Lost Children Archive (part 2)

“Tday I wll owaz lov you mre than yustrday.”

Dang it Jon. Why did you have to pick this book to be the last one?

Wow. Alright where do I begin? I have so many emotions in me right now and I’m not sure if this is the right place to be pouring out all of it but hey, it’s the last one so I might as well.

I’ll start with the book. I can definitely say that this is my favorite out of all the books that we read this semester. I think it’s because I connected with it personally, not just because of the car rides that I was reminded of but also because of the relationship boy and girl have with each other. I’m sorry but here’s another life story that I’m going to share about. But it’s the last one so bear with me!

When I was reading the words up above by Memphis, I felt the urge to cry and I told my older sister about it right away (the one that I wanted to strangle haha). To give some context, my sister was in a fatal car accident last summer. I don’t know why but for some reason reading through the pages of the part of the book narrated by boy made me think of the time when I checked my phone notifications at work. When I opened them, I saw a flood of messages saying that my sister got into a car accident. I had a hard time dealing with school last semester because of it and upon reading the book, I wanted to go to my room and cry, but for some reason I just kept reading.

I know I should probably be focusing on the analysis aspect of this novel in this blog but I guess we have tomorrow’s class for that. I liked how the boy mentions how Memphis did not know how to read yet. It’s so funny because as much as I have mentioned that I hate reading, my sister is the exact opposite.

I thought the story would get better as I reached the end of the book (I mean other than the part where their parents found them again)—Manuela’s daughters passed away, their parents ended up not staying together and even they had to be separated. I guess these are things I’m just going to have to unbox in tomorrow’s class.

As I flip through the pages of this book, I am amazed as to how a rectangular compilation of words can invoke such emotions. I am reminded once again of the power of words. I’m hoping to read this book again (yes) in my spare time.

I switched from Math to Spanish because I thought the ability to speak another language helps open more doors to communicate with more people I wouldn’t be able to otherwise. This class taught me so much more, and it’s ironic because it’s taught in English.

Thank you Jon for going out of your way to get me a copy of this book. Thank you for an unforgettable last Spanish class. Thank you for pushing me to read all these books this semester and making me realize that reading can also be beautiful. Thank you for teaching me more about people.

And last but not the least, I would like to say thank you to you, my SPAN 322 class. You’ve all taught me so much and I will always remember this class of 9. It was an honor and a joy to have spent the few final months of my undergrad career with you all. This is not goodbye. I’m hoping to see all of you again in the future! (and tomorrow) ????

2 thoughts on “Lost Children Archive (part 2)

  1. pamela salome chavez calapaqui

    Hi Rachael!
    This is my last comment (It is so sad). I am also very grateful to have shared this last term with you, and our other classmates for this course. This is also my last term, and hopefully I will graduate. So, it was really a pleasure to have closed this term with beautiful readings, a very nice class and a Literature course.

    I have to admit that most of the time I felt behind all of you guys about the things we discussed and in the analysis of the books. I don’t know very much about literature. But, I wanted to take an elective class that would help me to be happy and less stressed during this term. Thanks to you, this class was very helpful for me to feel like I am at home.

    It is so sad to say goodbye! And, in relation to Luiselli’s book, it is here where I found that the resolution of the book is sad, since the 2 siblings have to say goodbye.

    Take care!
    And good luck in everything !!

    -Pamela

    Reply
  2. Jon

    Rachel, this post made me very happy! Perhaps above all (but not only), I am so glad that I may have helped you to “realize that reading can also be beautiful.” 🙂 Thank you so much for all your contributions to this class, not least the ways in which you have often tied your reading to quite personal stories and experiences, that you have been able to tell us about, in a way that may not always have been easy.

    I also love the quotation you begin this post with: “Tday I wll owaz lov you mre than yustrday.” I have to admit I passed over it when I read the book, so you drove me back to the book to try to track it down. (I did, in the end, yay!) So this is a very concrete example of how you helped *me* to read better than I would have done otherwise, to see things that I wouldn’t have seen or thought about otherwise. Thank you!

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