literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
COOL INVENTIONS YOU SHOULD SEE.
The recent GAC Tech Day exhibition in China was a resounding success. One of the participants unveiled an invention that can only be described as futuristic - a hybrid vehicle that combines a car and a drone. This unique vehicle has the ability to operate together or independently, both on the ground and in the air. Users can choose its route via a monitor or through voice commands. Additionally, it offers the convenience of vertical takeoff and landing, all powered by electricity. While successful tests have been conducted with a real passenger, specific production timelines and technical details have not yet been disclosed. For now, we can only rely on forecasts, such as Hyundai's belief that urban air transportation can be expected before the end of the decade. Nike, the renowned American brand, is introducing a remarkable addition to the world of smart clothing - the Origami Jacket. Made from Smart Fabric, this jacket intelligently responds to your body's sweat and temperature, adjusting itself accordingly by compressing or loosening up. It also features ventilation hulls for added comfort. Nike has kept things simple by avoiding batteries and other complex features, making it suitable for both casual wear and workouts. The female version of the jacket will be available in July, while the male version will be released in the fall. As for the price, there is currently no information available. However, how much would you be willing to pay for this innovative jacket?
By Manuel Sanz3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Holy Ghosts" ed. by Fiona Snailham
Full title: Holy Ghosts: Classic Tales of the Ecclesiastical Uncanny ed. by Fiona Snailham Now, when it comes to British Library Classics of anything, I am already there and willing to read. For example, my love of the British Library Crime Classics is known far and wide because I am practically obsessed with devouring them whenever I can. Then we have, of course, the British Library Tales of the Weird. I have read many of these already and I have to admit that some of them are far better than others. This one is one of the better ones and I think that might be because it deals with stories that I have either read before or those upon themes I already find quite interesting. Personally, I cannot wait for Circles of Stone: Weird Tales of Pagan Sites and Ancient Rites - in other words folk horror is coming to December and we should all be very excited.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Tom Lake" by Ann Patchett
“There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it. The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened, while the thrilling parts, the heart-stopping joys, splintered and scattered and became something else. Memories are then replaced by different joys and larger sorrows, and unbelievably, those things get knocked aside as well, until one morning you’re picking cherries with your three grown daughters and your husband goes by on the Gator and you are positive that this is all you’ve ever wanted in the world.”
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "When I Sing, Mountains Dance" by Irene Solà
Now, as I have said, I am starting my list of authors and books I have never heard of again. I deleted everything from the list and I'm remaking it slowly, more or less about three books in advance to when I read them. This book entitled When I Sing, Mountains Dance, has both good points and bad points. The good points revolve around its experimental storytelling techniques and poetic writing style which is both beautiful and descriptive. The bad points revolve around the fact that I simply do not care about the main story enough and would like to know more about the other side-stories that feature within. The book was too short and terse with its chapters, it offered me very little to get lost in.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Woman Who Lied" by Claire Douglas
There are times in my life when I think about how much paperback thriller literature I read. I come to the conclusion that it is a lot. One of my Amazon recommendations was Claire Douglas' book The Woman Who Lied and I was not all to enthusiastic about it to begin with but when the book started to get going, it got really good. I only found it a shame that there were so many details in the book that made no difference whatsoever to what happened. I understand intricacy and description because those are two things I love, but this kind of description ruins the pace of what could be a very good thriller novel. It took so long to get into the actual story of the situation and what was going on due to the random intricacies here and there that were not brought back later on and therefore, made no real difference to the plot. In scenes where it is vital that the writer builds up pace, the book is often let down by its inability to do so. As for the characters, most of them are unrelatable and terrible people, there is really little redeeming factors for this story. It upsetted me because I was so looking forward to reading it.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver
I have been waiting for this book for a long time, from when it came out I was putting it off for some reason or another. Some years ago I read The Poisonwood Bible and from that moment I was hooked. I have to say though, Demon Copperhead took me longer to read and longer to actually get started because of all my other reading in the way. Released in 2022 and then immediately nominated for awards, it is an epic novel which tells the modernised version of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield which pulls out all the stops when it comes to writing, plot devices, characters and more.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Briefly, a Delicious Life" by Nell Stevens
