Disco Elysium, Mystery Fiction, and the Point of it All

its disco


I’m of the belief that mysteries shouldn’t have too many rules. As cliché as it is for the butler to have done it, I don’t want to experience mysteries where I can immediately rule out to butler because it’d be too obvious.

Hell, more butlers should do it just to shake things up. Maybe Jeeves is tired of being surrounded by incompetent bastards and bashes a couple of heads in with a chair leg.

Anyway, I prefer my mysteries to be a bit wild. Unpredictable. Sensible, when it gets to the end and all is revealed, but crazy enough that I couldn’t just rule out solutions just because they’re tropes.

And then there’s Disco Elysium.

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Colorful Desires and Colorless Culture – Seto Dharti 10 Years Later

[Originally posted in Nepali Sansar]

Seto Dharti, one of the most important books in modern literature, turns 10 this year. The book follows the story of a child widow as she goes through many hardships in her life. Tara was born on the date of the 1934 earthquake. This was one of the worst earthquakes in the country’s history. Gandhi claimed it was providential retribution for India’s failure to eradicate untouchability. Continue reading “Colorful Desires and Colorless Culture – Seto Dharti 10 Years Later” →

The Heroes That We Needed – Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Review

Unless you’re living under a rock (which I hope you’re not, wouldn’t be comfortable), you’ve heard of the Demon Slayer series. Adapted from the manga of the same name, the series has been the new glorious thing to come out of Japan. It had been popular enough on its own, but the Mugen Train movie seems to have helped it reach a new high.

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Best Books in the New Adult Genre

The New Adult is a new-ish literary category that has been in the vocabulary for roughly a decade. It is considered to be a level up from the Young Adult genre and includes themes that are usually too mature for that genre. It also features protagonists who are past high-school age and is usually based in colleges and universities though that’s not required.

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Animes That Are Good for Your Soul

1. Barakamon

Synopsis: Calligrapher Seishuu Handa punches a judge of an art exposition who calls his work mediocre. His father then “exiles” him from Tokyo to a remote village, and hilarious antics ensue.

In a new environment, Handa works on his calligraphy and does some growing up with the help of eccentric and loveable locals of the island, including the loveable village rascal Naru.  As the anime progresses, Handa learns to be less uptight and works to find his unique voice as a calligrapher.

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Mental Illness is the Twist! A Review of The Last House on the Needless Street

Spoilers Ahead

The Last House on the Needless Street is a horror book written by Catriona Ward that follows Ted, a suspect in a missing child case from 11 years ago and is told through multiple points of view including one from Ted’s cat Olivia. 

The book has been highly praised by numerous high profile authors including Joane Harris, Joe Hill, and the King of horror himself, Stephen King.  King had even gone on to state that he hadn’t read anything this exciting since Gone Girl. 

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Defending Holden Caulfield

I know, I know… the book does not need to be defended. It’s still one of the most popular and relevant books but I guess I’m just tired of seeing posts like this on Reddit every other fucking week. Literature, like any art form, is subjective and people might like it or dislike it for any reason they want to but most criticisms I’ve seen online of Catcher in the Rye feel superficial for some reason.

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