Explore the Concept of Two Deaths in Literature
Dive into the profound idea of two deaths—the physical and the memory. These books explore how our legacies linger and the impact of being remembered. Discover stories that resonate with the essence of life and memory.
Going Postal
422 pages
This book explores the poignant theme of memory and legacy, highlighting how the names of those who have passed can live on through the stories we tell.
The Brief History of the Dead
267 pages
This book explores a fascinating concept and even references 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' at the start. Although I read it over a decade ago, I remember enjoying it, but be aware that it revolves around a lethal virus, which might feel particularly relevant in today's world.
Loneliness in Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature
306 pages
Drawing on the fields of psychology, literature, and philosophy, Loneliness in Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature argues that loneliness has been the universal concern of mankind since the Greek myths and dramas, the dialogues of Plato, and the treatises of Aristotle. Author Ben Lazare Mijuskovic, whose insights are culled from both his theoretical studies and his practical experiences, contends that loneliness has constituted a universal theme of Western thought from the Hellenic age into the contemporary period. In Loneliness in Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature, he shows how man has always felt alone and that the meaning of man is loneliness. Presenting both a discussion and a philosophical inquiry into the nature of loneliness, Mijuskovic cites examples from more than one hundred writers on loneliness, including Erich Fromm, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Clark Moustakas, Rollo May, and James Howard in psychology; Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Thomas Wolfe and William Golding in literature; and Descartes, Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre in philosophy. Insightful and comprehensive, Loneliness in Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature demonstrates that loneliness is the basic nature of humans and is an unavoidable condition that all must face. European Review, 21:2 (May, 2013), 309-311. Ben Mijuskovic, Loneliness in Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse. 2012). Ben Lazare Mijuskovic offers in his book a very different approach to loneliness. According to him, far from being an occasional or temporary phenomenon, loneliness—or better the fear of loneliness—is the strongest motivational drive in human beings. He argues that “following the replenishment of air, water, nourishment, and sleep, the most insistent and immediate necessity is man desire to escape his loneliness,” to avoid the feeling of existential, human isolation” (p xxx). The Leibnizian image of the monad—as a self-enclosed “windowless” being—gives an acute portrait of this oppressive prison. To support this thesis, Mijuskovic uses an interdisciplinary approach--philosophy, psychology, and literature—through which the “picture of man as continually fighting to escape the quasi-solipsistic prison of his frightening solitude” reverberates. Besides insisting on the primacy of our human concern to struggle with the spectre of loneliness, Mijuskovic has sought to account for the reasons why this is the case. The core of his argumentation relies on a theory of consciousness. In Western thought three dominant models can be distinguished: (a) the self-consciousness or reflexive model; (b) the empirical or behavioral model; and (c) the intentional or phenomenological model. According to the last two models, it is difficult, if not inconceivable, to understand how loneliness is even possible. Only the theory that attributes a reflexive nature to the powers of the mind can adequately explain loneliness. The very constitution of our consciousness determines our confinement. “When a human being successfully ‘reflects’ on his self, reflexively captures his own intrinsically unique situation, he grasps (self-consciously) the nothingness of his existence as a ‘transcendental condition’—universal, necessary (a priori—structuring his entire being-in-the-world. This originary level of recognition is the ground-source for his sensory-cognitive awareness of loneliness” (p. 13). Silvana Mandolesi
American Gods Volume 1: Shadows (Graphic Novel)
268 pages
This book explores themes of death and rebirth in a unique way, making it a captivating read.
American Gods
671 pages
AN ACCLAIMED, EMMY-NOMINATED TV SERIES ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO WINNER OF THE HUGO, LOCUS AND BRAM STOKER AWARDS 'To give him his full title: Neil Gaiman, Architect of Worlds, Svengali of Plot, Shaman of Character, Exploder of Cliché, Master Craftsman of Style, Dreamer Laureate of the Republic of Letters' DAVID MITCHELL 'Original, engrossing, and endlessly inventive' GEORGE R.R. MARTIN 'Brilliant and unique' GUARDIAN --- 'This is about the soul of America, the idea that everyone came here from somewhere' NEIL GAIMAN --- After three years in prison, Shadow Moon is free to go home. But hours before his release, his beloved wife is killed in a freak accident. Numbly, he boards a plane where he meets an enigmatic stranger who seems to know Shadow and claims to be an ancient god - and king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange road trip across the USA, encountering a kaleidoscopic cast of characters along the way. But all around them a storm of unnatural proportions is gathering. War is coming, an epic struggle for the very soul of America. And Shadow is standing squarely in its path. NEIL GAIMAN. WITH STORIES COME POSSIBILITIES.
Sum
128 pages
This book offers a fascinating exploration of the afterlife through imaginative and thought-provoking scenarios.
Vicious
367 pages
Vicious is a captivating read that explores the complexities of morality and the consequences of ambition, making it a must-read for those who enjoy dark and thought-provoking stories.
