Monthly Archives: March 2024

Chameleons? No its a gecko, actually it is GEICO “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on fever dreams and car insurance” (not sponsored)

Posted on by under Blog, José Eduardo Agualusa

This week’s book made me feel like dropping to my knees and praising the sun in the sky. I actually ENJOYED the novel; who could have thought!! However, let’s not get it twisted, I was sometimes still confused throughout the story. You’d think our main character would be a chameleon, right? Wrong, he is a gecko! 

This is not the most incoherent aspect of the book (especially after watching the lecture). Still, it definitely left me expectant to see if Félix would transform into a chameleon physically rather than metaphorically. Instead, we saw him falling into an existentialistic spiral, repeatedly considering events to be a mere dream (which blurred the line for me to see what was tangible and what was in his mind as well). 

Perhaps this was a trauma response, both creating dreams to make things more digestible and tolerable or to eventually forget. That being said, dreams are usually fleeting, and either Félix truly feels sad about missing the chameleon—Eulalio—or he is frightened of the action of regressing memories and challenges this through his diary. Maybe I am looking too forward into this and applying my Psychology major to inconsequential moments…

Anyhow, José Eduardo Agualusa’s novel conjured a whirlwind of emotions, from awe at the writing style to baffling laughs at the plot points, confusion about whether I’m dreaming as well, and borderline existentialism about how life moves forward and whether I am just a chameleon too…

Clearly, this book made me feel a myriad of emotions. Some may find this annoying and bothersome, but this is what I seek in a book! A text littered with unique and complex tools — both in sentiments and plot points. This feeling is similar to one of the first lines in the story: “I don’t believe it—are you laughing? The creature’s amazement annoyed me. I was afraid, but I didn’t move, not a muscle.” 

It may be odd, but this line lingered in my mind, maybe because the first page is impressionable or because you can connect more meaning to it (at least in my experience). With Agualusa’s novel, it left me perplexed left and right, yet I could not put the text down — like my muscle was cramping or if I was frozen, standing in front of a scorpion (but not meeting death, thankfully, unlike Elualio RIP POOR BABY). Despite the atypical storytelling, it was rich in characters, literary devices, and entertainment! It definitely would be hard to find a book talking about the complexity of human behaviour and nature in this type of manner!

My question to you: Could you see a connection to repressed memories and dreams? Do you think Félix could be acting this way out of a trauma response? Or am I being batshit crazy 🙁

Can we please stop giving gay couples tragic endings ~ Money to Burn

Posted on by under Blog, Ricardo Piglia

Seemingly, each time I open a book for this class, I think, “This one will be better than the last!” And each time, I am severely wrong and confused. It is a talent, the way our books keep growing in their unhinged behaviour and storytelling. This may be because I read If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler prior to this week, or maybe because these authors are breaking my stereotypical and confined standards on novels. What is more frustrating is that I can never truly hate the books. They are encapturing in their own unique, messed-up way, and I can only put the book down if I know how it ends.  

This week’s Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia was preciously like that. It was so chaotic, hard to read and decipher at times, and crude. I kept thinking to myself, am I high? Is the writer high writing this? Is cocaine really a drug worthwhile? Which character is high right now? And literally, who isn’t high at this point? I literally had a dream about buying a massive cartoon-sized bag of cocaine to sell in between the days of reading this. It was wild.

(My fever dream of being in the mafia with them)

Evidently, this is not what kept me interested in the story. Notably, the action-packed writing, character-building, and unique relationships were intriguing enough to push through to the end (even if it did seem like I was reading a fanfiction on AO3 at times…). Albeit, most of the were DEFINITELY flawed…I always think it is interesting when characters are not perfect and completely moral individuals. It highlights the dark side of humanity, that unfortunately always lives on even if we, as readers, do not want to admit it. 

