Books & Philosophy
Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” is a surreal and disturbing short story set in an unnamed penal colony. The narrative explores questions of punishment and societal justification, revolving around an elaborate torture/execution device that etches the condemned’s sentence into their skin over twelve hours. The reviewer appreciates Kafka’s ability to create a unique Kafkaesque atmosphere. The book receives 4/5 stars.
C.S. Lewis, in my experience, is the darling of those Christian missionaries who hand out religious books to random people on my college campus, and Mere Christianity is perhaps his most well-known and well-lauded book.
The Brothers Karamazov is many things; a romantic drama, a portrait of an important cultural period, and even a murder mystery. But to me, it is first and foremost an exploration of the problem of evil and the paradox of meaning and hope in a world full of suffering.
The Girls was an interesting read. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it; I knew that it was loosely based on the Manson cult and I was interested in it because the psychology of cults really intrigues me, and I also really enjoy reading about the hippie era.
I have always found it interesting that people are so drawn to macabre stories of human evil– why do we like shows like Law and Order or binge true crime podcasts?
The more C.S. Lewis I read, the more baffled I am that he is regarded as one of the best Christian apologists. Honestly, the best part of this book was that it was short, and the audiobook was read by one of those audiobook narrators with the smooth British voices.
This is probably my favorite of Ottessa Moshfegh’s novels– at least out of the ones I’ve read thus far.
Sometimes, in my more narcissistic moments, I wonder what it would be like to become a famous writer as has always kind of been my dream, and to write a collection of essays all about my thoughts on life. But I don’t think I could do it better than Vonnegut.
This is the first Murakami book I have actually managed to read all the way through, and I think I finally understand somewhat why he is so well-regarded.
I, Human initially caught my eye because of the Asimov reference in the title.
Fight Club is one of those famous books I hadn’t yet read but felt immense pressure to read due to its seemingly universal presence in pop culture.
I had been procrastinating reading this book for a while, because I was honestly too scared to read it.
When I was reading this book I just kept thinking about the thought that comes into my head sometimes, about how I can just tell that my life is not going to amount to anything all that interesting or happy.
How will the world end? Nuclear war? (thanks Putin) Alien invasion? (Fermi paradox until it’s not) or…. smallpox outbreak from a bioweapons experiment gone wrong?
There was a time not so long ago when I would have deeply related to this book.
This book was gloriously pretentious, and I loved it.
We’ve all had an existential crisis at least once in our lives.
Usually whenever I remember my dreams they are simultaneously vague and vivid, always somewhat disturbing but with the unmistakable tinge of real life.
This entire book reads like a weird fever dream.
Picture this: you’ve been instantaneously transported into 19th century Russia, in the slums of St. Petersburg.
Frappes and Fiction 