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Hi everyone! It’s honestly so hard to believe that this is the last blog post that I’m writing for this course.

Looking back at the first blog post I wrote at the very beginning, one of the goals that I set was to become more motivated to read on a daily basis. From the 11 books I have read throughout the course, I definitely realized that motivation in terms of reading heavily depends on the book. If I found myself to like the story of the novel, there would be a higher level of engagement and I would be more drawn to the plot. However, when I encountered books I don’t like, I would have to force myself to read through and sometimes would dread reading. I do also understand that not liking a book is also part of the reading process. Therefore, in terms of this goal of motivation, I have a different understanding now compared to when I set it.

Out of the 11 books I read, I enjoyed Death with Interruptions and My Brilliant Friend the most. I found the ideas that Death with Interruptions discussed regarding death to be fascinating. It offered me an entirely new perspective of considering “death”, and was very intriguing to read in general. Even though there was a lack of punctuations that made the book hard to interpret at times, I still found the narrative to be quite engaging. For My Brilliant Friend, I found the theme of “friendship” to be the most relatable out of all the different topics explored throughout the various books we have read. The way Elena’s thoughts and feelings were portrayed really allowed me to relate with her. The instance of Elena describing how she felt left out as Lila began spending more time with Carmela really stood out to me. I also had similar experiences of feeling left out, and I found the way Elena’s thoughts were depicted to be extremely accurate. They really managed to capture her innermost feelings.

Money to Burn and Combray were definitely ones that I didn’t like. In terms of Money to Burn, I found the story to be quite hard to follow along. For me, it just felt that there was a lot going on, and there were too many details being described. In general, I struggled a bit with trying to engage with the plot. For Combray, the abundance of details felt quite overwhelming. It would be very hard to understand the point that the author is trying to make as I was reading.

Overall, this course provided me with a very unique learning experience. While the course structure was very different from others, this course provided me with an opportunity to explore various themes and I truly appreciate this. Moreover, I derived great enjoyment from reading others’ blog posts as they introduced to me diverse perspectives, allowing me to gain insight each time by reading them.

Question: What is your most and least favourite book you have encountered across this course?

My Brilliant Friend — Elena Ferrante

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The story of My Brilliant Friend revolves around the friendship of Elena and Lila, while also touching on the themes of gender, poverty, and class. Elena, the narrator of this book, is a studious girl who excels in school. She is a typical “good” girl who follows expectations and does what she is told. On the other hand, Lila is a girl who refuses to conform with societal norms and is incredibly intelligent. Although Elena and Lila seem to be completely different, they become best friends. The story unfolds through them going to elementary school together, a time when they did almost everything together, to when their paths diverged with education being the catalyst. In the book, the decision of going to school is a turning point for Elena and Lila’s friendship. Despite both doing well in school, only Elena goes on to middle school. At the same time, this event also reveals the underlying issues of poverty and gender. Lila’s family cannot financially support her education, and her father does not see the purpose in a girl attending school. The narrator manages to very subtly portray the reality concerning such issues while focusing on the girls’ friendship.

One aspect I really enjoyed is how the narrator manages to accurately portray Elena’s innermost thoughts and emotions. This provides insight to the complex nature of the character, which allows readers to effectively engage with the story as we follow alongside her, feeling a sense of involvement as the plot develops. Furthermore, this depiction also allows me to resonate with Elena. Out of the countless memories that Elena has with Lila, the account of Carmela joining the two girls is particularly poignant. Elena says used the quote: “If I noticed that she tended to be closer to Carmela I suffered and wanted to go home (80)” to describe the sense of jealousy and insecurity she felt from Lila getting closer with Carmela. This part stood out to me immediately because I also had similar experiences feeling left out but also having to be stuck between my friend and her other friend. The narrator precisely portrays the disappointed feelings that arise from being neglected and wanting to escape the situation by “going home”. Here, Elena’s internal conflict is portrayed, and it reflects the complex nature of friendship.

