Memory – RMST 202

Thoughts on Bolaño’s Amulet

This was the first book I read entirely in one sitting. I was surprised, but how could you not keep on reading when the first line is “This is going to be a horror story”(pg.1) …

The theme of memory is quite present throughout Auxilio’s broken narrative. Her recollections seem very “…fragmentary, as if mauled by an enormous animal”(p101). The way that Auxilio tries to piece together the dates and events of the story reminded me a lot of Perec’s W. “And I had nothing either, except my memories” (pg.44) Perec and Auxilio both seem to be running, from their past life, with not much to their name (just their books of writing). But they both hold tightly onto their memories. I think they are both affected by the trauma they endured and it is evident in both texts. “Memory plays malicious tricks on me when the light of the waning moon creeps into the women’s bathroom like a spider” (p107). Auxilio’s trauma is repeated with the vision of the fourth floor bathroom of the faculty of Philosophy and Literature during the armed takeover of the UNAM, throughout the book which almost felt like an anchor and re centred me as a reader. Whenever she feels heightened emotion such as when she was being followed in the night (pg.66) or was about to follow Arturito and Ernesto into the Clover hotel (pg.91) she reminds herself of her strength by reliving that powerful memory.

I found the way that Bolaño touches on the social/political climate of Mexico in 1968 very accesible and I think even if you don’t have background on the context it’s still very powerful. “…as if they weren’t creatures of flesh and blood but a generation sprung from the open wound of Tlatelolco…”(P.g 77). Here Auxilio is describing the young “children of the sewer” poets that Arturito hangs out with when he comes back from serving in Chile. This touches on the generational trauma of the children of Mexico that have to live with this bloody betrayal by the government. “They were all growing up exposed to the storms of Mexico and the storms of Latin America, which are worse, if anything, because they are more divided and more desperate” (p.g44 )They were raised in this time of chaos and tragedy which provokes Auxilio’s mother instinct to look out for them.

This book has really stuck with me unlike any one we’ve read so far. The beautiful writing created a dreamlike almost hallucinatory quality that was really enticing. Overall I was completely mesmerized with Bolaños work. My question for the class is how did you feel about Auxilio’s “mental trips”? (such as to Remedios Varo’s house) What is the significance of this imaginary narrative? How did it add to the story?

Some quotes that will really stick with me that I just have to include:

“…now there’s another reoccurring and terribly Latin American nightmare: being unable to find your weapon; you know where you put it, but it’s not there” (pg. 67)

“History is like a horror story” (pg.66)

“El pueblo unido jamás será vencido” (pg.75)

“And although the song that I heard was about war, about the heroic deeds of a whole generation of Latin Americans led to sacrifice, I knew that above and beyond all, it was about courage and mirrors, desire and pleasure. And that song is our amulet.” (pg.184)

Thoughts on Perec’s W or The Memory of Childhood

This week while reading “W or The Memory of Childhood” by Georges Perec, I felt as if I was reading someone’s personal diary mixed with some odd dark version of the Olympics. I found it a bit difficult to follow the two narratives (especially with the copious amount of footnotes) but as the book went on, I found myself quite immersed in the two worlds.

Despite the title, the narrator expresses “I have no childhood memories” (pg.6), however the autobiographical part of the book reads as a desperate attempt to salvage and revive them. The memories he has seem to be the only thing left of his identity because he is constantly on the run for safety., “…living another illegal existence, with another fragile alibi, with another fabricated past and another identity?” (pg.11). He doesn’t seem to have much to live for, with all his loved one’s dead, and is more surviving day to day as a ghost. Other than his memories of the past, as readers we don’t know many objective facts about our protagonist.

Unlike in Proust’s “Combray” or Laforet’s “Nada” where objects or places trigger certain memories, Perec seems to go out of his way to explain that physical spaces or objects do not. When reflecting on photographs, he simply describes what is pictured and nothing more. From one of the photos explaining that “of all my missing memories, that is perhaps one I most dearly wish I had” (pg.49). When visiting Rue Vilin where he lived in Paris, he explains that he doesn’t remember which part he lived in, and he hasn’t attempted to go inside any of the dwellings “since I am in any case convinced that it would do nothing to revive my memories” (pg. 48). When I read this, I was doubting the narrator’s intentions of not revisiting the place in which he grew up. Does he really think it would not revive his memories or is he too traumatized to face them? I think trauma is an important aspect of our protagonist’s narrative due to the historical context he’s grown up in and being a low-class Jewish child. I’m not a psychology major but I think that a main trauma response is to just black out those memories. It made me wonder is this what the narrator is experiencing with his so called “lost memories”? Do we trust the accuracy of our narrator despite the trauma that may affect the story? Does it even matter?

Thoughts on Carmen Laforet’s “Nada”

In “Nada” Laforet creates a setting where I felt on edge the entire book. Following the orphan protagonist Andrea through the ruins of war struck Barcelona, she navigates a new hostile family dynamic while eager to study. The narration of the story carried a creepy, paranoid, and overall unsettling feeling of post war trauma.

A theme I found that was carried from previous texts so far has been memory. In “Nada” Andrea’s more positive memories of Barcelona come from her childhood spent there. But when she returns …“Everything felt unfamiliar in my imagination; the narrow, worn mosaic steps, lit by an electric light, found no place in my memory” (page 5). The effects of the war seem to disrupt and alter how she sees the city. Like the madeleine cookie in Proust and the family members in “The Shrouded Woman” memories are also triggered but by aspects of the city. For example, on page 10″of the Barcelona in my memory: this sound of the first streetcars”, the painting of her grandparents bring her back to a more pleasant time where she wasn’t trapped in this toxic, almost suffocating, family. It made me wonder how Andrea’s experience in Barcelona would differ if the effects of the war weren’t as prominent.

Looking at the narration style, I noticed that Andrea was mostly uninvolved in the dialogue and was used to further the development of other characters or the plot rather than express her own feelings. For instance from pages 31-34 while her Grandmother and Gloria are engaging in reliving memories and discussion, Andrea is just being talked at. The effect of this is an overwhelming amount of information being thrown at Andrea who we’ve gathered is quite timid and reserved. I think she serves more as a device to carry the story rather than a typical protagonist.

Although it is fiction, I believe this book serves as a great historical account on the mood of the people in Franco’s Spain. Distraught, paranoid, and unable to trust anyone in fear that they’re working for the other side. But Andrea and her family are a fairly wealthy family with servants and a giant mansion so I wonder how this book would differ with a change in social class. It’s hard to ignore the privilege that Andrea’s family has and how it gives them an advantage in the wreck of the war-torn city. I’m curious if any of you have any thoughts about this question on how the social class of the family effects the story.

Overall I enjoyed this book and i’m looking forward to all of your thoughts!