The horror novel Dracula is often quoted to be a stunning example of the gothic genre, and while I have never been able to distinguish the gothic genre's unique characteristics as an aesthetic, I can see why the novel would be described as being an example of it. It's unconventional approach to storytelling through the … Continue reading Book review – Dracula →

I read A Christmas Carol a day or two after Christmas, interestingly enough. The chill of winter had not dissipated, and even though I was snug under my blanket, I could feel both unease and warmth alternately entering the folds of my mind and twisting and turning it's holiday spirit. A Christmas Carol is, as … Continue reading Book review – A Christmas Carol →

Yevgeny Zamyatin published his seminal work in 1924, a time when the regime of his native country, Russia, was still not the totalitarian dictatorship it would soon become: We was written at a time when the U.S.S.R had not yet degenerated into a force of annihilation, gobbling up smaller nations both culturally and spiritually, degrading … Continue reading Book review – We →

My last brush with the dystopian fiction genre took place upon reading Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale; I remember quite liking it, finding parts of it highly relevant, owing to their presence in parts of the real world, thus allowing for the possibility of the existence of such a regime as the Republic of Gilead … Continue reading Book review – Brave New World →

I remember my first time reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; it was a dog-eared, slightly old edition from my school library. I don't remember which class I was in - probably in the 7th or 8th - and the pages were the colour of coffee. I remember lovely details which the film glossed … Continue reading A Glimpse of the Past – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone →

How Agatha Christie contrived to dream up her brilliant masterpieces of passion and violence and cold-blooded calculation and deceit is beyond me. My last foray into her wild plot of murder and confusion amidst the hot sands of Egypt has left me questioning my own judgement of human beings, and the lengths of cunning and … Continue reading Book review – Death on the Nile →

Bestseller is one of the best books of 2019 I've read so far - period. It has been a long time since I bought a book that wasn't written by a classic, well-known author. This novel by contemporary novelist Ahmad Faiyaz is funny, relentless and brilliantly satirical in it's crisp prose and critical view of … Continue reading Book review – Bestseller →

Haruki Murakami was someone I first heard of in my Japanese class, back in my first year at University; our Professor was surprised to find that Literature students like us had NOT heard of a contemporary modern writer like Murakami. Norwegian Wood is the first of his works that I have read, but even when … Continue reading Book review – Norwegian Wood →

There was a time when video games involved little more than simplistic shooting or climbing; a time when one could easily dash through ten levels in a rush of adrenaline while ignoring the plot. It's a true monument to the progress of the video game industry that we have emotional, truly moving games like Cupid. … Continue reading Review – Cupid: A free to play Visual Novel →

Agatha Christie's stories have always been about plots of incomprehensible density: there is always more going on than meets the eye. I've read a few of her works before this: And Then There Were None, Murder on The Orient Express, The ABC Murders - all of them have been about unconventional solutions to mysteries, with … Continue reading Book review – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd →