Month: March 2023

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Week 11: Distant Star

This week I chose to dive into “Distant Star” by Roberto Bolaño. I enjoyed this week’s reading as it felt like I was reading some sort of mystery crime novel filled with thrilling scenes. As we’ve all realized throughout the weeks, names have importance, and at first glance I thought the novel would be in a similar realm to “The Hour of The Star” by Clarice Lispector. Sure there was violence in both nooks, but nothing to the extreme of the Distant Star.

I then thought about what the title of the book meant. Since in “The Hour of the Star” we questioned what the title’s literal meaning was, and if Macabéa had her hour of the star moment. In “Distant Star” the narrator remains unnamed and I think the “star” refers to Carlos Weider, the poet and killer to whom the narrator is obsessed with. Although the star is distant, it still is important, and its light still shines and affects the world its in.

Although “Distant Star” was a much easier read for me as compared to some previous books in the course, it still tackled complex themes and problems occuring at the time. It explored the political and cultural climate of the Pinochet regime in Chile, with a focus on how art and literature can be used to fight against oppression.

The structure of the novel wasn’t the easiest to follow in terms of time, since it did jump back and forth between the past and present similar to “100 Years of Solitude,” but I did appreciate the different characters we were able to meet even if they were shortlived and involved in violent murders. One that stuck out to me was the photo of a severed finger just laying on the grey cement (p.89).

After reading the lecture transcript (It’s whisky this week Jon) I too was not satisfied with the ending, like the narrator. Although it allowed for an ambigous ending which is popular to some readers, I found it leaving me wanting more of a definitive ending in reagard to the narrator. I liked the way Jon put it, as “brushing history against the grain will always leave some sense of discomfort, as we realize our inevitable complicity in its ongoing violence” (p.10). Powerful stuff Jon.

My question to you all is: did you enjoy how the story wasn’t exactly linear, but had a narrative structure that jumped between time? (Bonus question: did you find the ending of the novel to be to your liking?)

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Week 10 : I, Rigoberta Menchú

This week’s reading was a bit tougher to digest, not only because it was a longer read than I am used to, but also because of the content involved. Rigoberta Menchú highlights key interactions that Indigenous communities face across the globe, through accounts occurring in her “own” life.

After watching the lecture, I would like to focus on the idea of secrets. What perfect timing to read this testimonio, right after reading “The Hour of the Star” by Clarice Lispector. Through watching Lispector’s eery, yet captivating interview, I can gather similar ideas of “secrets” and how crucial it was for the reader to remain captivated and hooked for the rest of the story. There was something so captivating about Lispector that I can’t fully put my head around it. Maybe it was just how free she spoke her mind, and didn’t care what anyone thought of her. Secrets are important in captivating the audience, and Menchú’s accounts of secrets did leave me wanting more, but I respected the fact that to her, some things are better kept as secrets and that we all need something for ourselves, or for our community of people that no one can take away. However, certain secrets are better told to the public if it can break the silences of injustice that may be occurring. Menchú incorporates these ideas and breaks the silence of the indigenous people in Guatemala. This is beneficial in order to promote change in the world. I do have to say that sometimes the line between whether or not it is worth sharing with the world or keeping it as a secret can be quite blurry, and it can be difficult to draw the line and set up boundaries.

I found Menchús stories to be very touching and even though some of her stories may not have been true ( her brother passing away) I still found it valuable in getting her point across, as this does happen in indigenous communities she is involved in. I did enjoy how Jon described Menchú as using literary games to draw us all in, and through her captivating storytelling, we were all intrigued in hearing her opinions on the silenced indigenous communities. These gruesome and violent scenes painted a picture of what is really going on in our indigenous communities around the world.

My question to you all this week is: Do you think Menchú was in the wrong when she told her “own” stories of the indigenous communities facing oppression and being silenced?

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Clarice Lispector : Hour of the Star

This week’s reading was drastically shorter than 100 Years of Solitude, but it did come with a price. Although it was short, it did take me quite a bit of time to finish the book as it was filled with metaphors and vivid imagery through the eyes of Macacbéa.

I enjoyed the beginning sentence of the book, “all the world began with a yes. One molecule said yes to another molecule and life was born”. I watched the lecture before reading the book so I can appreciate where Clarice wanted to start off from. It does seem tricky to identify where exactly to start the book, so why not start it from the beginning of time!

It took a while for Clarice to start talking about Macabéa but when she did, a recurring theme that I noticed was the prominent social injustice occurring to Macabéa. First off, she has terrible taste, and Olímpico is not what she needs. His values align with the majority of society at the time, and all he wants is to be upper class, which was clear in the choice of his new fling Gloria, who was white and had blond hair. Even though he came from humble beginnings like Macabéa, all he wanted was someone who looked ‘luxurious.’ I guess we all want what we do not have.

Macabéas life was far from extraordinary, but it portrayed a simple life that had its fair share of spectacular sprinkled in.

Throughout the story the narrator’s voice was prominent and at times I wanted to just know what happened next, especially when Macabéa was laying on the floor after being hit by the car and the narrator had the audacity to ask if the story should just end there. Macabéa’s death was sudden, and just like how the world began with a yes, Macabéas life ended with a yes. Macabéa had her hour of the star, although she didn’t get to meet the man of her dreams who was blond and rich. Maybe for good reason, as he could have ended up being just like Olímpico.

My question to you all this week is: did you enjoy having the narrator’s voices and opinions throughout the story? Or would you have rather appreciated a more linear and straightforward story of Macabéa?

*While looking for an online pdf. of the story, I found out that Clarice Lispector died shortly after writing the story, so she had her hour of the star moment.

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100 Years of Solitude: Part 2

Wow, what a read. 100 Years of Solitude was a great novel, one that I am very pleased we got to read in class. The second half of the book wasn’t as great as the first part in my opinion, but that may be due to the fact that reading break is over and I was occupied with other assignments that deterred me away from reading the novel in less sittings. This lead to confusion between who’s who, and that made me less interested in this novel. Having said that, I enjoyed how the themes explored in the first half of the book such as time and memory playing a continuing role in the rest of the book. Macondo was now not what it once was; due to many reasons such as the war, and new technology.

The end was bleak, with a Buendia descendant being born with a pigs tail, suggesting that the family’s curse will continue in the future. The brief  detail in this “scene” could be too much for some, but I personally thought it was useful in understanding just how devastating this curse was. The fact that the baby was just described as having a pig tail goes to show the style of magic realism, and that the baby symbolized much more than what it was.

There was some positive aspects to the book as well, especially when there was some hope when the rain of yellow flowers occurred after destructive rains and floods devastated Macondo.  Although bad things are occurring at the moment, there will also be good things up ahead, or at least that’s how I look at it. The good things may not be for the descendants of the Buendia family, but perhaps for Macondo in the future. I appreciated this magical realism due to its uniqueness and creativity.This intrigued me as I connected it to the cyclical nature of things and how history will probably repeat itself.

I was also brought back to the idea of play in literature, and how well magical realism can be a part of play. I now understand how powerful tools like these are in literature, especially when exploring complex ideas through innovative ways. It just makes reading much more enjoyable!

My question to you all is what other aspects of magical realism did you find connected to the overall theme of time or memory throughout the book?

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