Category Archives: puzzle

April 4, 2022 · 12:05 am

Agualasa; the dreams that built tomorrow

In “The Society of Reluctant Dreamers” by José Agualasa, he creates a world within which dreams are clues to the future, a place where all the potential tomorrows of humanity are housed. Written in the backdrop of civil war, political and social unrest in Angola, Agualasa gives us a glimpse into a part of the world that history often ignores, and the modern day person associates with poverty and conflict. 

The central notion and significance of dreams in the book was fascinating to read about. His ideas of dreams are in direct conflict with Freud’s account, which places dreams as figments drawn from the past, retrieved  from the  corners of the mind to understand one’s unfulfilled desires. They are figments of our imagination, critical fabulations of our minds. Popular and traditional wisdom holds that we dream either of what has already happened or what is imaginary. To dream can mean to desire a future, but we certainly cannot dream the future itself. 

In the context of Angola, with a dark history of Portuguese colonization, the idea of “dreaming” holds a symbolic and literal value. In mundane conversations with an ex-veteran (Kaley), the impact of the distress and chaos that grips Angola is relevant. He says “Sure, the Portuguese colonialism came to an end, but we aren’t any freer or any more at peace” (32). It is evident why premonitions and the ability to dream a future become a function to evade the constant pessimism and the increasing loss of hope that grips citizens. The Republic of Dreamers, brings into question how dreams can be functional, political and put to use. 

We see this manifest in the book, where it’s evident all Angolans dream about defeating and overthrowing the authoritarian leader. On the last few pages, there are images of a crowd surging forward at the city palace, towards the soldiers – the utopia of bringing to life the common man’s dream demonstrates  “that there is something more powerful than a gun” – an element of the human condition and our ability to dream. 

In sum, the “dreamers” of Agualusa’s book are not limited to those who experience premonitions and future events while they’re asleep, but also the idealists and liberals who dream of Angola becoming “a free, just, democratic country”, instead of one in which an authoritative  government reigns and inequalities prevail in every nook and corner. My question is, whether you agree with my concluding observations or if you think the dreams served a different purpose altogether in the book?

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March 7, 2022 · 10:49 pm

Perec’s “W or The Memory of Childhood”; inconclusive evidence on why I enjoyed the book so much..

For reasons that are not entirely within my grasp, W or the memory of childhood was one of my favorite reads this semester. The duality of the narratives and the two parts of the books had a unique sense of a surprise element to them. While reading the book, especially as the narrator tries to recount his childhood, I felt as though I was unlocking the puzzle of his life with him. 

The fragmented and unstable nature of the narrator’s memory really appealed to me in the book. The narrator seemed to be on a quest where he was negotiating with his mind, and it’s ability to hold memories. On page 42, he articulated an essentially reflexive feature of why he chose to write in order to re-trace his childhood memories, and it’s a quote that stuck with me from the book- “ I write because they left in me their indelible mark, whose trace is writing. Their memory is dead in writing; writing is the memory of their death and the assertion of my life.” There is a powerful sense of agency in Perec’s account of remembrance, and the way he chooses to build his memory. His writing taught me that the gaps in memory, and the imperfection of remembering is itself a vital part of the process. 

The account titled “W” in the book, that is described as an island city governed by the spirit of the Olympics, begins as a euphemism to the brutal conditions that political systems create for citizens. Although seemingly distinct from Perec’s memories of childhood at first, we see the two accounts intimately intertwined with each other as we unlock the horrors of World War 2 in Perec’s account and the brutal conditions of survival in the land of “W”. All games, in essence, where the powerful actors exert control for resources for the common man, can have deadly consequences. 

To conclude, the two accounts are not a master-class in symmetry, nor do they have a connection that is obvious and pleasant to its readers. Nevertheless, they teach us important lessons in how connections can be made across different epochs and socio-historical circumstances, and the missing puzzle pieces of memory that we seek to find may not make a perfect whole, but a fragmented mosaic. They teach us that after all, we’re all human, with a set of undeniable failings and pitfalls. 

Food for thought: 

I am interested to understand how readers perceived the impact of war and catastrophe on Perec’s recollection of memories, and his writing in general?  

 

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