Warning: This column contains spoilers. “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn begins: “When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The shape of it, to begin with. And what’s inside it. I think of that too: her mind. Her brain, all those coils, and her thoughts shuttling
Author: Tarini Sipahimalani
Metaphors: Salvaging Our Relationships
I’m sitting at a mahogany table; it’s big and round and shrinks the classroom to half its real size. My classmates fill the spaces at the table’s circumference, listening, talking, pondering, ruminating. I have ideas brewing in my mind. But when I come to verbalize them, I fall short of
The evolution of what reading means to me
From my early years to around late middle school, I inhabited the role of the quiet, shy, and excruciatingly reserved kid. My life was chiefly internal — I withheld everything tightly into my tiny frame. While I had strong bonds with my friends, and deep extracurricular interests to foster my
The in-group: How aliens have become reflections of ourselves
It is the mere possibility of alien existence that enables us to walk into the tight-knit, exclusive hangout down the hall, feeling a little less awkward and flushed than the time before. Let me explain. When I think of the quintessential alien of the science fiction genre, I immediately see
‘The Book of M’: Seeking out others’ shadows
This article contains a mild spoiler. I have come to realize that a lot of great literature plays with figurative shadows. William Shakespeare infringes on his reader’s chaste loyalty in “The Winter’s Tale” by brewing a shadow plot of incest underneath the direct story, while Bronte thought it best
Book Column: The Perennial Importance Of Fiction
As college students, when our focus yields to academic material and research, there is a general inclination toward academic journals, news articles, autobiographies, reports — any deviant from pure fiction. These scholarly texts begin to situate themselves above our fiction novels, and our immersion into our vocational pursuits gradually alters
‘When Breath Becomes Air’ Explores The Meaning Of Life, In Death
At each stage of his life — from English student to philosopher and neurosurgeon — Paul Kalanithi has searched for what makes life worth living in the face of human mortality. “When Breath Becomes Air,” the autobiographical book which he details this search, is nothing like the traditional coming-of-age novel.
Minato’s Novel ‘Confessions’ Explores Motherhood And Revenge
Beach balls soaring above hay-yellow sand, on which crowds of restless teenagers mingle under the strobe lights of the drunken sun isn’t the typical spring break montage for all. For some, the week-long break entails awkward family reunions, when elated mothers parade their college-proficient kid — now well-versed in the
Robin Roe’s ‘A List of Cages’ May Be Fiction, But Abuse Is A Reality For Many
CW: Domestic abuse, violence Robin Roe’s novel “A List of Cages” details the lives of two characters: Julian, a present-day high school freshman, and Adam, a high school senior. The two characters are a mentor-mentee pair from elementary school, until they turn into foster brothers after Julian’s parents die
‘Victoria And Abdul’: Emotional Bond Lacks Emotive Experience
Shrabani Basu’s book “Victoria and Abdul” is meant to be the story of the unexpected friendship between the Queen Victoria of England and Abdul Karim, a witty Indian commoner, who was appointed the esteemed task of presenting to the Queen a ceremonial Indian coin for her jubilee. However, Basu’s