RMST 495/520: Long Books

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Lucas.

Lucas who?

That’s me! (My last name is “Hu” pronounced like “who”)

Hi everyone, my name’s Lucas and welcome to my blog for RMST 495 (or perhaps you’re reading this post on the home page for RMST 495)! I’m in my final term here at UBC as a computer science student and I’m really excited to take this course with you all! Apologies for the bad joke at the beginning, but at this point it’s kind of become my schtick whenever I introduce myself now. As this is my own blog, I’ve decided I’m going to keep my tone pretty casual as if I were writing this to a friend. I’ll try to keep the grammar or spelling mistakes to a minimum, but the main focus will be getting my fresh ideas and impressions down as soon as I finish each of the readings, as mentioned in the post about our blogs. Still, sorry in advance :p

I registered for this course a few days before this term’s start and I actually first heard about it from this Reddit post made by Professor Beasley-Murray. I have already pretty much fulfilled all my requirements for graduation so for my final term of my undergraduate degree (also possibly ever), I wanted to take some interesting electives that really differ from my usual computer science courses. Luckily I stumbled upon RMST 495 and the course description and trailer really piqued my interest! To be completely honest, I don’t read as often as I would like, or at least when it comes to “typical” books and certainly long books — I do however read a lot of manga and manhwa but I would argue that the distinction between text-based vs visual storytelling between “typical” books and manga/manhwa make the mediums and experience reading them very different from each other. Although, that’s a discussion for another day. Going back to my expectations for this term, I found that this course would be an excellent way to get invested into a couple good, long books to escape our busy world of social media filled with short-form content. Ideally, maybe I would fall in love with reading these kinds of long books and I could take that passion with me after I graduate!

The other long book that I have chosen to read alongside The Savage Detectives is 2666 by the same author, Roberto Bolaño. I’m aware that this is a very long book but I’m quite committed to reading this one specifically because I think it would be cool to read another long book by Bolaño and one of my best friends really loves this book. I think with the structure of this course, namely the weekly blog posts and discussions, as well as the fact that I’m only taking four courses this term, I’ll have tons of motivation to read these long books!

Anyhow, this is the end of my first blog. To put it like Monterroso, “Today I feel well, like a Balzac; I am finishing this blog post.”

Hello!

I’m Mason. I am currently doing my M.A. in Hispanic Studies, but before this I was a Romance Studies major here at UBC, so being in this course feels kind of like visiting home.

Like several of you, I am planning to read Our Share of Night (Nuestra parte de noche) by Mariana Enríquez alongside The Savage Detectives. I first came across this book months ago and was tempted to buy it, but ultimately decided not to; then, many weeks later, I checked the list of recommendations for long books for this course, and there it was (thanks to another student, if I understood correctly). So, I had to buy it after all. I am looking forward to reading this book for several reasons: one, I’ve been finding horror literature sort of therapeutic recently; two, I tend to enjoy dark or unusual coming-of-age stories; and three, I’m quite interested in both history and non-linear storytelling. Of course, at the moment I can only connect my reasoning to the impressions that I’ve gotten from reading the back-cover description. I imagine and hope that the story itself will give me new reasons to read on.

As far as expectations for this course, I think I mainly expect to gain a better understanding of what long and short books do — differently, similarly, and specifically. I am also hoping to engage more with the question of how people read (What are the conditions? What sense of purpose is there?), and the concept of there being “better” and “worse” ways to read (When and why did people begin to talk about this?).

I do regularly read books of various lengths, and I would say that long books have come to intimidate me less over the years. The longest book that I have read as one volume (twice) is probably Les misérables, which I love very much. (I even considered rereading it in French for this course, but I think that’s a challenge I would rather take on when I can go at a slower pace.) Other books that I consider favorites include: Maurice, by E. M. Forster; Jazz and Beloved, by Toni Morrison; Eva Luna, by Isabel Allende; The Wrong End of the Telescope, by Rabih Alameddine; and Pubis angelical and El beso de la mujer araña, by Manuel Puig. When I’m not reading or keeping up with classes, I can be found taking walks, watching movies, and using my long-suffering sourdough starter to make bread.

