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diff --git a/public/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html b/public/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index 3ceaa7e..0000000 --- a/public/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,94 +0,0 @@ -<head><script src="/livereload.js?mindelay=10&v=2&port=1313&path=livereload" data-no-instant defer></script> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/images/favicon-32x32.png"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/images/favicon-16x16.png"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css" /> - <script async type="text/javascript" src="js/code.js"> </script> -</head> - -<div class="container"> - <ul id="bar"> - - <li> - <a href="/">go back</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - - <li> - <a href="mailto:mati.rewa@gmail.com">mati.rewa@gmail.com</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://git.denounce.ai/">git.denounce.ai</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://ohmyghost.nl">ohmyghost.nl</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://atlarge-research.com/mkwiatkowski/">research</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="/books">book blog</a> - </li> -</ul> - - -</div> -</div> -<div class="container"> - <h2>All the Lovers in the Night</h2> - <p><em>All the Lovers in the Night</em> is a book about a young, shy proofreader in her thirties. -Fuyuko Irie, who is an introverted shut-in, rarely interacts with other people and keeps things quiet and to herself. -As far as she can remember, all she ever did was work, get back home, somehow pass the hours before sleeping and go to work the next day. -A solitary existence, void of contact with other people. -This changes when a friend of hers, Kyoko, encourages her to quit her job and start working freelance. -Soon afterwards she meets Hijari, her contact person for new proofreading requests, and Mitsutsuko, a man in his fifties, with whom she starts to slowly overcome her anxieties and barriers.</p> -<p>As with the previous reviews, there are only a handful of themes I would like to mainly focus on in the book, the first one being the bravery of Fuyuko. -She lives in Tokyo, is 34 years old and unmarried. -She has no children. -Due to this, the Japanese society, women in particular, look down upon her. -According to everyone, by this point in adult life she should be happily married, have a hard-working husband and cheerful kids. -At work everyone talks behind her back and make jokes about her: -<em>A few of my coworkers even used a secret language that they thought I didn’t understand to talk about me right in front of me, making jokes at my expense.</em> -I can’t imagine how it must have felt for her to come everyday to work, and be openly shamed upon by her colleagues. -Nevertheless, she is brave enough to quit her job when Kyoko suggests freelance work might be a good option for her. -Another example of Fuyuko’s true bravery is her last meeting with Mitsutsuko. -Over the course of meeting him several times, Fuyuko falls header over heels for him. -They go out for dinner, which she meticulously prepares for. -Afterwards, when everything goes well and they are about to part ways to go back home, she decides to tell him that she loves him. -<em>Mitsutsuka, I love you, I’m in love with you. -The words came spilling from my heart, far stronger than they had ever sounded at home […]</em> -All things considered, try to imagine yourself spending the last 14 years almost completely alone in your work or at home and then suddenly having the courage to confess to someone how you feel about them. -I certainly wouldn’t have this kind of resolve to break through anxiety of the moment and the possibility of rejection from the other person. -For this very theme, I think <em>All the Lovers in the Night</em> is a great story about how it’s never too late to try to overcome your own weaknesses and faults.</p> -<p>Secondly, I must admit I enjoyed the ending of the book. -After the confession Fuyuko asks Mitsutsuko to spend her birthday together by taking a walk at night in Tokyo, to which Mitsutsuko agrees. -Many readers probably would anticipate their meeting, however we soon unfortunately learn that on the night of Fuyuko’s birthday, Mitsutsuko never comes to visit her. -They lose all contact, and it only happens after several months later he reaches out with a dull letter to apologize. -Nevertheless, this does not let Fuyuko down. -She moves on with her life, and fast forward a couple of years celebrates with Hijari another birthday. -To me, it’s a symbol that life moves on, and the events we once would assign great value and maybe write a book about, fade in time to be forgotten. -From a perspective, all the problems we had as a young kids seem now trivial. -I think the ending of the book is exactly in the same tone. -Whatever happens, life goes forward.</p> -<p>Overall I liked the book, however I must admit that it seemed like one of those novels where the ideas and beliefs of the author are mostly expressed through the monologues of the characters themselves, which I found a bit simplistic. -Mieko Kawakami is a good writer, which I can surely recommend, however I don’t think I will be reading another book of hers.