The Outsider (Book Review)
“Given that you’ve got to die, it obviously doesn’t matter exactly how or when.” The Outsider is a novella which addresses the problem of the nihilist. Given that we all cease to exist one day, as far as Meursault, the protagonist, can see, it doesn’t make a difference when or how that time comes, because afterwards there is only nothingness. And so Meursault embraces nothingness while alive, within the context of what he keeps repeating throughout the novel: “It didn’t really matter.” To him, even getting his head decapitated in his youth doesn’t make a difference in the long run, since he will not be able to dwell on or remember it (or create any new thoughts or ideas, for that matter) immediately after his cranium hits the ground. “Everyone was privileged. There were only privileged people. The others too would be condemned one day,” he says. Indeed, he enjoyed life for all the aesthetics and sensuality it had to offer him, and he knew it was a privilege to be able to experience existing at all. But, to him, in the end, nothing mattered, because we would all eventually be condemned – to death. Read more
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Book Review)
I recently read this novel by Milan Kundera, written in ’82, published in ’84, and I was very impressed by it. One of the former colleagues of my Master’s Degree recommended it to me last year and I’m glad that she did. It’s a marvelous book. It’s slow, but very real, very philosophical and very well written. Kundera’s intent is on exploring the unbearable lightness of being, that is, the fact that things are fleeting, will never happen again, and, if the human race goes extinct, may as well have never happened at all. Read more
Fan Expo Canada 2011
FanExpo Canada is a yearly event held in Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. It features the best of the worlds of comic books, science fiction / fantasy, horror movies / television, anime / collectible cards and video games. Last year’s event saw more than 60,000 people enter the convention center for a three day event. This year, the event was expanded to four days, and is likely to surpass over one hundred thousand fans. Read more
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins (Literature Review)
“Skinny Legs And All” by Tom Robbins is without a doubt one of the best books I have read. This is the story of five inanimate objects: A Conch Shell, a Can O’ Beans, a Painted Stick, a Dirty Sock and a Spoon; which embark on an unlikely adventure that consists of the above mentioned objects heading from America to Jerusalem. Read more
Harry Potter Author J.K. Rowling is Plagiarising?
J.K. Rowling the author of the infamous Harry Potter series has been accused of plagiarism. Surprised? Not really! It was about time! Although she is being accused of taking material from a certain Adrian Jacobs who wrote The Adventures of Willy the Wizard almost all of the Harry Potter books bear some sort of resemblance to other ‘genre’ classics. Read more
So Dark: Literature Review
So Dark by Agustín Cadena is a novel that burns, indeed; a work full of dark desire, self-destruction, like a black cat who inserts its claws in a beautiful, long, silky-white neck. This novel explores the condition of love as death, as erotic addiction, as mutilation, as unavoidable failure. The three characters are Gregorio Montero, a well-known painter and professor at a plastic arts school; Julia, a model at this plastic arts school, Gregorio’s wife, who is ten years younger than him; and Bodo, Julia’s handsome boyfriend who is two years younger than her. Read more
