Lari's Bookshelf

Existentialism One of the main themes of early to mid 20th century, is this theme of the existential crisis of the individual. While planes and cars and the radio connected societies, individuals who went off to war were stripped of their humanity. World War I and II offered technological horrors never before seen, and men and women were trained to live as cogs in a military machine that was indifferent to human interests. This caused a huge internal conflict within many. There is a fabulous speech by Charlie Chaplin in the film, "The Great Dictator." Someone uploaded this and matched it with a song from the Inception soundtrack, take a few minutes to watch this: The part of the speech I want to highlight, is the part where Chaplin depicts the general sentiments that I'm trying to illustrate regarding technological advancements vs. the isolation and brutality of humanity in the first half of the 20th century: "We have developed speed, but we have shut ...

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry Release Date: October 5th, 2010 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Pages: 458 ISBN-13:  9781442402324 Wow. This book. Wow. I don't even know where to begin. At first, I didn't know what to expect. Sure. I read the publisher's description. Benny Imura, just another teen coming of age in a post apocalyptic world. Right? Kind of. Yes. But this is not just some cliche YA thriller/horror. This has some real substance to it. The book doesn't rely on the icky-zombie-gross-factor to keep the reader invested in finishing the story, not that there is anything wrong with that, but there was more to this novel than a horde of zombies and a collection of desperate survivors trying to figure out how to get by in a crazy new world. This book is about relationships between people. Especially the relationship between Benny and his brother Tom. See, Benny hates Tom. He thinks he's a coward. He remembers Firs...

Ashfall By Mike Mullin (His website is currently selling autographed copies for pre-order.) Release Date: October 14, 2011 Publisher: Tanglewood Press Pages: 472 ISBN-13: 978-1933718552 Genre: YA, Post Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi What if the super volcano known as Yellowstone National Park blew its top? Alex thinks that it's going to be just another weekend playing World of Warcraft while his folks are away visiting family. What he doesn't expect is his house to catch on fire because of a super volcanic eruption thousands of miles away. The cataclysmic events that ensue describe a frightening world covered in a layer of deadly ash. The violence in the world after the volcano is described through Alex's experiences. It isn't long, after the deafening noise which lasts days, that he sees a man kill another for food. Alex realizes that to survive, he needs to be willing to protect himself, and utilizes his martial arts training to get by in this new unfriendly wor...

And he doesn't want you reading these books! Dystopian novels have been around for a long time. Before a bunch of kids were thrown together to fight to the death in the Hunger Games , there was Lord of the Flies . Before people were forced to act, look, think and speak a certain way in the Uglies series, there was 1984 . If you are a fan of the recent deluge of dystopian novels that are flooding the literary market, you probably should check out the classics. It's great to see such a fascinating subject so widely discussed, read, and enjoyed as fiction by so many. It would certainly behoove any fan of oppressive-society-literature to delve into the roots of dystopian fiction. The Iron Heel (Penguin Classics) "Part science fiction, part dystopian fantasy, part radical socialist tract, Jack London’s The Iron Heel offers a grim depiction of warfare between the classes in America and around the globe. Originally published nearly a hundred years ago, it anticipated ma...