Six weeks in Malta… I’m usually starting my day at 8am with a 10 min walk around Piazza Tigne with my dogs; then I prepare breakfast and re-watching some old-fashioned crime tv shows (right now, it is Midsomer Murders with the Chief Inspector Barnaby). After that, I always go out for a coffee – I need a break, lol – with...
Continue reading...happiness
The Camusean absurdism vs. Sartrean existentialism
Why am I here? What is the meaning of my life? What should give my life purpose or value? These are tough questions – ones you’ve likely confronted at one point or the other in the past. But don’t be mistaken; you’re not alone. Nearly every thinking person in history has faced the same philosophical quagmire. Questions about the meaning...
Continue reading...Forgotten Comedy Actors That Need to Make a Comeback
written by Laolu Ogundele What makes you laugh? Seriously, this is not a trick question… Okay, let’s narrow the question down. What kinds of films make you snicker, giggle, and guffaw? Whatever your answer is, do you know that it would likely be different if you lived 100 years ago? What if I told you that you’d probably be a...
Continue reading...On Anger
Some days, we try to justify our momentary rage by finding the faults in others; other days, we believe that being angry should be permittable or even encouraged at the personal level. In fact, many people around us are convinced that the only way to control anger is to express our feelings in an assertive but non-aggressive way (simply to...
Continue reading...Upside Down or Completely Married
(short story, written summer 2021/1498 words) When someone asks if I’m in a relationship or not, I always answer: “Of course, I am.” Usually, as a sign of acceptance, the person pats me on the shoulder with the following question: “So, how is it?” “It’s demanding,” I sigh. My understanding interlocutor winks and coughs, or sometimes an unexpected alien laugh...
Continue reading...XXI century: in search of Utopia
I abhor the idea of a perfect world. It would bore me to tears. Shelby Foote Imagine you walk into your friend’s apartment on a dark, cloudy evening – head bowed and hands trembling. You sigh softly and say, “Friend, I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?” Now, people have their different...
Continue reading...Grotesque: abnormally large, shockingly ugly, distorted, and ludicrously odd
I have a remedy against thirst, quite contrary to that which is good against the biting of a mad dog. Keep running after a dog, and he will never bite you; drink always before the thirst, and it will never come upon you. François Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, book 1 Have you ever wondered what a grotesque world would look like?...
Continue reading...Aspects of the Novel
No book worth its salt is meant to put you to sleep, it’s meant to make you jump out of bed in your underwear and run and beat the author’s brains out. Bohumil Hrabal, Czech novelist There’s a book called Aspects of the Novel, a series of lectures from E. M. Forster, written in 1927. I haven’t read it myself...
Continue reading...Author Interview – Sabina Gabrielli Carrara
I spoke with Sabina Gabrielli Carrara, the author of The Last Witch, about her tricky plot progression, whether she hates this century or no, and what comes next. CAUGHT BETWEEN MYSTERY and CRIME 1: We tend to know you as the author of the blog Truly Madly Ordinary and thriller/crime novels Field of Lies and Black Souls. At the end of...
Continue reading...Book Review. Eternal Road: The Final Stop by John W. Howell
Time is endless in thy hands, my lord. There is none to count thy minutes. Rabindranath Tagore The idea of eternity as it relates to God is an essential concept in any religion. We all know that God is eternally existent = God exists outside the human concept of time, but also inside of time. If eternity can be as...
Continue reading...Book Review. My GRL, by John W. Howell
Editorial reviews: When life lands a hammer blow in your face, the best way to respond is to buy a book by John W. Howell. Or all of them! Swipe-Up Dallas Review The bodies of the three men were found in my apartment yesterday. I’d like to invite John W. Howell to solve the crime. It will make my day....
Continue reading...Best horror books by Russian writers (19th century)
Everyone needs to experience Russian literature at some time… so why not now? 👻 #1 Nikolai Gogol and his awesome Viy – a horror novella, published in 1835. The title is also the name of the demonic creature, the main hero of the plot. Every summer, a large procession of students moving around the area as they travel home. However, the group...
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