You ever look at yourself for too long in a mirror and you start wondering about who you are and why you’re here and what is the point in life and why are you even continuing to work at your 9-5 job with minimum wage and why you decided to lie about having money to your Tinder date even though you’re struggling to pay rent?
Yea.
You just went through an existential crisis.
Many people throw that term around, but what is existentialism itself?
To answer that, we have to go back and discuss your essence.
Ew, gross word. But your essence is essentially your defining properties that make you who you are as a person. Plato and Aristotle believed that everything and everyone had an essence. For example, an axe can have a metal or a wood handle, but without the blade, it ceases to be an axe anymore. The blade itself is the essence of the axe, the essential properties that make it what it is. They believed that all of us have our essences instilled into us even before we are born, and then we live the rest of our lives according to that destiny with the qualities that God has given us.
This method of living your life, called essentialism, was widely accepted for centuries, before a philosopher named Søren Kierkegaard started to doubt the idea of God assigning a predetermined essence and destiny. However, he was not an atheist as you might expect, but instead very theistic and individualistic. In his works, he developed the foundation for existentialism, which opposes essentialism, and is the idea that only we can choose our own fates. God can create us, but we imbue our own lives with purpose and value. Though this sounds uplifting, Kierkegaard developed other key concepts of existentialism, including anxiety, absurdity, freedom, despair, and what it is like to live as a genuine human being.
Continue reading "Kierkegaard, Sartre, and Beauvoir: Condensed Existentialism "
I picked up a copy of this from the school library and really enjoyed the great combination of cooking, mystery, and humor. There's a chain of murders of famous chefs and the nasally-gifted teenage chef Neil Flambé must put his nose and cooking experience to the test to outwit the killer and prove his innocence.
As someone who loves cuisine and especially reading about it, this book was such a gift. The killings seem to be related to the historical journey of Marco Polo, and recipes are being stolen from the dead chefs to create the ultimate Mediterranean menu. The peak into the stresses of high-end dining was so fresh and it was entertaining to view the story through the perspective of the egotistical Neil. His fiery red hair and personality lend a lot of intensity and propels the story forwards, as his one track mind and experience with food makes him the perfect detective to solve this mystery.
I loved how creative and magical this story was, especially how this fun twist on neighbourhood witch trope. This book combines two of my favorite things to read about; cooking and magic, as this intensely dysfunctional family is able to weave magic into their baked goods through recipes passed down from generations and their cellar full of magical ingredients. Rosemary, our main character, wants so badly to be a part of the magic her family weaves, but she isn't allowed partake in the process. So, when her mysterious, beautiful, and charming Aunt Lily waltzes into her life when their parents are away curing a different small town of swine flu, she jumps at the chance to take over from her parents and make some magic.
Aunt Lily being set up to become a villain is relatively obvious, and the first book of the series is actually the least compelling one. There's a lot of awkwardness in it that I could see rubbing readers in the wrong way, as Rosemary is deeply insecure about her own abilities and clings to Aunt Lily, who supports her and says what she wants to hear. A large part of the novel is focused on her crush on a local boy as well, and it goes on for longer than it should. I think it's good to have Rosemary be awkward within herself and have these girly crushes, but sometimes it takes away from the plot more than it adds to the character's relatability and development.
The next two stories are much more interesting - she has to partake in an international baking competition to win back the family cookbook from the evil Aunt Lily, who wants to use the recipes maliciously to start her everlasting career, and then she's captured by a snack food company who wants to make the most processed and addictive sweet treats every customer can't stop eating. I recommend you read those two, as the first one isn't really necessary to the storyline and can be considered a prequel. Just being thrown into the second novel is a bit confusing at first, but ultimately provides a much stronger experience. It focuses a lot more on their family dynamic and supporting each other rather than Rosemary just relentlessly comparing herself to them and feeling insecure, like in the first novel. Super whimsical and delicious!
I read this book multiple times over, and it takes a hilarious twist on the classic fairy tales. Each one of the traditional stories from Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel are set in the same continent, and the characters within them are fleshed out and develop their own quirks, preferences, and personalities. The differences between the versions within the novel and the ones in fairy tales is cleverly explained away by saying that the bards, a guild of flashily dressed musical men, often spin what actually happened into songs that don't exactly portray what really occurred.
Cinderella - Prince Frederick is a pampered crybaby and loves Ella, but she is incredibly adventurous and gutsy after being locked up at home doing chores for her entire life. She leaves very soon after living with Frederick for a couple days, as she feels like a prisoner again in a different way.
Rapunzel - Prince Gustav is from a land full of intense monsters and even intenser and burlier people. To create an image in mind, the regular outfit for people there is often armour, furs, and their giant weapons. He has 16 brothers, as his mother had two sets of octuplets and then him alone, and often feels like he needs to prove himself as the youngest brother. Rapunzel is soft and sweet, and uses her healing powers to save him after he gets his eyes clawed out by the witch keeping her in the tower, something which gets reported in the song and Gustav gets made fun of.
Sleeping Beauty - Prince Liam is the most classic Prince Charming, and prides himself solely on his ability to save people. Since a kid, he's been told that he will marry Briar, the princess of the richest province within the continent, and his greedy parents have only wanted him to do that. However, when he finally saves her and wakes her from the witch's spell, he finds out that she is incredibly cruel, spoiled, and greedy from the years spent being the sole heir of the a kingdom set on a seemingly endless connection of gold mines. He breaks off the marriage, much to the distaste of his parents and every citizen in the kingdom, leading him to despair when the people he has worked so hard to save suddenly turn against him on this personal decision he made.
Snow White - Prince Duncan and Snow are both strange characters, which suits them in that way. However, Snow is a quiet and crafty soul, but Duncan often has loud outbursts of song and flights of whimsical fancy that cause her to tell him to take a walk. She slips into a state of peace for a couple of days before realizing he has been gone and immediately flying into a frenzy.
A lot of this novel is about how the princes are all referred to as "Prince Charming", even though they are all different people. Something I really enjoy is how everyone is portrayed with their character flaws. None of the princes or princesses are exempt from this dash of realism, and the character development that the princes are forced to undertake is heartwarming. Each chapter of this story is filled with hilarious and well-landed jokes, along with growth from the brash Gustav, flighty Duncan, witty and wimpy Frederick, and big ego Liam. Please give this series a chance! I swear you won't be let down.
A truly necessary and classic tale, I've read the entire collection of Anne and believe that every girl should look up to her. She has this deep imagination that gets her into trouble, but also allows her to display her interesting personality and overcome obstacles in confidence. She inspires me to use a larger vocabulary and have a passion for life by finding the beauty in everything and everyone around you. Anne makes mistakes, but they're always in earnest and the way she is so passionate and genuine in learning makes up for them. She is bold and brave with an interest in fashion and feminine looks is never displayed as a negative trait, rather a positive and normal interest that most girls have. I wrote about her as my favourite fictional character earlier this year for English class and rereading the novel made me appreciate her vibrant character all the more. It's a healthy amount of hilarious and realistic, with a heavy handed dash of personality that simply makes the novel overflow!
I have always been interested in stories that take place in the past, and this book is an interesting peak into the life of a girl in an older time period. Though not very comparable, I enjoy this series more than Little Women, as Anne undertakes the struggles of family, friends, and longing in a more unique way.