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diff --git a/_site/archive/awesome-books/index.html b/_site/archive/awesome-books/index.html index c9f1934..8f2f45e 100644 --- a/_site/archive/awesome-books/index.html +++ b/_site/archive/awesome-books/index.html @@ -43,65 +43,74 @@ <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> |