Concluding Post!- Closing a Chapter

Hi everyone,

Time to write my concluding blog post. I have been feeling very sentimental about finishing my first year and the beginning of my post secondary academic journey. It really is the end of the beginning and I can honestly say that I am proud of how far we have all come.

Looking back on my introduction post, I mentioned that I took this course to satisfy my literature requirement. Although I have now satisfied this requirement I am glad I took this course for other reasons.

This course reignited my love for reading again. It has been refreshing to discuss books in an academic context that is somewhat relaxed and free of judgement. I mean relaxed in the sense that we communicate through less formal blog posts and comments along with class discussions. In addition, I think that sometimes in academia we feel pressured to say what we believe is correct or most valuable. However, removing this expectation helped reignite my love for reading because the course was more about exposure and contribution rather than what is correct. We just got to read and yap about books and I love that I had the opportunity to do that. It felt like a book club. This course also exposed me to other books I would have never read before and expanded my genre preferences as a reader, even through I didn’t love all the books we read. On that note, I think its important to be exposed to books that might be unconventional or less popular because it makes us better readers and this course allows us to remain within our comfort zone but also branch out through the choose your own adventure structure.

One improvement I would make is being able to offer smaller class sizes, for more discussion based learning. I know that this is not always possible but I was in the small class for the first time on friday and I loved it. We were able to have a much more personal and intimate discussion. I also loved how we were able to express our feelings about My Brilliant Friend through memes :).

Favourite and least favourite books:

I think my least favourite book was Swanns Way. I know that this is meant to be a classic novel loved by many but I just found it incredibly difficult to read and remain engaged

My favourite books this semester were Mad Toy and My Brilliant Friend. I think these were also my favourite lectures as well. I related to some of the characters on a personal level and that made it easier to read the novel. Over the break, I will be reading the rest of the My Brilliant Friend series and watching the HBO series.

I have really enjoyed this course and have a great summer,

Nadia 🙂

Is Lina a Girls Girl? – Female friendships on My Brilliant Friend

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Hi Everyone!

Last book of the semester, congrats to everyone for almost making it to the end!

This week I read My Brilliant Friend written by Elena Ferrante. I think this book lands in my top 3, along with Arlt for sure. This book discusses themes of friendship, class, poverty, love, relationships. It is truly a bit of a classier coming of age novel, that is also very realistic.

I think the most realistic and relatable aspect of this novel was the friendship between Lina and Elena. When I was growing up, I had a best friend who had immigrated from Italy. We were inseparable as children but as we grew older she no longer wanted to pursue school, and had different priorities. She wanted to return home after she turned 18 find a husband and start a family young, she never finished high school. We had different priorities, and I will always wish her the best even and know her well, even though we are not close anymore.

I think Elena and Lila’s friendship is similar because they start to have different priorities. Lila, even through she was incredibly gifted as a child starts to see her femininity, starting to pursue romance and a more traditional life style. Whereas, Elena realized her femininity as well but continued to pursue school. She continued to pursue school, despite feeling academically and physically inferior to her best friend. However, there was never any verbal altercation or manifestation of these feelings and thoughts . Lila never expressed that she thought Elena was less smart, pretty or wrong in any way. However, Elena fabricated this idea that she was inferior, based on other reactions to Lila’s beauty and relationships. Her community automatically values husbands and tradition and so this feeling of inferiority is placed on her by society and her community. She worries about her pimples, body image and lack of a love life but then tries to justify her life and mitigate this through school. She knows that school is something that she can succeed at, unlike Lila who intentionally failed out of school. She even begins to date Antonio a man who she is not really attracted to because she feels obligated to have a boyfriend, partially because Lila has a wealthy boyfriend Stefano. This discomfort is all in Elena’s head, and eventually Lila reveals her true feelings at her wedding while getting ready.

” You are my brilliant friend, you have to be the best of all boys and girls” (Ferrante 312). She then offers to finance Elena’s schooling. This shows that Lila does value Elena’s smarts. They are one of the things that she loves about her and she wants her to succeed. In the end, this proves that all of the uncertainty exists within Elena’s mind, and that although Lila may not show it in the best way, she truly cares for her friend.

