The Black cat and other stories

Author: Edgar Allan Poe.

(Review by Carlos Rojas)

In ‘The black cat and other stories’ we can find the best Edgar Allan Poe’s tales.In each tale,the atmosphere is a very important point to considerer.Gloomy countrysides,sick characters,darkness and things like that,are described by the author.

‘The black cat’,one of Poe’s most famous stories,is a narration about a man,which drinks a lot of alcohol.One night he killed his cat and some months later his dead cat came back to take revenge.

‘The oval portrait’ describe the story about a traveller that arrived at a mountain castle.This traveller found a book,which told him the portrait’s horrible secret.

‘Berenice’ is the story of a strange man’s proposal of marriage to his cousin and her terrible fate at his hand.He is a really mad man.

In ‘The mask of the red death’ another famous story of this author,a prince tried to escape of a horrible epidemic locking the doors of his castle.

There are also a film about this story,in which Vincent Price ( as prince Prospero ) is the main actor.Vincent Price interpreted several films based on Edgar Allan Poe’s tales like:’Pit and the pendulum’,’The raven’,’The Usher house’,etc.

If you like stories about death,horror,mystery,castles,evil,etc,’The black cat and other stories’ is a good book and is highly recommended.

William Wilson

 by Edgar Allan Poe.
(Review by Lucía Rivero Boni)

Wiiliam Wilson is a short story about the rivalry of two boys. Their lives were connected because of some curious coincidences: they have the same name, age and birthday date. They felt from each other a mixture of hate and admiration. But during the years, these feelings got worse:
“His only purpose seemed to be to annoy me and spoil my success. There where times, though, when I could not help noticing that he showed a certain sympathy, perhaps even love, towards me. I did not like this behaviour because I thought it meant that he was sorry for me.”
In this story E.A. Poe showed us how our mind plays tricks on us. The author paid particular attention to psychological issues at the time of writing.  This is an intriguing tale where more than one will feel identified with the plot.

House and Philosophy: Everybody Lies

 (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)
by Henry Jacoby (Author) and William Irwin (Editor)
Review by Marina Alustiza

Each of the chapters of ‘House and Philosophy’, written by a different philosophy expert and then edited by Henry Jacoby, acts as a new whole meaning and explores different aspects and layers of the show while relating them to a philosophical theory; and at the same time gives the readers an insight into the House M.D. characters, and challenges them to think, specially about Gregory House: a brilliant but misanthropic diagnostician  who does not seem to care about other people's feelings; a sociopath who rebels against rules and any form of authority trying to interfere with what he wants to get or do. And although he is a drug addict who abuses his staff, does not see his patients as human beings, insults anyone who disagrees with him and takes pleasure in making others feel as miserable as he does; he saves lives by solving medical mysteries or ‘puzzles’ as any other doctor could do. Highly recommended for the ones who want to think critically about House.

The Kybalion

(review by Verónica Fernández)

“The lips of wisdom are closed,

except for the ears of understanding”

Philosophy is one of the main achievements of humanity. However, part of it has been secretly hidden from the eyes of civilization till very recently. This is the case of the hermetic teachings, root of occultism and esoteric knowledge, which had been created by Hermes Trismegistus in ancient Egypt and only regarded as oral tradition. Based in several principles, the book introduces an alternative perspective about existence. Today, you are able to discover the mystery of Hermetists by reading “The Kybalion”. Get prepared for bringing into a new light your interpretations about the nature of the world and reality!