Book Haul #1 : Waterstones VS Ark bokhandel

Book Haul #1

(Waterstones VS Ark bokhandel)

Books I got from Waterstones :

When I am in a such wonderful bookstores I tend to go for big books and bulky complete works or collections and anthologies . because the chance to be in such bookstores doesn't happen that often .

Waterstones was my first real bookshop experience . I felt in my element and I was hardly able to leave the store .

My first decision was to buy the Complete work of Edgar A. Poe , It was a must for me , he is one of the Very first authors that I read for , basically the one that got me through my teenage-hood (along with Baudelaire) and will always be something vital in my reading experience . a vital Tome in my Shelf .

My second decision was to buy Oscar Wilde's complete work , I was torn between either  buying "The importance of being Earnest or the Picture of Dorian Grey , then fell on the collected works . so without doubt bought it instead . what's better have a single book or two ? or a Whole Tome of Wilde's work ? of course a whole TOME ! 

Later on I wanted to buy something that isn't most likely available in Tunisia , so I stumbled upon this Vampire Anthology which I instantly fell in love with . This book which I find hauntingly beautiful focuses on the Myth of vampires and studies their origins and tracks down the source of those legends From the  moors of Scotland to the lands of Vlad The impaler . It without doubt a great RIDE.

Books I got from Ark Bokhandel :

So the deal was like this "you get Three books the Fourth will be half the price !" 

So I went for the deal , Books are technically the cheapest thing in Norway , from what I experienced. everything was taxed except books  . Ark bokhandel was simply another Bookworm's favorite corner , they always have discounts and special offers like the one i just mentioned. it's simply a Heaven for book Readers.

Here is  a  concrete comparison between Al-Kitab bookstore and Ark Bokhandel : the Lord of the rings Trilogy will cost us 120dt if we bought it from Al-kitab but in Ark bokhandel it only costs 60dt (Half the price)

I was going after Philp K . Dick's Scanner darkly , I found a hardback copy that costed almost the same as this 5 Novels paperback Collection by the same author . buying  4 more novels for the price of a single hardback copy is Certainly the  best deal to make . (this is the book I ended up having for half the initial price)

I always looked forward to reading this Jeff Vandermeer's Trilogy , He's quite the precursor in his own genre and in the Steam-punk genre which makes it hard to label him , he might be a Steam-punk addict and he might have written about it a lot but his Fiction is hard to pinpoint into one genre and that's what I always look forward to in his books.

Airport pickups : *My favorite random and amazing pickup* 

This one I got when I was on the run in Frankfurt airport to catch my flight back to Tunis-Carthage , i got a snack then when I was about to pay for them I came across it , it was like its meant to be . I grabbed it without having second thoughts , Because Chris MacCandless' story  is honestly the best  yet most heartbreaking nonfiction  I have ever read . and this books is like behind the scenes of Chris' story written by Jon krakauer; Who is a better writer to write about Chris than his own sister ?

The Time Machine #Full Review

The Time Machine Review

This relatively short story of 95 pages is a classic Sci-Fi novella written by Herbert G. Wells .

This Novella obviously deals with Time travel as it is stated in it's title . The term " Time machine" was coined and popularized by Wells .

It was  very nicely , and neatly written , quite descriptive and filled with interesting perspectives ; 

the plot revolves around an English Scientist and inventor , refereed to simply by "The time Traveler". The novella was in form of lectures made and presented by the time traveler to his co-scientists and journalists   that he meets on a weekly group dinner . he gives an account of his current  invention " The time machine " and then later he gave accounts on his Time travel experiences , with detailed descriptions of the different times he have been to and how humanity evolved in those times, with its splendid upper world and underground world. how human nature changed with its beautiful as well as its ugly side .

Dystopian /Sc-Fi Novels and Novellas are one of my favorites genres , it makes you wonder and open your mind to several possibilities and alternatives , It makes you ponder and look deeper into human values and acts . The decisions of today , are those that will shape our future  , It all depends on us NOW. this current century . the future will be the fruit of our current work and decision making , if the world turns into a monstrous place to live that's because we allowed it to be that way , if the world turns to be a better place in the future that's because we worked on making it a better place .

The analytic side of me was taking over ,back to The Time machine . If you want to challenge yourself  try to read it in one sitting or two , and maybe reread it or take your time after few pages ,look deeper into the novella don't stop at the Surface . 

All in all it was an amazing read :D 

Tag #2 : Top 5 books I will Never Read

Top 5 books I will never read/or finish :

The order :  N°5 most likely to be read
                   N°1 least likely to be even touched .

