Manea’s “The Trenchcoat” – Week 9

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Manea’s “The Trenchcoat” was an enjoyable novella to read, although it left me fairly confused. Most things seemed to have a hidden meaning that was often going over my head. Especially after learning about all the censorship talking place at this time, it confirmed that likely what was being read was meant to be perceived in a different way than it first appeared. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out characters motivations, especially Dina’s. Her obsession with where the coat came from had me also obsessing with who’s it was, even though I did not understand why she was so consumed with it.

I feel as though it is fair to assume the trenchcoat represents something else entirely, but I do not really have ideas as to what. To me, I felt there was a stark contrast of emotions surrounding the coat. Some characters cared so little that the name of the item was constantly being changed (overcoat, trenchcoat, raincoat) whereas others appeared to be hyperfocused on the coat and it’s meaning and origin. I think this likely speaks to something deeper, but again, I do not know what.

At the end, when there is the rant about “scientific cynicism” and the idea of an experiment, as well as stating there were “many hypotheses,” I think was a creative way to play into the idea that nobody was going to get any answers from the novella, and it was open to interpretation. Sometimes I think things like this are the most fun, things that leave you confused and open to your own interpretation of the reality taking place. Some people may finish the novella feeling as though the trenchcoat is simply just that.

Another thing that stood out to me while reading this was the fakeness of the characters. It made me wonder if there is perhaps a hidden meaning behind their behaviour as well, or if they are just meant to be somewhat unlikable and distrustful. Perhaps this was a another way of showing censorship? The characters feeling the need to present one way and feeling another. I’m looking forward to hearing about what Manea has to say about the meaning and messages of this story.

My biggest question from the reading is simply just why did Dina care so much about the coat? To the point where she made multiple phone calls to people, was this really all about the coat, or did she have a hidden agenda she was looking to carry out?

Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood” – Week 8

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This weeks reading originally was very hard for me to follow, and I found I actually had to restart twice to be able to form the proper differentiation between the two narratives. However, once I grasped the back and forth I found Perec’s work very enjoyable and insightful. It got me thinking a lot about memory and the way it impacts our lives.

Just like the reading, memories are complex and multi-faceted, as well as unique to everyone. Two people who lived the same event will likely not remember it the same way. I think in a way the reading reflects this aspect of memory, how they are often confusing and not always 100% accurate to how the event unfolded. We see Perec’s “false memories” so to say, intertwined with the real ones, blurring the lines between what was reality and what is just a story. This could be due to Perec being an unreliable narrator, or it could be a reflection of how fluid memory is. I’ve heard that every time you remember a memory, you are not actually remember what happened, but you are remembering the last time you remembered it. If this is true, every time we remember, we get further and further from reality of what happened.

We see Perec correcting himself on descriptions he gives, for example, when he is talking about being evacuated by the Red Cross. He questions whether his arm was in a sling or not, which seems like it would be a fairly simple thing to remember. This leads me to wonder how much of the story is accurate at all, perhaps Perec has repressed his memories to the point of nothing truly being as he perceives it now. In a way, both stories could have been works of fiction.

I think memory is such an interesting thing to think about, especially since we can never experience somebodies memories as our own, we can be invited in to share them, but we will never fully understand situations of someones life without having lived them the exact same way they did. My question after this is at what point do most memories lose their accuracy? Is it common for our all memories to be slightly incorrect? And how will we ever know if what we remember is accurate? Likely, we will not be able to, which is both comforting and upsetting.

Moravia’s Agostino – Week 5

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Agostino was a very interesting story to me. It dipped into many different topics, such as sexuality, class, and “growing pains.” Although it dealt with heavy and uncomfortable subject matter, I felt somewhat relaxed while reading it. I think this was due to the fact it is written in such a passing way, since nothing that is being discussed is portrayed as a bad thing, and the only character who’s internal monologue we get to experience is Agostino, who does not understand the weight of his thoughts. The writing painted a wonderful picture of what Agostino’s life was like, and I felt as though it did a great job of getting across all the important points without being overwhelming or boring to read, making it very easy to get through.