</p> - -</div> -<footer style="vertical-align: bottom;"> - <div style="display: block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> - <center> - - © Copyright 2024-2025 Mateusz J. Kwiatkowski. All Rights Reserved. - - </center> - </div> -</footer> -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/public/books/coders-at-work/index.html b/public/books/coders-at-work/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index 87383f6..0000000 --- a/public/books/coders-at-work/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,72 +0,0 @@ -<head><script src="/livereload.js?mindelay=10&v=2&port=1313&path=livereload" data-no-instant defer></script> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/images/favicon-32x32.png"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/images/favicon-16x16.png"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css" /> - <script async type="text/javascript" src="js/code.js"> </script> -</head> - -<div class="container"> - <ul id="bar"> - - <li> - <a href="/">go back</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - - <li> - <a href="mailto:mati.rewa@gmail.com">mati.rewa@gmail.com</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://git.denounce.ai/">git.denounce.ai</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://ohmyghost.nl">ohmyghost.nl</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://atlarge-research.com/mkwiatkowski/">research</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="/books">book blog</a> - </li> -</ul> - - -</div> -</div> -<div class="container"> - <h2>Coders at Work</h2> - <p><img src="/images/coders-at-work.jpg#floatright" alt="coders-at-work"></p> -<p>Coders at Work is a book written by Peter Seibel, a programmer who decided to interview some of the most influential coders in the Computer Science field. -I think this book is a must read for anyone who wants to gain an in-depth view of what prompted the best programmers in the world to start tinkering with computers and code.</p> -<p>To be frank each chapter read of this book has motivated me to immediately stop anything that I was doing and just get to coding, so it is definitely a good motivator to get into the Computer Science field. -Additionally, sometimes to new programmers it might be challenging and overwhelming to get to realize how much there is to learn and how advanced the people at the top are. -There is no doubt whatsoever that each person interviewed in this book is a world-renown coder, a master of their craft. -Nevertheless the interview format and the sometimes informal responses show that in the end they also started just like us from scratch, sometimes late in life. -Because of this, I think the message of the book is that anyone can program, regardless of when they start or what background they are from.</p> -<p>In this review I would like to write a short paragraph about each chapter and summarize what I think are the most important takeaways.</p> -<p>Joshua Bloch is a Chief Java architect at Google. -One of the interesting things that he mentions is that in his opinion there are two books any programmer should read, one of them being <em>The Elements of Style</em>, which is a book that I have known for a while. -It is definitely a recommended read for anyone writing prose, as it contains some of the most important rules which should guide the writer towards writing clearly. -On the topic of picking the right things to read and learn, Joshua Bloch says of programming languages: <em>It’s like choosing a bar. You want to go to a bar that servers good drinks, but that’s not the most important thing. -It’s who hangs out there and what they talk about.</em></p> - -</div> -<footer style="vertical-align: bottom;"> - <div style="display: block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> - <center> - - © Copyright 2024-2025 Mateusz J. Kwiatkowski. All Rights Reserved. - - </center> - </div> -</footer> -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/public/books/index.html b/public/books/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index 1011405..0000000 --- a/public/books/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,107 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html lang=en-us> - <head><script src="/livereload.js?mindelay=10&v=2&port=1313&path=livereload" data-no-instant defer></script> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/images/favicon-32x32.png"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/images/favicon-16x16.png"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css" /> - <script async type="text/javascript" src="js/code.js"> </script> -</head> - - <header> - <div class="container"> - <div class="avatar"> - <img width="65px" height="65px" src="/images/logo.jpg" alt="my logo"> - <h1 style="vertical-align: bottom;">mjkw</h1> - </div> - <ul id="bar"> - - <li> - <a href="/">go back</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - - <li> - <a href="mailto:mati.rewa@gmail.com">mati.rewa@gmail.com</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://git.denounce.ai/">git.denounce.ai</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://ohmyghost.nl">ohmyghost.nl</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://atlarge-research.com/mkwiatkowski/">research</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="/books">book blog</a> - </li> -</ul> - - - </div> - </header> - -<div style="display: block;"> - <div class="container"> - <h2>Recent posts</h2> - <div class="content-wrapper"> - - - - <ul class="content-list"> - - - - <li> - <span class="date">2025/11/07</span> - <a href="/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/">The Island of Missing Trees</a> - </li> - - <li> - <span class="date">2025/09/28</span> - <a href="/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/">All the Lovers in the Night</a> - </li> - - <li> - <span class="date">2025/09/03</span> - <a href="/books/coders-at-work/">Coders at Work</a> - </li> - - <li> - <span class="date">2025/08/19</span> - <a href="/books/lolita/">Lolita</a> - </li> - - <li> - <span class="date">2025/07/27</span> - <a href="/books/klara-and-the-sun/">Klara and the Sun</a> - </li> - - <li> - <span class="date">2025/07/25</span> - <a href="/books/list-of-books/">List of Books</a> - </li> - - </ul> - </div> - </div> -</div> -<footer style="vertical-align: bottom;"> - <div style="display: block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> - <center> - - © Copyright 2024-2025 Mateusz J. Kwiatkowski. All Rights Reserved. - - </center> - </div> -</footer> -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/public/books/index.xml b/public/books/index.xml deleted file mode 100644 index c7d78e1..0000000 --- a/public/books/index.xml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,54 +0,0 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?> -<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> - <channel> - <title>mjkw</title> - <link>http://localhost:1313/books/</link> - <description>Recent content on mjkw</description> - <generator>Hugo</generator> - <language>en-us</language> - <lastBuildDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:05:35 +0100</lastBuildDate> - <atom:link href="http://localhost:1313/books/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> - <item> - <title>The Island of Missing Trees</title> - <link>http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/</link> - <pubDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:05:35 +0100</pubDate> - <guid>http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/</guid> - <description><p><em>The Island of Missing Trees</em> is a fiction novel written by Elif Shafak with action set mostly in London and Cyprus and taking course over several decades between 1970s and 2010s.
It is a book full of surprises and historical insights into that period of time, specifically the Greek-Turkish conflict over the Cyprus island.
The main premise of the book, in my opinion, sends a message about how the actions we take in life echo across generations, and what might seem unimportant to us now can be defining in the future of others.
Two main characters - Kostas and Dephne - are from different parts of the island.
Kostas is Greek while Dephne is Turkish.
Both are deeply in love with each other during their teens, however arising conflict and tensions have a tragic impact on their relationship and families, which is what the book is mainly about.</p></description> - </item> - <item> - <title>All the Lovers in the Night</title> - <link>http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/</link> - <pubDate>Sun, 28 Sep 2025 16:40:54 +0200</pubDate> - <guid>http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/</guid> - <description><p><em>All the Lovers in the Night</em> is a book about a young, shy proofreader in her thirties.
Fuyuko Irie, who is an introverted shut-in, rarely interacts with other people and keeps things quiet and to herself.
As far as she can remember, all she ever did was work, get back home, somehow pass the hours before sleeping and go to work the next day.
A solitary existence, void of contact with other people.
This changes when a friend of hers, Kyoko, encourages her to quit her job and start working freelance.
Soon afterwards she meets Hijari, her contact person for new proofreading requests, and Mitsutsuko, a man in his fifties, with whom she starts to slowly overcome her anxieties and barriers.</p></description> - </item> - <item> - <title>Coders at Work</title> - <link>http://localhost:1313/books/coders-at-work/</link> - <pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 18:28:08 +0200</pubDate> - <guid>http://localhost:1313/books/coders-at-work/</guid> - <description><p><img src="http://localhost:1313/images/coders-at-work.jpg#floatright" alt="coders-at-work"></p>
<p>Coders at Work is a book written by Peter Seibel, a programmer who decided to interview some of the most influential coders in the Computer Science field.
I think this book is a must read for anyone who wants to gain an in-depth view of what prompted the best programmers in the world to start tinkering with computers and code.</p>
<p>To be frank each chapter read of this book has motivated me to immediately stop anything that I was doing and just get to coding, so it is definitely a good motivator to get into the Computer Science field.
Additionally, sometimes to new programmers it might be challenging and overwhelming to get to realize how much there is to learn and how advanced the people at the top are.
There is no doubt whatsoever that each person interviewed in this book is a world-renown coder, a master of their craft.
Nevertheless the interview format and the sometimes informal responses show that in the end they also started just like us from scratch, sometimes late in life.
