April 2024 – franny’s room ♡

We did it everyone! We are at the final stretch!

Closing Thoughts

I can’t believe this is my last blog post. After so many emotions, nights staying up reading, and page after page of books I would have never read on my own, I am honestly sad that it’s over. I initially took this class as an elective, so my expectations were not high. However, I am happy to say that this is one of the best classes I’ve taken at UBC.

Not only were the books legitimately interesting and fascinating, but the class environment was always genuine and stimulating. Usually, the mere thought of participation made me dread coming to a class, but I found myself growing more excited to come in and hear what our professor had to say and show.

You know, those scenes in movies where the professor is witty and bantering with a class, making everyone laugh. I always felt that was unrealistic or assumingly forced, but this class proved me wrong. I found myself laughing in person and with our classmate’s blogs. This course was genuinely a very pleasing and fruitful experience, especially seeing how academics do not need to be robotic and expressionless.

I really want to thank Professor Jon Beasley-Murray and all the TAs for their hard work throughout the term. The dedication and love you all have for this class is palpable and inspiring to witness each day. I know you will all continue to do and receive great things in life!

Top Picks!

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The drama! The depth! The relationships! This book was jampacked with so many various themes and details. No wonder HBO made this into a show adaption.

I think the fact that both female characters were NOT portrayed as stereotypically helpless or like manic pixie girls really drew me in. What we read was girlhood throughout a time of adversity and survival of the fittest.

This summer, I am travelling to see my family in Vietnam, and that flight will be LONG and brutal. So, obviously, I have to download the series or read the rest of the books!

Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia

Even though this book was morally fucked up in so many ways, it was SO interesting to read. I was at the edge of my seat and audibly reacting to each page. Mix in a secret/forbidden gay romance? I’m hooked.

Even though this kind of made me spiral, thinking about what morality, proper empathy, and compassion were, I would definitely re-read this and try to find more I missed.

Lesson Learnt

Books are mainly a tool of escape and pleasure for me. That’s why I was hesitant about my ability in class, and this grew as I had a hard time liking our materials.

However, a comment left by Tesi really stuck with me as I moved forward:

“I think that regardless of what we read and whether we agree or not with the behaviours displayed, everything we consume offers a chance to critically analyze ourselves and the world we live in. I hope you are able to at least grow in those reflections!”

Undoubtedly, I was aware of this but I never applied it too well with my reading habits. Every opportunity in life allows us to grow, in turn, I need to do this while I read. These books especially presented different points of history in the world and the vastly unique spectrum of human behaviour and emotion. Through reading, I did truly gain more insight into my beliefs and how the world constantly cycles around me. Hopefully, once this class is done, I can continue to seek books outside of my comfort zone and grow into a stronger and better person each day.

Closing Question

Did the classroom environment help change your perspective on literature too? Did you notice a change in your book preference after reading so many novels in this course?

I cannot believe it, we are at the final book in this class. Congratulations everyone! I hope you enjoyed the blogs I’ve written, along with the books we read together <3

I am happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The subject matter is undoubtedly heavy, but the sense of (twisted) girlhood while trying to go against the “pre-destined” events (and rules) of life was captivating to hear. Notably, unlike previous books, I opted to listen to the audiobook (mainly because of easter weekend), which added to my experience. The translation is not exactly the same; I think it was created into more dialogue than descriptions, unlike the book. However, the story was equally as fascinating!

(Listen to it if you have the chance, it is an awesome listen/read!)

My initial thoughts on this book were optimistic. Based on its name alone, I assumed it would be a somewhat wholesome story of two friends as our main character, Elena, expressed her love for her best friend. Notably, this is not the case. It is unhealthy and ELENA is deemed to be the brilliant friend

The friendship between Elena and Lila is something I would consider borderline toxic, especially if I had that dynamic in my life. The competition was jarring and seemed to be masked under some clever pettiness or comment. Their friendship usually only seemed apparent when they needed each other help, debated about Latin or Greek or any language skills, and when they needed protection. Moreover, they both held resentment for each other, sometimes said directly or interwoven with their comments. Evidently, Elena was envious of Lila’s academic strength and outspoken nature, while Lila was envious of Elena’s opportunities and the sense of “freedom” from them. It was a push and pull between the both of them.

The care they had for each other is shown towards the end of the book, especially in the scene where Elena helps Lila get ready for her wedding, washing her. In the audiobook, Elena describes how beautiful she is, and for the first moment, I can sense no envy in her comments. However, compared to the novel, it’s interesting to see Elena’s swarm of emotions: envy, sexual desire, anger, hostility, sorrow and pity.

“I helped her dry off, dress, put on the wedding dress that I—I, I thought with a mixture of pride and suffering—had chosen for her.” (pg 313)

If anything, this sentence shows the complexity of the emotions they share for each other. As best friends, I cannot condone this kind of friendship to have, as it is rarely supporting and encouraging to each other.

However, I keep thinking back to the statement said in the lecture video:

“Necessity imposes a taste for necessity which implies a form of adaptation to and consequently acceptance of the necessary, a resignation to the inevitable.” (Pierre Bourdieu)

While I do not personally want this friendship, I cannot condemn it too much because I am not experiencing an environment like theirs. They are trapped in a world of poverty, violence, misogyny, and classism. Out of necessity, Lila had to study through Elena’s textbooks, or Elena had to rely on Lila’s demeanour in her inner voice. They are consistently trying to adapt and survive while trying to overcome the set-in-stone customs of their town. Lila does not want to resign to the inevitable clearly, so she seeks Elena’s friendship as a tool. In both ways, they can support each other in their environment despite the apparent toxicity of it.

Questions: How would you define Elena and Lila’s friendship? Do you think it is healthy both in our standards and in the context of their environment?

franny’s room ♡

Monthly Archives: April 2024

So long, farewell, this is my last blog post (╥_╥) ~ Conclusion