N°5 Looking for Alaska

Here is the thing about John Green , I highly  appreciate the author and his work on his Youtube Channel and specially on Crash course  

a lot of people recommended me to read his Novel Looking for Alaska , I never thought that Alaska would be a Girl ..
Anyhow, I started  reading , only to be turned off after few pages , it turned out to be a super teenagy romance/drama which isn't exactly my type of books . there was no intrigue , it simply wasn't a page turner for me .

N°4  TFiOS (The Fault in Our Stars)

There was this whole big FUSS/BUZZ about it on social Media when it came out and all of my friends where running after it and buying the book and all , and I just stood back til the movie came out , the book simply sounded lame to me , but since there is a movie coming out I will watch it . that's what happened.
 My intuition never betrays me, it turned out exactly how I thought it will be, a sappy love story with a touch of drama .
But Still I LOVE JOHN GREEN and HANK.

N°3 Twilight Saga

 From where should I start ? this one is a whole saga not a single book
Me Being the Fervent Vampire lover I am , I was devastated after watching the first movie to the point where I decided to never read the books EVER.
PS: want books/movies about vampire that are worth your time ? Read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles ; with Akasha ,Lestat , Louis , Armand and the whole bunch of Anne Rice'S Vampires

*Meme time*

Lestat trying to read from Twilight (Interview with a vampire , Tom Cruise Starring as Lestat De Lioncourt ) 

Louis , Lestat and Armand laughing at Edward Cullen

Akasha and Lestat (Aliyah as Akasha , Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the damned)

N°2 Fifty Shades of Grey (Trilogy)

Ehem , from where should I start ? from the fact that it is a Twilight fanfiction turned into a book or from the bad writting style of  E L James ? never mind, this came out when I was in England it was huge ,all bookstores had it on their windowpanes and it was on discount and everyone was buying it , I fell into the pit/hip and got the first two books out of curiosity , I read no more than 7 pages and then i threw it away , as far away as possible . I can't be tolerant , I can't tolerate bad writing , I have no issues with Erotica , but this , this thing ,honestly, shouldn't be called a book at all .

N°1 Grey (Fifty shades sequel) 

Ehem, same thing applies to this one too ...

Tagging time ;

Ben Hazem Sahar from MybookClub and Nesrine koôli from Romans entre Amis

Tag #1: The Courtship Book Tag

Phase 1: "Initial Attraction": A book that you bought because of the cover.

The Poe Shadow

Phase 2: "First Impressions": A book that you got because of the summary.

Obedience (the 1st impression was surely on point)

Phase 3: "Sweet Talk": A book with great writing

Brave new world

Phase 4: "First Date": A first book of a series that made you want to pursue the rest of the series.

Elric of Melniboné (This one is addictive)

Phase 5: "Last Night Phone Calls": A book that kept you up all night long.

Dead Set

Phase 6: "Always On My Mind": A book that you could not stop thinking about

Essential Rumi (Rumi selected poems)

Phase 7: "Getting Physical": A book in which you love the way it feels.

Oscar Wilde's complete work
( Everything about it is Fantastic )

Phase 8: "Meeting The Parents" : A book in which you'd recommend to your friends and family.

Essential Rumi , Poems by Jalleludin Rumi and/or The prophet/Jesus son of man by Gibran Khalil Gibran

Phase 9: "Thinking About The Future": A book or series that you know you'll re-read many times in the future

Once again Essential Rumi (I already read it several times and ready to read it again)

Phase 10: "Share The Love": Who would you tag

anyone who is interested .

Favorites & Summer Reads

Favorites : 

Location  : Gløshaugen -NTNU campus- Norway 

This Place holds a lot of good memories , It's certainly a destination to go back to in the future whether as a student or just a visitor ! Kudos to all the people that made my Norwegian Hogwarts experience  possible and delightful . 

Bookstore : Ark Bokhandel butikk , Trondheim Torg , Norway

This is a promising location to lose all your pocket money and be happy with being penniless afterwards !

Gadgets:  Rollei and Vintage Polaroid Pictures : 

These are few Gems that I found recently in my parents' souvenir case , a bunch of vintage Polaroid pictures from my Dad's working days in Germany and a classic manual Rollei camera , he unfortunately sold the Polaroid Camera ages ago ! I wish it was within reach .

Music : 

Norwegian Folk/pagan Music all the way with a dash of Alternative rock with Moddi and Hozier 

i will leave you in the hands of the gods with My favorite Wardruna song 

Summer Reads :

This started long before summer , I was on a trip to Norway and I had "La confession d'un enfant du siècle" book on my TBR list since I can remember so instead of taking with me several books  -which is something i am accustomed to when I am on the road- I decided to take a different approach I took a single book which was the above mentioned one . on the plane and I  read a considerable chunk of it and I enjoyed it but as soon as I arrived to Norway I got swamped by all the plans and when I went To Ark bokhandel ,I was ensnared by other books and kept buying books ... so I sort of ended up neglecting Musset's book (not that i am reading another book , its just that i am too engulfed in buying new ones)

La confession d'un enfant du Siècle - Confession of the Child of the Century by Alfred de Musset :

                                      
*I finished it in late June*

Confession of the Child of the Century is  basically a French Classic from the Romantic Era ,
this was a challenge for me as in 1st I don't usually read French 2nd I am not a big fan of the Romantic Genre
This is in a nutshell an autobiography slightly altered (Musset used different names and attributes and locations ...) It basically gives us an  insight into Musset and George Sand's love story with  a very lethargic ,slow  and dramatic approach .

Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer : 

*started it in July , finished it in Early August*

1st book : Annhilation

In Annihilation Vandermeer introduces us to  a female expedition planning to go to "Area X" . what is really striking is the absences of Proper names , the characters are introduced as The biologist , The Linguist , the psychologist and the surveyor , they sit for preparation sessions and hypnosis , they afterwards cross the border to Area X and that is when the fun starts 

2nd book : 

Authority focuses on the Southern reach itself as an agency ,  a new  set of important characters is also introduced , and it  dives into the past of the agency as well .

3rd book : 

Acceptance , has a different approach , it travels back and forth in time and switches  from one perspective to another which makes it versatile and makes us able to understand the whole of the trilogy . 

Elric of Melniboné  by Michael Moorcock :

*Finished it in three Afternoons*

This one is for Fantasy Freaks , its the 1st book of a larger saga called " The Elric Saga" 

It talks about a Fantastic world and race of people called the Melnibonéians , the Aristocracy and the Monarch are Dragon Lords With superpowers and witchcraft at their side 

its about the Rise of Elric as the new king and his Adversary with his Own Cousin Yyrkoon. 

- cool nordic names (Elric , Yyrkoon , Dyvim Tvar , Cymoril ...)

- Fantasy world

- Dragons 

- WitchCraft

-  Islands and Long boats 

-  Paganism

what are you waiting for ? GO GRAB IT !

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu : 

*Finished it in one sitting*

This is by Far one of my favorite Horror and Gothic stories and lord knows I've read plenty, 

From Lord Dusnay's Novels to Poe passing by H,B lovecraft and a bunch of others . 

Joseph S Le Fanu 's masterpiece is a about an English  teenage girl that moved to Germany after her father bought a big estate there ,  the girl speaks English and German fluently 

Their Schloss (i'll be using Schloss and Castle interchangeably)   was situated in a very secluded area of Germany ,  the nearest lived estate was several miles  away and their own Castle was near the premises of an old ruined Castle , the views are breathtaking but the main character feels so lonely , one day an incident happened and they welcomed another young girl in their Schloss the rest is for you my dear readers to discover .

Dead Set by Richard Kadrey :

*Finished it in three nights*

I never dared to read a teenage fiction before , but then this one came along  it was given to me by a  very dear friend of mine and I trusted his taste and I honestly  wasn't disappointed at ALL .

Zoe is the main character , she's a high-school student who just lost her dad , she moved to San Francisco with her mother for a fresh start , but one day coming back from school she stumbled on a  record store , seeing that it had an old collection of Vinyl punk records she was tempted to discover more , and as we all know Curiosity killed the Cat ,. 

The borders between dreams and reality became blurry , confusion settled and Hecate ruled .

- punk music references 

- fantasy 

- Mythology

- Suspense 

- the living meeting the dead 

and yeah Abysenth we shouldn't forget about her !

Fragmented.

[Its already late and dark , He gets in the driver seat ,  turns the engine  on , he starts driving fast and unsteady , taking sudden turns and random roads , he pushes on the accelerator even more to feel the rush and get away ]

Diary

1st Entry

  I am a night creature  , that's my nature , at least that's how they like to call me .

There is a noose around my neck , it gets tight at times , but I learnt how to deal with it through time.

times are getting grim and my destiny is  written by the others , I m trying to stand still and i'm afraid that my feet will betray me very  soon , i am writing this on my  desk  near a windowpane and the dawn is around the corner , i like peering out of the window , i m not afraid of the shadows but  you know how i  feel about dawn and light  , i like watching the drunkards and the lost souls wandering in the streets at night. There is something about it , that ensnares me , but i deeply despise light and the mundane life of others , i like to be kept in the dark with my thoughts and demons , peering out the window is a hobby i leaned to with time too , interesting things happen during the night , things that don't come across your mind , wear your cloak  hide your head with the hood and you'll own the night and rule its demons , The purge happens every night , i witness it all and i enjoy it more than anything else , its just that you miss it  by sleeping the night off . reconsider your choices , reconsider your habits , question the rituals and routines of your life , those who rule don't close an eye .

