Book 5: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles But Fate would not have the reputation it has if it simply did what it seemed it would do. Towles, Amor. A Gentleman in Moscow (p. 80). (Function). Kindle Edition. I'm wary of book blurbs who exclaim loudly, and by that I mean, both in superlatives... Continue Reading →
Book 4: The Railway by Hamid Ismailov I've read The Railway in two different periods of my life -- one when I was reading "world literature" for a year and this book was my pick for Uzbekistan, and second is this year when I was trying to take my literary reading seriously, or so I... Continue Reading →
Book 3: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut I picked up this book because of many recommendations on Reddit and because the title describes the current situation of our planet. This is a fictionalised non-fiction book that paints a picture of the lives of eminent scientists (physicists, chemists, and biologists) who... Continue Reading →
Book 2: Us Against You by Fredrik Backman As someone who has read Backman's entire oeuvre, I found this book underwhelming and lacklustre. At 448 pages, this is a long novel, even longer than its page count. The second instalment in the Beartown series, this book follows the story of Beartown's hockey club and its... Continue Reading →
Book 1: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy After having abandoned Instagram for posting my book reviews, I have found a new home for them here on my blog. While book-hopping a stray Internet comment recommended this Tolstoy novella to whoever might be reading to reconsider what it meant to be alive. I... Continue Reading →
A prophecy that doesn't come true is gibberish from the past. Along with other books, I am currently reading Exhalation by Ted Chiang. To put it loosely, it is a collection of science fiction short stories that also underscore the meaning of being human. In the story that I am reading presently, a corporation creates... Continue Reading →
"they journeyed without Bible prophets burning bushes without signs on earth without signs from the heavens with the terrible consciousness that life is momentous" Joseph Brodsky
Days go badly, and if too many of them go badly, they roll into tough weeks. And I find myself obstructed from the act of living, from being able to do the things I enjoy, and sometimes even need. And how does a day go badly? In ways more than one, I suppose, but it... Continue Reading →
With a lot of hiccups and pauses, I am trying to read literature from 100 years ago. I pick up a page or two and life, usually in the form of a notification or a chore or a thoughtless distraction, gets in the way. My mind is like a room full of scattered belongings strewn... Continue Reading →
amarllyis 