Because of this, I think the message of the book is that anyone can program, regardless of when they start or what background they are from.</p></description> - </item> - <item> - <title>Lolita</title> - <link>http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/</link> - <pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:11:46 +0200</pubDate> - <guid>http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/</guid> - <description><p>Lolita is a very special book due to the sensitive subjects which it touches upon.
Masterfully written, it talks about taboo topics such as relationship abuse and obsession, and includes themes of murder, rape and pedophilia.
It has been widely regarded as a literary classic and masterpiece and included in some of the most prestigious book rankings in the world <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita">(see here)</a>.
A colleague of mine told me that she could have not read on until the end, due to the books narrative.
After getting into a discussion with her, I have decided to give the book a try.</p></description> - </item> - <item> - <title>Klara and the Sun</title> - <link>http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/</link> - <pubDate>Sun, 27 Jul 2025 10:49:23 +0200</pubDate> - <guid>http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/</guid> - <description><p><em>Klara and the Sun</em> is a novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Set in a far dystopian future, it tells a story about the relationship between Josie, a home schooled, genetically modified child and Klara, an artificial friend (AF) and companion to Josie.
It&rsquo;s a remarkable tale that tries to answer some of the most important questions we often ask ourselves:
<em>What makes us human?</em>, <em>What does it mean to be human?</em>
We encounter multiple themes throughout the book, but there are two which I would like to write about.</p></description> - </item> - <item> - <title>List of Books</title> - <link>http://localhost:1313/books/list-of-books/</link> - <pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2025 12:14:25 +0200</pubDate> - <guid>http://localhost:1313/books/list-of-books/</guid> - <description><p>This is a list of my favorite books.</p>
<ul>
<li>Daniel Keyes <em>Flowers for Algernon</em></li>
<li>Philip K. Dick <em>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</em></li>
<li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/klara-and-the-sun/">Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Klara and the Sun</em></a></li>
<li>John Steinbeck <em>The Grapes of Wrath</em></li>
<li>Harper Lee <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em></li>
<li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/">Mieko Kawakami <em>All the Lovers in the Night</em></a></li>
<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>An Artist of the Floating World</em></li>
<li>Khaled Hosseini <em>The Kite Runner</em></li>
<li>Victor Hugo <em>The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</em></li>
<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Never Let Me Go</em></li>
<li>Umberto Eco <em>The Name of the Rose</em></li>
<li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/">Elif Shafak <em>The Island of Missing Trees</em></a></li>
<li>George Orwell <em>Animal Farm</em></li>
<li>Hermann Hesse <em>Siddhartha</em></li>
<li><a href="http://localhost:1313/books/lolita/">Vladimir Nabokov <em>Lolita</em></a></li>
<li>Paulo Coelho <em>The Alchemist</em></li>
<li>Carlos Ruiz Zafon <em>The Shadow of the Wind</em></li>
<li>William Wharton <em>Dad</em></li>
<li>Albert Camus <em>The Plague</em></li>
<li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li>
<li>Fyodor Dostoevsky <em>Crime and Punishment</em></li>
<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>A Pale View of Hills</em></li>
<li>Albert Camus <em>The Stranger</em></li>
<li>George Orwell <em>1984</em></li>
<li>Ian McEwan <em>Atonement</em></li>
<li>Gregory David Roberts <em>Shantaram</em></li>
<li>Khaled Hosseini <em>A Thousand Splendid Suns</em></li>
<li>Albert Camus <em>The Fall</em></li>
<li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li>
<li>Nancy Kleinbaum <em>Dead Poets Society</em></li>
<li>Gregory David Roberts <em>In the Shadow of the Mountain</em></li>
<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>When We Were Orphans</em></li>
<li>John Steinbeck <em>The Pearl</em></li>
<li>Richard Powers <em>Bewilderment</em></li>
<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>The Remains of the Day</em></li>
<li>Aldous Huxley <em>Brave New World</em></li>
<li>John Steinbeck <em>Of Mice and Men</em></li>
<li>Oscar Wilde <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em></li>
<li>Nikolai Gogol <em>Dead Souls</em></li>
