Four Dystopian Novels That Are Eerily Close to Becoming True

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

Dystopia literally means “not-good place” and is a term used to describe a community or society that is undesirable or frightening. Dystopian novels were all the rage back when during the Cold War, possibly as a way to warn people of the perils of such a totalitarian regime as the Communist one. As a fictional genre, dystopias have the uncanny characteristic of painting a rather hopeless future for society.

Here are four dystopian novels that are eerily close to becoming true: Continue reading Four Dystopian Novels That Are Eerily Close to Becoming True

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Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

There’s this thing about self-help books: they only have one good idea. The rest is mostly fluff.

You know, punch the damn keys to reach the necessary word count.

This book, sadly, is no exception.

But the main idea is brilliant. And makes this book well worth a try.

What’s that idea you ask?

Well… self-awareness. Continue reading Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

Book Review: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

Cormac McCarthy is a genius. One of the best contemporary American writers. Of course, he’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Which is that, you ask?

Well, in case you haven’t seen the brilliant movie adapted from this novel, he’s in the business of depicting life as a series of strange coincidences that have fatal consequences. I just made that one up, and I think it sounds clever. No. Really. He writes about drugs and murders and the desert. Maybe this sounds better.

Don’t know what else to say about this book. Some guy finds a briefcase filled with two million dollars worth of drug money. Everyone’s looking for him. All hell breaks loose. Stuff like that.

It is written in McCarthy’s style, which is impossible to describe or define. It’s just brilliant. The words flow effortlessly. He has moments of poetry. Fantastic dialogue. Lots of sarcasm. And quite a bit of philosophy.

No Country for Old Men is a must read.

Artist of the Week: Adolfo Bioy Casares

Posted on by Cristian Mihai


“To classify it [the novel] as perfect is neither an imprecision nor a hyperbole.” – Jorge Luis Borges

“The Invention of Morel may be described, without exaggeration, as a perfect novel.” – Octavio Paz

This is what two literary titans had to say about Adolfo Bioy Casares’ best work. His magnum opus. The Invention of Morel. An odd piece of work, difficult to define as science fiction, almost impossible to define it as something else.

Not nearly as famous as his lifelong friend, Jorge Luis Borges, Casares is every bit as talented. A great visionary, a wonderful stylist (as most South American writers are), Casares is well the time and effort to read.

 

“Is there any difference between our desires becoming reality, and our desiring what is already real? What matters is that our will and reality agree with one another.”

Book Review: Scarred Hearts by Max Blecher

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

Scarred Hearts, one of the few published works by Max Blecher, is a novel of pain and suffering. The author, who lived most of his life under the auspices of a dreadful disease, died at the age of 29. But even though this is a novel in which the characters live under the constant threat of death, even though their lives are bitter and painful, his little characters find enough strength to fall in love, to mold the most human of feelings and experiences after their own needs. Continue reading Book Review: Scarred Hearts by Max Blecher

The 10 Best Superhero Movies of All Time

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

This is probably the best time to put together such a list:  the technology is there, allowing for special effects to help us suspend disbelief, the actors who have been cast to play the parts are as brilliant as they come, and studios are investing more and more money into big budget adaptations of comic books.

I have no doubt that we’ll see more and more superhero movies, some of them quite brilliant and easy to recommend.

That being said, here are the ten best superhero movies of all time. Continue reading The 10 Best Superhero Movies of All Time

Book Review: The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

From the book’s description:

Unfinished at the time of his death, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon is a story of doomed love set against the extravagance of America’s booming film industry. The studio lot looks like ‘thirty acres of fairyland’ the night that a mysterious woman stands and smiles at Monroe Stahr, the last of the great Hollywood princes. Enchanted by one another, they begin a passionate but hopeless love affair, starting with a fast-moving seduction as slick as a scene from one of Stahr’s pictures. The romance unfolds, frame by frame, watched by Cecilia, a thoroughly modern girl who has taken her lessons in sentiment and cynicism from all the movies she has seen. Her buoyant humor and satirical eye perfectly complement Fitzgerald’s panorama of Hollywood at its most lavish and bewitching.

If the great Francis Scott Fitzgerald would have finished writing this novel, it would have been his masterpiece. Yes, it would have been better than The Great Gatsby, which is my favorite novel of all time, and the only piece of writing I’ve been reading once a year since I was seventeen. Besides Dune. Continue reading Book Review: The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald