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Veronika Decides to Die (1998) is a novel of ideas by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. The novel follows Veronika, a 24-year-old Slovenian woman who decides to die in 1997 because her perfectly normal world has left her apathetic toward life. After Veronika attempts suicide, she finds herself in a psychiatric hospital called Villete. Villete was established in the rift opened by the civil war in Yugoslavia to generate a profit from the issues of the upper... Read Veronika Decides To Die Summary

Laura Mulvey’s essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” originally appeared in the autumn 1975 issue of the British film journal, Screen. This study guide refers to the reprint of the essay included in Mulvey’s book Visual and Other Pleasures (Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd edition 2009).Part 1: “Introduction”In the “Introduction” to her 1975 essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Laura Mulvey announces her agenda: to appropriate psychoanalytic theory “as a political weapon” to expose how “the unconscious... Read Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema Summary

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Waiting for Godot is a two-act play by Samuel Beckett, translated from Beckett’s own French script. First performed in English in 1953, it has been heralded as one of the most important plays of the 20th Century. It is a central work of absurdism, though it was not originally received with much acclaim. In fact, the play’s frank treatment of the body provoked some horror in its initial audiences. The play begins with two friends, Vladimir... Read Waiting for Godot Summary

Walden opens with Thoreau’s explanation of his two-year independent living project on Walden Pond, which spanned from 1845 to 1847. He illuminates his desire to live a solitary, simple life outside of civilization. Over the course of these two years, Thoreau describes his experiences including his immersion in nature, the process of growing his own food, and the pleasure he derives from contemplating the beauty of the woods. He also reflects on the most basic elements... Read Walden Summary

War and Peace is a historical fiction novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy that was first published between 1865 and 1869. The story charts the alliances and wars between Russia and France at the beginning of the 19th century, following the lives of characters swept along by historical events and examining key themes like Living a Meaningful Life, The Purpose of Suffering, and History and Free Will. Heralded as one of the most important novels... Read War and Peace Summary

Originally published in 1980, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, is a semiautobiographical novel by American author and lecturer Dan Millman. The book is Millman’s first novel and part of the Peaceful Warrior Saga, a series of four novels about personal development and spirituality. The text is based on the author’s early life as a college student in California, with a narrative that blends reality with fiction. The storyline follows a... Read Way of the Peaceful Warrior Summary

The book opens with Berger’s take on Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Berger therefore establishes the Marxist bent of his work, particularly as he parses out the manner in which the ruling class, and a class of scholars which essentially do its bidding, attach an artificial and untruthful aura to original artworks. They do this as a bid to maintain their oppressive and morally-wrong socioeconomic status... Read Ways Of Seeing Summary

We Can Remember It for You Wholesale is a short story by renowned sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, first published in April 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. The story is about a man named Douglas Quail, who visits a medical facility which promises to implant fake memories about visiting Mars in his head. The story has twice been adapted into film, though both movie adaptations change the title to Total Recall... Read We Can Remember It for You Wholesale Summary

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Written by Rabbi Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a contemplation on the death of his son due to a degenerative disease, progeria. As a devout man, Kushner’s first response was to ask, 'Why? Why did God permit such suffering?' The book documents Kushner’s grappling with this question, the doubts and fears it triggered, and offers others afflicted by grief comfort and solace. It proposes that while God desires to ease... Read When Bad Things Happen to Good People Summary

When Breath Becomes Air is a memoir by Paul Kalanithi. It was published in 2016. Kalanithi tells the story of his battle with cancer while being a practicing neurosurgeon. The book is organized chronologically, following the trajectory of his life from childhood to death, and is laced with deep philosophical thought and literary prose. His meditations combine the expertise of a professional with the experience of a patient, resulting in a book that communicates extremely... Read When Breath Becomes Air Summary

When Nietzsche Wept is a 1992 novel written by Stanford University Professor of Psychology Irvin D. Yalom. Set in Vienna in 1882, the novel imagines a working relationship between the famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the eminent physician Josef Breuer. Breuer believes that Nietzsche’s physical ailments have psychological causes, and he embarks on his newly invented “talking cure”—effectively a precursor to talk therapy and psychoanalysis. Eventually, through an agreement between the two men, it... Read When Nietzsche Wept Summary