</ul></description> - </item> - </channel> -</rss> diff --git a/public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html b/public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index 8b10f88..0000000 --- a/public/books/klara-and-the-sun/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,92 +0,0 @@ -<head><script src="/livereload.js?mindelay=10&v=2&port=1313&path=livereload" data-no-instant defer></script> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/images/favicon-32x32.png"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/images/favicon-16x16.png"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css" /> - <script async type="text/javascript" src="js/code.js"> </script> -</head> - -<div class="container"> - <ul id="bar"> - - <li> - <a href="/">go back</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - - <li> - <a href="mailto:mati.rewa@gmail.com">mati.rewa@gmail.com</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://git.denounce.ai/">git.denounce.ai</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://ohmyghost.nl">ohmyghost.nl</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://atlarge-research.com/mkwiatkowski/">research</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="/books">book blog</a> - </li> -</ul> - - -</div> -</div> -<div class="container"> - <h2>Klara and the Sun</h2> - <p><em>Klara and the Sun</em> is a novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. -Set in a far dystopian future, it tells a story about the relationship between Josie, a home schooled, genetically modified child and Klara, an artificial friend (AF) and companion to Josie. -It’s a remarkable tale that tries to answer some of the most important questions we often ask ourselves: -<em>What makes us human?</em>, <em>What does it mean to be human?</em> -We encounter multiple themes throughout the book, but there are two which I would like to write about.</p> -<p>The book starts with Klara standing in the middle of the store where AF’s are sold. -She is an android-like product designed to provide company to real human children, and the narrator of the book. -Curious, observant, and intelligent, Klara tries to learn as much as she can about the world around her: -<em>Unlike most AFs, unlike Rosa, I’d always longed to see more of the outside – and to see it in all its detail.</em></p> -<p>Josie is a pale and thin girl, fourteen years old and very intelligent. -In the future, most children are home schooled and genetically modified to be smarter. -However, this sometimes comes at the cost of their health - Josie is suffering from an unknown illness, which could be fatal. -In the store she specifically picks Klara to be her personal AF. -<em>Know what? Your friend will make a perfect friend for someone out there. But yesterday, we were driving by and I saw you, and I thought that’s her, the AF I’ve been looking for!</em></p> -<p>Once Klara finally moves in to live with Josie, we learn that not everyone in the household appreciates Klara’s presence. -Melania, the housekeeper, is opposing from the start, and treats Klara with suspicion and hostility: -<em>[…] but then Melania Housekeeper came between us, and before I was fully aware, had taken Josie’s arm, tucking it under her own</em>. -Moreover, Josie’s best friend Rick doesn’t like Klara either. <em>‘Rick, this is Klara.’ Rick went on concentrating on his remote and didn’t look my way.‘You said you’d never get an AF,’ he said.</em> -However, with time Klara becomes a part of the family. -Rick sympathizes with her during the party at Josie’s house, and Melania entrusts her with taking care of Josie during the trip to the city. -Although an artificial being, Klara soon becomes as important as Josie herself. -This made me wonder: <em>How easily do we allow technology to enter our daily lives?</em> -I really liked this part of the book, because it relates a lot to my work field. -Computer systems are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and I think it is worth to stop and think how much online systems take from our daily lives.</p> -<p>Klara relies on the energy from the Sun to function - being in the light re-charges her batteries. -As a result, she treats the Sun like a deity, and believes it nourishes and takes care of everyone around her. -<em>I could understand that for all his kindness, the Sun was very busy; that there were many people besides Josie who required his attention.</em> -This is a recurring theme throughout the book, with Klara’s unwavering faith displayed through her brave actions to help Josie get better. -However, this gives rise to the questions: <em>What does it mean for an android to believe in a god?</em>, <em>Can an artificial robot believe in a god in the first place?</em> -Towards the end of the book we learn Klara’s true purpose - to replace Josie in an event of her death. -Mr. Capaldi, who is preparing an android body resembling Josie, argues that since there is no soul, Klara not only can replace Josie, but she can fully <em>become</em> her. -I particularly like the contrast between Klara’s faith in the Sun’s nourishment and the agnostic approach of Mr. Capaldi. -It’s a paradox which makes the reader question the nature of faith itself.</p> -<p>Overall, I really liked the book, and I hope Kazuo Ishiguro will continue to write novels as great as <em>Klara and the Sun</em>.