I think this can be applied to many relationships, because oftentimes we feel as though people and society is working against us. When in reality, we are unaware of the full picture. However, this feeling of inferiority that Elena feels is relatable and realistic because of societies expectations. Therefore, I think we should all work towards being girl’s girls (supporting women) because Lila doesn’t seen like one but she actually is.

Thanks,

Nadia 🙂

Discussion Question: What is are your thoughts on Lila and Elena’s friendship? Do you think they were slightly toxic for one another?

The Book of Chameleons- Truth, Identity and the Impacts of History

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Hi everyone!

This week I read “The Book of Chameleons” by José Eduardo Agualusa. I am going to be very honest and say that I did not enjoy this book, mainly because I found it difficult to follow and mildly uninteresting. However, this book discusses important themes of identity, truth and historical impact.

One character who seems to be struggling with their identity as a person living in Angola is the main character Felix Ventura, as an Albino man living in predominantly African county, meaning that majority of its residents have a darker skin pigmentation. However, as an Albino man due to a genetic mutation, his skin lacks the pigment meaning that he is still a black individual but with lighter skin and other issues concerning things like vision. Being albino puts him at odds with those around him, as they do not accept him as a black individual but he wants to be accepted by a group so he consistently reassures his identities as a black individual. Somehow, it seems that those who are white (the colonizers) will not accept him because he is ethnically black and those who are part of the black community do not accept him because he is not considered “black enough”.

Felix says: “No, No! I’m black. Pure black. I’m Native. Cant you tell that I’m black? (Agualusa 18)”- (This is an example in which he needs to consistently reaffirm his identity as a black individual)

Therefore, he is stuck in a cognitively taxing state in which he does not know which group to belong to. I think this might be part of the reason why he fabricates false identities for others, to help them be who they want to be, to fit in and to find where they belong. He does this for Jose Buchmann in a way, fabricating new documents, photos and a picture perfect life, to cope with his own doubts and isolation.

However, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel in which Buchmann helps him find his long lost sister, and he seems to formulate more of his identity and familial connection once again. Knowing that there is someone out there genetically related to him, who he thought he had lost as a result of the war decreases this feeling of isolation that he attempted to mitigate through the fabrication of these new pasts.

How do the other characters identities change throughout the novel?

*This is a revision*

Thanks,

Nadia 🙂

Money to Burn-Screw Capitalism

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Hi everyone!

This week we read Money to Burn by Piglia. To start this book consistently reminded me of Mad Toy by Arlt that we read at the beginning of the term. It’s set in the same place, and the characters come from a similar socioeconomic backgrounds. To be honest I think I enjoyed Mad Toy more than Money to Burn but that doesn’t really matter. This book discusses themes of money, power, poverty, friendship, crime and relationships.

Let’s begin with what I liked about the book. I liked the message that the gang was unintentionally and intentionally conveying through burning the money. Honestly, money is a social construct that we created (although it is sometimes needed) and it is sad to see majority human interaction ( eg. working or going to the grocery store) revolving around money. This is what helps capitalism continue to grow and the rich become richer. The gangs idea to burn the money, even if it was initially a form of forensic counter measure, is basically them telling society and the rich to go screw themselves. In burning something that society is taught to place so much value on, they are breaking down societies fundamental ideas of what is acceptable. I can’t remember exactly where but kid is burning the money and he says ‘it would take a bank manager a month to earn this money’ or something like that. There unwillingness to obtain money legally, and their mocking of people who earn money the proper way shows that they did not commit these crimes for money, but rather for pure evil and desire. They are outcasts in the sense that they do not attach the same positive value to money, and this is almost impossible for the authorities and public to comprehend, they rip the fabric of society while the public and authorities attempt to sew it back together. Society is coached to think, why would you burn something so precious? Overall, this message made me hate the characters a little less because I sympathize with them from this perspective.

The thing I absolutely HATED about this book was its portrayal of women. There’s almost no depth to them as characters and they seem to be there just to serve these criminals. It seemed as if every time they were referred to they were objectified and instead of their names they were referred to as whores or some other derogatory term and it got exhausting. I understand the time period of the novel but still.

Discussion Question: What are your thoughts on the symbolism associated with the burning of the money? How might it have changed your perception of the characters?

Thanks,

Nadia 🙂

The Lover- What in the Wattpad?