Hi everyone! My name is Diljot K. Ghuman and I am currently  in my fourth year. I am studying Political Science at UBC and I hope to finish my degree soon. I had initially wanted to pursue Law however, now that I’m towards the end of my degree I’m unsure if that is still the route that I would like to take. Nonetheless, I love what I am currently studying as it keeps me up to date with what is happening all around the world and the new policy’s being proposed.

A bit about me is that I was born and raised in Surrey and I grew up playing soccer for Surrey FC. Whenever I get time, I still go to Newton Athletic Park and play around with my friends. Sports have been a big part of my life and apart from soccer I have played Basketball, Volleyball, Ball Hockey for my school team throughout high school. I also used to do Karate and that is something I hope to pick up again soon. I’m currently a Screening Officer at YVR airport and I work there on the weekends. In my free time, I like to play golf and I love doing outdoor activities. I love to try out new cafes and restaurants with my friends.

I have recently started a book club in which we have monthly meetings and we try reading different genres. My favorite genre is romance and some of my favorites are Call It What You Want and Picking Daisy’s on Sundays. When I initially took this class, I thought we would be reading about romance, however, I quickly realized it is more romance literature and romance languages. This will be quite different from the readings I’m used to doing so I believe it will be challenging, however, I think it will also be fun and beneficial as I will be learning a new skill. My expectations for this class are to be able to read difficult text and actually be able to understand it. A lot of the time I’ll be reading something and I’ll have to reread it several times before I’m able to fully comprehend what the text is saying. I hope this class will help me learn skills to be able to comprehend text in the first try. Furthermore, I’m looking forward to reading the book and I like the idea of reading or getting to choose one book of your choice. The book I have chosen is The Shadow of the Wind. 

Hi!

My name is Juli, I’m a grad student at the FHIS, in the Hispanic Studies program. I did a Literary Studies program as my undergrad in the Universidad Javirana in Bogotá, Colombia, from where I am from. I have to sincere and say I do not have many expectations from this class, as in, I just don’t know what to expect! Will it be difficult to read such long books? Maybe, but I’ve read very long books too, and it is usually a blast. The last books I’ve read with such a length were the Stormlight Archives books by Brandon Sanderson, each a 1000+ pages. Last year was my second read through of the series (to catch up to the new, fifth, book).

Apart from fantasy books (I’m rereading Percy Jackson at the moment, soooo much better than Harry Potter by the way) I am interested in latin american queer literature, which is my research topic for the foreseeable future, specifically, I am mainly focused on transfemme latinamerican literature. That said, my academic interests go all over the place. Queer and gender studies is, of course, a relevant part of my interests, but I also tend towards de-colonial/post-colonial theory. Last semester I delved a little bit in sound studies because of one of my classes and I think it can be a great tool for analysis.

I’m excited to get to know all of you more throughout the semester!

Perhaps I should explain my blog title to our non-French-major friends. It’s a reference to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Reveries of the Solitary Walker, which collects his last few essays.

My name is Lily. As you know now, I’m a French major student, hoping to take a detour into Latin American literature. I chose Conversations in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa as my second book. Ban Yu, a Chinese writer and my favourite underground music critic, left a 5-star review for the book on Douban (Chinese equivalent of Goodreads + Letterboxd, but launched in 2005 before both English sites!):

Throughout the course, I expect to reconnect with the heavy physical books that hurt my wrists, especially via my hardcover Conversations in the Cathedral. Does this add more weight to the experience of reading?

*insert BEATLES singing: Boy, you gotta carry that weight…*

I’m also an extremely slow reader, so all of this is making me picture myself trudging through a muddy rainforest in thick, warm air. But hey, I actually love backpacking, so I think it’ll be a great experience.

