literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "London" by Peter Ackroyd (Pt. 4)
It was only a little later when I realised there were going to be quite a few parts to this review but here we go. London is not only a place of theatre and trade, unfortunately because of the overcrowding it is also a place of plague. Plagues come in and out of London for many, many years and perhaps one of the most devastating was that of 1664. Peter Ackroyd looks at the apocalyptic nature of the city during this same decade as only a couple of years later the horrific Great Fire of London breaks out and consumes much of the landscape. I guess it was a blessing too because at least it got rid of the plague. However, it would take years to rebuild even with everyone helping out in the effort and one thing we can definitely learn from Ackroyd's book is that there were issues when it came to recording just how many people had actually died in the fire.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Ah, Marilyn...
Ah, she really was, wasn’t she? “She is a beautiful child. I don't mean that in the obvious way... What she has - this presence, this luminosity, this flickering intelligence - could never surface on the stage. It's so fragile and subtle, it can only be caught by the camera.” - from “A Beautiful Child” by Truman Capote
By Kendall Defoe 5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "London" by Peter Ackroyd (Pt. 3)
From the beginning of chapter 11, we begin to get quite a different look at London. First of all, we learn that shops had their own places and these were based on geographical locations or streets. Peter Ackroyd teaches us about the segregations of these streets and how each street and/or place was dedicated to different types of shops all the way from clothes down to, later on, pornography. Honestly, if we were to sit and think about it, apart from the market places where everything is sold, we don't have many changes against that today. Instead of streets dedicated to one type of shop though our culture has been able to consolidate our entire day's worth of shopping into one space: the multiplex or shopping centre. Yes it is far more convenient but there is always a question of giving up small business in order to get it. What are we missing out on?
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Atlantis: Reimagined: Why Kida Should Be the Hero of a Bronze Age Mediterranean Epic
Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire has always occupied a strange cultural space. Released in 2001, it was bold, visually distinctive, and unusually interested in archaeology and myth. Yet, it never achieved mainstream dominance like other Disney Renaissance-era films. Over time, however, it developed a strong cult following, precisely because it felt like something different: a science-fiction adventure disguised as mythic history. archeology
By Jenna Deedy5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "London" by Peter Ackroyd (Pt. 2)
London by Peter Ackroyd is another one of my big reads. If you've been paying attention, I've been wanting to replace my 'big book review' with something because I feel like this is a more accessible way of streamlining these reviews with my own thoughts, rather than trying to be too academic about everything. I mean, I guess I am kind of an academic, but that's not why we are here. Peter Ackroyd is one of those writers, I have to admit, you have to be really into the subject matter in order to get into the book. Back when I read Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, I was ultimately grabbed by the fictional world created through the lens of Victorian England. If you're looking for a way into his work, I would recommend beginning with that one. But, we're on London - and so, back to part 2 of the series.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "London" by Peter Ackroyd (Pt. 1)
Peter Ackroyd is definitely an author I've chosen to spend more time with this year on account that I read an essay about how great he is by Christopher Hitchens. Like Andrew Hussey does in his book on Paris, Ackroyd teaches us about the time in which London was first London, but then he takes us all the way back through to the prehistoric era. The story is complete with figures and stones that tell us the story of what happened and when. Peter Ackroyd's incredible storytelling makes this a book I could not possibly miss out on, but one that I had to wait to read because of how long and intensive the experience was about to be.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Käsebier Takes Berlin by Gabriele Tergit
First published in 1931, the novel was released in Germany under the title Käsebier erobert den Kurfürstendamm (I had to copy this from Google because I had no idea how I was even going to attempt that without messing it up) and it captured the volatility of the final years of the Weimar Republic. It was Tergit's debut novel even though she was already an established reporter and journalist - this was a whole new direction for her in which she blended satire and realism. It was an immediate overnight success and was praised for its wit and modern style though it became overshadowed by the very real political turmoil Germany went through in the early 30s.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Rereading Review: "Persuasion" by Jane Austen
Check out my other 'rereading' reviews below! *** Persuasion is one of those books I've been meaning to reread - as I have with a few of Jane Austen's works. So far, I have done Northanger Abbey and I have failed to write about my reread of Sense and Sensibility for some unknown reason. But, I have found my copy of Mansfield Park and so, I hope I get around to writing about it. I think I have to admit that Sense and Sensibility is not my favourite Jane Austen novel, but it is definitely very good - the Dashwood sisters really are quite something. I don't know why my favourite Austen novel is Northanger Abbey but it might be because I see a lot of myself in Catherine Morland. I connect with her more than any of Jane Austen's other characters. I cannot say that I will not read it yet again this year - I might do just that.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
The Big Book Review: "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman (Pt.5)
Welcome to our final part on Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I hope you have enjoyed this series. At the end of the piece, I'll be sharing which book we are going to move on to next. I want it to be something a bit different and not another book about the same thing. Hopefully you'll like it. Again, if you haven't read the last four parts then I would recommend it because this section also deals with the conclusions. I've had a great time reading, re-reading, highlighting and annotating this book even though some of the concepts had to be reread quite a few times for in-depth understanding.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Paris" by Andrew Hussey
Andrew Hussey is probably one of the foremost important voices on the history of Paris. Some years' ago he did a documentary on the history of the Louvre and honestly, it is one of my favourite documentaries of all time and I have seen it several times over the years. His book entitled Paris both looks at the city thematically and chronologically, taking us from the prehistoric era onward, with attention paid of course - to the eras that made the city famous like it is today. We get to see the blend of history, art, revolution and so much more in this book. When I saw it, I knew I could not skip over the chance to read it.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Julie Chan is Dead" by Liann Zhang . Top Story - May 2026.
This book popped up everywhere on my Facebook feed, every few adverts were about this book and how addictive, funny and dark it was. I was grabbed by obviously, the bright colours, the promise of something addictive to read and the basic premise of a twisted and horrific version of The Parent Trap with some minor changes. Now, books that make these promises often do not live up to expectation - but this one definitely did. Yes, it is just as addictive as it says on the adverts and I obviously devoured the whole thing in just one sitting. When I looked up at the world again once the book was over, nothing was quite the same.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
