The emerging genre titled, Young Adult, has generated a huge following over the recent years. Unfortunately, they have received an almost equal amount of scorn. Detractors from the YA genre often poke fun at adults who read books written for teenagers, which may be the only legitimate claim they have. There is nothing wrong with teens reading YA books because they are the targeted audience. Specifically the age group is anywhere between 12 and 18. Readers at these ages, on average, are not really ready for the difficult prose that you would find in something like Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Space Chronicles. …
Imagine you are in a life or death battle with one of the greatest heroes of all time, Superman himself. Years of anger, vengeance, and envy have been building up to this final climactic point. In the mist of an epic brawl you somehow gain an advantage on Superman. Right when you are about to make the kill, you realize that you and Superman have something in common, your mother’s both have the same name. Instantly your hate washes away and a bromance begins. It just so happens that this plot twist is used in Shakespear’s Macbeth as well as Batman …
Anybody who has experienced post-modern art has felt the urge to say, “I bet I could do that.” The epitome of this feeling comes from the infamous $15 million dollar sale of a white canvas. Now let’s just sit with that for a minute… To be fair, when actually visiting a museum with an open mind and seeing the deconstructed, rule breaking, irreverence of post-modern art, a feeling of depth arises. We may not be sure why this white canvas looks different from any other white canvas, but for some reason it does. Robert Ryman Est. $15/20 million. Photo courtesy Sotheby’s No …
Classics are books we tend to be afraid to read. Usually they are daunting, not because of their size, but because of the clout they have received over the years. The classics’ are associated with intellectualism, depth, and art; yet sometimes we are just looking for a fun book to read and don’t feel like buckling down with a notepad to pace through Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Before we go further, let’s talk about how a book becomes a classic in the first place. Author Italo Calvino wrote a book detailing the 14 definitions of a classic. The most important …
Reading is a difficult task. Particularly in the 21st century, reading a book seems almost archaic compared to the fascinating, immersive, worlds created by Hollywood. How can we justify spending months reading the epic series Game of Thrones when we could just binge watch it over the weekend like everybody else? Who even has the time to read anyway? Technology gives, and technology takes away. So, even though our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, and our ability to focus on one thing at a time is a long forgotten art, books are still relevant and important. The answer is: …
