Smashbomb

"Set in Reykjavík at the turn of the 20th century this novel has a Chaplin-esque quality in its celebration of how the good values of society are to be found among those clinging to its lowest rung. Álfgrímur is an orphan living with an old couple who have opened their small farm to the misfits and the meek. A nearby graveyard becomes the boy’s playground, and it is there he is discovered to have “the pure tone” while singing at funerals of the lost and lonesome. From their gravesides he goes into the world to become a singer. It is my favorite book by Laxness, not least because it is his attempt to understand why someone like himself, born in a town of 10,000 people, found the right melody to transform the stories of a small world into world literature."

Source

Kudos

Coal Baron: The Great Card Game

9.3 (3 Ratings) Rate It

Tabletop Game

The city of Essen, Germany at the turn of the 20th century was a center for coal mining in Europe....

BoardGames CardGames

The Intellectual and Diplomatic Discourse of American Progressives and the Late Ottomans, 1830-1930

Brigitte Powell

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The Intellectual and Diplomatic Discourse of the American Progressives and the Late Ottomans...

Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Dracula in Books

Oct 10, 2017 (Updated Oct 11, 2017)

Dracula

Bram Stoker, Allen Grove | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry

8.4

(16 Ratings)

Book Rating

A true horror classic

Ever since its publication Bram Stoker's Dracula has always stayed in the public imagination. Dracula caused vampire scares throughout Europe into the early 20th Century. With it being filmed so many times, both for the cinema as well as the TV, and stage adaptations that are still being made this century, as well as a plethora of publishers having it in their catalogues this story is set to remain with us well into the foreseeable future, indeed until the end of time.

The beautiful Mina has been scarred by vampires and is at risk of being sucked into their Undead world. But she is a plucky gal. Although the whole story is very OTT, there are many vivid passages as the little troop pursue Dracula across Europe and finally kill him in the nick of time before sun sets over the Carpathian Mountains. Although mightily baroque, the tale is worth reading for these descriptions...howling wolves and all. Of course it has been deconstructed as an allegory of the Good overcoming the External Threat at a time when Europe was in turmoil. So, all in all, a heavy-duty read, but probably worthwhile if you're a true horror fan.