Week 13, the semester is coming to an end, and it’s time to reflect. I think my biggest takeaway from this course is I was definitely wrong about books. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always respected the medium of literature, and known its importance, but nevertheless I just never cared for a novel, or rather I couldn’t care for one, as much as I would have liked to be a voracious reader as a child, books always evaded me and my attention span. This led me to believe books just weren’t for me, and that’s what I thought coming into this course. Reflecting back now, I can say with confidence my perspective has shifted. Although I am still definitely not a voracious reader, I have gained a new-found appreciation for literature, and the experience it provides. I still find it hard to sit through a book, and continue to find myself skipping lines and going back any time I read something, but through this course, and the conscious effort I believe I have tried to make, I have been learning how to appreciate literature more effectively, how to immerse myself into a book, the way I could a movie. Moreover, through all the blog posts, and interactions with my peers, although I was never the most talkative, I have picked up a new respect for the fervour a book can provide. I understood this even more while reading If on a Winter Traveller’s Night, as this book made me step back and think about how transcendent and therapeutic literature is. My favourite book in this course was probably Money to Burn, because of its strong themes, which I’m a sucker for. My least favourite book was probably Nadja. I found Nadja, and Combray for that matter too, quite hard to understand and relatively arduous to read. Additionally, I’d like to mention my appreciation for the entire teaching team. I remember being quite anxious of Professor Jon on the first day, as he seemed quite an experienced, no-nonsense teacher, which are qualities I admired, but I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I think now I can say I was both right and wrong, because, as much as they pushed us to keep to the work, I was consistently inspired by the intensity and comfort I found in our classroom. Especially as someone relatively introverted, I appreciated how inviting and respectfully discoursive this class was. In closing, I’d like to ask – what did you imagine when you first signed up for the course, and did it live up to that?
Week 10: Money to Burn
Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia, is a fictional novel blending crime and social commentary. The story follows the events of a real life bank robbery that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by a group of thieves looking to change their lives. We follow them and witness the aftermath of their crime, how they navigate life in a new city and with newfound riches, as the police catch up to them, as does their past. I expected a stereotypical, thrilling, yet predictable crime drama, and although in part it was, Piglia’s enthralling characterization and the themes of liberation, capitalist critic, and especially the poignant discussion it creates on the role of money in our society and the hold it can have on us, really encaptivated me. Furthermore, exploring the ideas of the duality of morality, with how he blurs the lines between the criminals and the police, in their brutality and selfishness. He shows us the idea that, firstly, morality can be so subjective. We see this with the torturous tactics employed while interrogating prisoners, where the police see this is as justified and normalizes, as they believe they are dealing with criminals who deserve to be treated as such. Moreover, the other side of this is the continuous hardship these criminals have faced their entire lives, such as with Dora, known for being troubled since he was a child. It’s obvious there would be resentment built against the system and the police force that are all seemingly antagonistic, and therefore it would feel it justified to disrespect the system. This duality, where both sides believe they are justified, is an extremely important concept that perpetuates these systems of violence and oppression. Additionally, I believe this also raises an important discussion about the identity and labelling of criminals, and criminality, and how criminality is a cyclical systemic problem. Piglia also explores the extremely important topic of the value of money and essentially one of the greatest pitfalls of capitalism. Most explicitly, we see this towards the end when the group burns the loot from the heist. This act was supremely metaphorical in the sense it was as if they were liberating themselves from the shackles of capitalist society, so dependant and driven by the chains of money. The themes explored in this book are some of my favourite. I’m usually not the biggest fan of crime thrillers, but I enjoyed this book especially for its exploration of the ramifications of socioeconomic differences in life and how reality and morality can be supremely subjective based heavily on context.
Question: What is your perspective on the topic of criminality being a systemic problem? Did this book evoke the same thoughts for you?
