Gothic by Fred Botting My rating: 3 of 5 stars Sections of this book were assigned reading for the Gothic Literature course that I just finished. I also decided to use it as a resource for my term paper, since it deals with the evolution of the Gothic genre throughout the years.At first, I found this text to be extremely dry, disconnected and difficult to understand and I gave up on it for about 8-9 months. I hesitated picking it up again when I had to do my research for my term paper, but I realize that the reason for my initial struggles stemmed from the fact that the assigned…
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Elisabeth: Kaiserin wider Willen
Elisabeth: Kaiserin wider Willen by Brigitte Hamann My rating: 2 of 5 stars I visited the Sissi museum in Vienna in December of last year. It was beautiful and enchanting and piqued my enthusiasm of learning more about Elisabeth. I must apologize, if I sound biased and even condescending, but unfortunately most of the books and research one can find about Elisabeth is only through one author, Brigitte Hamann. Based on everything I have read of hers dealing with Elisabeth I am confused as to her motivations to devote so much time and effort into a subject that appears to not be her passion or even full interest. Dispersed within…
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The Prose Edda
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson My rating: 2 of 5 stars I wish I could say that after reading this I would have a somewhat working knowledge/idea of Norse mythology, but I’m not even sure I can remember a fraction of what I read. It was dense and packed with so many names, it was impossible to keep up with any of it.My quest to find a good, comprehensible book on Norse mythology continues. View all my reviews
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King My rating: 5 of 5 stars An excerpt of On Writing was assigned reading for one of my grad school writing classes, sadly I was unable to connect, because I felt I was missing the bigger picture and I didn’t have the time to read the entire book back then. I was able to find a digital version about a month ago and finished it within a few days. All I can say is that I wish I had read it years ago. Beside King’s candid and sincere way of writing about his experiences and growth as a writer, it…