Empathy is a large part of this because we can see bits of ourselves in characters, but once they make a mistake, and it snowballs into something worse and worse, we do not want to imagine that for ourselves. It might be a stretch to have this mindset, especially with the context of this book (drug, sex, MURDER), but little things like Fontán singing or the apparent love between Gaucho and The Kid can spark our conflict of empathy.

Especially the scene when the kid was dying, and Gaucho held him and called him sweetheart; it truly broke my heart. Even if that endearment was followed up from the question of killing a cop. 

“Then the Kid raised himself up ever so slightly, leaning on one elbow, and murmured something into his ear which no one could hear, a few words of love, no doubt, uttered under his breath or perhaps left unuttered, but sensed by the Gaucho who kissed the Kid as he departed.”

(STOMP ON MY HEART MORE, WHY DON’T YOU? CAN WE PLEASE STOP KILLING GAY COUPLES IN FICTION)

Backtracking on humanity, it truly shocked me that the act of burning all the money was the main enticement of anger. A dozen individuals were killed, yet we hold those lives below literal pieces of paper. It is a literal system made by humans; those papers would not mean anything otherwise. But lives? They have been the constant, not money. It shows how money can make us lack empathy as well; being blindsided to gain capital, a sense of power or a quick fix of happiness.

Questions: Did you find yourself conflicted about empathizing with the characters? Could you see yourself in any of them?   

Held at Gun Point to finish this book(s?) ~ If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

Posted on by under Blog, Italo Calvino

As I am seated here at my desk, I do not entirely know how to collect my thoughts to discuss this novel eloquently. Initially, when deciding on books for my contract, Calvino caught my eye because I had heard one of his previous stories. Of course, it was batshit insane (sorry for my language), but it was cohesive enough to be both memorable and enjoyable. However, with this text, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, it felt more of a hassle and a building annoyance than anything. When Professor Beasley-Murray warned us a week ago about the absurdity and complexity of this text, I did not take it too close to heart. Truly, our professor was not understating how Italo Calvino would provoke and challenge our expectations. 

(Here is the story that made me pick Calvino, watch it if you’d like!)

If I could turn back time, I would tell myself to pick the other available story to save myself from the grey hairs this has caused. Of course, I cannot be like “I” and seemingly “make clocks run backwards” if I focus hard enough or even forcibly rotate the hands back around (literally the only moment in the book that made me laugh; that woman was NOT having any of it from this man). Calvino made me feel consistently irritated and confused. If this was his intention, he completely succeeded! It was not as if his writing itself was horrible; there were quite a few moments when I was encaptured by it. Calvino had a way of writing descriptions that made me so absorbed and eager for more. Nevertheless, the 4th wall breaks were a central part of the book, so these moments were scarce and far apart.

With all honesty, it was not the cliffhangers that made me feel annoyed or bothered entirely. More so, I felt as if I could not fit the targeted audience Calvino was aiming for. The text required close attention and analysis, which was almost impossible for me to give. There was obviously a more significant message than just presented at the surface; it was wholly a literature book, albeit non-traditional. A kind where scholars can gather around and offer theories or political anecdotes. After watching the lecture video, this further cemented the feeling of my inaccuracy. I wanted to be able to find the more profound meaning of his text, but it made me feel so confused and irritated.

As a reader, I am not one who always has this intention. Instead of true meanings, I seek an escape, something enjoyable, a text that would bring a particular emotion depending on my mood. In turn, a novel where that assumes my feelings or even body position did not sit right with me. I did not wish to straighten my legs out when the narrator demanded or marry Ludmillia at the end. At the same time, I felt terrible for my feelings. Especially when recalling, “When I think that the interplanetary expectation of these young people will be disappointed, I feel a certain sorrow.” Even if this was not directly targeted at the readers, I took it as such.

Questions: Did you have any contradictory feelings about this novel? Was it both enjoyable and frustrating for you? Or did you completely loathe it? How did your reaction make you feel? (Please answer in the thoughts section below!)

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