I apologize for the late blog posts! But anyways,

With that being said, I thought that Survival in Auschwitz was undeniably, a remarkable piece. Not going to lie though, upon initially reading it, I was definitely a bit spooked.. like in the sense of, “whoa, this is a dark read.” Prior to reading Levi’s work, I did have quite a bit of background knowledge on the Holocaust, and the genocide. However, finally getting the chance to read a primary account was really touching. I was able to better recognize the struggle of the Jewish people, how they were completely disregarded simply because of the fact that they were not of the Arian race.

What I would say best stood out for me, was Primo Levi’s unyielding strength. In spite of it all, he still managed to find something to believe in. He believed in a better world, and ultimately, I think that is what enabled his freedom in the end of it all. Strength like that, in a place like that? I find that greatly admirable. Levi’s piece was by far, one of the darkest reads we have done thus far, obviously for the fact being that this isn’t some fictional piece that we can just shed off… but rather, this is history. We are reading an account from a man who went experienced the unimaginable and came out on top. I think that Survival in Auschwitz was one of my favourite reads this entire year. In spite of the fact that it was heavy and at times graphic, I thought the message was remarkable. Levi doesn’t write this account as a means of getting sympathy in return, or even as a means of making the reader hate the Germans for what they did. He wrote Survival in Auschwitz for the sole purpose of educating the reader; helping one understand history in more depth.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I felt privileged having gotten to read it from an individual who exhibited such immense strength during the Holocaust. I think that Levi’s piece is one that I will never forget, and it has also taught me to never take things for-granted as well. Reading this first hand account was an eye-opener, which makes this one of the best, at least in my opinion, thus far.

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Regarding Borges and Daisy Dolls, I thought that his and Hernandez’ works were equally entertaining.

First though, I would say that Daisy Dolls was definitely a rather odd piece. The concept was no doubt intriguing, but I do think that at times, it had me feeling weird and eerie.. if that even makes sense. In some instances, I would say I found this piece to be rather sadistic, and the protagonist creating the scenes with the dolls a bit deranged, but nonetheless interesting. Hernandez definitely found a way to draw me back into the story time and time again. However in spite of Horatio’s odd, definitely weird ways, this piece is great. In spite of it being super strange and awkward, I did greatly enjoy it— and for whatever reason.. Horatio finds immense entertainment with dolls (I guess that’s respectable)…. to each his own I guess?

Now as for Borges, I’d say that he is one of the more complex and “deep” authors we have encountered. Now I say deep, mainly because of the Library of Babel. I found this to be my favourite Borges story, for the main reason that I thought the concept in itself, of a library carrying an infinite amount of books, some not even created yet, carrying each and every idea thinkable is truly remarkable. I found that this complex and revolutionary concept is what really drew me in to this particular story. I guess I just can’t seem to get over the whole idea of overlapping books.. of an endless abyss of books upon books upon books.. thoughts upon thoughts. Looking up several depictions of what this labyrinth of books would look like also didn’t help my obsession with this story and the way it would be in reality. Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this story a lot because of its idea. Not to say that Borges’ other stories didn’t intrigue me.. which they did.. but not nearly as much as this particular one did.

All in all, these stories are all intriguing and captivating in their own ways. They all have a rather strange and bizarre, yet enticing feature to them.. which is generally why I think they are so popular and renowned. The stories manage to convey a story that grasps the reader’s attention (like the Daisy Dolls and Library of Babel to me!) Thus, Daisy Dolls and the Library of Babel were of greatest interest to me.. probably because I enjoyed the concept and the peculiarity of their stories the most.