spectracommunist's reviews
372 reviews

The character of God Pan was adapted in Guillermo Del Toro's 'Pan's Labyrinth'

“I suffered no pain, my hunger had taken the edge off; instead, I felt pleasantly empty, untouched by everything around me and happy to be unseen by all. I put my legs up on the bench and leaned back, the best way to feel the true well-being of seclusion. There wasn't a cloud in my mind, nor did I feel any discomfort, and I hadn't a single unfulfilled desire or craving as far as my thought could reach. I lay with open eyes in a state of utter absence from myself and felt deliciously out of it.”



When I was reading this, I came to an afternoon scene where the protagonist describes his alienation at the Karl Johann Street of Christiana (Oslo, Norway) and I suddenly remembered that even Edward Munch had painted on that street and indeed his most famous "The Scream" was from that Christiana collection. The juxtaposition was so quite something. However, Munch painted his subjects on an evening scene and thus the combination looks quite complementary.

This book is a drastic account in the heights of despair and lowest of dignity in a semi-autobiographical sense of the author's own experience of tormented starving in Norway. As it turns out that what we call morality, is nothing but a luxury that people rotting on streets can't afford. And it even starts to seem that the major part of our public identity is based on the fortune that we have, and without that one is left alone like a stray dog to rot alone. And suffer endlessly for suffering's sake reasoned by sheer nihilism and yet one doesn't get killed but suffers indefinitely. This chronicles something that is so devoid and hollow of any privileges imaginable, whilst on the other end are the heaps and heaps of opulence and yet nothing changes. Only a few luckier get access to both sides.

“Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them—if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.”



Okay, this was just great ... Actually, I was very reluctant towards this book till once I read a few pages in library and I was totally taken by the passive language used in it. (That's what makes this book a figure of contraversy in literature) The protagonist actually felt so close - as an introvert bibliophile young adult one is passing thro' similar problems (but usually not at that extent as in the book) with changes in secretion of harmones at this age.

The book describes the journey of a 17 - years old boy (Holden Caulfield) towards alienation which is actually an act of self-protection with the cynical sense of superiority, this isolation is some stabilization in a messed up life according to Caulfield but is actually the source of all his problems. He actually fears the change and it's complexity which leads him to a fantasy of adult world as superficial and hypocritical. He even fantasizes himself as 'The Cather in the Rye' (the protector of children from falling into adulthood) which looks like a Heroic act.

The entire book and espicially the climax is structured magnificiently. The elements, symbols and motifs are skillfully used in texts and are so touching. A remarkable transition is described at the end not to be spoiled.

“Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature.
The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth.
Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures.”

It's quite a great classic gothic horror written by Mary Shelley at the age of 18 only..wow!. It was very beautifully written..It's indeed a pioneer work in science fiction.
It defines an eternal bond between a creation and a creator, an existence which chooses his path and purpose.
The creature created by Frankenstein being so terrifying and horrific from outside has a very beautiful mind inside.
All the acts of the monster are consequences of finding hatred in search for love and compassion.
This story really explains the mind of an horrific monster driven by the miseries of his existence and beauty of the nature, that explains both the good and bad parts of any being.
Along this Mary raises questions in our minds like Should we create something only because we have skills and knowledge to do so?
what about it's ethical and philosophical implications??

Those were the things I could grasp from it... The ending was kinda disappointing. It's more misery than horror..

“It was as if that great rush of anger had washed me clean, emptied me of hope, and, gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe."

This is the reason why I hate organized religion, not because it's inherently bad but the way that people follow it in that there's something so evil in it. I'm agnostic myself so to say but as I'm born in a Hindu family, it is assumed by the society that I'd die a Hindu and follow all the moralities that have been formed by the Saints -- It's just that I respect the ancient scripts but the religious leaders of today are not at all enlightening and it's just brainwashing and entertainment for the masses -- it's a shortcut to thinking and spoonfeeding of all the thoughts. And with that one starts getting disillusioned that the basis of a constitution gets overridden by religious morality.

I think Meursault makes a great character who doesn't give a fuck and I'd say I haven't judged him for the crime he commits but executing him for his unsentimentality and his insensitivity in some past events of his life makes this case extremely absurd.

This book reminds me so much of Kafka's "The Trial" as Camus was so influenced by him, that actually makes it more fascinating for me, although this book is more down-to-earth compared to Kafka's expressionistic style but nonetheless one of the greatest studies of absurdism.

1954, Penguin 20: Great Books of the 20th Century - 3/20

“His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true."

Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.

I've got the conch now, so listen up!

This book is so horrifying, scared the hell outta me. This is one of the rare masterpieces on Earth. I declare 'Lord of the Flies' and '1984' as my most favourite book of all time. Lord of the Flies is an allegory to human savagery in civilisation, it symbolizes the violent and savage human nature. The best part of the book is that it is very ambiguous it has lots of interpretations in terms of philosophy, history, religion, psychological and political aspects. Though written in a very pessimist and horrifying theme it is truly an 'eye-opener' and a 'demanded reading'. It is so thought provoking for children that explains the circumstantial transformation of ones good self into evil. This also describes how an entire system corrupts due to sanguineness of few people.

William Golding has excellence in creating such a horrid theme on a beautiful place in a philosophically Dystopian novel. The characters are perfectly made each having its own distinguishing traits that signifies primitivity, innocence, order, fear, power, identity, wisdom and youth.
My favourite characters were Simon and Piggy. The story is magnificent with terrifying scenes and twists.

Been a hooker for me. A one of the best literary piece, recommendations to everyone. 5 stars not just enough ...

The first rule about fight club is you don't review it.
Sorry Chuck.
But, I'm Joe's Smirking Revenge! ;)
This nihilist transgressive fiction is pitiless and told brilliantly with dark humour. But as I've seen the movie before (It's my most favourite movie!), I find it somewhat disappointing as the movie was much better as the best scenes from the movie were quite different in the book. But still it's awesome.
Fight Club is about 'self-abnegation' (you are not the things you own), this is found in Hindu philosophy.
“I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let’s evolve, let the chips fall where they may.” - perfection is the call of egoism and the reason behind it is that we are afraid of failure, risk, mediocrity even success! Perfection leads to development and evolution is quite different thing from it which is an essential parameter of creative living, Ignoring this all we get is foolish productivity.
"It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”
"It's your life and is ending one minute at a time."
I think this leaves a milestone in the history of manliness.
And Yeah,
His name is Robert Paulson! Lol!

The Trial is a prophecy on the insanity of modern bureaucracy. This Kafkaesque work has surrealism like dreamy convulsing scenes, a condemnation of the intractable Austro-Hungarian bureaucracy-which Kafka, ensconced as he was in the State's insurance establishment, knew well.
This novel is actually unfinished which can be found in some last chapters, but still quite great!
Kafka's parable of the entrance to the Law is as luminous as it is opaque. It seems to contain some essence of truth about the relationship between the citizen and the Law, or perhaps the human condition in general, but what other than tragedy of one man's futile efforts does it really relate? It is a Kafka story in miniature: a gnomic genesis of interminable commentary and speculation.
The terrible fact is that the men seeking justice eventually accept this warped universal principle and its skewed criteria; they submit to the necessity of their own exclusion or death.