From 25615d16f93ffafcb19d0940cfab75e1f374b3b9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sadeep Madurange Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2025 21:07:12 +0800 Subject: Improve writing. --- _site/archive/awesome-books/index.html | 86 ++++++++++++++++++++-------------- 1 file changed, 52 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-) (limited to '_site/archive/awesome-books/index.html') 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 @@

AWESOME BOOKS

20 APRIL 2025

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This article contains a list of my favourite books.

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Cloud Atlas

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Cloud Atlas

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.

+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.

Ender’s Game

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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.

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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.

Flowers for Algernon

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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.

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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.1 This is my +favourite book in the list.

Dead Souls

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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.

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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.

The Overcoat

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.

+Akakievich, an impoverished government clerk, buys a new overcoat. I recommend +reading Gogol before Dostoyevsky. What Gogol invented, Dostoyevsky perfected.

Demons

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.

+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.

The Outsider

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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.

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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.

Frankenstein

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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.

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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.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

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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.

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by Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange

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