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Hi everyone,

This week I read “The Lover” written by Duras. I quite enjoyed this book and it’s almost unique take on this sort of narrative. This book explores themes of relationships, power dynamics, wealth, love, and poverty.

Within the relationship dynamic between the young girl and an older man it is unclear who is taking advantage of who. Now, I am not saying that their relationship is okay because it was very illegal and the older man should have never started or continued to pursue a relationship with someone half his age. However, they both seem to take advantage of each other for their own personal benefits. The older man uses the young girl to satisfy his intimate and sexual needs whereas the young girl takes advantage of his riches and high socioeconomic status. From her perspective, it is clear that part of the initial attraction is his riches. They seem to provide a sense of safety and security that she lacks as a person in poverty and the older man uses this to his advantage through intimacy, and fancy dinners sometimes including her family.

The dinners with her family are interesting because they showcase how much the narrators family dislikes the older man and the idea of their relationship. However, they are insanely hypocritical and take advantage of his money at these dinners while showcasing their distain for him. The narrator does not acknowledge the presence of the lover at these dinner and follows the lead of her abusive elder brother. This demonstrates that she does not actually love him but she simply desires social and financial independence that she cannot achieve in her current situation. Similar to the narrator the family views the lover as a financial asset that can be taken advantage of.

Rumours of the affair spread, and her mother defends her but then privately reprimands her for running her chances of marrying a man from the colonies (presumably a white man as she is white as well). This can be translated into the stigma surrounding several interracial relationships but that a whole separate issue. Anyways, man’s father pressures him to break contact with the young girl and not to marry her. The narrator reveals that she agrees with the father, she doesn’t want to marry him and she just wants his money. The lover was distraught because he seemed to actually love her (no matter how fucked up that is) and he marries another girl, a Chinese Heiress. Later, the narrator begins a new life in France and they meet again. The lover confesses his eternal love for her and the narrator does not respond. This is the ultimate power move. Although she may be partially at fault of their relationship it showcases her maturity to understand that the relationship was wrong (and it also proves she was in it for the money) , but this is something that the lover has not fully grasped yet

Question: How do you think the narrator felt about the relationship as she has gotten older?

Thanks,

Nadia 🙂

Macabea and her uneventful life

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Hi everyone!

This week I read Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. I really did not understand this book at first, it felt kind of pointless and so I did not enjoy it. It discusses themes of life, death, love and meaning.

I would like to spend my blog post discussing the ending of the book, in which the narrator (Rodrigo S.M.) learns that everyone dies, even him after Macabea is hit by a BMW nonetheless. This is ironic as she is severely impoverished and the driver does not seem to care. Anyways, Macabea is a uneventful person, with an average life, a sub-par boyfriend and an obsession with hot dogs and Coco-Cola. However, this narrator who does not even know her decides to write about her life, thus providing an ordinary person with an Hour as a Star. In highlighting the ordinary, the author seems to highlight what is real and true for most people living in Brazil. I think this is incredibly important because oftentimes in novels, we are expecting to see some extraordinary character, with an incredible life story and a happy or climactic ending. However, Macabea does not fit this stereotype, but the author doesn’t really seem to care about her either, as he only gave her a (made up) name halfway through the book. However, in the end the narrator spend several paragraphs depecting and discussing her death, as if Macabea really began to mean something to him. As if her story became less meaningless and more meaningful as he became more invested in her ordinary story. In contrast, it is important to remember that he did not discuss the death of others in the same detail. This begs the question, what makes Macabea’s life more meaningful?

Now, in disscusing her death further, like I have previously said it is incredibly ironic that she is hit by a BMW and the driver even stop to see what has happened. I think this highlights the point that life looses some of its significance after death. It doesn’t matter if you were rich or poor, happy or sad, kind or cynical. Her death and her character highlight that human existence is solitary and that people are responsible for shaping their lives because we all die eventually. Then we enter some version of the after life if that’s what you believe. We all end up in the same place, just as the narrator realizes as he understands that everyone around him, including himself will die.

In lecture, we have talked extensively about if reading is meant to teach us something, and I think this novel is meant to teach us that it is important to discuss ordinary life as well. It is not meaningless if one lives a life of monotony without riches, because life is what gives meaning even though we should use life to its fullest extent. In a way, we are responsible for the trajectory of our own lives.