As many others have touched on in their posts, there is an obvious unhealthy relationship between the mother and Agostino. The sons obsession with possession of his mother, and her view of her being so sexual, becomes the centre of all his thoughts. No matter what he is doing, he somehow seems to be able to relate it to his mother, and his jealousy of her relationship. Agostino begins to act out, perhaps in attempts to distract himself, but also perhaps unknowingly he was trying to get her attention, and cause her enough concern that she would abandon the young man and instead go back to spending all her time with Agostino. Either way, Agostino’s rebellious acts do not give him the satisfaction he hoped for, and he is instead left feeling defeated, and like he has lost his sense of self.

Not only was Agostino’s view of his mother disturbing, but the way Agostino seems to view women overall does not seem healthy. When he is rejected from the house, and he spies through the window, it implies that he may not have respect for intimacy in that manner. It also reminds me of the taboos of sex work that still are around to this day. Agostino felt as though the transaction of it all would be uncomfortable, although it was an agreed upon arrangement. These thoughts before approaching the house give us insight to his immaturity, even though he does not seem to understand he is. After finishing the reading, my question is, while these thoughts simply just be immaturity that Agostino grows out of? Since he is only 13, there is plenty of time to mature and understand these subjects more. However, some of his thoughts seem so extreme, it leaves me to wonder if Agostino will forever have an obsession with his mother, and a poor understanding of himself.

Bombal’s Shrouded Woman – Week 4

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I really enjoyed this weeks reading. It was different from our previous readings, and although I enjoyed those as well, Bombal’s work was like a breath of fresh air. To me, it was much simpler to understand, there was more of a natural flow, and the concepts were some of the biggest things life revolves around. Love and loss.

Love for many, including the protagonist in the story, is the source of many emotions, all of which feel overwhelming and debilitating. The consumption from her first love never seems to fully go away, as is common with many other people. First loves are defining but fleeting, often not following us into our later adult years. But pieces of them follow us, they shape us into who we are. I think Bombal did a great job painting this picture. The despair that was felt when Ricardo was leaving, and the inability that there was to fully release from that part of life. Even if we try to remove ourselves fully from something in our past, it is near impossible to. Every relationship, every friendship, shapes us into who we become. The loss makes us stronger, it helps us appreciate what we once had and gives us joy in what we gain going forward.

There is a line in Batman Begins, “we fall so we can learn to pick ourselves up” and I think that is applicable to this story in a sense. Our suffering often makes us stronger, wiser. We have to go through lows and loss so we can learn to come out of it on the other side, in the end, it makes us better people. It is hard to view life like this in the heat of the moment. The loss feels colossal and all consuming, although once we are out of it, we often recognize that it made us stronger.

When Bombal discussed only knowing after death, it really stuck out to me, and I do think in a way there is truth to this. As she is reflecting upon defining moments in her life, she seems to have realizations she had not had up until this postmortem reflection.  I feel like we are not able to fully reflect on things until they are no longer a factor in our lives, until they no longer matter to us. And maybe this only fully happens in death, but it is interesting to think about how perspectives often do change when someone is on their deathbed, or has a near death experience. The things that once mattered more than anything else have become trivial. It makes me wonder what I will look back on later in my life, what will still seem important, and what I will think no longer holds much significance to my life. My question with all of this is, is it truly peaceful for nothing to matter anymore? In a way, I think it would make me uneasy to not be emotional about things all the time, I think our emotions are one of the most wonderful things about life, the good and bad ones equally.

Aragon’s Paris Peasant – Week 3

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Paris Peasant, to me, was a story about everything, but also about nothing. I felt as though I was more reading a journal of a man as opposed to a story. There did not seem to be any concrete plot, nor did it feel as though there was one specific theme the writing was grounded in. Instead, it was like being inside the mind of someone going through the daily life of someone who had many thought provoking things to say. If there was any plot or theme, it went over my head, as I felt somewhat confused while reading and found it a bit hard to follow, although this does not mean I enjoyed it any less. In the same way I did with Proust’s Combray, I found this text to have wonderful descriptions, which made it enjoyable and fun even when I was confused.

After reading this, it left me wondering, why do we always look for some sort of plot or structure within what we read? Maybe not everyone does this, but I always find myself looking for a beginning, middle, and end whenever I tackle reading something new. Maybe this is due to the fact literature is not typically what I read beyond school. This then leads me to wonder if it is a fault to always search for something more? Sometimes writing, such as Paris Peasant, can just leave you with your thoughts, welcoming you to your own interpretations of what you have just absorbed. It is not that Paris Peasant did not have meaning, but more so what did each of us take as the meaning after reading?

