Author Archives: david chen

RMST 495 – Week 8: The Unravelling & The Grieving : Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

Reactions Reading the third part of Quiet Chaos has been an intense and immersive experience. So much has happened in such a short span! It’s starting to feel as if everything in Pietro’s life is beginning to unravel, leading towards the long-awaited grief. Things are taking a turn! Commentary In the third reading, Pietro continues […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495 – Week 8: The Unravelling & The Grieving : Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

RMST 495 – Week 7: A Long Read, The Savage Detectives

Photos: Front cover of the novel « The Savage Detectives » and image of author Roberto Bolaño This week’s reading felt extremely long and dragging, and it was sometimes a gruelling experience. I had to stop, re-read, and return to certain passages several times over the course of two weeks just to begin to comprehend what was […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495 – Week 7: A Long Read, The Savage Detectives

RMST 495 – Week 6: Amulet

First major reaction: I can’t believe I finished Amulet in four sittings across the weekend! There’s something almost compelling about this short novel by  Bolaño. With this book, I felt that pull from the first few pages, and I kept turning pages, curious about where Auxilio Lacouture’s mind would take me next, page after page. […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495 – Week 6: Amulet

RMST 495 – Week 5: Stillness & Absence: Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

Observations: In the subsequent part of Sandro Veronesi’s novel Quiet Chaos, Pietro’s days continue to unfold in quiet suspension, marked by moments that feel filtered yet intensified through the absence of his late wife and his grief. While picking up Claudia from school, he notices small details (i.e., gestures, tones, silences and movements of life […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495 – Week 5: Stillness & Absence: Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

RMST 495 – Week 4: Second Chances, The Savage Detectives

I have to say I’m quite surprised by the shift in style in the second part of The Savage Detectives. Obviously, I knew from lectures that we hear less from Garcia Madero, but I certainly did not expect a major shift in the approach that Roberto Bolaño writes. In general, I have mixed feelings about […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495 – Week 4: Second Chances, The Savage Detectives

RMST 495 – Week 3: First Impressions: Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

Introduction: Sandro Veronesi is a novelist, essayist and journalist from Florence, in the beautiful and endless rolling hills of Tuscan region of Italy, who has written many celebrated works, such as Quiet Chaos, The Hummingbird and Black September. Veronesi’s writing often explores both the softer and the deeper themes of fragility between what is love […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495 – Week 3: First Impressions: Quiet Chaos by Sandro Veronesi

RMST 495 – Week 2: First Impressions, The Savage Detectives

Photos: Front cover of the novel « The Savage Detectives » and image of author Roberto Bolaño Genuine First Impressions of Robert Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives Literally, « What in the world did I just read?! »… Allow the following images of facial reactions to help explain the wide range of emotions and impressions I’d felt and received whilst […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495 – Week 2: First Impressions, The Savage Detectives

RMST 495: Week 1

My name is David from the Romance Studies program at the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies. Here, at the University of British Columbia, I’ve been learning Italian, Spanish, and French languages, cultures and literature over the last four years. I enjoy writing poetry, discovering new places, travelling to new cultures and learning languages. […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on RMST 495: Week 1

Dernier blog: Réponse à quelques lectures intéressantes et diverses !

Credit photo : WorldOfVolley En réponse à : La Grande Surprise Française par Kaitlyn Jang Son blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/voyageaveckaitlyn/2025/09/23/6/?unapproved=3&moderation-hash=b51fb2f78138c9955d211317fd5c3d56#comment-3 Ce blog est différent de ce que je lis habituellement, mais j’ai apprécié le lire et découvrir les compétitions sportives liées à la France. J’ai appris que la France, championne olympique, avait été éliminée du championnat du monde […] Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on Dernier blog: Réponse à quelques lectures intéressantes et diverses !

Mon expérience culturelle à Québec dans le programme Explore

Crédit photo : Centre des congrès de québec
 
Salut tout le monde ! C’est David !
C’est mon quatrième blog, mais mon deuxième vlog vidéo.
Dans le vlog video, je parle de mon expérience cuturelle à Québec.
Voici le lien vers le vlog :
https://driv… Continue reading

Tagged | Comments Off on Mon expérience culturelle à Québec dans le programme Explore