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Japan Sinks: 2020

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            In July of 2020, Netflix released a brand new original animated series, Japan Sinks: 2020 , apparently inspired by a popular Japanese doomsday novel. The show was met with initial success, which is to be expected from a Netflix original series, so I went into watching it with high expectations. However, I found it extremely difficult to get through. The series opens strong, with a great concept, suspenseful atmosphere, and a beautiful soundtrack. As the series progressed, the dialogue seemed to become increasingly awkward. (I don’t know if the writers or the voice actors were at fault, but the quality of the character dialogue suffered.) There were also some strange narrative arcs which seemed unrelated to the story (the drug-fueled utopian commune, led by a self-proclaimed medium everyone calls “mother”, comes to mind). Overall, though the ending was satisfactory, and the soundtrack was amazing, Japan Sinks: 2020 was an underwhelming 5/10.             After being disapp
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The Book That Got Me Back into Reading

            Bored. I laid, sprawled out over my bed, just staring at the ceiling. I had spent many nights like this. I had plenty of ways to kill time, but none of them could hold my attention for more than a few minutes. I hated nights like these, it felt like I was just wasting my time. It was back when the pandemic first hit, and everything was on lockdown. Not that I ever went out anyway.             I decided to get up out of the bed and head to my computer chair. I browsed the internet, looking for something to occupy my mind. After hours of thoughtless scrolling, I ended up on an online forum about literature. After spending some time there, it got me thinking, I had not read, for my own enjoyment, in a very long time. “I used to love to read, though” I thought, as I opened Amazon books. I decided to purchase a copy of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment on a whim and eagerly awaited its arrival.             And then I didn’t read it. In fact, a full three months had p
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The Crunch

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            Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) was a German-American writer and poet known for depicting the harsh reality of American life. His writing is abrasive and blunt, yet often humorous, and even endearing, at times. "The Crunch" , a poem written by Bukowski, perfectly displays each of these characteristics. One of my favorites, the poem, like many of Bukowski’s poems, has been reworked and republished several different times in several different collections.  “The Crunch” is a beautiful depiction of loneliness and despair, with a touch of humor and a sliver of hope.             “Too much / too little / or not enough”, the opening words of the poem, have always caught my attention. There is something attractive in them, though I do not know what it is, that begs you to keep reading. As you continue, Bukowski brutally describes scenes of war, of isolation, and of sorrow. He writes, “there are people so tired / so strafed / so mutilated by love or no / love / that buying a b
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An Analysis of an Analysis

            Parallels and Interactions between Videogames and Literature: Analyzing Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is the rather lengthy title of the analytical article written by one Georgios Vasilikaris, of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. The article was published under the Journal of Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media in 2019. The article focuses on the comparison of Harlan Ellison’s 1967 short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream and its 1995 video game adaptation of the same name, and the use of video games as a storytelling medium. The article is a very well-constructed analysis, though wordy at times.             The article, which is separated into two parts, begins by introducing video games as a concept, and how they can be used as an avenue for storytelling, or even as educational devices. Vasilikaris highlights the rather dismissive attitude many people have towards video games as anything more than a childish pastime, while be
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The Cover Art of No Longer Human

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              Designed by New York-based graphic designer Rodrigo Corral, this cover art to Osamu Dazai’s 1948 novel, No Longer Human , is simplistic yet alluring. The cover art features an eye-catchingly bright pink background that is almost offensive, with a globular black mass resembling the silhouette of a person. The figure possesses no distinct features of a human, other than what seems to be a head and a torso. It has no face, no defining characteristics, it exists only as a featureless blob, projecting a semitransparent shadow upon the background. Knowing the plot of the story, this figure likely represents the main character’s view of himself: a vaguely human form, faceless, casting a metaphorical “shadow” on the world around him. The character (both the protagonist and the figure) deems itself unworthy of a face, something to be identified and recognized by. It wants to be forgotten. However, in its desperate attempt to remain unnoticeable, it becomes something which you cann
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A Cup of Rage

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            A Cup of Rage , written by Brazilian author Raduan Nassar, is a short, yet very intense drama. A drama which is acted out in seven emotional parts by two very emotional characters. The story follows a day in the life of a farmer who is in a passionate, yet extremely turbulent relationship with a younger journalist. The story focuses on an argument that breaks out between the two after the farmer discovers that ants had chewed through one of his hedges overnight. This argument, which is more of a battle of egos, becomes a furious power struggle between the two lovers. The fight is filled with cruel insults, childish mockery, and even physical altercation, but it also brings about intelligent observations on ethics, morality, politics, and identity. In the end, despite the mental and physical turmoil between the two, they are inseparable, unable to live without one another. The entire story, told beautifully by Nassar, consists of just seven sprawling sentences, which make up
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Why You Should Read No Longer Human

            “Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being” (21). These are the striking opening words of Osamu Dazai’s 1948 novel, No Longer Human. The story is told through the discarded notebooks of Oba Yozo, an estranged, dejected, wretched, and utterly hopeless man, and our protagonist. We follow Yozo as he navigates his way through his miserable, isolated life. This novel is one of the most bleak and utterly despairing pieces of fiction ever written, yet it is also beautiful, and you should read it.             The story opens with a prologue, featuring an unnamed narrator who, when presented with three pictures of our main character, describes his appearance as something other than human. Oba Yozo was born in a small village in Northeastern Japan to an affluent, “well-to-do” family. From an early age, Yozo felt completely disconnected from those around him. He could not understand human beings. He had a mortal
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