Deep Rivers
I found Deep Rivers to be a bit of a slow read. I liked how the Quechua language was incorporated into the book. The translations and explanations of the words really moved the story forward and although I found myself forgetting a lot of them and having to look back for their translations, I enjoyed learning something new.
I was a little bit lost in the beginning but I think it was a reflection of how Ernesto may have felt navigating his world. I felt that not all the storylines connected well. It felt like Ernesto was looking back on his life and thinking of random moments that stuck out to him or that he remembered well. I think anyone could relate to this when they look back on their childhood. I find that when I think about moments in my life when I was a kid, I only remember random things that stuck out to me.
I think many people could relate to Ernesto because of his mestizo heritage and his feeling like an outsider. I am half Japanese and half Chinese so despite being fully Asian, I don’t feel 100% connected to either culture. I can see the similarities and differences but I don’t always feel connected to it, especially having grown up in Canada. It is interesting to read about someone who is also mixed but from someone who was alive before me.
To answer the lecture video questions, I think Ernesto represents someone who is simply experiencing. When you are a child and you are having new experiences in the world, sometimes the only way to take part is to simply have the experience. He has a childhood curiosity and we get to experience his curiosity through the novel. As said in the lecture, he is keen to participate in anything. He hasn’t reached the point where he is unwilling to do things to fit in or feel cool like most 14 year olds.
The piece I decided to pair with this book is Felix Mendelssohn’s Lieder Ohne Worte or Songs Without Words. It reminds me of childhood and has a nostalgic feeling. All the songs are fairly short and to me, they do not seem to relate to one another besides being in the same collection kind of like the storylines in Deep Rivers.
My question for this week is: What is one random childhood memory that sticks out to you?
Interesting post Matteya.
You highlight the curiosity of Ernesto which is clearly one of the key aspects of the novel.
See you tomorrow.
Julián.
agree, definitely a slow confusing read at the start, and a good deep exploration of mixed heritage.
i have so many great childhood memories, a brand new rich suburb of Ottawa which meant that 1000 families all moved in together at the same time, so class and mixed heritage were not big parts of our lives, we all just played together without issues, that was my highlight. we have a facebook group where we still talk about how great it was.
Hi Matteya!
I agree that at times it was a slow read. I think this slow pace allowed us to learn more about Ernesto and the surrounding society, the latter is something I was curious about coming into this course.
I really liked your connection between the fragmented structure of the novel and how we actually remember childhood, that made a lot of sense to me. I think it’s a really cool way to show how memory works in snapshots.