Bassel's Blog

“A small fact: You are going to die.... does this worry you?” Death ⛰ What It's About  Death narrates the story of a girl living in Nazi Germany:  Liesel Meminger, a 9 year-old orphan who has never seen her father and is taken to her foster parents after her brother's death and her mother's endangerment. Her accordion-playing foster father, Hans, who is the best and kindest foster father ever according to my readings, quickly becomes close to her by teaching her how to read and write. Her foster mother, Rosa, has a big heart although she swears a lot, often calling everyone "Saukerl" or "Saumensch". We get to know how Liesel's life progresses as she makes new friends in the neighborhood such as Rudy, Jessie Owens' keenest fan, and how she jump-started her career in book thievery after her foster father taught her reading. The plot begins when Max Vandenberg, a Jew whose father saved Hans' life before, asks Hans a favor; he asks Hans to hide h...

  ⛰ What It's About It's a Harry Potter fanfiction book written by Eliezer Yudkowsky, an AI researcher and decision theorist. In Yudkowsky's parallel universe, Petunia is married to a famous biochemistry professor at Oxford university and Harry is a nerdy genius kid who was brought up as a science-minded child. Harry goes on to explore the magic world from a rationalist's point of view; trying to apply scientific method to the study of magic. HPMOR adapts the story of Harry Potter to explain complex concepts in cognitive science, philosophy, and the scientific method. 🧠 Thoughts This is not going to be a conventional review; I will provide extracts from the book with my own comments or with further explanation from trustworthy sources (referenced at the end of the blog post). I decided to do so for two reasons; first, I thinks these extracts offer a glimpse of the book that's enough to make you decide whether you want to read it or not. Second, I believe that the...

⛰ What It's About Linnet Doyle's got everything: money, charm and gorgeousness, but the kicker is that she isn't yet married. When Linett's best friend, Jacqueline, asks her to see her lover, Simon, in order to get him a job, Linnet falls in love with him and then they get married. After a while, Linnet Doyle goes to Egypt on a honeymoon with her best friend's ex-lover; they go on a Nile cruise, where a murder occurs. Unfortunately for the culprit(s), this particular Nile cruise has Hercule Poirot and Colonel Race abroad who unite to solve this mystery. 🧠 Thoughts Christie in Egypt Death on the Nile  is loved and appreciated by many fans of Agatha Christie. This is not necessarily due to the intricate plot that was featured in the book, but because of, in my opinion, the ambience of the book; it makes you experience Egyptian vibes by travelling with the characters, through which you get to know more about Egypt.  Christie's visit to Egypt inspired her to writ...

⛰ What It's About Patrick Bateman has it all: good looks, youth, charm, intelligence , education at Harvard, reservations at very expensive restaurants and a job on Wall Street that complements the wealth he was already born with. However, here's the kicker: he's a fucking psychopath! He pulls us into a dark underworld where the American Dream becomes a nightmare. 🧠 Thoughts Intro I'm going to discuss most of the themes of the book without spoiling anything (this book just can't be spoiled because there's nothing special about the ending). I'm going to talk about both the book and the movie; I'll quote from the book and put screenshots from the movie. This analysis will be useful to you even if you haven't read this book yet because it will make you aware of the themes once you read the actual book. This analysis is also useful if you'd like to catch a glimpse of the harshness of the book without actually having to go through this cruel experi...