Category: Book Reviews
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Book Review 4: Tragic Flaws and Transcendentalism
“Butcher’s Crossing” – John Williams Short Summary: John Edward Williams was the author several books including Augustus and Stoner. Williams often wrote historical fiction, introducing his readers to worlds built from immense research, historical texts and personal experience. Butcher’s Crossing (Published in 1960) is a novel that follows a boy name Will Andrews in the 1870’s. Andrews is…
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Book Review 3: Sympathetic Imagination
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley or The Modern Prometheus Short Summary: The classic story of scientist Victor Frankenstein, written by one of the most ingenious female writers, Mary Shelley, in 1818. The book begins in the frame narrative, where a captain (Robert Walton) of a research ship has rescued Victor from the icy weather of the…
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Book Review 2: Un Roi Sans Divertissement
“A King Alone” by Jean Giono “Un Roi sans divertissements est un homme plein de misères” (A King without diversion is a man full of wretchedness) Short Summary: This story, written by Jean Giono and translated from french by Alyson Waters, is a masterfully crafted account of a small village in the French Alps that…
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Book Review 1: Nihilism
“Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy Short Summary: This novel was first published in 1985 by McCarthy, who is arguably one of the greatest American writers of our time. He is the master of bleak landscape, tortured protagonists and scarce dialogue. Blood Meridian exemplifies all of these techniques and shows the raw and uncut side of…
OSCAR H. WHITE 