasâ have explored the extremities of human emotion from love, to strength to suicide and back again. In the work of Alison Lurie though, I find that these relationships have a tendency to be slightly unrealistic in their sense of endurance. It is almost a romanticised emotional abuse that is more befitted to a mid-career Lana Del Rey song than a realist novel. Ever since I read her novel âThe Last Resortâ I can honestly say that I have felt this way more than once. Though she is a brilliant writer, sometimes her relationship writing can get carried away with any amount that a person can endure from another person. Not just making it unrealistic, but making the abuse of the mind a romanticised aspect that I certainly do not agree with.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
- Top Story - July 2021
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" and ImmoralityTop Story - July 2021
Published in the summer of 1890 in Lippincottâs Magazine, âThe Picture of Dorian Grayâ by Oscar Wilde has been closely associated with the era of decadence and hedonism during the fin-de-siecle because of its presentation of the fall of the upper class man. The character of Dorian is directly representative of the upper class youth who, by spending time with his elders and not contributing to society in any good way, has descended into a life of debauchery and sin. In the Victorian Era, the novel was seen as an absolute scandal because of its reflection of an upper class man, who in that time was seen as a model for society to follow - in the light of something that was closer to the nature of the peasantry (in the eyes of the upper class). This uproar caused the book to be banned and then edited, republished without many of the âsinsâ that the public put it down to. Unfortunately, it caused the downfall of its author as well - landing him in a hard labour prison.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Beautiful Things" by Hunter Biden
I remember when I first heard about this book and everyone was recommending it to me, but at the time I really just could not afford it as there were already many books on my âto be readâ list and âWishlistâ and any other list you can think of. I was pretty up in arms about it because everyone was reading it and discussing it at the time and I was feeling a little left out. When I finally did come around to buying it, I would have it on my Kindle purely because it was a little bit cheaper. I think I was actually pretty thankful because everyone had stopped talking about it and things were returning to normal. I was not coming across the book every three scrolls of Instagram, not seeing reviews of it all over Twitter and not being constantly advertised it. I felt like I was reading it in silence again and for me, that is the best way to read. Hunter Bidenâs autobiography is an amazing achievement of memoir. Obviously, his last name thrust his book into the spotlight once it was published and of course, during this time there were many people already talking about his drug use, his bad habits and blaming them on various things they did not know about. But this is the book that clears that all up.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks" by Adam Nayman
I love reading books about filmmakers and their movies. Books that really include some information that I have not read on Reddit or 4Chan before are probably the best ones. The ones where I can say âyes, the heart and soul of the author who wrote this book is in here and it is presented through their love for filmsâŚâ I once read a book about Quentin Tarantino that did just that. Each film was gone through in meticulous detail, each film was analysed and, alongside pictures from the set, taken apart and then put back together again. I read a book about John Huston that was amazing, a famous work entitled âPictureâ that went through John Hustonâs thought processes and the creative mechanisms he used to create masterpieces for Hollywood. I have read the books of Derek Jarman which he wrote as diaries before he died - exploring environmentalism and homosexuality through filmmaking was amongst some of the most interesting aspects of the filmmaking process I had ever read. It blew my mind at the time and his book âChromaâ still blows my mind today. This book I read by Adam Nayman does relatively the same thing but this time, analyses the works of the legendary filmmaker, Paul Thomas Anderson.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
5 Great Books I Read in June '21
June is a lot of things to a lot of people. For British people here it is the start of the real summer season with some of the hottest days of the year becoming a reality. People go to beaches and day trips and a bunch of other hot-day activities happen. This year and last year though, it has been considerably different. Less has been going on though people still insist on crowding beaches and making a day-trip out of car journeys to crowded shopping centres. Honestly, if you are out there please stay safe as vaccinations for COVID-19 have not ended and the delta variant is still out there.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Dangling Man" by Saul Bellow
A few years back I read my very first text by Saul Bellow - the American realist author of the mid-20th century and I am not going to lie to you when I say that I hated everything about it. It was dry and droning on and on, I could not stand any of the characters or the writing style and yet, it was supposed to be one of the best books ever written according to a lot of people. The book was called âThe Adventures of Augie Marchâ. I read it some years later at the age of around twenty-three and, thinking my nineteen-year-old self had just had a bad day, tried to read it again. It was all the same. I could not stand it still. I tried some other books by Saul Bellow such as âHerzogâ and âIt All Adds Upâ, âHenderson the Rain Kingâ was also one of the fictions of boredom I tried. But all of them were terrible experiences for me. This is nothing on Saul Bellow as a writer, I can appreciate the fact that lots of people love his works but they are just not for me. I find that his characters spend far too much time talking about themselves instead of exploring the deeper and wider angles of life. But that changed slightly when I read a book called âDangling Manâ. This is the Saul Bellow novel which changed my mind ever so slightly, about him and his works.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
A Filmmaker's Review: "Saint Maud" (2019)
I have seen a lot of these folk horror films in my short time. One of my favourite films ever is the original version of âThe Wicker Manâ purely because it is such a fun movie. It is something different and the way in which this sub-genre offers this almost fairytale-like and old world horror to us is still frightening yes, but it also makes us feel slightly more frightened because of the belief systems and behaviours being so far removed from our own that we could not possibly imagine them existing in the modern day. Lexicons are filled with cultish dialogue, beliefs and hierarchies rule the character structures and even the way in which death is viewed is something that seems to lack reason and logic, but is believed by a mass of small people who are succumbing to something fairly unusual. Folk horror, we have to see, is making a massive comeback after the films of Ari Aster got so big from their amazing watchability. The film âMidsummerâ especially, is a film I personally love to watch time and time again because of its sheer depth and analysis into the cultish behaviour of mass crowds. We can tell that when it comes to folk horror, as it is a reality we are removed from, a lot of research and work needs to go into making sure that it sends the correct message to the audience. âSaint Maudâ is a film that does that - but only most of the time. I feel like there was so much more that could be done, especially regarding the fact that the film itself is only about an hour and a half long.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Horror