Week 8: If on a winter’s night a traveler
Italo Calvino, author of ‘If on a winter’s night a traveler’, is probably the most unique book I have encountered till date. Although not a terribly hard read, the book entails a unique style of dual narration. The book begins with a rather direct, second-person narration of what the reader is doing and feeling while finding, picking-up, and starting to read this book. In all honesty, at first I was pretty confused by this. I had no knowledge or background about this book other than that it entails multiple different chapters, which are all different to each other, and lack a normal narrative connection. This led me to question whether this was even the actual introduction, or some kind of foreword/preface that was implemented differently in this case. I was wrong, and I realized this rather quick. Upon further reading, the humour, personality and relatability of the writing hit me immediately. I won’t say I resonated with the descriptions and emotions of going into a bookstore, or even reading a physical copy for that matter (I read this on my laptop), but nonetheless, I was intrigued. Calvino’s style of narration, a special blend of humour and a charismatic personality, aids the reader in falling into the lines of the book, like Calvino would want us to. This leads to a key point about the book – it is written for readers by a reader, depicting, in-part, what it means to be a fan of reading, chasing complete stories. The book essentially follows us the reader, and Ludmilla, another reader, on a quest to find the complete versions of the chapters we start reading, the book they have started reading. Maybe this is a metaphor for how people seek refuge in books, using stories as an escape for their reality, instead seeking ‘completeness’. In saying all this, I feel in essence this book is an exploration of the relationship between author, reader, and the narrative itself. I felt disconnected in the representation of a reader and how they would feel, because I have never been a reader in those situations. But this was reconciled by the fact that these themes and ideas are not unique to literature, but rather in all art, the conversation about the relationships between the medium, the author, and the audience is always imperative, and I could draw clear parallels to other fields, such as movies, where I have felt and had similar if not the same emotions and thoughts. Additionally, it can be argued this is intentional. Calvino is well aware of the fact that his depiction of the reader is rather specific, and therefore there is a disidentification where there is also explicit identification. Calvino is spoon-feeding us what we need to imprint ourselves into the book and become the character, while also consciously reminding us that we are a separate entity – the reader. The biggest strength of this book for me is how Calvino seamlessly blends reality and fiction. The book both explicitly creates the boundaries needed for these two ideas to exist independently, while also breaking this down and blurring the lines of what reality is. In a world where popular and iconic tropes and narrative ideas have been wrung to death, I found this to be somehow familiar, yet refreshing.
Question: Are there any other books, or other pieces of work, which remind you of this, and why?
Week 7: The Time of the Doves
The Time of the Doves, originally published in Catalan, written by Mercè Rodoreda. On introduction to this book, I was reminded of a short story I had studied in high-school – Old Man at the Bridge by Ernest Hemingway. Immediately apparent why, this short story follows a solider during the Spanish civil-war, as he encounters an old man attempting to escape the brutality in his small town by making the arduous trek across a pontoon bridge, into Barcelona. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, while not loving it, I thought it was an interesting read. The style of narration of this book was very captivating and associative. The book follows Natalia, the protagonist, as she narrates her life, one thing after another, constantly building on the last thought. The basic plot follows Natalia, as a young woman, in Barcelona during the Spanish civil-war. The story offers a look into the struggles of survival, resilience and grief during the war and how a woman with children would attempt to navigate this. It’s a story of the melting of the political and the personal, how war and strife affect people. Natalia is a simple woman and this is evident from the first few pages. Natalia’s narration in the beginning is uncomplicated, yet descriptive. It is important to note that Natalia’s uncomplicated narration does not indicate a lack of quality from the author, rather the opposite. Despite having simple narration, Rodoreda does an excellent job of keeping the reader hooked and following the story. Furthermore, we see this maintained throughout the story, where Natalia consistently attempts to just roll with the punches. This is certainly a story set during a war, not one of the army and its battles, but one of the populace and its battles. This choice of the author, to represent the reality of the struggles of the people, further manifested itself in the ignorance of people, even in the face of war. Overall, this book is one chocked-full of heart-wrenching emotion.
Question: Did you appreciate the narrative style, how we follow the flow of thought of Natalia, or do you prefer something we encountered in a previous book?