</p> - -</div> -<footer style="vertical-align: bottom;"> - <div style="display: block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> - <center> - - © Copyright 2024-2025 Mateusz J. Kwiatkowski. All Rights Reserved. - - </center> - </div> -</footer> -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/public/books/list-of-books/index.html b/public/books/list-of-books/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index 7f4535a..0000000 --- a/public/books/list-of-books/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,100 +0,0 @@ -<head><script src="/livereload.js?mindelay=10&v=2&port=1313&path=livereload" data-no-instant defer></script> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/images/favicon-32x32.png"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/images/favicon-16x16.png"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css" /> - <script async type="text/javascript" src="js/code.js"> </script> -</head> - -<div class="container"> - <ul id="bar"> - - <li> - <a href="/">go back</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - - <li> - <a href="mailto:mati.rewa@gmail.com">mati.rewa@gmail.com</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://git.denounce.ai/">git.denounce.ai</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://ohmyghost.nl">ohmyghost.nl</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://atlarge-research.com/mkwiatkowski/">research</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="/books">book blog</a> - </li> -</ul> - - -</div> -</div> -<div class="container"> - <h2>List of Books</h2> - <p>This is a list of my favorite books.</p> -<ul> -<li>Daniel Keyes <em>Flowers for Algernon</em></li> -<li>Philip K. Dick <em>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</em></li> -<li><a href="/books/klara-and-the-sun/">Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Klara and the Sun</em></a></li> -<li>John Steinbeck <em>The Grapes of Wrath</em></li> -<li>Harper Lee <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em></li> -<li><a href="/books/all-the-lovers-in-the-night/">Mieko Kawakami <em>All the Lovers in the Night</em></a></li> -<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>An Artist of the Floating World</em></li> -<li>Khaled Hosseini <em>The Kite Runner</em></li> -<li>Victor Hugo <em>The Hunchback of Notre-Dame</em></li> -<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>Never Let Me Go</em></li> -<li>Umberto Eco <em>The Name of the Rose</em></li> -<li><a href="/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/">Elif Shafak <em>The Island of Missing Trees</em></a></li> -<li>George Orwell <em>Animal Farm</em></li> -<li>Hermann Hesse <em>Siddhartha</em></li> -<li><a href="/books/lolita/">Vladimir Nabokov <em>Lolita</em></a></li> -<li>Paulo Coelho <em>The Alchemist</em></li> -<li>Carlos Ruiz Zafon <em>The Shadow of the Wind</em></li> -<li>William Wharton <em>Dad</em></li> -<li>Albert Camus <em>The Plague</em></li> -<li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li> -<li>Fyodor Dostoevsky <em>Crime and Punishment</em></li> -<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>A Pale View of Hills</em></li> -<li>Albert Camus <em>The Stranger</em></li> -<li>George Orwell <em>1984</em></li> -<li>Ian McEwan <em>Atonement</em></li> -<li>Gregory David Roberts <em>Shantaram</em></li> -<li>Khaled Hosseini <em>A Thousand Splendid Suns</em></li> -<li>Albert Camus <em>The Fall</em></li> -<li>Anthony Doerr <em>All the Light We Cannot See</em></li> -<li>Nancy Kleinbaum <em>Dead Poets Society</em></li> -<li>Gregory David Roberts <em>In the Shadow of the Mountain</em></li> -<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>When We Were Orphans</em></li> -<li>John Steinbeck <em>The Pearl</em></li> -<li>Richard Powers <em>Bewilderment</em></li> -<li>Kazuo Ishiguro <em>The Remains of the Day</em></li> -<li>Aldous Huxley <em>Brave New World</em></li> -<li>John Steinbeck <em>Of Mice and Men</em></li> -<li>Oscar Wilde <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em></li> -<li>Nikolai Gogol <em>Dead Souls</em></li> -</ul> - -</div> -<footer style="vertical-align: bottom;"> - <div style="display: block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> - <center> - - © Copyright 2024-2025 Mateusz J. Kwiatkowski. All Rights Reserved. - - </center> - </div> -</footer> -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/public/books/lolita/index.html b/public/books/lolita/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index 100c119..0000000 --- a/public/books/lolita/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,92 +0,0 @@ -<head><script src="/livereload.js?mindelay=10&v=2&port=1313&path=livereload" data-no-instant defer></script> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/images/favicon-32x32.png"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/images/favicon-16x16.png"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css" /> - <script async type="text/javascript" src="js/code.js"> </script> -</head> - -<div class="container"> - <ul id="bar"> - - <li> - <a href="/">go back</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - - <li> - <a