Fiction – Page 2 – Modern Literati

February 2, 2020February 2, 2020

The Cypress Tree by Kamin Mohammadi

I purposely looked for novels about the middle-east that are written by their inhabitants, not foreigners, and The Cypress Tree is one of those that I found. The said search criteria were due to that 1) I want to know about the middle-east, and 2) I want to know the truth. Almost all the time when westerners write about the east, regardless Asia or the middle-east, there is always a hint of Orientalism, still. It was such a strong influence since the 17^th century that the effect still lingers. I believe it is very likely that the writers from the west know too well that they could be under such influence and tried their best to get rid of it. However, the force was too powerful and lasted too long to really come clean of it.

September 26, 2019October 6, 2019

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

The trilogy of modern dystopia is commonly known to comprise of 1984 by George Orwell (1949), Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932), and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (1921). I have read the first two books a long time ago and would like to complete this dystopian sequel by reading the last one, We. To provide some background, I would like to mention that the book was finished during the Russian Revolution of 1917 which lasted from 1917 to 1923.

September 25, 2019October 6, 2019

The Power by Naomi Alderman

This is an unusual choice of book for me. I usually avoid sci-fi, and I am not particularly interested in feminism even though I am a female. However, I always wonder how the world is like with only woman inhabitants and think that a utopia/dystopia about such a society would give me an idea. Therefore, I gave this book a try. The story is about some young women who started to discovering their possession of a supernatural electrical power that can inflict pain or even kill people.

August 22, 2019October 6, 2019

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

To describe Afghanistan as a country in a persistent “cycle of misery” is not exaggerated. The country is invaded continuously throughout history. Genghis Khan and his Mongol army invaded the country in 1219AD. The Persian Empire in the West and the Sikh Empire in the East posted an enormous threat to the country during the early 19^th century. The British and its allied force continuously inflicted war to the Afghani from 1838 to the early twentieth century. The Russian started a full-scale invasion from 1978 to 1992. Then came the United States and the Northern Alliance until today.

August 19, 2019October 6, 2019

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

I love war stories. Not that I like war to happen. I am just really curious about the mental state of the people who go through war. I have watched many war documentaries, movies, and have read many memoirs and fictions on the subject. At first mostly on world war II, but then I moved on to the contemporary wars including those in Iraq and Afghanistan. I especially like the documentary “Restrepo” and the BBC produced “Our War.” Both were in Afghanistan.