literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "The Picador Book of Funeral Poems" ed. by Don Paterson
Do you remember when I read the ‘Penguin Book of Elegy’ and made myself really upset because of all the sad poetry? Well, I’ve done it again. I’m really sad because I have read yet another book of funeral poems. ‘The Picador Book of Funeral Poems’ is a collection of some of the more famous verses dedicated to the dead and grieved whilst the ‘Penguin Book of Elegy’ might be a little bit more meatier for those of you who don’t want the feeling of depression and sadness to end. ‘The Picador Book of Funeral Poems’ is, like our earlier book, split into various sections that deal with different emotions and ideas. Some of these poems are really long and others are very short. The shortest I saw in the book was by Sappho who simply wrote ‘my darling…’ So, let’s take a look at the strengths of this book and why exactly I sat and read the entire thing in about an hour and a half.
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Tea on Sunday" by Lettice Cooper
Yes, I'm still reading the British Library Crime Classics collection and basically getting together all I can that is free and on Kindle Unlimited. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times - these and the 'Tales of the Weird' collection normally have loads available on Kindle Unlimited if you're willing to pay £8 a month to read as many as you feel like. Tea on Sunday by Lettice Cooper was written later than the usual Golden Age of British Crime but still has the flavour of an old-time mystery novel. I was glad I got this on Kindle Unlimited because when I looked it up again, it wasn't on offer anymore.
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Murder as a Fine Art" by Carol Carnac
I'm not laughing, you are. We all expected that I would return to the British Library Crime Classics collection some day. There is something strangely addictive about those books that it needs to be said: I hope they keep publishing these until after I die. The collection is amazing and on top of this - they are mostly all available on Kindle Unlimited, making them free to read as many as you like of for around £8 a month. I'm pretty sure I made people regret giving me unlimited access to these books a few years back when I read them almost exclusively and absolutely obsessively. But, that's a story for another time (if you go back into my reviews you might find something from some years ago). So, let's get on with it then...
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Inherent Vice" by Thomas Pynchon
As you know, I have seen the film of this book a few times and I'm sorry when I say that it is probably the worst film of Paul Thomas Anderson's career. I sought out the book and I thought it was probably going to be a lot different to my experience of the movie. This is why I will always advocate for reading the book before you see the film. I was actually quite shocked to find that the book was more understandable and didn't feel as though it was wasting my time. I felt like the characters in the book were a lot different in my mind to the way the characters in the film were presented, especially the main character.
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Age of Magic" by Ben Okri
It's late February 2025 and I'm working on a few different articles at the moment. I want to give you another investigation but I'm really not sure where to start and as of yet, I don't know whether I've got around to writing that article on my ten favourite podcasts. If I have, then hats off to future me, you did well and stuck to it instead of erasing it from the board because you thought 'nobody's going to care about this crap'. When it comes to reading though, I worked my way through Ben Okri's The Age of Magic after seeing it sticking out of the library shelves so much it was about to fall off. Let's dive into this brilliant novel...
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Home" by Marilynne Robinson
As of writing this review, it is the 22nd of February 2025 and I am currently listening to a podcast episode about the Pizza Bomber. I'm planning to do a list of my favourite podcasts, putting them altogether rather than separating them by topic and subject. I've been using the library a bit in the last few weeks and I've even got an online account by which I can renew my books. One of the books I borrowed was Home by Marilynne Robinson. I've read some of her stuff before and so, this one will be especially interesting as she hasn't let me down yet!
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