href="mailto:mati.rewa@gmail.com">mati.rewa@gmail.com</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://git.denounce.ai/">git.denounce.ai</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://ohmyghost.nl">ohmyghost.nl</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://atlarge-research.com/mkwiatkowski/">research</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="/books">book blog</a> - </li> -</ul> - - -</div> -</div> -<div class="container"> - <h2>Lolita</h2> - <p>Lolita is a very special book due to the sensitive subjects which it touches upon. -Masterfully written, it talks about taboo topics such as relationship abuse and obsession, and includes themes of murder, rape and pedophilia. -It has been widely regarded as a literary classic and masterpiece and included in some of the most prestigious book rankings in the world <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita">(see here)</a>. -A colleague of mine told me that she could have not read on until the end, due to the books narrative. -After getting into a discussion with her, I have decided to give the book a try.</p> -<p>The book is narrated by Humbert Humbert, a forty year old man from Europe who emigrated to America before the outbreak of World War II. -He teaches French literature and at the start of the novel is writing a series of academic books. -Once he travels in to Ramsdale, the small, countryside town, he meets Dolores Haze, the titular <em>Lolita</em>. -At this point in the book the reader’s image of Humbert is clear - he is obsessed with a certain type of girl, usually around 12 years of age, due to an unfulfilled childhood relationship with Annabel in France: <em>In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, a certain initial girl-child</em>. -Knowing very well the intentions of Humbert towards Dolores, readers are driven to worry about her from the first steps he makes when deciding to move into the old Ramsdale home.</p> -<p>Dolores at the start of the book is around 12 years of age. -She is an energetic young girl, by all means typical for her age. -She dislikes studying, is oftentimes moody and rebellious against her mother. -<em>Charlotte Haze […] underlined the following epithets, ten out of forty, under “Your Child’s -Personality”: aggressive, boisterous, critical, distrustful, impatient, irritable, inquisitive, listless</em>. -To the readers eyes, she is just a girl in primary school. -To Humbert, she is the lost love of his life and becomes the primary object of his obsession. -The rest of the book describes in detail their relationship and how it evolves over the course of 5 years.</p> -<p>While there are many themes in the book that many literary critics like to focus on, I want to point out some remarks that make the book an important read to me. -Throughout the story Humbert oftentimes tries to convince the reader that his actions are justified. -He tries to make a point that his abuse towards Dolores is not wrong. -Moreover, he lets it take him over, and his obsession with the nymphet takes over his life. -Living together with Dolores’s mum in Ramsdale, he has everything going for him - a stable house, a loving wife, friends and work. -Nevertheless he forsakes all this in pursuit of his sexual fantasies and desires. -Dolores becomes the only thing that matters for him, and what frightens me the most is that a man could let go of so many years of his life for something so unattainable and forbidden. -Even when his newly wed wife dies, his stoic manner shows the reader how little does he think of his life outside of his obsession. -Overly protective of Dolores when she enrolls to a school at Beardsley, he is blind to the fact that with his every breath he is focused only and only on the object of his admiration. -While this may not be obvious to the reader at first glance, I think this is one of the things that caught my attention while reading. -Rather than seeking help, Humbert knowingly chooses to hurt others.</p> -<p>After reading the first few pages of the book I realized how well written it is. -Although the topic of the book is the abuse of a child by a grown man, it is written in such a way that we get to know Humbert and his personality really well. -Full of witty comments, funny observations and word games, you can forget while reading that the main theme of the book is so dark. -This truly shows how good of a writer Vladimir Nabokov is. -Besides recommending the book to others, I know for a fact that I will continue to read his works, and I cannot wait to read <em>The Pale Fire</em> next.</p> - -</div> -<footer style="vertical-align: bottom;"> - <div style="display: block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> - <center> - - © Copyright 2024-2025 Mateusz J. 