literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace
I honestly thought David Foster Wallace was an author I was never going to read again (that was a joke). Way way back, I read The Pale King and gave my first impressions on it in a strangely worded article where I was a bit overtly confused about why this was meant to be regarded the way it was. I enjoyed it enough but there was always a part of me that thought I was supposed to be enjoying it. Anyways, The Pale King has kept me on the fence. At least it was a better experience than I had when reading Infinite Jest a couple of years before that - that was not a great experience. So, let's have a look at the 'even better than The Pale King' experience I had of reading A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. As you can tell, there's something more to this...
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
The Bard and the Troubadour
Background and Context: I am back again with all these random notes from university (a long way back now) being turned into essays finally. You might ask me why I'm doing it now and really it's because I've been looking at them lying around for a long time now. There's many in my bank at this point and I like to think writing them now is doing them a little bit more justice than writing them back then with my less apt writing skills. However, there's always room for improvement. If you go on to my page and have a click around, you should be able to find a whole host of essays.
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "How We Are" by Vincent Deary
I know I read them backwards, apparently this is the first one and How We Break is the second. The truth is, the second one seemed more interesting. But, by reading the first one I have honestly proven myself wrong because now both of them are as interesting as each other and I realise that this means I have absolutely no reason for why I read them in the wrong order. Anyways, it's February 2025 when I am writing this and I have literally just finished reading it. I'm still stuck on the comparison between Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and The Shining by Stephen King. But this book not only goes through who we are, but forces us to confront how we are.
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Music as Medicine" by Daniel Levitin
I was initially excited about this book but I became more and more cynical about its arguments the more it started to become a book about convincing me that music had some strange healing powers. Yes, there's a lot of scientific stuff in here that I think is very important but I will also go through that though they are important, they are also somewhat flawed in my opinion. There are some things that come into question and these include: data, anecdotes, generalisations and writing style. This book didn't feel as powerful and driven as a research/nonfiction book usually does for me and even though I was excited to read it - I find myself slightly deflated.
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Let Them Theory" by Mel Robbins
I have seen this book everywhere because I have been hankering around on Twitter and BlueSky. This is where the 'Self Help' book seems to grow into an unnatural monster. Many of these weird accounts are there posting '5 books you should read to become a success' in which everyone replies 'well, you've read them and you're unemployed and sitting on Twitter telling people to read them'. The place where I saw The Let Them Theory however was on pages concerning mental health and the way in which we have to let go of the expectations of others for ourselves. This isn't a self-help book, but it is a huge help.
By Annie Kapur2 years ago in Geeks