I also planned a family trip to Mexico City for reading break, which is a perfect complement to The Savage Detectives. Notice I did not say The Savage Detectives is a complement to my CDMX trip, out of respect for this course. ^_^

Nice to meet you everyone! I’m sure many lovely conversations will be sparked between us this semester (my final one at UBC)!

Hello everyone! My name is Leo, I’m happy to be taking this course as I love Bolaño. What also drew me to the course is that I can choose which other book I can take! I will be reading Retrospective by Juan Gabriel Vasquez. On my free time, I enjoy reading, going out for walks around the city, visiting bookshops and here-and-there watching a movie. I particularly enjoy short stories, though not poetry (I am a bad poetry reader!) Some of my current authors include: Pola Oloixarac, Bolano, Jhumpa Lahiri. I enjoy reading literary fiction as well as Latin American gothic fiction. Literature has been life-changing for me. The first novel I remember reading is Louis Sachar’s Holes. I moved from Central America to Canada and had started grade 6. My classmates were reading it in English, though I read it in Spanish on printed on loose leaf paper and collected on a binder. For the next years, I would go to ESL program. My English was limited. I hated literature. Eventually, I would have to take English Literature courses to meet high school graduation requirements. I skipped those books. I remember in grade 10, I was assigned Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. My ESL courses did not offer much help. I felt intimidated after chapter 1. I put it down and cheated by looking up its summary on Spark Notes. So I got a decent grade cheating, but did not learn anything. The same happened with Ellie Wiesel’s Night. That book, I did not read at all, yet I was able to pass my course. My friend would update me on the romance books she would read, and though they were “not my cup of tea,” I admired her reading hobby. Eventually, I visited a bookstore with my mom. I remember she purchased a paperback of Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation. 

“Is the book for you or her?” asked the cashier, referring to my mother.

In hindsight, I see she asked as the book had mature content. I was still a teenager. Then I read the book and felt in love with literature. So at my school library, I looked up more books by the same author. Eileen, Homesick for Another World, Death in Her Hands. As she put out a new book, Lapvona, I began to frequent bookshops more often. Intertextuality and epigraphs built a web of books I should read. So I began to read them, and here I am.

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Hello everyone, my name is Paige and welcome to my blog.

I am a graduate student in the Hispanic Studies department and my main interests are avant-garde art and literature, especially the dialogue between/through/across media. Looking at the course syllabus, I am most excited about exploring the physicality and materiality of a book. Is the construction of a book an art form or is it more scientific (based on stats and impact study)? In what way does the form of the media affect how we experience its content? How much agency does/should the author have in the creation of the book as object vs book as story, and how does that impact how they write it?

I had a long journey towards choosing a long book to read this semester because I am quite indecisive, especially when there are so many options. I started off by looking at my bookshelf, to see which books I could choose (and not have to spend additional money buying a physical copy of a new book). I cross-referenced my shelves with the course’s suggested list. I almost chose One Hundred Years of Solitude, because it’s a book I really should have read by now (and certainly have pretended to have read). I also almost looked at The Catholic School by Edoardo Albinati, but I decided it was too long (which, coincidentally, is why it’s still on my shelf, unread). I only entertained Don Quijote and Les miserables momentarily, because I very quickly decided that they were both too long and dry (too wordy, if you will).

After filtering out all these books that I did not choose for this semester, I am pleased to announce that my long book for this semester is:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

I will be reading an English translation by Lucia Graves, because I could not find a used copy of the original Spanish. To obtain a physical copy, I would have had to Special Order it in to a bookstore for thirty dollars. I decided that the English translation is good enough for our class purposes, and it will also make the reading more enjoyable since reading in my native language takes less effort than reading in a second language. I like that the book is a series, so I can continue on if I end up loving it, and I like that the synopsis gives off cozy vibes.