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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To Kill a mockingbird (1962) compared to the novel

The 1962 adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird was very true to the book. I liked the way things were blended in the movie. For example, at the beginning of the movie, Mr. Walter Cunningham delivers a gesture for the Finches, since Atticus helped him with something in the past and Cunningham can’t afford to [...]

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The Slave Ship – Marcus Rediker

The Slave Ship, by Marcus Rediker, is a very interesting human history of the ships that used to transport slaves from African regions to Europe. This book focuses on the ship in which slaves were transported, which people tend not to focus on. Slaves were treated with terror in the ship, and various forms of [...]

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A new biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I have just discovered that a biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez by Gerald Martin is going to be released in May 2009. The book is called Gabriel García Márquez: A Life. The book consists of 672 pages and it is the first biography of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I’ll certainly buy this book once it comes [...]

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Sherman Alexie Cornell lecture

Last night I attended Sherman Alexie’s lecture, called “The Partially True Story of a Part-Time Indian” at Cornell. Although it’s called a ‘lecture’, it was hilarious, and Alexie looked more like an entertainer than an author/lecturer. It was mainly based on his latest book for Young Adults, called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time [...]

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Happy Birthday, Gabo!

I’d like to mention that today is the Columbian Nobel laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s birthday! He is my favorite writer! I have read four of his books. By the way: he is now 82 years old! read my book reviews: One Hundred Years of Solitude Love in the Time of Cholera memorable moments from Love [...]

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