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Author Archives: smellincoffee
The Razor’s Edge
The Razor’s Edge© 1944 W. Somerset Maugham314 pages Larry Darrell was an unremarkable young man with a pre-determined future: possessing independent wealth from his family background, he needed only marry his childhood friend and fiancé Isabel, take his place in … Continue reading
Watership Down
Watership Down© 1972 Richard Adams413 pages A small community sits on the precipice of destruction, but the few who realize it are unable to fully warn their comrades. A small band leave everything they’ve ever known behind, to face the … Continue reading
Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews
Tagged adventure, Britain, English Literature, fantasy
20 Comments
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby© F. Scott Fitzgerald It is interesting how the passage of years can suddenly alter a reader’s take on a given book. Take The Great Gatesby, for instance, which I read in early college and was so underwhelmed by that … Continue reading
Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews
Tagged "classic", 1920s, American Literature, Classics Club Strikes Back, F Scott Fitzgerald
12 Comments
A Furious Sky
A Furious Sky: The Five Hundred Year History of America’s Hurricanes© 2020 Eric Jay Dolin415 pages A Furious Sky is a history of hurricanes in American history, opening with Columbus’ attempts to warn a rival governor of imminent danger and … Continue reading
Harry Potter Fanfic: They Shook Hands
I’m officially reading two nonfiction works. My weekend was spent, however, reading through a fanfiction series called “They Shook Hands“, an alternate-history approach to the Harry Potter adventures. The titular point of departure is that Harry and Draco’s initial meeting … Continue reading
Jacked!
Jacked! The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto© 2012 David Kushner301 pages Twenty years ago, Grand Theft Auto III released in the United States, to popular and later critical acclaim. The GTA series had already established a name for itself … Continue reading
Enough Already
Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism© 2021 Scott Horton330 pages The war on terror has consumed American resources and human lives for well over twenty years now, breaking numerous countries, deforming the United States at multiple levels, and perpetuating … Continue reading
Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, World Affairs
Tagged 2000s, 2010s, Africa, George W Bush, history, Middle East, Obama, Scott Horton, terror war
15 Comments
Germans: terror and tedium
In the past week I’ve read or mostly-read, in the case of The Vampire Economy, two books with a German connection. The first, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, was by far the most interesting of the two. I read this … Continue reading
Posted in Classics and Literary, General, Reviews
Tagged 1930s, economics, Germany, horror, Nazi
3 Comments
CS Lewis, a reader’s gift to readers
Recently, while slogging through a dull but sometimes promising book, I turned to Lewis for help: relieve me, Jack, from the tedium of Nazi economics! He delivered, though my review will wait until the Lewis-themed week coming up in a … Continue reading
Travels with George
Travels with George: In Search of Washington and his Legacy© 2021 Nathaniel Philbrick400 pages Travels with George couldn’t help but be interesting, what with its premise of the author following George Washington’s footsteps in an reenactment of his tour of … Continue reading
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