Conclusion

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I am a bit surprised that I actually enjoyed this course so much considering that I mostly just took It to fulfill my literature requirement. It was a great opportunity for me to read so many books because if I hadn’t taken this course I honestly probably wouldn’t have read any this term at all. I really appreciate the opportunity to branch out from my usual classes and take a course like this one because its nice to be able to read and talk about books for class.

I’m not sure if I have a favourite book necessarily however I really liked our most recent read “My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante, and surprisingly to me after looking back on what we’ve read I actually think I really enjoyed “Agostino”, but at the time I thought it was too weird. I now appreciate the author’s authentic and honest writing style, and I can now see its more about adolescents and confusion growing up than being weird and attracted to his mother.

Something that I liked about this course was the contract we have for our grades. I thought that it was a unique way to always try and maintain control and be able to know and expect your grade. But I also think that it did make it hard for me to contract for anything low because its hard to say no to a good grade at the start of the year before actually having to do much work. However I do think I is still absolutely reasonable to accomplish even if you contracted high so thats why I really enjoyed this type of grading.

Overall this class was really great and definitely something that I would recommend to others. My question for the class is: What was your favourite part of RMST?

“My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante

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I really enjoyed reading “My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante for this weeks novel. It feels a bit like a nice little break and a good way to end of this class’s reading list with a novel like this one. The writing style was so nice and easy to follow. I found that Elena didn’t bother with as much of the unnecessary and “unique” writing techniques that many of the other authors we have read from did. I think that this added simplicity makes the storyline very clear and lets this become a more enjoyable read where the plot line and characters all seem to have a place and make sense without excessive amounts of reader interpretation which much other novels have done. Even though this novel gives you the information slowly of what happened to Lila, the author does this in a straightforward way where the reader is still understanding what is going on.

I found the relationship/friendship dynamic between Elena and Lila to be quite interesting. First of all they have a large gap and difference in lifestyles. Lila comes from a world of less money and less opportunity however Elena has much more opportunity and support financially. This obviously creates a divide between the two however they are friends despite this difference. I do however think that this difference is what causes their relationship to feel a bit abnormal at times. I often thought that the relationship felt slightly transactional and almost as if they were using each other a bit and things between them were always up or down. However even though the nature of their relationship seemed to (me at least) have transactional and a bit unpredictable or unstable, they still had a deep care and appreciation of one another which makes me believe that their friendship is based off of real connection too.

The competition between the Elena and Lila, is partly what I think makes their relationship so meaningful and deep yet also so toxic and confusing. Clearly they both envy the other meaning that they are inspirations to each other, however they let this go too far and turn into competition which is when the friendship becomes toxic.

My question for the class: How do you think that Elena and Lila’s relationship dynamic,ic would’ve changed if they were to have the same socioeconomic status which would eliminate a lot of the differences and jealousies.

Soldiers of Salamis

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This book was simply just ‘okay’ in my opinion. Not the best but also not the worst. I think that it was written well however I just think that I don’t particularly find much interest in the subject and themes surrounding war. I often find that war books are so depressing and sad which obviously makes sense because war is such a difficult time for a society to go through but that doesn’t mean that I necessarily enjoy spending my time reading about it.

The way the author would only slowly reveal information in the book is an interesting concept. After reading past a certain point in the book it became clear that not only is the reader left out of a bunch of information, but also so is the narrator. Its a very interesting concept to have the reader unravel the plot and basically main story alongside the narrator.

It is mentioned early on in the novel that Maza would tell his story to pretty much any one that would listen. It’s cool to think of the way that Maza would have such a deep appreciation for Javier for spreading his story even after his time. After hearing about Maza and his journey I think that its definitely safe to say that he is someone who places a lot of value on having his story live on and feel like he has some sense of legacy that lives on. This becomes even more special and unique of a situation because this story is based loosely on true events and true people. I think that knowing these people have actually existed at some point in time makes this story so much more meaningful and interesting because its deepens the novels meaning by making it a normal story to being about someones life story.