Discussion Question: What makes Macabea’s life more meaningful?

Thanks,

Nadia

Natalia? – Time of the Doves

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Hi everyone,

This week we all read Time of the Doves written by Mercè Rodoreda. I quite liked this novel even though I found it difficult to start, it discusses important themes about war, love, gender, life and family. I would like to discuss the main character, Natalia and her growth.

In the beginning of the novel, Natalia starts off as a young woman who does not have much control over her own life, and whose life trajectory is determined by whoever would ask to marry her. However, once she was married she didn’t seem to love her husband, and he used to father his children. At this moment in time, she accepted her fate and did not complain even though she knew it was wrong. Her husband’s abusive acts and the way she was treated by others around her meant that she was consistently used and objectified for the benefit of others like when she became responsible for the doves.

In the middle of the novel, her demeanor completely changes. Her focus becomes the children she never actually wanted. She swallows her pride, makes intense sacrifices, tries to find work and hustles to provide for her children. However, she is ultimately unsuccessful and even debates killing herself and her children as an act of mercy because they were miserable and I think she really did love them. Her actions and sacrifices in which she develops her character and becomes more autonomous demonstrate the consequences of war, outside of death itself. She proves that war really changes people, that conflict has profound effects on both her personality and actions that seemed virtually impossible. Ultimately, instead of simply being a wife after her husband’s death she becomes an independent mother who prioritizes her children and herself. I think that her husband’s death was transformative in this sense as it presented her with an opportunity to increase personal autonomy.

At the end of the novel, she begins to revert back to her previous patterns of becoming dependent on men. Unlike her previous relationship with Quiment, this marriage provides her with a sense of safety and autonomy. This marriage is thought of strategically (like Quiment), with her kids in mind. He marries him, because he is safe and will be a good father figure to her children, and he desires a family of his own. At her daughter Rita’s wedding, that seems slightly concerning because of her age the reader sees Natalia as truly happy, dancing with her son, in a happy marriage knowing that her daughter is loved as well. This idea is further exemplified when she is referred to as Senora Natalia, it becomes clear that she has matured, learnt many things and become an independent woman who others may look up to.

Discussion Question: What are some moments in the novel that are important to Natalia’s character development? Why?

Thanks!

Black Shack Alley – class and racism?

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Hey everyone!

This week I read Black Shack Alley written by Zobel. I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I have enjoyed the other reading material in this course. I found it a bit slow to start, but I found it interesting in regards to the way it discusses themes of race, class and growing up.

I think something worth noting is that the racism that the people of Black Shack Alley accept the racism they endure, and it has become normalized. For example, when Jose visits villages he notes that all of the people living in impoverished areas are people of color. Or when working for a beke in Petit Fond as a slave was considered a good job. As Jose grows older, if it wasn’t for his education, he would have viewed this hierarchy as a way of life and would not protest because he wouldn’t know any different. His education gave him the opportunity to understand that he is not racially inferior and that he can be as smart as his white classmates. Despite this, there are still systemic things created to work against him like needing to do chores and wash dishes instead of playing outside and attending class like his friends. This novel displays instances of systemic racism before it was ever really discussed in modern mainstream media.

Furthermore, this novel also discusses class as Jose begins the novel as a lower class individual until Maman Tine sends him to school with the help of his mother. As he becomes more involved with schooling there seems to be an increasing divide between him and his friends in Black Shack Alley, as he doesn’t see them much anymore and they lack common interests. All of the people living in Black Shack live similar lives, as slaves to bekes and Jose has the opportunity to do something better. This showcases how much education can contribute to the people we are surrounded with and how it can divide classes further.As Jose becomes more educated his relationship with his grandmother also changes, she begins to show him more respect. Before attending school, she would consistently abuse him, this suggests that she views educated individuals as superior and worthy of her support, not love because she didn’t seem very loving. She never seemed to love Jose, but took care of him because she had to, and it was expected of her. However, she began to “love” him more, the further removed he became from Black Shack Alley.

Discussion Question: What are some of the other moments of blatant racism in the novel that seem to be accepted? Why?

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Hi Everyone!

This week I chose to read Agostino by Moravia. I think this was an interesting read, but it made me uncomfortable at times. It includes a lot of discussions about growing up, trauma and class.