I was initially confused about what I should or should not be reading and my 'one book from an author I've never heard of' list started to dwindle and rock with uncertainty. I had to take a break from watching re-runs of Seinfeld or replaying Oliver Stone's JFK to amend my list. I deleted everything on there and went right back to the beginning because I had noticed that my list was biased to horror. Instead of having everything doom and gloom, even though that's what I enjoyed, I thought that I should make the list more about genres I did not know about as well. So, I started the list again with 'books by authors I have never heard of writing in genres I do not know about'. I think that this might be off to a good start as well. My list at the moment may not be as good as I would have hoped, but it still has some promise. Just take a look at this book entitled Briefly, A Delicious Life.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Printer's Devil Court" by Susan Hill
I have read quite a bit by Susan Hill in the past with my favourites being The Woman in Black (obviously) and The Man in the Picture. She is, as we know, a keen writer of ghost and horror stories and Printer's Devil Court is no exception. Born in 1942 in England, she was raised in a convent school and eventually studied English at King's College, London. The Woman in Black is probably her most well-known work which was published in 1983 and then adapted for film, television and a stage play at Covent Garden. In 2012, Susan Hill received a CBE for her services to literature and continues to write. Her writing is often characterised by atmospheres of ominous darkness and characters that are in denial, confused or confounded by the supernatural realities they are faced with. Beyond the ghost story though, Susan Hill has also authored many works for children, many works of nonfiction and much more than just horror in the literary stratosphere.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Study for Obedience" by Sarah Bernstein
This book was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2023 and so, I am astonished at the lack of people who have actually read it. It's a poetic book with prose written in lengthy paragraphs relating to all sorts of things from paintings and artists to the notion of obedience in following orders. Bernstein creates great landscapes and pictures through her words and manages to interpret and gather the landscape as a means of freedom and yet, it is still an isolating atmosphere. The pervading and impending doom underneath the storyline gets slowly louder and quieter as we hit different parts of the story, from the present to the past - the unnamed (and rather unreliable) narrator takes us back and forth. The text is constantly emotionally jarring the reader but maintains the pace of a jittering train travelling constantly against its will, begging to be repaired before it bursts open.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "A Gate at the Stairs" by Lorrie Moore
From the start of this book I was cautious. This is not my kind of writing at all because of the way it is written. The character often comes off as abrupt and more than often, pretentious. Lorrie Moore is not particularly my favourite writer and probably is nowhere near my top 50. Her writing can often feel emotionless and bland with no colour or air to it. However, the storyline to this book is its saving grace as it winds around the college life of probably one of the most insufferable female protagonists I have read in a while. Why? There is always some 'great drama' happening in her life which seems to me a completely and utterly inaccurate way to present the lives of college students who are simply trying their best. Be that as it may, many of the characters of this book are completely insufferable and so, I cannot take too many points away as that might be the whole point of the book. As far as I know, this book is just a collection of bad people.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Lodger" by Helen Scarlett
I love crime novels as much as the next person. Everyone and their cat is probably well in tune with my adoration of the British Library Crime Classics series edited by Martin Edwards. When it comes to reading crime I normally look for the criteria of the book having a simplistic storyline and branching out from there. But this novel entitled The Lodger by Helen Scarlett has managed to confound me. This is not a book with a simple storyline, in fact there are many things that are rather complex about it. There is a whole host of characters from every walk of life and at the heart of it, there's a dead woman with a questionnable reputation from every person that knew her. But not every person who knew her knew the same things. It was a fantastic read.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
5 Horrifying Moments in Charles Dickens' Novels
Warning: Spoilers! Charles Dickens was born on the 7th of February 1812 in Portsmouth, England. He grew up in a lower middle-class family and, by the age of 12 was working in the workhouse making labels for bottles after his father was sent to prison for unpaid debts. Later on, Dickens would attend Wellington House Academy before starting his journalistic career which would focus on social injustices against the poor. Many of his novels would concentrate on the same theme and in 1836, he published The Pickwick Papers, bringing him fame and starting off his illustrious career in the literary world.
By Annie Kapur3 years ago in Geeks