It came as a surprise for me when Lila said to Elena that she was her “brilliant friend”. Throughout the novel, we know from the narrator that Elena views Lila to be “brilliant”. She is intelligent, courageous, and ambitious, and Elena admires these qualities of her. They serve to be the factors motivating her to push her beyond her comfort zone. However, in a way, these qualities also shape the competitive nature of the girls’ friendship. Perhaps because of the complex nature of their friendship, it was unexpected that Lila would openly acknowledge her admiration to her friend. Both Elena and Lila acknowledge each other to be “brilliant”, and this frames how special they are to each other.

My question for this week is what are your thoughts regarding the friendship between Elena and Lila?

Death with Interruptions

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I really enjoyed this week’s novel, and it is probably my favourite by far in this course. The novel allowed me to take on a different perspective in considering the meaning and purpose of death. Saramago takes a very intriguing approach in exploring the topic of death. He specifically does so through an interesting thought experiment which essentially proposes a world where death is absent. In this country, death goes “on strike”. Death is suspended for people who are terminally ill. These people are alive, but at the same time, they are also not. They show signs of vitality, however, there is no improvement in their already ailing conditions. As a result, people begin seeking for death, making it seem like death can be controlled.

When first coming across the idea of immortality, the thought seems too good to be true. Since death has always been one of the greatest fears of people, it is natural for one to celebrate eternal life. However, before being too absorbed in the joy brought by immortality, Saramago begins pointing out the problems of immortality, that it is presumably more disastrous than death. The problems of overcrowding, the funeral industry losing business, and other such events become apparent. People begin realizing that immortality is no longer ideal and that it does not constitute a utopian way of life. Just as death has been on strike for several months, thousands of people in suspended death actually died. Instead of allowing immortality to continue, death notices were given in a week advance to allow the people to take advantage of this time to say their final goodbyes to their loved ones. Personally, I think this is much more desirable than immortality. Oftentimes when people die, they don’t have the chance to properly say their farewells because accidents do occur suddenly. These warnings allow people to make the most out of their remaining time of life. In the context of this novel, immortality isn’t as good as we think of it to be. People whose deaths are delayed are really no different than being actually dead because the only difference is they are able to breathe (and that is the most significant sign indicating life).

One element that I find extremely interesting is that Saramago personifies death. Death, in this novel, is not a phenomenon, it is represented as a character. In fact, “death” does transform into a person in the latter half of the book. This personification is extremely thought-provoking as the relationship between death and life is far more complex than death being the end of life.

My question this week is what are your thoughts on the way death is explored in this novel?

Money to Burn — Ricardo Piglia

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This week’s book, Money to Burn, is a novel based on a true story by Argentine author Ricardo Piglia. Compared to the previous novels that we have read, this one is completely different as it diverges from the topics such as coming-of-age. This novel recounts the shocking bank robbery that happened in 1965 in Buenos Aires. In this story, Piglia details the events of plotting the raid, to the actual events that occurred during as they executed their plan, to how the police officer Silva conducted the investigation, and finally to how the gang’s hideout was discovered by the Argentine police.

Although I found the story itself to be interesting, I didn’t really enjoy reading the novel. The multiple nicknames that characters were given in the novel was one element that caused confusion and made it difficult to read. In the beginning we were introduced to the characters’ names, however, they started being referred to by their nicknames as the plot developed. I had a really hard time keeping track of who was who, and I think this also complicated the plot. The narrator does at times part from the main plot by delving into personal stories of the characters. Although these stories help develop the characters’ qualities, personally I realized that I felt lost in terms of which direction the story is heading towards.

One aspect that I found to be very intriguing is that Piglia tells a true story but chooses the form of the novel to carry out this event while also adding fictional elements. Learning about this robbery from the news would feel quite dull because the sole purpose of it is to inform its readers about events that are happening. The gang’s actions would be viewed as outrageous by the audience, but the characters of the criminals themselves are quite bland. They are only depicted as people who have committed an outrageous crime. In this novel, Piglia gives a lot of attention to the characters’ mindsets and stories of their past. He provides readers with the insight of the fears and desires that belong to the actors involved in the bank robbery. Piglia manages to take advantage of the fictional element and develop a news story into a compelling exploration of human nature and morality.

Question for this week: What are your thoughts on how Piglia makes use of fiction to tell a true story?