After reading 2 texts, I have noticed a few similarities in writing style, and although I am not sure if this is due to these being older works, or to do with translation and both coming from romantic languages, I think it is worth mentioning. Firstly, as mentioned before, both works were extremely descriptive, more so than most pieces of literature I’ve read in the past for school. I highly enjoy this, and I hope this carries on as a common theme throughout other works we read in the term. The second is how long the sentences are. Many of the sentences went on for much longer than what I typically read, or write for myself, with the writing containing more commas and semi-colons than periods. I think this is interesting as I do not know the reason for both of these features, however, I do think it could be due to translation as well as the structure of romantic languages.

Proust’s Combray – Week 2

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As I initially began reading the text, I thought the main theme would be around the inability to sleep, and how the mind can race at night much to one’s dismay. Ideas of lucid dreaming or sleep paralysis came into my mind. Early on, Proust mentions the thought of falling asleep waking him up, this is something I am sure many people, including myself, can relate to. The constant state of feeling the need to be asleep unintentionally ends up stopping you from the goal. Although the writing went to other places and touched upon many things, the main thing I took away from it was the importance of rituals and how fragile routines are, and even though the main focus was not always entirely on sleep, for me, that was the main takeaway.

I heavily sympathized with Proust as he discussed his anxiety around not getting his mothers goodnight kiss. The text was beautifully descriptive and painted a clear picture of what the feelings and energy at this dinner were like, it put me in a place where I felt like I was watching over this family and their guest enjoy the evening. Even though I did not understand everything that was said, the main idea of needing this nighttime ritual was undeniable relatable. The roller coaster of emotions that the author went through when he was sent to bed, writing his letter, and eventually met with his mother and father in the hallway had me heavily hoping that the young boy would get his goodnight kiss. I did not expect to be rooting for something while reading this text before I begun. A motto my dad always thought me to live by is “in x amount of time, this likely won’t matter anymore” and I will always use this in situations where something in the moment is unpleasant, or I am dwelling on something out of my control, and Proust discussing how in the morning all of his anxiety from the night will be gone reminded me of this. I think it is interesting how although we are all different from each other, there are many human universals, one of which being anxiety. This text coming from a different time of life, as well as a different country, also by someone from a different social world than I am, still carried so many emotions that I have felt. Of course, everyone experiences these emotions in different degrees, but it is natural that we all find ourselves dreading things beyond our control, and feeling uneasy at the thought of it. From there, then coming up with different ways of coping. This got me thinking, is it inevitable that when our routines, our rituals, the things that bring us the most peace get disturbed, that we must feel anxiousness and worry? It does seem as though we must, it seems almost impossible to prevent, however, it would be nice if it wasn’t this way.

Introductory Blog Post

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Hi everybody! My name is Laura and I am a third year arts student. I’m majoring in psych and hopefully will go off to get my MBA after finishing my BA. I was originally born in North Vancouver, but I have lived all over the lower mainland throughout my life. I have a cat named Theo and a dog named Boo.

I truthfully signed up for this course as I needed another literature requirement for my degree, but I am looking forward to this class after the first lecture yesterday. I find the grading structure very interesting as I’ve never taken a course formatted like that before, however I think it will be very beneficial to me. I like the idea of being completely accountable for my own grade (even though in almost all courses you are), but with also having the knowledge of exactly what I need to do in order to obtain the grade I want. If I do not get the grade I was hoping for I cannot be surprised. I am really not a big reader, I think the last books I read for pleasure was probably while I was still in high school. I do wish I was more motivated with reading, but I have lots of other interests that still make me excited about this course. I love European culture, primarily art and architecture. My mother was actually born in Scotland, and my fathers family moved to Canada from Italy, so before the pandemic we used to travel to Europe a lot.

I am also excited about the course due to how excited our professor and TA’s seemed. It always helps to learn and discuss things with people who are passionate and excited about the material being covered. Additionally, I think discussion will flourish due to the idea of people only coming for readings they’ve done. I hope we are all able to meet in person soon, but if not I look forward to the semester nonetheless!