The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is often seen as the go-to book for feminist literature. Published in 1985, it makes numerous “must read” lists; upon reading it, I can see why. Offred is a handmaid—that is, her only function is to breed–in the republic of Gilead, an extremely oppressive,…
A generational family history told by the narrator, born as intersex and raised as Calliope later turned Cal, Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex is a rare, unconventional gem of fiction. The family saga is rich and full of drama. It ran seamlessly when the book picked up its pace, despite its inconsistency…
This was a pretty difficult read. Given the history of the author, it’s easy to surmise that Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar isn’t just some detached piece of literature; it’s eerie how likely it is that the musings of our narrator, Esther, were articulated through Plath’s thought process in how she perceived…
When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from his unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. Containing, perhaps, some of the most absurdly comedic lines in classic literature, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka perfectly illustrates a similarly absurd type of tragedy: Gregor Samsa wakes up…
Persuasion is my second Jane Austen book after Pride and Prejudice. Stylistically, there are some major differences that I can assume make these books appeal to different groups. If I had to sum it up simply, it would be that while Pride and Prejudice excels in wittiness and character development, Persuasion embraces more of…
When it comes to the realm of murder mystery books, And Then There Were None is the book that is bound to come up every time. Hailed as one of the greatest and most iconic murder mysteries of all time, it continues to stand today as Agatha Christie’s magnum opus. The basic…
“Sometimes we want what we want, even if we know it’s going to kill us.” It is when you read pieces like Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch that you realize that modern literature has failed us. A lot of the books that we are accustomed to fail to leave lasting impressions. Most of…
“The normal world has no room for exceptions and always quietly eliminates foreign objects. Anyone who is lacking is disposed of. So that’s why I need to be cured. Unless I’m cured, normal people will expurgate me.” Convenience Store Woman is one of the books whose titles reflect the contents of…
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh is the epitome of no plot, just vibes. Unlikeable characters, an unreliable narrator, and a bizarre, dark type of humor—this book has it all. It’s year 2000, set in the wealthy enclaves of Chicago. Hilarious and sad at the same time, the…
It is an impressive feat to be able to write an unconventional, let alone an unexplored, type of love story as Audrey Niffenegger does in The Time Traveler’s Wife. While the plotline is intricately woven, the premise is simple: Henry DeTamble has a “Chrono-Displacement Disorder”, a genetic condition that causes him…