Jonathan Xu – Jonathan Literature Corner

Thoughts on all the thoughts so far

It’s crazy to think that this semester is almost over and that I’ve basically read a book for almost every week of this year so far. I have to admit that I didn’t join this class for any great or noble reason like some others, rather it was a suggestion from a friend that it would be a good experience and more importantly a good grade. However, I knew it would be challenging for me to read so much given that I had dropped reading years ago, and I typically found it boring or too complicated.

After signing the contract I told myself to keep an open mind and maybe on a small off-chance I would like to read again, like I did in elementary school. I remember after the first week and after reading Combray that I was not very optimistic for the rest of the year. Even now I think it’s my least favorite of the books in this course, just because of its complex style of narration and minimal direction or true purpose of the plot (in my opinion). The weeks that followed however there were many books I enjoyed very much, especially The Hour of the Star, which I felt had the right balance of quirkiness and serious commentary. The blogs often left me with a pretty severe writing block at first, but it became smoother as the course went on, and something that let me pause and think about the life I just lived through the narrator. Commenting was another thing I didn’t really see the point in, as I thought it was just forced class engagement like most classes require. Over time I realized that people in this class have very profound thoughts and other times were just funny or very very passionate. Picking a blog to comment on became sort of like a lottery of sorts, maybe I would stumble upon a great blog or one that just hated on a character a lot. I liked getting to comment and relate to other people and it also made me want to write better blogs as to not be worse than everyone else.

I think in many ways I appreciate reading a lot more after this course and it’s something more than something I have to do for school. This course was challenging but it also made me encounter ideas like death, identity, and sexual desire when I otherwise wouldn’t. Overall I think the things I didn’t like about this class or I thought were tedious turned out to be really meaningful to me, and I would definitely say that this class was worth the time and effort it requires. 5/5

Thoughts on Faces in the Crowd

I hoped that this weeks book would follow the general trend of the books leading up to it, that it would be more modern and thus easier to grasp. There’s also another way I could look at it, that each book was getting “easier” because I was getting better at reading. I think this weeks book has broken those thoughts into a tiny tiny pieces. The levels of meta fiction with Owen and the woman throughout 2 points of her life serves to be confusing to me, obviously because the books reads like separate streams of consciousness or like someone with adhd/schizophrenia trying to tell a story or stories.

Watching the lecture and reflecting more on the book actually served to make things more confusing for me as I realized that these streams of fiction (or nonfiction idk which is right) are more connected than I thought. The fact that she wore a red jacket and thought she thought she saw him on the subway has me a pretty shocked as it was a detail I sort of glossed over. Now that I look back at it, there are a lot of connections that bridge the different stories in this book. Not only are the different streams interwoven, they also make it unclear what parts of the book are real, as in nonfictional or autobiographical and which are fiction. I definitely had a hard time determining exactly what was what.

Initially I was frustrated with the book, thinking that it wasn’t for me, something too convoluted and tried to do too much. I think now that I’m done trying to get through the novel, I can appreciate it more for a piece of art much like music or painting. This book serves to challenge what I view as storytelling and the very rules that govern what makes a story and how a stream of thought should be constructed. I think that it is fitting that this would be one of the last books as in many ways it was similar to the first of which we read, Swann’s Way. However I get quite a different reaction to this one than the previous book, I think that might be due to a different perspective that this course have given me! 3.5/5

For this weeks blog question: if you could choose a writer that sort of reflects your life or you as a person, who would you choose?

Thoughts on The Book of Chameleons

Throughout this course, I’ve noticed a pattern in some books that the authors like to add a little sliver of fiction within their stories, but still have them very much rooted in the real world. In this book, we obviously have a talking gecko or lizard who can go into dreams, but also the idea of reincarnation. In other books, we see elements like people observing from the afterlife (The Shrouded Woman) or observing from a narrator’s perspective (The Hour of the Star) and this week we get observation from a lizard who was actually Jorge Luis Borges, a famous writer reincarnated. Perhaps that is what it takes for us to grasp death and see life from a different perspective, that we can only imagine what happens after, as no one can truly give an account from a dead man’s perspective.

