Category: Book Review

Robert Warren once talked about the difficult necessity of self knowledge. What exactly does this mean? What does it mean to know ourselves? And does it really matter if we stay true to ourselves. In the story The Patented Gate and the Mean Hamburger by Robert Warren, Jeff York is a hardworking farmer who has…

Sigmund Freud says that “a dream is a disguised fulfillment of a repressed wish”. What he means is that every dream represents a wish fulfillment. Dreams represent the imaginary fulfillment of a wish or impulse in early childhood, before such wishes have been repressed. The dream images represent the unconscious wishes or thought disguised through…

Aphra Behn, as the first woman to earn her living by being a writer in English, known for her daring and controversial treatment of the subjects of sexuality and desire in her works, plays an important female narrative voice in the literary history. In The Fair Jilt, Behn creates a feminine imagery contrary to that…

In “Guns, Germs, and Steel” Jared Diamond tries to understand why certain countries and civilizations developed wealth and power and evolved throughout history while other civilizations did not. He also tries to figure out how these certain peoples were the ones capable to expand and colonize other territories around the world, and not the other…

We begin our futuristic adventure on Cassia’s seventeenth birthday, at a fancy party where she’ll get to find out her Match a.k.a. the guy she’s going to spend the rest of her life with. She’s delighted to learn that it’s her bestie, Xander but it’s not all sunshine and roses and happily ever after for…

In the memoir, “This Boy’s Life”, examines the attitudes and behaviours that all human beings exude in childhood. Indeed, Wolff demonstrates how exorbitant hope has the potential to blind individuals, resulting in an unfulfilled and disappointing life. Contrasting against the stereotypical 1950’s ideals surrounding convention, Wolff highlights how the many promises of unconventionality prove to…

In both Cooley and DuBois’ writings, the authors contemplate the ways an individual shapes their identity based on their interactions with the people and society around them. Cooley explains this in a more generalized manner, in which the individual’s identity is intrinsically linked to society by way of the “looking glass self.” DuBois applies this…

This Boy’s Voice Tobias Wolff’s style in his memoir, This Boy’s Life, is very different from many other memoirs, and personal narratives. He is a master of manipulating voice, and through his use of voice, he was able to make his story more real, and more true. This Boy’s Life follows a young Wolff as…

One thing that everyone has in common is the need for human compassion. People need other people to interact with, so when loved ones deny them this entitlement it can be devastating. People from all lifestyles are victims to this type of emotional abandonment, but different people react differently. It is because this feeling is…

A Small, Good Thing When pondering the daunting uncertainties of life, a man can only be sure that it will be filled with suffering. The tranquil and pleasant periods of life may give it the semblance of congeniality, but a person will always be forced to face the onerous trials of his journey. During these…