In the midst of the 2014 Russian occupation of Crimea, Ukranian author Oleg Shynkarenko was writing a fictional dystopian story. There were violent protests and political upheavals, specifically in opposition to Russian control and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Because of the political turmoil, national security was at an all-time high, and Shynkarenko’s writing, which he was posting on a blog, was deleted by security services. Some may not realize that Ukraine was a part of Russia up until 1991. They had a brief stint of Independence in 1918, but in 1922 they agreed to rejoin the USSR. It was not …
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu has been completed! Gaby and I are doing our second podcast episode wrapping up our thoughts on the book. One of our biggest concerns was how the rise of Islamic fundamentalism was going to conflict with Haidara’s mission. It wasn’t until later in the book that terrorists took over Timbuktu and threatened all of the work that Haidara has done to amass hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. The book narrowed its focus to a few characters and how they interacted with each other. In a literary sense, that is exactly what the book needed. I wrote previously that …
Book readers have a lot to look forward to this year! A boatload of cultural icons are releasing memories which reveal important/embarrassing moments in their lives. The image of our most popular celebrities are often contorted by the public eye. Reading their personal memoir helps understand the human rather than the entertainer. Perhaps the craziest person on the list is the infamous Al Capone. Although he is not an entertainer per se, he has been thrust in the public eye because of his larger than life persona. The author of the book is the award winning Deirdre Bair who has …
Some things in this world are just so weird we cannot help but admire them. There is something about strange writings and drawings that inspires creativity in the consumer. When we call something weird, we are acknowledging its uniquness. This creation occupies a space in the mind that we cannot fully grasp. In appreciation of big thinks article, “5 Strangest Books Ever Written” I decided to pay tribute to the books mentioned. For those who thrive off creativity, finding something incomprehensible is often a great joy. Take the Codex Seraphinus for example. The images in this book are truly creative masterpieces. Artist …
Philosophy is an important part of education that comes to us in subtle ways. Those of us who pick up the dusty tomes of long-dead thinkers may feel a bit nihilistic about the future, but philosphy actually exists everywhere. The good news is that philosphy is not only found in the absurdist (and unsettling) play by Samuel Becket or Nietzche’s extremely hard to comprehend writing. One of my favorite ways to find philosophical concepts comes from the most innocent source of knowledge: children’s books. We all have at least one book that influenced the way we thought as a kid. To be exposed to …
