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         <h2 class="center" id="title">AWESOME BOOKS</h2>
         <h6 class="center">20 APRIL 2025</h5>
         <br>
-        <div class="twocol justify"><p>This article contains a list of my favourite books.</p>
-
-<h2 id="cloud-atlas">Cloud Atlas</h2>
+        <div class="twocol justify"><h2 id="cloud-atlas">Cloud Atlas</h2>
 
 <p>This highly creative novel rekindled my love of fiction. Cloud Atlas is a
-collection of six tales linked across time. As the novel unfolds, each story
-riffles over the previous ones, like a pack of playing cards.</p>
+collection of six tales linked across time. As the book unfolds, the stories
+riffle over one another like a pack of cards. David Mitchell brings the Cloud
+Atlas world and the characters in it to life with beautiful, vivid
+descriptions. The novel explores themes ranging from social to spiritual,
+including the struggle for freedom against oppression, interconnectedness, and
+rebirth.</p>
 
 <h2 id="enders-game">Ender’s Game</h2>
 
-<p>In this sci-fi novel, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, a young boy, is drafted to lead a
-squad of young children in an offensive against an alien race. It’s a complex
-story that touches upon various political and philosophical issues. Those
-perceived as gifted by others (and alienated for it) will likely connect with
-Ender.</p>
+<p>In this sci-fi novel, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, an 11-year-old boy, is drafted to
+lead a squad of young children in an offensive against an alien race. Ender’s
+Game is a complex story that explores themes of war, leadership, and the
+challenges gifted individuals must face as they navigate a lonely life marked
+by envy, alienation, and, sometimes, much-needed friendship.</p>
 
 <h2 id="flowers-for-algernon">Flowers for Algernon</h2>
 
-<p>This novel, written as a series of progress reports, tells the story of Charlie
-Gordon, a developmentally disabled man who acquires superhuman cognitive
-abilities through an experimental medical procedure. For some reason, I felt a
-deep connection with Charlie. If I had to pick a favourite book on this list,
-that would be this.</p>
+<p>This novel, written as a series of progress reports, tells the tragic story of
+Charlie Gordon, a developmentally disabled man who acquires superhuman
+cognitive abilities through an experimental medical procedure. Charlie’s birth
+family abandons him because he is not smart enough; his friends abandon him
+because he is too smart. In the end, to spare everyone’s feelings, Charlie must
+end up in the Warren Home.<sup><a href="#footnote-1">1</a></sup> This is my
+favourite book in the list.</p>
 
 <h2 id="dead-souls">Dead Souls</h2>
 
-<p>Nikolai Gogol is one of the most original authors I’ve read. Dead Souls is the
-story of Ivanovich Chichikov, a traveling merchant who trades dead serfs.
-Instead of simply describing them, Gogol develops realistic characters in
-minute detail by employing theatrical clashes between them.</p>
+<p>Dead Souls is the story of Ivanovich Chichikov, a traveling merchant who trades
+dead serfs. Gogol’s writing style is similar to Dostoyevsky’s. Considering how
+Gogol’s work predates Dostoyevsky’s, Gogol is one of the most original authors
+I’ve read. Instead of simply describing them, Gogol develops realistic
+characters in minute detail by employing theatrical clashes between them.</p>
 
 <h2 id="the-overcoat">The Overcoat</h2>
 
 <p>Gogol’s The Overcoat is one of the finest short stories I’ve read. Akaky
-Akakievich, an impoverished government clerk, must buy a new overcoat. I
-recommend reading Gogol before Dostoyevsky. What Gogol invented, Dostoyevsky
-perfected.</p>
+Akakievich, an impoverished government clerk, buys a new overcoat. I recommend
+reading Gogol before Dostoyevsky. What Gogol invented, Dostoyevsky perfected.</p>
 
 <h2 id="demons">Demons</h2>
 
 <p>After reading Demons, a story about an attempted revolution, I realized that
-Dostoevsky’s reputation is well-deserved. Dostoyevsky was a great observer of
-the human psyche. The depth with which he depicts his characters is
-unparalleled. Demons is a book that anyone aspiring to bring about change
-through revolution must read.</p>
+Dostoyevsky’s reputation is well-deserved. Dostoyevsky was a great observer of
+human nature. He depicts characters in profound detail. Dostoyevsky’s writing
+can feel long and meandering at times. However, as character development goes,
+Dostoyevsky wastes no stroke of the brush. Demons is a book that anyone
+aspiring to bring about change through revolution, especially in the name of
+someone else’s ideals, must read.</p>
 
 <h2 id="the-outsider">The Outsider</h2>
 
-<p>Camus’s quote, “In our society, any man who doesn’t cry at his mother’s funeral
-is liable to be condemned to death,” summarizes the book quite well. To
-appreciate the philosophical elements of this absurdist novel, you may also
-want to check out The Myth of Sisyphus.</p>
+<p>Camus’s own quote, “In our society, any man who doesn’t cry at his mother’s
+funeral is liable to be condemned to death,” summarizes the book quite well.
+The book is about the philosophy of the absurd: the contention between our
+propensity to seek meaning in a seemingly silent and indifferent universe. To
+appreciate the philosophical elements of this novel, check out The Myth of
+Sisyphus.</p>
 
 <h2 id="frankenstein">Frankenstein</h2>
 
-<p>I’m not sure why I found this story so charming. Perhaps it’s a deep-felt
-empathy for Victor Frankenstein. Maybe it’s the rustic descriptions of places
-I’d never seen. After reading the book, I traveled Frankenstein’s trail from
-Germany through Lucerne, Geneva, and Scotland.</p>
+<p>I first got to know the Frankenstein story through its popular derivatives. The
+book changed my impression of the story from one about a familiar monster to
+one about a poignant genius deserving empathy. Mary Shelley’s intricate writing
+style is singularly captivating. In this list, Frankenstein is the most
+beautifully written book.</p>
 
 <h2 id="strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde">Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</h2>
 
@@ -125,6 +134,15 @@ two books are more relevant today than they’ve ever been.</p>
 Aksenty Ivanovich’s diary, the story documents the government clerk’s descent
 into madness. His obsession with social status and self-aggrandizement leads
 him on a trajectory of envy, wounded pride, and outright insanity.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
+  <ol>
+    <li>
+      <a href="https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/f/flowers-for-algernon/about-flowers-for-algernon" class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Cliff's Notes </a>
+    </li>
+  </ol>
+</div>
+
 </div>
         <p class="post-author right">by Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</p>
       </div>