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All Rights Reserved. - - </center> - </div> -</footer> -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/public/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html b/public/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index a2439d6..0000000 --- a/public/books/the-island-of-missing-trees/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,85 +0,0 @@ -<head><script src="/livereload.js?mindelay=10&v=2&port=1313&path=livereload" data-no-instant defer></script> - <meta charset="utf-8"> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/images/favicon-32x32.png"> - <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/images/favicon-16x16.png"> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/fonts.css" /> - <script async type="text/javascript" src="js/code.js"> </script> -</head> - -<div class="container"> - <ul id="bar"> - - <li> - <a href="/">go back</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - - <li> - <a href="mailto:mati.rewa@gmail.com">mati.rewa@gmail.com</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://git.denounce.ai/">git.denounce.ai</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://ohmyghost.nl">ohmyghost.nl</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="https://atlarge-research.com/mkwiatkowski/">research</a> - </li> - <li>|</li> - <li> - <a href="/books">book blog</a> - </li> -</ul> - - -</div> -</div> -<div class="container"> - <h2>The Island of Missing Trees</h2> - <p><em>The Island of Missing Trees</em> is a fiction novel written by Elif Shafak with action set mostly in London and Cyprus and taking course over several decades between 1970s and 2010s. -It is a book full of surprises and historical insights into that period of time, specifically the Greek-Turkish conflict over the Cyprus island. -The main premise of the book, in my opinion, sends a message about how the actions we take in life echo across generations, and what might seem unimportant to us now can be defining in the future of others. -Two main characters - Kostas and Dephne - are from different parts of the island. -Kostas is Greek while Dephne is Turkish. -Both are deeply in love with each other during their teens, however arising conflict and tensions have a tragic impact on their relationship and families, which is what the book is mainly about.</p> -<p>The theme that stands out to me the most is the relationship between Kostas and his daughter - Ada. -Given that the novel is written as a set of flashbacks, the reader often travels between the past and 2010s. -Ada has been born long after Kostas has settled in England, which is what the “present” part of the book is about. -After Ada’s mother - Dephne - succumbs to alcoholism, Kostas has to take care of Ada alone. -Not to mention the difficulty of such a task itself, on top of this Kostas has to cope with the recent loss of the love of his life. -I cannot place myself in a setting like this - from one side, the terrifying grief of missing your second half, and from the other the feeling that you are not making a good enough job as a lone father - I think this would just be too much for me. -Nevertheless, Kostas does the best he can. -Even if he sometimes does not succeed in doing so, we can clearly see he cares about Ada deeply e.g., when he rushes to her school to talk to the principal after Ada’s incident in class. -As another example, Ada often mentions that her father distances herself away from her in order to give her space when she needs it to. -This again shows, that even though Kostas might not be the best in parent-child interaction, he can also tell when his daughter needs breathing space. -If you think about it, it is really brave of Kostas to do so. -I can imagine that in such a tragic scenario the one thing you would like most to do is to be as close as possible to your relatives. -Yet Ada’s a bit different - she does not want Kostas to be constantly inquiring about her school life and homework. -Kostas seems to understand it - and even though I believe that at that time what he would like to do most is to be with his daughter, he realizes he needs to take a step back. -Taking that step is something I would most surely consider as brave and worth exemplifying.</p> -<p>Nevertheless, although this theme is the one that stood out the most to me, I did not like the book in particular. -While the author does a great job trying to show the different cultural aspects of the story, and through metaphors tries to teach us valuable life lessons, I dislike this style of writing altogether. -The book is devoid of realistic scenarios, and is full of grandiose moments and action points that very rarely happen in real life. -The theme of the fig tree, while interesting itself seems completely destroyed by the plot twist at the end of the book - it makes the book seem more like an optimistic tale with a happy ending rather than a truthful portrayal of the dim tragedy of death. -It is not the plot twist that should make us believe Dephne lives on - it is when Meryem is reminded of the similarities between Dephne and Ada that we should be happy that a part of her lives among the family. -Generally, I do not think I would recommend this book - it is a nice read, but lacks the seriousness with which the tragic stories that it describes should be treated.</p> - -</div> -<footer style="vertical-align: bottom;"> - <div style="display: block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> - <center> - - © Copyright 2024-2025 Mateusz J. 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