Week 6: Black Shack Alley
Black Shack Alley, a book by Joseph Zobel, is the story of a young boy navigating the struggles of childhood, in colonial Martinique. I especially enjoyed this book for its ability to weave intricate descriptions and exciting moments, capturing the essence of adolescence and its inevitable transition into adulthood. The novel is predicated on its portrayal of life through the eyes of children. Their playful adventures, vividly described, resonate with a universal understanding of childhood exploration and joy. However, these experiences are more than just mere fun embellished with vivid imagery, the children’s interactions and experiences shape their understanding of themselves and their place in the world. This book tackles many difficult themes such as colonialism, oppression, class struggle, and the difficulty of growing up. Black Shack Alley doesn’t shy away from portraying the harsh realities of poverty and the suffocating grip of colonialism. José and his friends are constantly struggling to make ends meet, and they are often exposed to violence and crime. The novel also explores the impact of colonialism on the people of Martinique. The French colonial government is portrayed as being corrupt and exploitative, and the novel shows how colonialism has had a negative impact on the lives of the black people of Martinique. This focus on the oppressed, rather than the oppressor-oppressed dynamic, allows readers to fully immerse themselves in the struggles and resilience of the community. However, Zobel doesn’t paint a bleak picture of despair. He celebrates the rich cultural tapestry of Shack Alley, highlighting its beauty, joy, intricacy, and diversity. Despite their hardships, the community fosters a sense of belonging and connection, offering solace and strength to its members. Another theme highlighted in this book is intergenerational connections and how we are so heavily related to our parents. Growing up involves recognizing ourselves in our parents, tracing our own beginnings to their stories and forging our individual paths as the story continues, but it is imperative to consider that, children inherit not only their parents’ genes but also their experiences and struggles, carrying forward a cultural lineage while embarking on their unique journeys. Overall, I found this to be one of the most interesting reading thus far. The topics and themes of colonialism is something that has been of interest to me for a long time, and it was wonderful to see them being represented in such a manner.
Question: A lot of us come from countries and cultures that were previously colonized or oppressed in some form. What similarities or differences did you notice with the portrayal of oppression and colonialism here in comparison with your lived experiences and what you know of your people’s history?
Week 5: Agostino
Agostino, a novel by Alberto Moravia, is the coming of age story of a young boy, with his widowed mother. Set on a beautiful sunny beach in the Italian summer, this book explores themes of loss, angst, youth, innocence, sexuality and the complexities of trying to understand the world around you. Infatuated with his mother, Agostino has to grapple with the loss of his mothers’ attention, attempting to fill this hole by befriending an aggressive local boy and falling into the cycle of trying to prove himself to them. The key characteristic of this novel is by far its imagery. Moravia has mastered the art of creating a beautifully descriptive, yet simple world, serving as a supreme depiction of the power of his imagination. From the first paragraph, Moravia’s captivating descriptions of both the locations and the protagonists emotions are extremely compelling. The picturesque nature of the book serves, in some part, to help reduce the level of discomfort one experiences at times during this book. Agostino’s sexual awakening throughout the course of this summer, both with his mother and with the group of boys, is one of the key aspects of his growth. His lack of experience and knowledge is a key point, both with him struggling to understand the emotions he feels for his mother and with the group of boys. All of this is extremely important in Moravia’s portrayal of sexuality and the angst of the protagonist in trying to navigate his confusion while attempting to portray himself as confident and tough, so as to fit in with the other boys. Moreover, the changing nature of his sentiments towards his mother, and how it changes after discovering the world of sexuality, leaves Agostino in a state of conflict between his emotions of attraction and repulsion. This reflects the mixing of innocence and corruption, and how he is losing his innocence, a universal experience for all. The taboo nature of these themes and the manner in which Moravia explores them serves to effectively reflect the experience of being a growing adolescent. Additionally, the reflection of the disparity between classes and their experiences is illustrated through Agostinos relationship with the boys. This book is filled with powerful, yet sometimes unsettling, imagery, which serves to create a wonderfully enthralling atmosphere and reading experience. Overall, I really enjoyed this reading.
Question: How would you describe your adolescent years? Were they at all similar to Agostino’s experience?
