Tag: Essay

The Levels of Liking a Book

~ mariasjostrand ~ 6 Comments

For me there are eight levels of how much I like a book.

One. I can’t read it. I just can’t. I mean, I’ll try if I really have to, but after reading the same paragraph half a dozen times, I’m just going to give up and google my way to a summary. It’s so extraordinary bad that I just can’t read it. My brain goes on a strike as soon as I try. It’s figuratively holding up a small sign saying “What do we want? Entertainment. When do we want it? Now!”

Two. I don’t want to read it. This is the part where my brain and I are sitting at opposite sides of the negotiation table, trying to work something out. My brain is threatening to go on another strike, but I successfully calm her down by promising her entertainment right after this one last job. Sure, neither of us actually wants to read the book, but we’ll struggle our way through it. Teamwork. Continue reading “The Levels of Liking a Book” →

A Great Character

~ mariasjostrand ~ 2 Comments

A/N: Very light spoiler alert for Lucifer.

The Great Character is a character, who can save a show. It’s a character, who can take a book, a movie, or a TV-show and make it worth your while. You can, of course, argue that subjectivity plays a vital role in this – as it does in everything regarding the worlds of literature and media. Just because I find a show dull and a character entertaining, doesn’t mean that you do.

But often, we do agree. Quite a few people agree that Game of Thrones is a great show. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have the budget it has today. Sure, taste is subjective but there are certain things that speak to ninety-five percent of us. And ninety-five percent of seven billion is quite a lot of people. If ninety-five percent of people like something you’ve made, you’re set. Or should I say almost set? You do, after all, need to get their attention before you can impress them. But that’s a post for another time.

Right now, I want to talk about characters that impressed me – and then I hope that in this case, I’m part of the ninety-five percent and not the five. Otherwise, feel free to comment and let me know why you might disagree.

For this post, I’ll focus on the characters of the TV-show Lucifer, which is currently airing on Netflix. And why I think the characters are what makes Lucifer worthwhile to watch. Let’s see what we have to work with, shall we? Continue reading “A Great Character” →

Irrationally Angry

~ mariasjostrand ~ 1 Comment

Warning: Includes cursing.

Okay, do you guys have something that pisses you off way more than it should?

And I can´t be things where it´s perfectly reasonable to be angry. It can´t be how you hate it when people lie, or when someone calls you ugly names. It´s reasonable to be angry when this happens.

I´m thinking about something that pisses you off, even when it really, really shouldn´t.

For me, it´s when people say that something taste like Christmas. Continue reading “Irrationally Angry” →

Immortality

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Immortality

And Why You Should Definitely Want It

“You don´t really want to live forever, do you?” she asks me, face horrified as if the mere thought of it was more than she could bear.

You´d think I´d told her I was suicidal. The face would be more appropriate if “live forever” had been replaced with “die”.

“Of course, I do,” I answer. “I would always want one more day.”

And I do. I want one more day, and when that day arrives, I want one more day and one more day and one more day… hopefully forever. Because if the day comes where I don´t want just one more day…

Can you even imagine how miserable that must mean I am? Continue reading “Immortality” →

Choosing Blindly

~ mariasjostrand ~ 6 Comments

If we go out from the assumption that there is one true religion, one true God, and one true life after death… then choosing our religion and our God is undoubtedly the most important choice we will ever make.

So how do we go about making it?

For most people, their choice is easy (but not very well thought out). They go with the same choice their parents went with.

This is undoubtedly very flattering to their parents, but hardly how you go about making the most important decision of your life. How are your parents sure that Christianity is the correct choice? Or Islam or Hinduism or whatever religion they might have? How come that´s the choice they made? The most likely answer?

Because that´s the choice their parents made. Continue reading “Choosing Blindly” →

People Are Odd

~ mariasjostrand ~ 2 Comments

People are odd.

I mean, people are just really, undeniably incredibly odd.

Human beings are the odd-balls of the animal kingdom. I mean, it´s hard to argue against it when you look at the facts.

What other animal is going to say “ow” when they stump themselves, even if they´re not actually in pain? They just say in, just in case it might have hurt.

It´s adorable, but utterly pointless.

And no other animal has True Fiction. Ever heard about the term? It´s when they take something that´s a lie, and they all just agree that it´s the truth.

Continue reading “People Are Odd” →

Fanfiction

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A/N: Spoiler alert on Gone With the Wind and How I Met Your Mother.

Maybe it starts out with nothing more than a thought.

You find a book, a movie, or a television show you love but the ending was… disappointing. So, inside your own head, you change it. Rhett doesn´t leave Scarlett. Barney and Robin doesn´t get a divorce.

You find that the idea inside your own head isn´t concrete enough, so you write it down.

And maybe the ending of the story wasn´t the problem. Maybe there was a character you didn´t like, a choice you didn´t agree with. Or maybe nothing was wrong. Maybe you just wonder… what if?

Hell, maybe you aren´t even that interested in the story. Maybe it´s the universe you love. Maybe you´re writing a story of the first muggle-born who´s elected Minister of Magic.

You finish your story.

Continue reading “Fanfiction” →

The Fashion of Monsters

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Okay. Fashion. We can’t really avoid it. We can’t avoid the trends that go through society before they finally die out, only to be brought back to life later – fashion, as it turns out, is very Frankenstein.

The most obvious example is, of course, clothes, but even outside the world of designers and haute couture, we find that “fashion” or popular trends exist in everything. Hobbies. Ideologies. Even mythical creatures.

It’s the latter which this essay will focus on.

Some creatures are seemingly doomed to forever be second best. Unknown to most and with very little focus on them. Creatures like banshees, gargoyles, and harpies. It’s not that we haven’t heard about them, but how many of us can honestly name a movie or a book that revolve around one of them? The closest thing might be The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but even then, the gargoyles play only a secular role.

Other creatures, however, are given their time in the limelight. They have movies and television shows revolving around them, comics and books are written with them as the main focus, and everybody knows them. They are fashionable. They are in.

Continue reading “The Fashion of Monsters” →

Pride and Prejudice: A Feminist Criticism

~ mariasjostrand ~ 24 Comments

A/N: This week’s post is an academic essay on Pride and Prejudice with a focus on feminism. 

The iconic story of Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, but even though it was written by Jane Austen it was not published under her name. This was because that during the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was still considered shocking and scandalous for a woman to write for money.

This meant that when a book was published under an anonymous name it was often because it was in fact written by a woman. This also held true for the rest of Austen’s published work such as Sense and Sensibility, which was also published anonymously.

Continue reading “Pride and Prejudice: A Feminist Criticism” →

The Symbolism of The Question Mark

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As you are reading The Question Mark by Gevorg Emin, it seems clear that the author of the text was speaking in a symbolic sense. I will argue why The Question Mark is about the loss of the certainty of youth and the growing sense of reflection as one grow older. I will also point out an example of how The Question Mark is about the author’s melancholy at the thought of such a transformation. I will use examples taken out from the text as arguments for this claim, and thereby point out the symbolism hidden in the author’s choice of word.

Continue reading “The Symbolism of The Question Mark” →