The Lover — Marguerite Duras

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The Lover tells the story of a French girl who, at the time, lived in Indo-China and begins an affair with a wealthy Chinese man who is 12 years older than her. The story’s main focus is on the narrator’s odd affair, while the narrator’s memories with her family members are intertwined as the narrative unfolds. This book is heavily autobiographical as the story is a personal account of the author Marguerite Duras. Essentially, the narrator can be viewed as a character in this book representing the author herself.

One aspect of this novel I found very confusing was the timeline of the events that are being narrated. The novel begins when the narrator is of an older age, which is indicated by her depiction of her own appearance: her face that is “scored with deep, dry wrinkles”. However, the story immediately transitions to when she was 15, the time she encounters the Chinese man on the way back to boarding school. As the narrator recounts this experience of hers with the older man, she also inserts various memories of her mother, brothers, and people that left her with deep impressions. For me, the most puzzling feature was the distorted timeline. At times, the narrator would be talking about her relationship with the Chinese man but then suddenly switch to talk about her son. Other times, she would be illustrating her memory regarding her mother’s death but would jump back to depict her boarding school experiences. This choice of chronology imitates how people may be suddenly reminded of random instances as they try to recount a past event. Although this order of events is very interesting, I do find myself feeling a bit lost at times in terms of how the plot is developing.

This idea of who is exploiting who is something I found to be very intriguing about this story. As I was reading, I did notice how the narrator was portraying herself to be taking advantage of the Chinese man and how she was characterizing him to be in a weaker position. I noticed immediately that there was something odd about this depiction, but at the same time I couldn’t exactly describe my thoughts. The lecture video really helped me in terms of developing this idea. The narrator describes herself to be exploiting the man’s money, especially since her family is relatively poor. However, in reality, it is more likely that the man is exploiting the narrator because she is 12 years younger than him. The author does hint at the man’s abusive character by mentioning how he calls her “a whore, a slut”. However, the narrator doesn’t focus on the possible abusive and exploitative character of the man through the way he calls her, she only mentions these details as if she were trying to recall as much information from her memory as possible.

My question for this week is what were your first impression of reading this book?

The Hour of the Star

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The Hour of the Star is a novel that tells the story of a “northeastern girl” Macabea, who is from the poorest part of Brazil. The story unfolds through tiny details of the main character’s. The novel, although quite short in length, narrates the life of Macabea. Macabea grew up living with her aunt. She becomes a typist, who eventually falls in love with a boy called Olimpico de Jesus Moreira Chaves. After being dumped by Olimpico, she visits a fortune teller who tells her that her life will change immediately as she steps out. Her life does change, but it also doesn’t. She gets hit by a car after seeing the fortune teller and ends up dying.

The novel is written in a style very different from most novels I have read. In the very beginning, the narrator writes as if he were conversing with me, the reader, about how this story will talk about a “northeastern girl” and how his thoughts would be laid out. I found this part to be very interesting. His thought processes of writing a story, from grasping how the story will unfold to depicting the character of Macabea, was revealed to the readers. This provides insight not only for understanding Macabea, but also for interpreting how she was created in this story from the narrator’s written words. In this process of doing so, the narrator introduces rich ideas that he ponders upon while discussing the idea of writing.

One thing I really liked about the author’s style was that she managed to imitate the characteristics of Macabea through manipulating the spelling of words. For example, when the author was explaining that Macabea lives in slow motion, she deliberately duplicated the vowels in the words: “living in sloooow motion, hare leeeeaping through the aaaair over hiiiill and daaaale”. This technique emphasized to readers how slowly Macabea lived. Additionally, the author also imitated how Macabea stuttered with her thoughts through the repetition of words: “How to marry-marry-marry a being who was only to-to-to be seen, she stammered in her thoughts”. This style really managed to very accurately illustrate the characteristics of Macabea.

When I was in the process of reading this book, I wasn’t able to connect how the content related with the title “The Hour of the Star”. However, I began to interpret it after reading the book. The author writes that “a person becomes a shining movie star” during “the hour of death”. The death of Macabea could possibly be interpreted as her “glory moment” as her life wasn’t one that could be considered “glory”, especially since people barely paid attention to her. People often tell their children that once a person dies, they turn into a star in the sky. Perhaps the title can also be interpreted as “the hour of death” as this idea of turning into a star often euphemizes the cruel reality of death.