Although it seems like the highlight of the novel is about Mazas’ story, a big portion of the story is also about Javier’s life and his struggles. At the beginning of the book it is introduced that Javier is very unhappy because of his personal life circumstances and because he had to give up his life as a fictional worker and become a journalist which isn’t something he is very happy about. My question for the class is: What significance did Mazas’ story play in Javiers life? Javier came across Mazas’ story at a bad pace in his life, do you think it helped him get his life together and give him passion for journalism?

Amulet, by Robert Bolano

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This was truly one of the best books not only that I’ve read during this course but just in general. “Amulet” by Robert Bolano is such a moving and inspiring yet painful and horrific story that deeply captivates the emotions of Auxilio Lacouture, a woman who is tragically stuck in a bathroom on the fourth floor of a building. She is stuck in that bathroom for thirteen days without food or proper resources. As she spends her time stuck in this bathroom, she reminisces and looks back on her life. As she is doing this her body is rapidly decaying and she is in a great deal of discomfort and hunger. Robert paints such vivid picture when he describes Auxilio’s current situation, it brings up many emotions because one could only imagine having to try and survive something as awful as this situation. This is taking place during the 1968 invasion of the National autonomous university of Mexico.

Auxilio told her life story with such a caring and unique manner. She made things sound very deep and meaningful and seemed to be able to relate and compare everything to each other. At a few times during the book Auxilio made the comparison of being stuck in the bathroom to what it is like giving birth. She made a few other connections surrounding her new life being stuck in the bathroom stall and the connection to what she thinks it would be like to give birth. I found this concept between the connection of her imagined experience with birth and the experience of being trapped in the washroom very intriguing however a bit confusing especially considering that she doesn’t actually have children of her own.

From my own interpretation I think that the reoccurring theme of Auxilio being reminded of the giving birth plays into the books interesting theme of womanhood or more what a unique experience Auxilio had growing up as a woman who doesn’t necessarily radiate with femininity. An interesting thing to note is that Auxilio was missing some teeth which definitely affected her self image. I think that her missing teeth played a greater role into how she viewed herself as a whole but also how she saw herself as a woman.

My question for the class: Dp you think that Auxilio’s missing teeth played a major part in her life’s journey and the way that things happened or do you think that her missing teeth were insignificant? I ask this because I think that her missing teeth really did start of her self image in a different light, maybe one that felt less feminine which at the time was an even more important aspect of society.

The old Gringo

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Initially when reading this novel I found the words and names to all mix together. The start of the book felt like a bag of random facts and information which made it hard for me to follow along and get invested to. But who knows maybe I was just reading “The Old Gringo” on an off day or something.

Once I got deeper into the book it became more interesting through all of the stories and small details and connections between each of the novels characters. I found the dynamic between Ambrose, Arroyo, and Harriet to be quite interesting and odd. I respect that fact that even though Ambrose clearly had deep feelings for Harriet he understood that he was older and because of his understanding for this he didn’t try to force himself on her like many other men would. Arroyo could easily see however that Ambrose had fallen in love with Harriet and as an act of spite, Arroyo persuaded Harriet to enter a relationship with him. This obviously was difficult for Ambrose to have to witness, especially because everything else around them was so stressful and overwhelming. I truly don’t understand why Harriet would be with Arroyo, maybe she really wanted to be with him or maybe she was just scared to say no. Part of me thinks that Harriet feels that she is in someway protecting Ambrose from Arroyo by her being with him. Harriet has always had a deep need to protect (old man) Ambrose, in fact he is the reason that she decided to join the mission, she felt like she needed to be there for Ambrose.

I respect that even though the Old man doesn’t have much ambition for life, which is made clear when he constantly brings up the fact that he came here to die, he still keeps his morals close to him. When Arroyo ordered Ambrose to shoot a captured soldier, Ambrose couldn’t go through with those orders which is a very honourable sacrifice because he knew that disobeying Arroyo’s orders would most likely lead to his death. Unfortunately when Ambrose tried to disobey his orders this resulted in Arroyo sparking a sexual relationship with Harriet who he knew that Ambrose was deeply in love with.

My question for the class: Do you think that had Harriet disagreed to be with Arroyo that Ambrose would have ended up dead? Or do you think that Arroyo would keep him alive still because he is clearly talented and therefore and asset to the team.