Week 4: The Shrouded Woman
Book 3 of the semester and I feel like it’s starting to get good. I found Proust and Breton to be overly complex, needing a lot of rereading and reflection, however, The Shrouded Woman by Maria Bombal was an enthralling narrative, filled with beautiful imagery, oozing emotion. I found myself lost between the lines from the very first paragraph, a unique experience for me which I hope to find myself in again. All 3 books remain connected in their use of reality, its reflection.
The author’s style of narration, mixed with their beautifully ornate imagery, serves to create an extremely subversive world, it’s extremely easy to find yourself fitting into the protagonist’s shoes, feeling the emotion she would have felt. For me, that is the biggest strength of this book. The evocative nature of the narration creates a beautifully complex, yet simple study of tragedy and suffering, while immersing the reader in a world of whimsy and raw emotion. Furthermore, this is coupled with a secondary reflective style of narration, where we see Ana Maria reflecting on her tragedies and soaking in the emotion, and this is an important technique that the author continues to use throughout the book to show us a sense of beauty in death due to its reflection of life. Moreover, it also adds a layer of pain and difficulty for the reader, as it is reflective of Ana Maria being aware of her enduring suffering.
One of the most interesting aspects of this book was the sheer misfortune of her life and the incessant nature of these struggles, and how this is still, but, a rendition of the adversities faced by women, especially at the time. This is another recurring theme throughout the story, and a rather strong one, where Ana Maria, and the other women, are depicted as weaker than and unequal to their male counterparts, be it her father or the other men in her life. Moreover, this callousness from men is further represented through her explanation of how men prioritize themselves and their work, leaving little room left for the women in their lives. Additionally, it cannot be understated the pivotal nature of her lack of control in all her relationship.
In conclusion, The Shrouded Woman is a beautiful tale of love and loss and a extremely poignant reflection of the inequalities faced by women both in love and in life and the impact of this. Overall, I found the plot to be a fun and unique take on these themes and plot points. Also, I found the authors’ narration of the protagonist going through the motions of emotion to be extremely moving.
Question: The author’s understanding of the female perspective is clear here, but what of the male perspective? I found it that the author had some extremely profound bits of reflection on the male psyche and its place in this scenario. Would you agree?
Week 3: Nadja
Nadja, by Andre Breton, the second work published by the author, originally published in French, is one of the prominent works of the French surrealist movement. One of the first things that struck me about this book was the style of narration, how it was magniloquent yet foreign. My initial reaction was to chalk this down to being a virtue of the text being a translation, with meanings and intentions being lost in the process. I maintain that this possibly affected the narration, but as I read on, it struck me that this was but the nature/style of the book. Nadja starts off with Breton having a philosophical reflection, wrestling with the question “Who am I”. This leads into an almost factual exposition of Breton’s philosophy, his influences, etc, lacking a clear, explicit explanation for any of it, leaving the reader in a state of limbo, with one foot in the boat, having an idea of what Breton is talking about here, and the rest of your body on the dock, trying to piece together where exactly this dock even is. In further trying to understand Breton’s intention with Nadja, and the seeming incoherence of the writing and structure, namely the contextless, episodic and almost factual narration, the seemingly haphazard page breaks and placement of photographs, all feel intentional in trying to induce and immerse the reader in the ‘surrealist’ ideal. Similar to my thoughts on Combray last week, these authorial choices ultimately culminate in the reading experience emulating a dream, where it’s effectively impossible to control the narration and its flashy episodic nature, while also experiencing vivid, evocative visions. Breton first meets, and the book first introduces the character Nadja in its second part. Nadja is said to be Breton’s personification of surrealism. We see this through the nature of their relationship, the initial infatuation with Nadja, moving to a continued obsession, evolving into a detached fondness and culminating in the relationship being no more, and also through her general depiction in the text and how her enigmatic drawings are used throughout the book with various captions. Especially in terms of their relationship dissolving, it starkly reflects the notion that Breton was himself scared of ‘sacrificing’ himself to an ideology/woman that he could not conceive as logical. Overall, Nadja dances the line of novel or biography. Additionally, Breton’s use of real names of historical auteurs and acquaintances adds a level of relatability and context to the text, allowing you to better place and picture the descriptions. Nadja was a fun and unique read, which I found to be an important and memorable dive into the world of surrealism.