My question for this week is how do you interpret the title of this book?

The Time of the Doves — Rodoreda

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Rodoreda’s The Time of the Doves is a story about Natalia, set in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil war. Rodoreda tells the story through the lens of Natalia, the main character, providing readers with the insight to the everyday life of people amid the chaos created by war. Additionally, this story also revolves around Natalia’s marriages: the first with Quimet who ends up dying in war, and the second with Antoni.

After reading this book, I noticed that the story evoked a sense of sadness. For me, it was Natalia’s marriage with Quimet that aroused this unhappiness and sometimes depressed feeling. The two characters first met while dancing, where Quimet had asked to dance with Natalia. Without even knowing much about each other, Quimet declares that Natalia would be his wife and gives her the nickname “Colometa”. This part made me feel quite uncomfortable. Despite the main character repeating multiple times to Quimet saying her name is Natalia, Quimet completely disregards this and continues calling her “Colometa”. For me, it indicated that Quimet showed no respect to Natalia and was also quite forceful as his controlling nature was revealed. Quimet’s possessive behavior is also shown when he accused Natalia of talking with her ex-fiance, Pere. Despite Natalia claiming that she had not met with Pere, Quimet forced her to kneel down and apologize which, as she described herself, led her to almost believe that she did meet with Pere. The part where Quimet threw Natalia onto the floor, pushed her onto the bed, and hit her head while calling her “bad girl” revealed his physically abusive character. This made me feel uncomfortable because Natalia was not even being treated as a human-being. Quimet treated her almost as if she were an object that was in his possession. These parts left me a deep impression of feeling quite sad particularly because I was able to sympathize with Natalia and her experiences.

One aspect I found very interesting about this book is the recurrence of doves, both physically and symbolically. Quimet and Natalia kept multiple pairs of doves in their house, and Natalia’s nickname Colometa also translates to “dove”. Interestingly, the name “Colometa” in a way does reflect Natalia’s character. Doves also symbolize freedom and peace in literature, however, the symbolism in this story seems to be contradicting. In the novel, the depiction of doves flying freely in the sky serves as a stark contrast to the chaos created by the Spanish Civil war.

What are your feelings after reading this book?

Deep Rivers — José María Arguedas

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Deep Rivers by José María Arguedas tells the story of a young boy, Ernesto, who is of mixed heritage,and how he navigates the complexities of identity, culture, and tradition in rural Peru. This book is set in the Andes, where Ernesto struggles with a clash felt between his indigenous roots and the colonial education he received in boarding school. In the book, Ernesto meets different people and experiences indigenous customs. He also spends time with others who are of mixed heritage like him. Through reflecting upon these experiences, he begins developing a better understanding of himself. Arguedas explores the themes of fitting in, feeling alone, and finding purpose in this story of growing up.

I found this book to be slightly difficult to understand, and perhaps this is due to the reference of specific cultural traditions and concepts that I have no prior knowledge in. I found myself feeling a little confused as I wasn’t able to understand the references made in relation to the book.

I also noticed that the theme of growing up seems to be recurrent as it is also a prominent concept of Agostino. However, the way these two characters “grow up” as the story progresses is very different. They struggle with drastically different things. Agostino experiences emotional turmoil as he is introduced to the concept of sexuality. Additionally, his confusion comes from the way his view of his mother, from being a parental figure, changes to seeing her as a “woman”. However, for Ernesto, he struggles more with his cultural identity. From the narratives, we are able to understand that he feels a sense of disconnection from both the Indigenous culture and the mestizo culture. This quote, “I felt like I was caught between two worlds, unable to fully embrace either one.”, effectively captures Ernesto’s internal feelings.

One aspect of this book that I liked was this autobiographical narrative in which the story is told. By being able to read about Ernesto’s inner thoughts and perspective, we are brought very close to his character. This first-person perspective allows me to empathize with Ernesto and understand his experiences growing up from a mixed culture. For me, this aspect is particularly powerful as I also grew up being immersed in both the Chinese and Canadian cultures which are drastically different. As a result, I was really able to relate with the thoughts that Ernesto had.

