A Doll’s House – Henrik Ibsen

Title: A Doll’s House Author: Henrik Ibsen Genre: drama Publisher: Dover Thrift Published: 1879 number of pages: 72 my rating: 4/5 A Doll’s House is realistic play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The plot centers on the marriage life of Nora, a seemingly ridiculous housewife who is merely not taken seriously and controlled by her [...]

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Out of Place – Edward Said

In his 2000 memoir, Out of Place, Palestinian critic and Columbia University Professor, Edward Said, recounts his life (mostly his childhood and early adulthood) in Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt and ultimately the U.S. The theme of this book is feeling “out of place”: being a Christian Palestinian Arab American, Said was affected by the political upheaval [...]

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Other Colors: Essays and a Story – Orhan Pamuk

  Title: Other Colors: Essays and a Story Author: Orhan Pamuk Note: I’ve read most of the essays on this book, but not every single one of them. Other Colors is a collection of non-fiction pieces and a story by the Turkish Nobel laureate, Orhan Pamuk. The book is mainly composed of literature, politics, and [...]

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Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe’s classic novel, Things Fall Apart, is set in the village Umuofia in Nigeria. It is about the personal struggle of Okonkwo, the main character, to live contrary to his father’s own shameful and ignominious life. Therefore, he is often harsh toward his wives and children and tries not to show any passion or [...]

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The Crucible – Arthur Miller

The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller, an adaption of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts, where over a hundred people accused of witchcraft, some of them executed for that. The Crucible begins with a group of young girls dancing in the forest, doing hysterical things and “conjuring spirits”, which was considered unacceptable [...]

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The Great Gatsby and the 1974 movie

The Great Gatsby tells the love story of the rich Jay Gatsby and the childish, wealthy Daisy Buchannan. Set in the Jazz Age following World War One, it chronicles the attitudes of the new arising society. After five years, Gatsby finds the chance of accomplishing his dream: winning back his old lover Daisy, with the [...]

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Pride and Prejudice: the book and the 2005 movie

A brief introduction of the book: In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet, the fussy and sometimes inappropriate mother of the Bennet sisters, aims to have her five daughters married. The novel starts with the arrival of the wealthy Mr. Bingley to town, who has newly rented a Netherfield estate. Mrs. Bennet wants him [...]

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Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore is about a young teenager named Kafka Tamura who runs away from his father in search of his unknown mother and sister. Parallel to Kafka’s story is that of Nakata, an elder who lost most of his intelligence during a mysterious incident he went through as a child. As a result, [...]

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The Autobiography of Malcolm X

In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley chronicles the story of the controversial civil rights leader, Malcolm X. In his youth, Malcolm X engaged in issues such as drugs, robberies and gambling. While spending time in prison for 5 years, Malcolm converted to the Nation of Islam, inspired by Elijah Mohammed, whom his siblings [...]

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Their Eyes were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

image: 101725293 Their Eyes were Watching God is a novel by the African American writer, Zora Neale Hurston. It is about a woman named Janie who becomes free after surviving three marriages, each one having its own problems. In the beginning, Janie is married to Logan Killicks when she is still a teenager by her [...]

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The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

http://www.trouparchives.org/spg06news.html Anne Frank’s diary is more than a witness to the oppression Jews faced during the Holocaust, but it is an intimate account on the details of adolescence. I think that Anne Frank represents teenagers around the world, no matter what their situations are.  Not only is The Diary of a Young Girl an important [...]

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Memories of My Melancholy Whores – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Memories of my Melancholy Whores is an interesting narrative by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It still contained Marquez’s dry wit and humor. I liked the way the main character’s misery, loneliness  and agony was depicted: “…I’m ugly, shy, and anachronistic…” Marquez’s characters are very complex, and he has a way of of giving you more insight [...]

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The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41adOkkXUzL.jpg author: John Steinbeck Set during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl migration, The Grapes of Wrath tells the journey of the Joad family’s migration from Oklahoma to California. I think that The Grapes of Wrath is a very hopeful book. One is deeply inspired as he follows along the great moments and disappointments [...]

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Thoughts on To Kill a Mockingbird

I have just finished reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and in this post I’d like to focus on Atticus’ character, which I admire because of its decency and ethical behavior. I think that although this book is about racial prejudice and injustice, it is also centered around the character and views of Mr. [...]

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Wandering Star – Le Clezio

Wandering Star is a book by the French 2008 Nobel Prize winner J. M. G. Le Clezio. It tells the story of two women, Esther, a Jew who has to flee her town from Germans and is amongst the people who dream of doing to  Jerusalem, and Nejma, a Palestinian girl who is staying at [...]

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