JP Schiller: Lit of Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (6 Points)   Now, this is the type of horror/science fiction/alteration of humanity storytelling I'm into! Overall loved this book and it was the first time in a while where (as I listened to the audiobook retelling) I looked up from my seat working to realize that I was unsure how much time has passed and what was going on around me and was instead engrossed in the story. Which was awesome! (Well, aside from my instantaneous panic of thinking I'd listened so long that I'd missed my class when in reality I'd only listened for an hour or two.) I've never forgotten a book that has don't its job so well in transporting me into a different time and space, and I truly hope that I'll never forget this one. To start off, this book was very inventive on how the storytelling didn't always follow a linear pattern and established that this was written in the style of a recollection, rather than a regular narrative that is constantly ...

Uzumaki Vol. 1 & 2  (6 Points)   Well, I'll start by saying that I don't think I'll ever look at snails the same way again. But what an incredibly horrifying read! To preface, I really enjoyed the two volumes overall and was very happy to be so utterly disturbed by graphic novel works. I had previously been recommended the volumes by many friends and colleagues before, but our deep dive into different horror novels gave me enough courage to dive into Ito's evocative works. I have no regrets after reading the series (besides regretting trying to eat during a few chapters) and found it to be a much more suspenseful and haunting read than A Wild Sheep's Chase . There's a ton of things I'd like to touch on, but I'll try to maintain some brevity so whoever is reading this doesn't end up staying all day for it. To start, I want to consider the characters and the town. I felt a huge and obvious difference right off the bat in the sense of cultural tradi...

  A Wild Sheep Chase (6 Points) Haruki Murakami's novel was a very strange reading for me and unlike anything I'd ever read before. Whether that's a good or bad thing is very much up for debate, but I will say I'm glad I read it nonetheless. Truth be told, I'm not sure I was able to glean much satisfaction from reading the book at all and found much of the dialogue and descriptions of the settings and events very hollow and empty. Of course, it also did feel very intentional in terms of the writing, and I understood the book a bit more after our discussion in class.  Concepts such as a "hollow person," the loss of self-identity, and isolation were all very prevalent concepts in this book, and I feel like much of my discomfort with the novel was that it reflected on a fear that is much more realistic and existential than I had ever anticipated from the reading. Not many people like to dwell on the meaning of their lives or realized just how lonely they migh...