W, or the Memory of Childhood

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Although I thought that this ended up being a great book, I didn’t particularly like the writing style that this book was done in. The double narration sometimes made story details and characters feel blurred together between the two stories that were being told. This made it very hard for me to become interested and follow along at the start of the book. I found myself constantly what details where about his real childhood and what details came from the imaginary island and story about W. That being said… this was still great and deeply nostalgic book.

A common theme throughout the novel was a deep feeling and sense of nostalgia and memory. Many times throughout the book it was admitted that the author isn’t sure about and often times completely forgets gaps and details about his childhood. I find it interesting to see how a persons childhood can be vastly forgotten even though all of those experiences are what helped turn you into the person you are today. Because of Perec’s large gaps in memory it makes me wonder what things we as the reader are missing out on hearing from the story. It also makes me wonder how accurate this story is considering how often Perec questions the details he is trying to recount. I find this to be an interesting concept because if a person doesn’t remember elements of their past or doesn’t remember certain things correctly does that then have the power to change a persons development. Can misremembering your history have an impact on your personality the same way that going through those life experiences gave you your personality in the first place? Perec expresses a sort of comfort and clean slate type of feeling that comes with not having many memories past a certain point. I find it interesting that he would describe not having memories as making him feel this way because for me personally I feel like I would be incomplete and always searching for the missing pieces. However in Perec’s case this makes a bit more sense considering that the trauma and extreme stress that the war and Nazi invasions had caused him as child. Going through something traumatic like that would no doubt make your body want to block out any memory from that time period as a way to heal and move on. My question for the class is: Do you Perec forgetting most of his childhood would reflect on his current development of who he is as a person or not?

 

The Time Of The Doves

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This week I read “the Time of The Doves” by Merce Rodoreda. I found this book to be a great read. Throughout the novel I felt a sense of deep empathy for Natalia the main character. Without her mother around and with an unsupportive father, Natalia was lead/forced into many decisions throughout her life time due to lack of guidance and support around her. I feel deep empathy for her because one can only imagine the way she must feel after being pushed into decisions her whole life rather than feeling capable of making her own decisions and deciding her own interests and journey to happiness.

After the death of her husband Natalia was influenced to believe that due to life circumstances such as the war surrounding her and the fact that she is female she isn’t capable of talking care and providing for her and her family alone. She was persuaded to believe that she needed a man to take care of her and her kids. This leads her to ultimately end up with Quiment even though he is clearly very unreliable and has many issues that only hurt Natalia and her children rather than help them like he was supposed to be able to do. Because Quimet was unstable he often found himself without a stable job meaning that Natalia had to find employment to help make ends meet. Natalia having to choose to be with Quimet instead of Pere is a huge and obvious example of the main issue that Natalia struggles with in life. she has immense difficulty making her own decisions and doing things that she believes will make her happy. Natalia lives her life for her kids rather than living her life for herself, the causes Natalia to miss out on many things and lead her down the wrong path many times.

Natalia had a very hard and challenging life which often caused her to make the wrong choices based off of the way that people made her feel about herself and her abilities. Although Natalia made many mistakes through ought her life, her motive was seemingly always to help the children and her family. Although her life was spent making mistakes she always had the best and most selfless intentions in mind.

My question for the class: do you think Natalias life would’ve been easier/better if she hadn’t chosen to be with Quimet? Or do you think she would’ve experienced such hard times no matter who she chose?

Black Shack Alley

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This definitely wasn’t my favourite book that we’ve read probably do to the constant theme of cruelty and punishment that carries out during the novel. However with that being said I do think that this is a very important read because it further educates its readers about the tough and brutal realities of slavery and racism back in the past. I felt very sorry for the characters in the story because of all the horrible and traumatizing injustices they had to face and at such a young age, and I feel even worse when I consider the fact that this book as written partly on fact by the author. From my understanding this book is semi-autobiographical which after reading instantly brings me empathy towards the author and other characters in the book because they were most likely based on real people. It’s hard to imagine that people can live through such terrible conditions and it is definitely a huge reminder of how privileged I am and how I should deeply appreciate the fact that I have this privilege that unfortunately many people don’t.

