Tag Archives: death

José Eduardo Agualusa, “The Book of Chameleons”

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Jose Eduardo Agualusa’s novel, “The Book of Chameleons,” is an imaginative novel that explores the themes of identity and memory through the lens of a gecko living in the house of Felix Ventura. The gecko undergoes life with feelings and thoughts adjacent to those of humans, capable of processing human behaviours and interactions. This made sense as it was later revealed that the gecko was a man “in an earlier life (pg. 29)” whose “soul has been trapped in this body [of a gecko] (pg. 40).” There are many interesting characters in this story and the narration was engaging and straightforward, without the philosophical and abstract writing from previous readings. 

 

Felix Ventura was the owner of the house and he established a close friendship with the gecko whom he named Eulalio (not sure if this was his true name in his past life). He was very creative and imaginative, saying that “Literature is the only chance for a true liar to attain any sort of social acceptance (pg. 68).” This quote intrigued me and got me reflecting on the values that I was taught. Society often declares that “honesty is the best policy,” so is there ever a time when lying is justified? Is it only when words are typed out on pages of fictional novels that it’s acceptable to spin tales from our minds? Another quote from Felix that stood out to me was “I think what I do is really an advanced kind of literature… I create plots, I invent characters, but rather than keeping them trapped in a book I give them life, launching them out into reality (pg. 68).” This confirmed my hypothesis that Felix was in the business of selling false identities and creating artificial memories to his customer; the most prominent one being Jose Buchmann, who became so immersed in his new identity that it appeared that “this man has been Jose Buchmann all his life (pg. 59).” Jose’s dedication and faith he put into his new identity was alarming and frightening, he listened intently to Felix’s fabricated story of his past life while asking detailed questions to reinvent himself. 

 

Another interesting aspect of this story was the gecko’s capability to enter into the human character’s dreams. At first, I thought that he could only enter Felix’s dream as they lived under the same roof and shared a connection because they were “best friends (pg. 179),” but he was in Jose’s dream as well. What’s even more fascinating is that the gecko took on a human form in these dreams: “In the dream he had human form, a serious sort of man, with a face that seemed familiar to me (pg. 69).” Was this human form the man he was in his former lifetime? 

 

Discussion Question(s):

One of the main themes of this novel is identity, do you think that identity is fixed or ever-changing? Why do you think someone may ask Felix to change their identity? Under what circumstances would you consider changing your identity?

Clarice Lispector, “The Hour of the Star”

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Clarice Lispector’s novel, “The Hour of the Star,” tells the story of a poor and uneducated “northeastern girl” in a raw and haunting style of writing. In the beginning, I was quite confused about what the story was about as there wasn’t really a plotline, it was more just following the thoughts and emotions of the narrator as he told the story from his perspective. I was also confused about the narrator’s relationship to the protagonist, it seems like she’s just a figment of his imagination or a story that he conjured up himself, but he conveyed the literature in such detail. In addition, I thought it interesting how Lispector decided to write a story through the narration of a man telling a story of a young woman. Although I first found the writing to be intriguing because of the abstract descriptions and thought-provoking sentences, soon it grew tiresome and I found myself wishing for the narrator to be more simple and direct. However, the story picks back up with the introduction of Olimpico, a northeastern boy with a huge ego and superiority complex.

The protagonist’s, or “northeastern girl,” name wasn’t revealed until later in the book, which was interesting because the narrator said that he didn’t “even know the girl’s name (pg. 10)” when he was introducing the character. The girl’s name was Macabea, she was a young, impoverished, and very naive girl who lived in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. What perplexes me the most about this character is her oblivion to the misery of her situation and how she drifts around like a shell of a person because “she was used to forgetting about herself (pg. 41)”. Her ignorance and innocence are emphasized through several events and exchanges in the novel, like with Olimpico, the doctor, and the fortune teller. She was incapable of picking up the distaste and mistreatment Olimpico directed toward her, it was almost like she struggled to comprehend complex thoughts and emotions; “Thinking was so hard, she didn’t know know how you were supposed to think (pg. 45)”. 

Macabea’s naivety was puzzling but also saddening. She was an orphan living in poverty which limited her access to education. I think that this significantly contributes to her present personality as she never had the chance to develop critical thinking skills or attain basic geographic, cultural, and social knowledge. Her story demonstrates how systemic poverty will continue to keep people economically disadvantaged and socially marginalized without the proper education and supporting environment. 

Discussion Question: 

How does Macabéa’s ignorance and innocence shape her identity throughout the novel? What do you think contributed to her naivety? Was it her upbringing, society, gender norms, or others? How do you think her personality isolated her from the world around her?