Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars

Okay then, so turns out that Princess of Mars was written as pulp fiction in a serialised manner in a magazine back in the day, before being compiled and published as a book. Which should say enough about the sort of writing one can expect from it. However, the fact this book is the first by the dude who finally went on to give us Tarzan, you have to go see the raw base that masterpieces are worked from.

Plus point - He managed to put in some feminist narrative into what is literally a SciFi escapist fantasy.

Super plus point - He got Michael Wheelan to draw his book a cover, for the 1971 edition, seen above. My love, you see? I mean yeah, it isn't the first cover, or even in the first five chronologically, but it's Wheelan alright? And the longest lasting cover as well - three decades! That's Wheelan right there for you.

Anyhow, the link to the book is above, so read that shizz, and now, moving to the summary and analysis.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland

This post summarizes and analyses, hopefully in some depth, perhaps one of the earliest Feminist Utopia based stories in the science fiction genre: Herland. It has been an engrossing read, and though there is a summary below, I would still recommend that you guys do read the actual story. And on we go.

H.G. Wells: Final Thesis

H.G. Wells is perhaps the best founding author of the Science Fiction genre, and it was a pleasure reading his works. What follows is my final thesis based on his works, the individual studies of which you can read here.

1. The Star
2. The Country of the Blind
3. The Invisible Man

So for the analysis, go forth and read.

H.G. Wells: The Star

The Star is a true Sci-Fi short story by the father of science fiction. It is an apocalyptic tale of an extra terrestrial threat to the earth. You can find the story here, and my analysis below.

H.G. Wells: The Country of the Blind

Imagine a world, a world where everyone was blind. Imagine they had been blind for generations, and had completely lost the concept of sight from their collective memories. Imagine you got there, and were stuck with them. How would you fit into their culture? In a world of the blind, wouldn't the one eyed be king? Here's how HG Wells predicts such a situation will go. My analysis, read below.

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Birthmark and Dr Heidegger's Experiment

You should probably read up on the actual stories: The Birthmark and Dr Heidegger's Experiment, before reading the analysis below.

Tale Share: You've Come Out, and You've Come Out again

We like labeling things. We like binaries. We like our equations simple. So we find it hard to digest that nothing is ever really binary. The colours in this world are in a spectrum, as is gender.

Now, that is a hard concept for people to get in the west itself, which, let's admit, is a tad bit ahead of us in the acceptance of the non "normal" than us. US legalised same sex marriage, did you hear? We Indians on the other hand, are still grappling with the fact that transgender are people. What I wish for a day when I don't hear, "Which bathroom will they use!?"

Anyway, I digress. The point is, when a natural selection of sex itself is hard for us to see as a spectrum, I really don't see much hope for gender identification, which is more of a conscious choice than nature selecting sex organs for us.

I came across this one short story, written by Shikhar Vyas on The Cake, set in this nice world with nice people, who are supportive, and willing to learn, and don't ask if you have sex with yourself if you are an asexual. This, I would like to share with you. You can read the complete article on the Cake's Facebook page, linked above. Here I give you some snippets that stuck with me. Read on.

Edgar Allen Poe: The Black Cat & The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allen Poe definitely had a thing for all things horrific - murders, evil incarnate cats, and guilt. It has been suggested that this is mainly due to Poe's own miserable life - it is well known he struggled with depression and alcoholism, and it is possible he wrote in this manner as a warning to the reader about his own world view.

Here I read through two of his stories - The Black Cat (1845) and The Tell-Tale Heart (1850), both dealing with murders in their own right, and the way the human psyche deals with the act of murder. To read the stories, click on the links above. For the analysis, read on below.

Edgar Allen Poe: The Oval Portrait

The oval portrait is about a painter who loved his wife, and loved painting over her. What happens when he decides to bring his two loves together, and paint his wife forms a telling narrative on humanity's eternal pursuit for immortality, and our focus on perfection. To read the story itself, click here. To read a brief summary and analysis of the different themes, read on.

Hawthorne and Poe: Introduction

To know more about this section, read on.

Mary Shelley: Introduction

To get a basic understanding of what this section is all about, please read below.

Tale Share: Why Historians should Write Fiction

When a novel is set in the past, we often have to build a world to support the story that we tell. If we set it in our actual past, then we have to take elements of history and fit to the plot itself. This brings forth the field of historical fiction. But how do we define historical fiction anyway? The following is an essay by Ian Mortimer, a famous historian, who writes historical fiction under the pseudonym of James Forrester, and it tries to address the question from the point of view of the authors who write these stories. This article written at the IHR conference is an insightful look at how historians view the genre, and how we could possibly define it. The following are some snippets that I found really relevant to the conversation.

Bram Stoker: Final Thesis

For the book, read here. For my final thesis on the basis of my reading, click on the link below.

Lewis Carroll: Final Thesis

For the first book, read here. For the second book read here. For my thesis on the books, read below.

Creative Fiction: The Mouth Organ

You know that one romantic scene set in the autumn, with leaves falling all around a couple, who simply walk towards each other, oblivious of the entire world? Here's my attempt to recreate that. One of the first of my many scene renderings. Read on to enjoy.

Musings: Morals in Cynicism

Do I miss debating or what!? Still an angry person, clearly. It's been years since we fought over movies, but this is a good reminder of it. Perhaps more should be healthy for us. Read on for an entertaining time.