Confessions of a Readaholic

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Confessions of a Readaholic
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Tag: Mary Shelley

Five Books To Read in Gothic Fiction

Gothic Fiction is struggles and conflicts. It may be largely dominated by its sub genre, Gothic horror, but this genre is equally dominated by romanticism. The name Gothic refers to the medieval buildings in which many of these stories take place. This extreme form of romanticism was very popular in England and Germany. I exhibit a list of books down here in this genre I think you should take a look.

Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature’s hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

THE MONK by Matthew Gregory Lewis was first published in 1796. It is an early gothic novel and despite being written over two hundred years ago, now considered under the classification of classic, it is a real page turner.  This book has many typical elements of Gothic Fiction, and is a daring tale written accordance to time in which it is published due to the themes of murder, rape, incest, violence, torture, and can be a reason why Lewis was charged for blasphemy.

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Authors I have read

Earlier today, just hovering on ‘My Books’ section on Goodreads I found an astonishing stats page that tells you about the authors you have most read, ranking according to the amount of books read of each author. It helps to recall a lot of involuntary memories of when I read those authors, and how I felt about their work. This stats does not show those authors for whom I have read only one book.

Thus, I conclude a list of some those writers and the number of books written by each I have managed to read, and a recommendation from my part, in that order.

Ian Rankin- 16 books I have read

     

Set In Darkness introduced me to the world of well-written Crime Fiction and John Rebus.

Arthur Conan Doyle- 16 books

     

I have read every book on Sherlock Holmes written by the creator of this world’s famous detective. He’s mesmerising, and mysterious in his own ways.

William Shakespeare- 15 plays

     

William Shakespeare, ladies and gentlemen. (more…)


Books betiding into Movies in 2015- Part 2

In the last post “Books betiding into Movies in 2015- Part 1“, I offered you a list of eight books that are going to be some wonderful movies this year, or at least I hope. Well here are few more.

Me Before You

Release Date: Aug. 21

I think this book is one of the most popular books of the 2014, though I it’s still in my TBR list. In this love story, young Louisa forms a bond with Will, the paralyzed man she is employed to help. Emilia Clarke (yes the Targaryen) is playing Louisa.

Frankenstein

One of my favourite book from the pile I read last year. Another added to ‘must see movies list’. Daniel Radcliffe will play Igor, the hunchback assistant to Victor Frankenstein, James McAvoy.

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Ten Books I read in 2014

2014, has been a sublime reading year for me. Not only I conquered my target of reading a hundred books (as currently, I am sixty four books ahead of my schedule and few hours are still left), I have read a variety of books. Fiction, non-fiction, many kind of sub-genres. I am happy to meet Diversity this way.

Hereby, I conclude a list of ten books that I am recommending to you.

Let’s start with a classic. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a great piece of Gothic Fiction, well written novel which will give to rise to a whiff of compound thoughts when you are done with it. This book is a great example of how society has not changed much in the past two centuries in terms of greed for power, immortality, and innovation.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Exquisitely written, complete, this biography of the iconic computer genius is a textbook study of the rise and fall and rise of Apple and the brutal clashes that destroyed friendships and careers, and of course, Steve Jobs. (more…)


BOOK REVIEW: The Last Man by Mary Shelley

The Last Man by Mary Shelley
Genres: Fiction, Classics
three-half-stars

The Last Man by Mary Shelley

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Critics consider The Last Man is Mary Shelley‘s most important novel after Frankenstein. Since I read Frankenstein, a few months back, my obsession with the author’s writing style grew and I wanted to gradually examine Shelley’s writing by reading her other works.Thus, I picked this 500 pages long novel that explores similar thematic concerns as in Frankenstein, though from a vastly different perspective. The nightmarish story envisions the end of humanity from a ruthless and inescapable plague. Full of heart-wrenching loss, The Last Man tests the resilience of humanity, as well as its capacity for sorrow and grief.

The storytelling starts at the constant node following the timeline in a similar manner though sometimes, with deep descriptive instances, somewhere it does feel a dragging and one might feel tempt to rush through it. These instances occur only a few number of times most notably when Shelley often passed over the moments of action or character growth with a short summary, but that certainly never affects her descriptions of places or emotional states. Rest of the book does leave a similar impact on a reader as Frankenstein (only, if you have read Frankenstein). Like many other Victorian authors, Shelley felt no need to rush the plot along, nor to curtail her flood of words. Luckily, she backed them up with ideas and feelings, so it was not merely the empty deluge of words. (more…)

three-half-stars

BOOK REVIEW: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Genres: Fiction, Classics
five-stars

For several years, I avoided reading FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelly because the name had been caught up in endless clichés and had been inextricably linked with the horror genre, which I consider a bad form of fiction. However, being obsessed on reading more Gothic Fiction and the author herself I decided to give it a read and I confess that I am sorry I have waited for this long.

The story behind the writing this great piece of Gothic Fiction is as animate as the book itself. In 1816, at Lord Byron’s villa on shores of Lake Geneva, Lord Byron himself and his guests Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, and John Polidori. Byron, inspired by some fireside readings of supernatural tales, suggested that each member of the party should write a ghost story to pass the time. The incident is well described by the author herself in the Author’s Introduction to the book: (more…)

five-stars

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