I feel that this book does offer an interesting idea of what the past means and what defines one’s identity. For someone like José Bachmann or the client that Felix gives a new past to, he becomes obsessed and determined to even begins to try to convince himself to become José Bachmann. They say that people are made up of the sum of their experiences, and I think while this does hold, I think it becomes easier and easier as you get older to make some things that didn’t really happen into one of your experiences. If you think back as far as you can go to your young childhood, without the help of pictures or videos, how much can you really remember? Furthermore how do you know that these things really happened, think about any childhood videos you have seen and how much of them you remember doing, because typically when I watch one I don’t remember anything from back then. When I do think about past events from my life I now wonder how they make me who I am, as I’m not sure how much of ME is actually based on me scoring my first soccer goal for example.

Overall I think this book is very well written with a unique premise I haven’t quite seen before (Felix the post-wartime past rewriter), and I think many of the characters bring intrigue without having to go to great lengths into their backstory or all of their small details such as their favorite drink or snack (As books like The Hour of the Star do). 3.7/5

For this week’s question, what animal would you want to be reincarnated into after you die?

Thoughts on Money to Burn

Last week I remember including in my blog that as the books got more modern, they were getting easier to understand. I think I have to take back that statement for this week’s book. Although the actual language used in the book is more like the action/adventure novels I used to binge, the jumps in time and the narration style does offer to be confusing at times, often requiring a double back.

Although none of the main characters exactly make it out “well” or make it out at all in the story, this work still served to differ from the depressing tone and lives of the books we’ve read in past weeks. I got a sense of adventure, and I could feel the pressure of being on the run. Each main character had something they were dealing with, whether that be drug abuse or mental health issues. With the use of drugs and the cops nearing the desperados towards the end of the book, you can tell as a reader how these characters devolve and change knowing that their lives may end soon. This impacts the way they interact with each other and it is interesting to see inside the minds of criminals, people who can murder without thought.

After doing some light research on the actual events that the book is based upon, I wonder how many of the events were present and which were embellished by Ricardo Piglia. The robbery occurred in 1965 while the book was published in 2003, so many of the actual details could be lost to time. The author has also been sued three times for the depictions of certain people in this book, however without much success. But I am especially curious about the dynamics between characters, of course between the twins Dorda and Brignone, who were definitely real people but I’m not sure if the level of “more than friendsness” of their relationship is exclusive to the book or not. It’s interesting to me that Piglia includes elements of homosexuality in a time that I believe people did not accept it, referring to both the time of the events in the book and the time it was actually written. I feel that perhaps this inclusion could give the sense of sexual perversion, that these people are criminals of all calibers.

For this week’s question, if you could commit a crime but if you do then no one in the world can commit it anymore, what crime would that be?

Thoughts on The Lover

I am grateful for the fact that as we read these books throughout the year, the time each is written in is getting more and more modern, and thus I feel like the language used is almost easier for me to understand as well. However what strikes me is the material of much of the literature that we do read, perhaps it is by chance, but why do so many of the works include weird sexual themes and perverse elements?

I realize that for many of the books in this course like The Lover, the story is written as a semi-autobiographical piece and that these events did probably occur. Are people who experience events like these driven by something to write about them? The translator of this book states that the relationship with the older man gave the author something to write about, to fulfill her dream as a writer. Maybe these events highlight the uncomfortable nature of human life, that these elements do exist and through literature, we can learn how they affect us (as a reader and writer). Many of the books we’ve read so far have included sexual themes such as cheating or pedophilia, and I wonder how society has changed regarding these topics, and that my reaction to reading these books could be the same or different than someone reading it at the time it was written.

As mentioned in the lecture it is unclear who is “predating” on whom and the narrator does state a sense of control in her encounters with the older man, but no matter how much she says she’s in control I can’t help but feel that that isn’t the case. Possibly Duras writes this book to put her own power on the events that happened long ago.

I do think that this book was written quite well, with little actual dialogue (the use of “”), it strengthens the feeling that the narrator is recalling her life, and thus the recollection is often disjointed and jumps around time. Like the other books we have read so far, I enjoy reading this style of narration, where it seems like the narrator is a human too and I am simply next to them to hear them tell their story. I feel like the lack of dialogue also emphasizes a sense of silence, that in the bustling city, there is someone who lives often in her own head. 3.5/5

For this week’s question: There is a movie adapted in 1992 for this book, do you think that any of the other books we have read can be made into a critically-acclaimed movie today?