Question for this week: what are your thoughts on “growing up” being a recurrent theme in the books we read?

Agostino — Moravia

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Agostino by Moravia is another coming of age novel that we have read so far throughout this course. Moravia illustrates the story of Agostino, a thirteen-year-old boy who spends the summer with his mother near the beaches and meets a group of boys that influences him to develop an awareness of sexuality.

The book opens with Agostino narrating how he enjoys going on boat rides with his mother and swimming with her in the ocean. He took pride in these moments shared with his mother. However, things changed for Agostino when a young man, Renzo, invited his mother to go on a ride. As I read through this part of the book, I noticed how Moravia manages to capture Freud’s idea of Oedipus complex in Agostino’s character. Freud’s idea suggests children develop a sexual desire for their opposite sex parent and hostility towards the parent of the same sex.This idea is seen in Agostino’s jealousy that grew from his mother and Renzo going on boat rides alone without him, and his bitter attitudes as he describes his feelings toward Renzo. I also noticed that a similar idea is exhibited in Proust, where he also shows a desire for his mother as seen in his yearning for her good-night kisses.

Throughout the book, Agostino’s perception of his mother gradually changes. In the opening of the book Agostino admires his mother as a “beautiful woman still in her prime”, and he particularly takes pride and pleasure in how others would envy them. As he meets the “gang” of boys, Agostino’s views shift very quickly. The boys talk about his mother in a humiliating manner, and continuously mock him for his innocence. This conversation evokes both shock and a strong sense of confusion within Agostino. Agostino began to develop an emotional turmoil, where his view of his mother shifted from a parental figure to a woman. He continuously repeats to himself that “she’s a woman”. It seems as if he was constantly reminding himself that his mother was no longer the caring parental figure she once was in his memories; his mother was now the type of “woman” he learned about from the “gang”. Agostino continuously struggles with this idea and seeks to seek an answer by hanging out with the “gang”, despite always being insulted and teased. However, he never manages to find an answer to his distress, and realizes that he would have to continue living his life while bearing this emotional turmoil.

My question is: do you think Freud’s theory is a recurrent theme in novels written during this era?

The Shrouded Woman

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Bombal’s Shrouded Women is a novel narrated by a dead woman, Ana Maria, who is also the main character of this story. The story begins with Ana Maria depicting the place where she is lying in and the people who are here to see her. Slowly, she starts to recount the memories from when she was alive: her first love with Ricardo, her reaction to her children’s marriages, her friend Fernando whom she describes how his love “humiliates her”, and finally reflects upon her marriage with Antonio (a man that she never loved). The most intriguing aspect of this novel is the way the story unfolds. It is told from a person who is dead but is still able to think, see. This choice of presentation allows for a very personal feeling, which enables readers to connect and understand the character from a more intimate level.The depictions of various events of Ana Maria’s life being combined with her reflections derived hindsight allows the book to be insightful.

There were two instances in this book that I found to be particularly interesting. The first one is Maria Griselda’s own perception of her beauty. Maria Griselda is characterized as the “loveliest” woman any one has ever seen, and many people adore her for this reason. One would expect Maria Griselda to take pride in this beauty, especially since men praise her and women envy her. However, her thoughts are entirely opposite from what one would expect. From Ana’s narrations, we learn that Maria Griselda suffered and how she barely received love from her parents. Furthermore she experienced a sense of loneliness particularly from her parents not being able to resemble her, especially as she feels she isn’t able to find any common feature where she is recognized as “a link in human chain”.

The other instance is Fernando’s response to Ana Maria’s death. Fernando was Ana Maria’s confidant, but he secretly adored her. He would always listen to what she has to say. He would even despise her husband on the surface but secretly envy his role. It was obvious that Ana Maria truly trusted Fernando as a confidant and appreciated his company. However, I was utterly shocked by Fernando’s reaction to Ana Maria’s death. Ana Maria expected Fernando to kiss her, but he only looked at her “fixedly”. He indifferently expressed how he feels that her death brings him peace, and that he even felt glad as he desired her death. Knowing the affection he had for the main character, it leaves me to wonder whether or not he really meant what he said.

My question for this week is why do you think Bombal decided to tell this story from the perspective of a dead woman?