2nd Entry :

 I had to go out today  and pretend to mingle with the others , pretend to understand them and comply, but how long can this last ? for how long shall we pull this act , i m obviously not the only one pretending to be someone else but why should we put on a mask during the day and play a lame role, when will this game come to an end?  Here i am again writing in my Diary , The only space where i can be honest . seriously , Can this get any worse ? but who am i really ? what am i here for ? A lot of other questions swarm around my head . here comes my night companions in their red and black cloaks , i better blow my candle ,

Oh no ... the noose its being tightened , do they know what i' m thinking of ? what ? am i ....[suffocating]  in too deep ? but , but ...

3rd Entery

How did i get here ? is the first question i should ask myself . The last thing i remember is last night , when i was writing down my last entry on my desk near my windowpane . Now  i m  laying in this foliage i reached for my pocket and i fortunately found my pen and diary , writing down these lines , i feel confused and lost  . I  unbuttoned my collar and  felt my neck , to my joy the noose disappeared .I  took off my tie and unbuttoned the rest of my vest  feeling the sweet breeze of the forest that i found myself in , Feeling lost  is after all  not that bad . Its the first time i feel fine in the presence of the light , the sunshine feels otherworldly , i never enjoyed it this much ,  I m  walking around delighted by  the new atmosphere , the day is winding down and coming to an end , i can see a car from where i am standing now ! who brought me here ? did i end up here alone ? I m trying to  remember what happened last night

4th Entry :

I m writing this from the car i found yesterday , everything doesn't make sense , it doesn't feel the same , i am not the same ! it doesn't feel right , the moment of  joyful awaking  in the foliage deserted me , since i remembered that dreadful night ,  I  remember vividly the sound of  their boots hitting the ground and their laughter piercing the walls , a big latch is being opened, but what happened ? where am i ? I have been driving for hours but everything looks the same. 

[To be Continued , or not.]

Brave New World ( Full Review)

Brave new world is A Novel written by Aldous L. Huxley that was described by The Observer as “Provoking, stimulating, shocking and dazzling” and that exactly what I think it is. What I like   about Huxley’s writings is that he is a critical observer of customs, social norms and ideals and he is highly concerned about the potentially harmful applications of scientific progress. He was interested in parapsychology, mysticism and Universal-ism.

The novel presents a far-fetched world were there is only one world state –a border-less world- from an omnipotent point of view,   where people can fly anywhere they want in a blink of an eye and where genetic engineering reached its peak, giving birth is something long forgotten; A single fertilized egg can bring to life a whole population of identical twins. It is a world where everyone helps everyone and everyone can have everyone, no restrains whatsoever. 

There is a whole new set of values, a totally shocking and thought provoking life style when we look at it from the outside .  For the Insiders, There seem to be no kind of discrimination. It is pictured like an Utopian world where peace and happiness is easily attained, through recreational sex and drugs – a gramme is better than a damn- that is exactly what the controllers want the citizens to think.

the citizens are conditioned since they are embryos to have a certain appearance to lead a very specified life and to have a limited amount of knowledge that will allow them to achieve their appointed tasks . so instead of dividing people into ethnic groups, nationalities and religious preferences in the new world they tend to divide people into Alphas , Betas , Gammas , Epsilons and so on … and the most interesting categories are the  “Alpha and Beta” ; they are the future  intellectuals and future rulers , the rest are the manufacture workers and menial laborers.. Alphas and Betas  are conditioned to think that they are superior and that they despise the Gammas and Epsilons  , the inferior categories are designed to wear certain colors and clothes and be thankful  to the other categories , each category is designed to love itself and feel content

“ I’m glad I ‘m not an Epsilon”  said Lenina  with conviction . “And if you were an Epsilon “said Henry “your conditioning would have made you no less thankful that you weren't an Alpha or a Beta “

Other than genetic conditioning, there is hypnopaedia, it is a term that you will come across in this dystopian novel, it’s a technique by which controllers and directors of genetic engineering centers condition their citizens when they are kids, it is illustrated as sleep learning, hypnopaedia is when a single sentence is repeated several times per day , several days per week... for several years until it is   stuck in the mind of the citizens and becomes an automatic response when they are in a certain situation , which in turn kills individuality . (Individuality appears to be the quest of the main character of the book)

“…because progress is lovely, isn't it ?” said Lenina . “ five hundred repetitions once a week from thirteen to seventeen “ said Bernard wearily as though to himself .  “what did you say ?” “I said progress was lovely…”  

Its a Novel where civilization becomes synonymous with sterilization and Genetic and psychological conditioning are the norm and anything outside of that is considered uncivilized, queer and savage.

Brave new world was banned in several countries for different obvious reasons , to name few : encouraging critical thinking , to have a Revolutionary outlook and the fact that it is a metaphor for our current Global situation and what powerful politicians aim for .

 Its a book that makes you think twice if not more ...