Thoughts on The Hour of the Star

“Sorry but that sounds like a disease, a skin disease.“

Reading this book, I initially felt like it was going to be quite the challenge as the author wrote about how he wanted to write about this Northeastern Brazilian girl, and how he was going to write it simply (he did not). However as I got past the initial part about him talking about himself and using a lot of words I admit I don’t know, the book became quite charming and funny. I was quick to realize why this fictional author was so fascinated with this supposed unappealing, lackluster Northeastern girl. The detailed account of Macabéa’s life is full a little details that I loved reading, and it illustrated how much this fictional author looked down on her impoverished way of life. I loved reading it not because I wanted to laugh at her circumstance like the author at times, but because these elements that he included serve to make her more alive. The encounter with her boss or how she loved to listen to ads on the radio made her so much more real, and I’m not sure how to exactly describe it but this book does an amazing job of capturing the essence of living.

The subject matter of the Rodrigo’s book is quite obviously depressing as Macabéa’s life is full of the struggles of an impoverished girl, but it also goes past that to illustrate the effect of men on the women of that time as well. While in ‘The Time of the Doves’, the author Mercè Rodoreda does well to give the audience perspective on the powerlessness of women in that time, the author here (Clarice Lispector) takes a much different approach. I feel by creating this male persona Rodrigo, learn from the perspective of a man who is constantly observing and narrating Macabéa’s experiences. He even eventually goes to show sympathy towards her as a victim of her abusive partner, saying how he wished he could “cause her to wake up and find simply the great luxury of living.”

Rather than the very descriptive and visual imagery that many authors include in many of the other books that I’ve read in this course, Lispector does not go to the detailed extent that the other authors do, but allows us as the reader to take more of her ideas and build around them with our own imagination. 4.6/5

My question for everyone this week is, why do the life of women in these books have to be so sad? Do you think it’s just the books chosen for us to read or is that the reality of women in these societies?

Thoughts on The Time of the Doves

Growing up I’ve always been exposed to stories or movies of great battles and heroism, and I thought those who fought in wars were so cool to the point I wanted to become an Air Force General when I grew up (that is not the case now). Along with video games where death doesn’t really mean much, the effects of war beyond those fighting in it were never apparent to me. Reading about the experiences that Natalia goes through in the book and seeing her life change due to the war gives me a perspective I have never felt deeply until now.

Reading the book from the eyes of a woman in 1930s Spain along with others from this class, I began to realize the circumstances that women had to endure in this period. There were many instances where Natalia seemed powerless such as her situation with Quimet and one of the few times she seemed to be in control was when she destroyed the doves. Even toward later in the book when she is about to end the suffering of her children, her decision is stifled (for the good).

I felt like the irritation the stirred in me from Natalia’s interactions with her husband in the beginning of the book allows the reader to further sympathize with her position as a wife and mother during the war. The feeling of annoyance soon turned to sympathy and sadness as the book progressed, and I as the reader was able to connect better to her as a human being. This differs from many mediums I have read and the personal connection I felt while reading this book is built from the less depressing but humanizing beginning.

Another thing I really appreciated in this novel was the writing- it seemed a lot more sporadic and sometimes certain sentences would start randomly, or other sentences would be repeated again and again. These authorial choices really shaped the narration of the story to be a lot more insightful into the type of character Natalia was. Overall, this book was really able to connect to me and I think it is one of my favorites of this course so far. I give it a stellar 4.5/5

For this week’s question, why do you think this book has two different titles? (Diamond Square or La Plaza del Diamante vs The Time of the Doves or Pigeon Girl)

Thoughts on Black Shack Alley

Going from Agostino to Black Shack Alley, I think I can appreciate that the latter really allows the reader to experience life as a child should, with elements of innocence and naivety despite the harsh circumstances that surround Jose. Although both books feature a young boy journeying through adolescence, I think I’m able to connect much more given the lack of certain obvious aspects.

In the first part of the book, I especially appreciated the mischievous and adventurous nature of the kids and how it allows the reader to picture what life is like through the eyes of a child compared to their parents or guardians at the plantation. They lived in huts, had little possessions, and the adults were practically slaves, life was hard in Martinique. Despite that, I believe the island would be beautiful if not for the people who distorted its natural beauty of vibrant and diverse greenery with plantations. The behaviours of the kids only proved further how little they knew of the harsh realities that faced their parents, often destroying anything for the fun of it despite everyone having so little already.