Question: After reading Breton’s cautionary tale with surrealism, where would you place yourself in terms of your relationship with surrealist ideals and moreover surrealist art and literature?
Week 2: Combray
Combray by Marcel Proust, the first text I have ever encountered of such a descriptive, narrative nature. I found the book especially hard to consume due to, what I found to be, increasingly complicated and elaborate descriptions of the world. This took form in the shape of extremely long sentences, heavy use of adjectives and extreme world building. These characteristics made it especially hard for me to maintain my focus on the book, therefore I had to read over the same part multiple times and various parts to understand and reorient myself in terms of the story. This created a sense of urgency in the text for me, where I felt as if the slightest of breaks would make me completely lose my sense of context in the story. However, this type of narration also helped immerse me in the idea of these descriptions being the ramblings of someone describing their memories. Although this is what makes this reading exceedingly hard, I found the ability of the author to elicit the emotion that one experiences when listening to their friend go on and on about a dream they had, this sense of organized chaos/misconstrued coherency, in my opinion, to be one of the most important and innovative aspects of the book and the type of narration it entails. Ironically, the narration at the beginning of the chapter, where the narrator describes the confused state he wakes up in, perfectly encapsulates what one feels while reading this text for the first time. Overall, I found this text to be extremely interesting in terms of, how the author depicts what can now be considered a rather overdone theme of memories. This text approaches it from a unique perspective of self-awareness, with grandiose descriptions, and extreme care and attention to the contextualization and world building. The highlight of this text for me was the undeniable evidence of Proust’s mastery over the medium. His use of extravagant verbiage and elaborate descriptions, although confusing and complex, ultimately paint a picture and immerse the reader in the story’s world uniquely.
Week 1: Introduction
Hi, my name is Prathyush. This is my second year at UBC in the faculty of arts. I plan to major in History, with a minor in Law and Society. I’m an Indian international student from Dubai, UAE with an unwavering passion for all things art. My favourite things to do are larp as a cinephile, and listen to every possible kind of music under our sun. Through this course, I am hoping to broaden my horizons and expand my passion for consumption into the field of literature. Prior to this course, and as I write this, I would not call myself a reader. I am hoping to change this and foster, a hopefully, undying love for reading and novels. I am currently a huge fan of comics, manga and more generally all kinds of graphic content, evidently lacking a strong connection to the literary medium. This background allows me to enter this course with a sense of where my taste and sensibilities lie, with the goal of building on this and learning how to navigate the extensive world of literature, primarily narrative. As for my background as a reader, historically I was never one to pick up a book through my own will and motivation, usually requiring external stimuli (my parents or teachers) pushing me to read and expand my vocabulary. This has created a negative relationship of sorts, with reading, for me, where I only read when I am required to. I have long tried to find the internal motivation to pick a good book on a rainy day and read at least a chapter or two, but have been consistently unsuccessful in this endeavour. Through the ‘choose your own adventure’ portion of the course, I am hoping to combine the pressure of coursework with a passion for growth, arts and culture to, at the very least, change my relationship with reading. With regard to the first lecture, there were two points that stood out to me – firstly, the question of what is the romance world and second, the similarity between the perception and versatility of the romance languages and the various languages found across India. When posed the first question, my initial thoughts were – France, Italy, Spain? However, after watching the lecture, I am now privy to the deterritorialized nature of the romance world and how the ‘romance world’ is more a product of freedom of expression and is shared by cultures and languages everywhere. Moreover, this correlates with the interconnectedness of many of the European languages, such as France, Spanish, Italian, etc, and how fluency in any one of these languages can allow you to communicate with someone with fluency in another. This is similar to the interconnectedness of languages across India, where how fluency in Hindi, for example, can allow you to communicate with someone only fluent in Punjabi or Urdu. This concept heavily coincides with the idea of the romance world existing in a plain above our conventions of geographical and linguistic borders/barriers, and more as a testament to our innately human ability to express ourselves and our emotions, rather than products of our race, nationality, gender, etc. I am extremely excited to approach these works from both the lenses of pure expressionism and as products of their environment, and therefore debate the influence of these perspectives.