All Forms of Art

  Jennifer Egan returns with The Candy House , a dazzling, interconnected novel that expands on the universe of A Visit from the Goon Squad . While not a direct sequel, this book explores the same themes of time, identity, and technology, offering a fresh yet familiar experience. A World Where Memories Are No Longer Private  At the heart of The Candy House is a revolutionary technology called "Own Your Unconscious," created by tech mogul Bix Bouton. This invention allows people to externalize and share their memories. This leads to profound ethical and existential questions.  Would you trade your privacy for perfect recollection?  What happens when memories are no longer personal? A Narrative as Experimental as Its Predecessor  Like A Visit from the Goon Squad , this novel unfolds in a non-linear, multi-perspective style.  Each chapter introduces new characters—some familiar, some new—who navigate the implications of Bix's technology in unique ways. Fro...

  "This story is about courage, hate, and exclusion." You can read in the final pages of this book. It is true. This book came to my hands by chance, and I never thought I would be so impressed by it. I can't remember the last time I read a book this quickly. I found two different English translations of it, so I'll use its original title in this review. De Crèche tells the story of a group of Jewish children in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. The children would be separated from their parents. They would go into this institution until it was time to go to the concentration camps. In the middle of such tragedy, these brave young women would go against all the laws to keep them safe.  Elle Van Rijn's narrative is thoughtful and sweet but never disguises the truth - the horrible truth those people were living in.  She makes you care We can't stop reading, you want to know more. You need to know more. The story follows a chronology; you can't avoid feeling a shive...

I first came across The Fault in Our Stars thanks to my former students—sweet, bright-eyed teenagers who were completely captivated by this emotional teen romance. They spoke about it with such passion, especially about the love story, that my curiosity was eventually piqued. Initially, I watched the Twentieth Century Fox film adaptation. While I found it touching and emotionally powerful, something about it felt a bit… surface-level. I had a feeling the book might go deeper—and it truly did. A Story That Goes Beyond Illness Yes, this is a story about illness. But The Fault in Our Stars is not just another "sick lit" novel . What makes it different is the depth of its characters, particularly Hazel Grace Lancaster. John Green doesn't just give us a teenage girl with cancer—he gives us a teenage girl with a voice , a sharp wit, dreams, fears, sarcasm, and a whole world inside her mind. And that, in my opinion, is what sets this book apart. Hazel refuses to le...

The Discreet Hero is a  2013 book that was translated to English in 2015. The writer  Mario Vargas Llosa  won the Nobel Prize  for literature in 2010. An Unconventional Hero In The Discreet Hero, the protagonist Felício Yanaqué lives his life according to his father's last teaching “Do not let anyone step into you.” as a way to honor his memory. But life is tricky and Felício's principles will be put to the test. An unconventional hero  without the dramatic overtones of the movies but filled with honor, Felício is a real-life hero, one who no one will ever know about. Yet, they can proudly shape their own destiny with honesty. Our protagonist fights against the  status quo , which he thinks is wrong, and never gives up, although  the world around him keeps saying that this is the rule. Two Stories, One Fate But Felício is not the only hero in this book. Along with its pages, we can read two different storylines, unrelated at first...

Dorothy Koomson’s Marshmallows for Breakfast is, like most of her novels, a deeply emotional and heartfelt story that explores human relationships, trauma, and the power of love in its many forms. With a compelling blend of drama and sentimentality, Koomson weaves a narrative that is both touching and thought-provoking. A New Beginning  The story follows Kendra, a woman trying to escape a painful past, as she moves into a new home and unexpectedly becomes involved in the lives of her landlord's young twins, Summer and Jaxon.  These two children, despite their own struggles, have an incredible ability to bring warmth and hope into the lives of the adults around them. As Kendra becomes more entangled in their world, her own past begins to resurface, forcing her to confront the wounds she has tried so hard to bury. Emotionally Complex Characters One of the standout elements of Marshmallows for Breakfast is Koomson’s ability to create realistic, emotionally complex char...

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad , is a successful classic and one of the best-selling books ever.  As with all classics, it can become a bit tiring for the modern reader, who is used to the fast pace of movies and TV shows. Despite that, the story is interesting enough to keep us curious, even when we are urged to skip a few pages to discover what will happen next.  The African Jungle It wins us over with its story's evolution, opulent landscape, and captivating characters set in the middle of an African jungle.  The premise is simple: a storytelling sailor, a greedy mercenary, and a troubled journey in the middle of a dense forest shrouded in mist. What's a man capable of in an inhospitable place where no one will discover his deeds? Human is More Than a Word A long, troubled journey aimed at meeting a fascinating man who, after all, was just like every other man—imperfect, weak, and flawed. Heart of Darkness is a book that takes readers on a journ...

In this book,  Jennifer Egan  presents a fresh and engaging literary context, pushing the boundaries of some of our greatest fears. Story or stories? In  A Visit From the Goon Squad  ( winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction  in 2011), each chapter tells a unique story with its own protagonist and dilemmas. However, as you continue reading, these seemingly random narratives gradually intertwine, culminating in a surprising, nearly overwhelming unity. Excruciatingly Surprising It's like traveling through time, observing various small moments with varying importance and significance, which helps us understand the characters. The story is filled with unexpected, almost absurd situations that create an engaging pace.  The surprises go way beyond the story itself, though. From interesting PowerPoint slides to text messages with many abbreviations that make them almost incomprehensible, Egan does everything to make the reader feel the characters' world. P...