What struck me the most about this book was the emphasis on education and its power to change lives drastically. As a semi-autobiographical book, I believe many elements of this book were inspired by the author’s own experiences, especially the way that education can be a double-edged sword. After following his grandmother’s words and going to school, he is met with a whole new world and begins to slowly distance himself from his previous life at the Black Shack Alley. Similarly, Joseph Zobel himself also grew up in Martinique, supported by his grandmother and mother and eventually got a scholarship much like Jose does. We see that Jose’s life is so different from what it once was and he is torn between his familiar childhood and promising future.

In many ways, this book was a personal account of what it was like to grow up in a “post-colonialist, post-slavery” environment. Moreover, the deaths of Mr. Medouze and M’man Tine serve to pull Jose from his protected view of the world and realize the effects of the plantation he grew up on. We see more of the growth of Jose through his refusal to work in the petites bandes as similar work caused the eventual passing of his loved ones. 4.3/5

For this week’s question, did you like this book more than Agostino? Why or why not (is it because there’s no weird stuff in this one)

Thoughts on Agostino

I feel like I am beginning to say this every week, but the authors of these books seem to have an almost sneaky way of illustrating and wrapping their worlds around you to keep you engaged and invested in their stories. I feel like throughout different languages and varying subjects, romance authors have an extraordinary ability to envelop readers in the setting of the novel with such vivid and striking imagery. Even through the mundane, their depiction acts to do their home country a service, and if not for the story you might want to stay just for the visualizations.

Now onto the elephant in the room. This book gave me mixed feelings while I read more and more, but not to prompt me to stop reading altogether, but more a feeling of uncomfortableness (Think of the face you make when you eat something bitter). As a person much older than Agostino, while reading I wanted to spare him somehow of his naive nature and strange circumstances (I can’t do anything about his Freudian tendencies though). It was weird for me to read about a boy who wanted his mom and only had the local gang to educate him, and I felt like the author had to be drawing at least some inspiration from his own life in order to write this book in the detail and with the feelings it had. In a way, it sort of highlighted what the absence of a father figure could mean for a kid, especially in the way that Agostino couldn’t resist the group of other boys, despite the mockery and treatment he took from them. With the novel being short in both text and time period (Spanning less than a summer), I can’t help but wonder what kind of person or “man” Agostino eventually became.

After reading I searched up the book to see what others had to say and found out that there was a movie adapted from the book. It feels strange to me that this book could even become a movie as many paragraphs of imagery can be represented with a second of a picture, and there really is not that much that happens in this book in terms of events. I haven’t watched the movie, but I imagine that it could only be worth watching if the feelings of innocence, jealousy, curiosity, and turmoil were truly expressed as they were in the book. 4/5.

For this week’s question, why do you think this book was included in the list of literature for this class?

Thoughts on A Shrouded Woman

Usually they say that one’s life flashes before their eyes right before they pass on.

I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Ana Maria life through Bombal’s unique storytelling structure. Although Ana has passed and can no longer interact with the world as a living being, A Shrouded Woman is filled with interactions and connections through the her thoughts and recollections as loved ones visit her. This appreciation for life and the people in it can only be expressed as she has passed and now views her own life from an outside perspective, like a ghost. Each section of the book features a new person that impacted Ana’s life, and provides the reader with a new outlook on who Ana was and how she changed over time. It was interesting to read how overtaken she was from her first love, how it swept her with passion and then tortured her with heartbreak. Then later in life she sees that her daughter finds herself in an almost identical circumstance, she knows what that is like and teaches her daughter as someone who has been in her shoes. I typically feel encumbered by the introduction of many characters in quick succession, but I feel that this book’s use of each individual gave new meaning to Ana Maria.

The use of frequent perspective changes between first and third-person allowed me to experience the emotions and feelings of Ana in some moments and then watch her from afar in others. This seemingly chaotic back and forth of narration then experience was like watching a movie that I was in, changing scenes and cutting between frames of different perspective. The book also features a plethora of illustrative and artistic imagery that often fostered a bittersweet feeling in me as a reader.

Although Ana’s life, like many others, is filled with suffering and pain, I was inspired by her thoughts after death and the contentment she was able to find. This work showed to me the beauty in the pain, and I was able to look back on Ana’s life like it was my own. I hope that I can find peace as she did while I am still living, and I think this book has given me a good experience to get started. Last class we talked about the purpose of literature and if they should make people better, I think that this book served that purpose. 4.6/5

If you died and was in a ghost-like state, who do you think would visit you first and why?