I thought that the way the author split the story into 3 main parts really helped to emphasize where the character came from and where he ended up, and all the growth in-between. At the beginning when Jose (the main character) was living on the plantation my heart went out for him. I felt so deeply sad that he had no choice but to put up with the crusty and not only that but he had to witness his loved ones put up with such harsh living conditions and unfair demands. One can only imagine the damage that growing up in such an environment could have on a child and carry on throughput adulthood and life. I was a bit relieved when Jose finally went off to school simply because at least he could start to develop a bit of his own life and get away from the plantation. However he and many people were still treated terribly at school which didn’t make his transition from a plantation to school drastically better. Jose lived an incredibly difficult life and this book beautifully displays it all, the good and the bad.

My question for the class: Do you think that Jose went about things the correct way generally  speaking? Or do you think that there are things that he could’ve done to make his life better and easier earlier on. 

Agostino

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although the content was at times disturbing I thought that this book had a very genuine and honest feel to it.

The way that this story is told feels very nostalgic and reminiscent of childhood. When Agostino is first introduced to the concept of sexual things, his world quickly and drastically derails itself. I found this to be a very accurate depiction of childhood. The way that new information about something can open a new world of possibilities and can also make you second guess everything you know or thought you knew is unbelievably accurate to the entire process and feelings surrounding growing up and discovery. Although I don’t relate to the exact struggle that Agostino is going through, I do deeply relate to the emotions that he is feeling of being confused and feeling deceived by seemingly everything and everyone he knows. Reading about Agostino’s journey on simply figuring things out, constantly made me reflect on my own childhood.

I feel a lot of sympathy for Agostino at pretty much all times throughout the book. I felt that I had to keep reminding myself that its just a book and not real life because the emotions that Agostino felt seemed so real and urgent. It was difficult to just sit there reading instead of being able to help him.

When Agostino was told by the gang about what they thought his mom and the man were doing  on their boat trips and then Agostino simply couldn’t see his mother in the same light that he had previously, I felt very bad for him because it must have been lonely. His mother seemed to be his one true support and safe place in the world up until that day where is perspective became permanently changed. This forces Agostino to not only have to process these new emotions but to have to process them seemingly alone. The author portrays such an emotional part of childhood during this process. Childhood can often feel lonely because even though you are surrounded b support, psychologically you feel like you can’t talk to people about these new things. Often times you even feel like you are the only one in the world going through it.

My question for the class: Even though Agostino was clearly going through a tough time because of his sudden awareness to new information, do you think that he is happy to have found this out? Or do you think that he would’ve preferred to have never known? (obviously he would find out at sometime but try to approach this question from a child’s perspective)

The Shrouded Woman

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I thoroughly enjoyed reading “The Shrouded Woman” by Maria Luisa Bombal. I found that I became interested in the story and plot right away compared to the books that we have previously read in this course. Throughout the entirety of the process of reading the novel I experienced a wide array of emotions. I think I felt so many emotions and was so invested in the novel because I ended up really liking the main character. It’s almost as if I felt connected to Ana Maria on a personal level, almost as if I knew her in real life.

I found that the concept of seeing the world after death is deeply intriguing. Being able to see Ana Maria’s point of view from, in a way, her ghost or spirit really makes me think deeply and reflect on my own life. While reading the shrouded woman I constantly felt myself imaging my own life and circumstances in place of Ana Maria’s. It brought a lot of emotion to me to think about watching the people in my life live on when I wouldn’t be there. A scene in particular that made me think deep was the scene when Ana Maria was at her own wake. She could just invisibly observe her family and friends all mourning her. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that would feel like. A situation like that seems so foreign however it makes me curious because for all we know this could actually be what happens after death.

The relationship between Sofia and Ana Maria also really resonated with me. Ana Maria shares her concern about wondering if she was too quick to dismiss Sofia when their friendship ended.  This made me think about the potential regrets I would have in my own life were it to suddenly end. I think that her situation spreads a great message about regrets and living life to the fullest.

My question for the class… Why do you think that the main character was a woman? Because of the time in history that this was written it seems far more unusual for a whole novel to be about a woman’s life instead of a man’s, so it makes me curious as to why it was that Ana Maria would be a woman rather than a man. Do you think it was chosen randomly or do you think there is a reason, and of so why?