In the beginning of the novel, Agostino is a high class child living with his mother, and he forms relationships with a lower class gang of teenage boys. At first, he is repulsed by their lifestyle calling them savages and wondering why they would choose to live that way. Later on, he becomes intrigued by them and has a desire to be accepted by them and the adult leader Saro. His transformation as a dynamic character is quite interesting and Saro is quite concerning. He seems to be a sort of father figure for these boys but he also takes advantage of them and their vulnerability. This is showcased through the scene when Agustiono took the boat with Saro and there were some uncomfortable moments and the boys would relentlessly torment Agustino about what could have happened on the boat. The fact that they thought this might have happened, shows that many of the boys had experienced it as well. Not to mention, Saro would make them steal and pocket the boy’s earnings but the boys, especially Hobbs, still sought out his approval because they viewed him as a father figure. All of these boys lacked a father figure and were particularly vulnerable and Saro took advantage of them. I think this can demonstrate a cycle of abuse similar to Ana Maria’s in The Shrouded Women in the sense that the boys continued to crawl back to their abuser because it felt safe.

Agostino’s friendship with these boys also encouraged him to explore his sexuality and masculinity . His friends begin to view women as objects of desire, and Agostino does the same as he begins to realize that it is acceptable and as a means to fit in with the group. He objectifies his mother, which is very strange and he is almost jealous of his mother’s lover because he wants his mother to love only him, and he also wants to experience what the boatman is experiencing.Throughout the novel, he feels as though he is becoming more of a man but his masculinity is damaged when he obtains money for the brothel, but is not let in because he looks to young and childish. However, they let in his friend Tortima and this is quite embarrassing for Agustiono because not only was he unsuccessful but a person who he thought was his friend cheated him and took his money. In the end, he returns home feeling defeated and emasculated and the journey that he was on to “become a man” in society’s eyes was unsuccessful because he is not sure if he is one.

Overall, I think this novel speaks volumes about what society views as masculine and how we should view women. It says a lot about how society objectifies women, but also how the objectification and sexualization of women makes men more masculine. This should not be society’s view.

Discussion Question: How does toxic masculinity relate to this novel?

Thanks.

Nadia 🙂

The Shrouded Woman- Wise words about life, death and love

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Hi everyone!

This week we all read “The Shrouded Woman” written by Luisa Maria Bombal. I found this novel difficult and slow to start and understand but it was a very interesting read. It is written from a very obscure perspective in which Ana Maria, the main character, is in a sort of purgatory. It took me a while to realize and understand that. This is an intense novel centered around memory, gender, life, death and love.

I think the novel was ahead of its time. There are moments in which Bombal is a raging feminist. She exclaims, “ Why must a woman’s nature be such that a man has always to be the pivot of her life?” (Bombal 226). She explains my feminist perspective perfectly. That women should not exist purely for the pleasure of men and that the existence of a man is not the center of a woman’s life. However, I found it interesting that she contradicts this idea through her thoughts and actions throughout life. She consistently mentions instances of abuse, objectification and hate for her husband because of his abusive attitude. However, she also mentions her love for him. I think this contradictory is a reality for many people in harmful relationships, as Ana Maria held on to her husband out of fear and necessity but I don’t think she ever actually loved him. She explains, “you made me discover the thrilling, sorrowful delight it could be to have a husband one might adore, detest… (Bombal 238). Her juxtaposition is interesting and I don’t think she loved him because he would have never initially doubted him at all.

Bombal also discusses important ideas concerning death, biologically humans are born with the need to symbolically live forever and Bombal explains a common human experience, death causes us to examine our own morality and recount our memories and experiences before we physically cease to exist. We might think about how others react to our death like the character sofia or what we imagine the afterlife to be. Nonetheless, through Ana Maria’s life the reader might realize that life only happens once and while we are living we try to experience it, but it is difficult and we have “already suffered the death of living”(Bombal 259) and do not feel the desire to live again. Although this is quite morbid I believe Bombal’s final message is this: life only happens once, it is a difficult and painful experience, live in the moment because death brings a sense of peace and an ending to the life that one lived.

Discussion Question: What else do you think Bombal says about death? How does it make you feel or connect to the book?