Author Archives: pliego

Conclusions RMST 202

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Conclusions RMST 202

Well here it is, the final blog post of this class. Before I start, I want to say thank you to the professor and to both the Tas of this class and also to all the people who took this class alongside me. My first blog of this class talked about how I am not much of a reader and how I decided to take this class as a challenge to myself by pushing me into reading much more than what I was used to, as getting more into reading was one of the things that I wanted to do more. After 11 novels I can definitely say that this goal was definitely accomplished. 

I wanted to mention a few things that I liked about this class, with the first one being the format of it. I like the idea of having a contract which you have to fulfill as this makes the entire thing easier to manage as from day one you know what you are going to have to do for each week of the course. Another thing that I liked is the novel selection. There were some books that I struggled with and some books that I did not understand fully yet it was nice to have this mix of linear timeline stories with novels which did not have a story at all. It made the class much more interesting as you did not know what you were going to read each week as all of them were different. Last thing that I liked a lot was the fredm you had. You knew that you had to create a blog post, but there was no specific way on how to do it ro what to talk about in the blog post which I think is a great thing as you get people that write blog posts with completely different ideas than yours even though you read the same book. 

I decided to take this class as a literature requirement and did not have much expectations from it, but I can say that I enjoyed it and I am very glad that I chose this class as my literature requirement as it brought much more to me than I expected. 

As a question from my last blog, I would like to know what was the thing that you enjoyed the most from this class?

 

Thank you all.

The society of reluctant dreamers, Agualusa

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The society of reluctant dreamers, Agualusa

I Think this book could be considered surrealist because it brings things that are not real into reality, in the way that Daniel is able to speak with different people throughout his dreams which is a thing I enjoyed a lot. Another thing I liked is how you can tell this book is much more modern than other ones we have read, due to it talking about events that as said in the lecture video did not take place a long time ago. But also there are things in the book that point to a world much closer to how it is today rather than books that were written many years ago, which is a thing that made this novel more interesting to me. 

I was amazed by the idea of a machine that is able to represent dreams as I believe that is something that we are far from being able to develop in the real world and that brings us back to surrealism and how Agualusa plays with these things and stuff that happened in the real world. This idea of having a story that is involved in some way with stuff that happened in the real world it’s something that we have seen before in both Amulet from Bolaño and  Soldiers of Salamis from Cercas. This idea of having history mixed with other things to make a different story I believe works quite well and I like it a lot. Especially in this book with the addition of what I believe is surrealism. 

Overall I think the story line from this book could be the best one we have seen so far as it involves a mix of things like history, a fictional story and the addition of dreams which I think is a thing all of us experience but that has so many things that can be explored about them  and I think Agualusa manage to take advantage of this perfectly. Even though I watched the lecture video I felt a little too out of context in some of the things that were happening through the book with all of the war in Angola. And I think I would like to have more knowledge about the topic before I read the book but overall I enjoyed this novel. 

My question for this week is if you were able to relate anything from this novel to the novel we have read before in the semester and if so, what?

Soldiers of Salamis, Javier Cercas.

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Soldiers of Salamis, Javier Cercas.

I want to start by saying how much I enjoyed the title of the book, which I’m not sure if it makes a lot of sense with the story but I still like the way it sounds. 

My thought about this book is that I enjoyed this week’s novel and I think that was due to the way the story is told. I feel like I have enjoyed books with actual storylines much more than those that do not have one. Because of this, I enjoyed this novel. Another thing that I liked about is how the novel goes on talking about actual Spanish history and how it is correlated with a story that has fictional things mixed in with it. The fact of including real people’s names and facts into the novel I believe makes it much more interesting as you feel like you are involved in the Spanish civil war, even though the complete story might be fictional.

I also liked how the book is spread into three different parts as I believe that gives it a lot more structure especially compared to last week’s reading which led to little moments of confusion trying to follow the story accordingly. I also want to compare this novel narration to Auxilio from last week’s book. I believe that Javier in Soldiers of Salamis is a much better narrator as he is more accurate with the things that are going on compared to Auxilio. Which as said before is a thing that I liked about this book. 

I could see part two of the book being a little boring but I’ve always enjoyed war time stories and because of this, this part of the book was rather enjoyable for me. Even though I liked part two of the book, I think part three is where the whole story comes to life and it makes up for the best part of the book in my opinion. 

Going back to the narrator, for this week’s blog I want to ask if you think there would be a difference in the story if the narrator’s name was another name rather than the author’s name Javier Cercas? And why do you think that the author chose his own name as the name of the narrator rather than another name?

Roberto Bolaño, Amulet

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Roberto Bolaño, Amulet

I thought I would give a little context before writing what I thought about this book. So, I am Mexican and I have lived my entire life in Mexico City where this novel takes place and I can say that a lot of the things that talked about Mexico City in the novel have not changed much to this date.

Having said that I have to say that this might be the reading that I have enjoyed the most and that is entirely due to the way the book talks about the different parts of the city as well as how the books uses words in Spanish which are specifically used in Mexico City and not used as much in other places of Latin America or even other parts of the country. A good example of this is how the author uses the word “chido” which means great, but is not used a lot in places outside Mexico City (I actually use this word very often).

The story of the book did not seem as anything that fascinating to me and since the first half of the book I was able to guess what was going to happen at the end. But even with that, what made me really enjoy this book is the whole journey in which we go through Mexico City, with all the places the author describes. As those are places where I have been before. One specific thing that made me smile when I read it, was that the author mentioned a park called “parque hundido” which is a place where my parents used to take me when I was younger. 

I liked a lot how the author is able to introduce a part the history of Mexico with the killings of Tlatelolco in 1968 and glue this part of Mexican history to a novel that talks about different things. But as said before, the main thing that made me enjoy this book more and more as I read through it, was the journey in which the book takes us through Mexico City.

I find it very unlikely that someone in this class is going to be able to look into this book in the same way that I did and because of that my question for this blog is going to be about the structure of the book and if you liked the way the book goes into past and future stories rather than just having a linear timeline.

Manea

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Manea, The Trenchcoat

I do not have much to say about this novel as I felt lost throughout the whole book. It might be something that I missed at the start of the reading which then made me be lost through the reading but I just found it too confusing. I got lost between all the names on the books and all the conversations between the people which made me not enjoy the reading at all.

 

Even though i was very confused throughout the reading, I was able to pick up on the fact about the trench coat which at the firsts times it is mentioned, it is not a big thing at all and even though I tried to look for specific objects which might have more meaning for the novel other than their main purpose. I did not think of the trenchcoat being of big importance until later on the reading. 

 

Another thing that got me a little confused is about the character called “the kid” which i did not fully understand who he is and the fact of him being referred to just as “the kid” brought even more confusion to me than if he would have just been called by his name. 

 

Overall this was a very confusing reading for me and I was not able to understand everything that was going on. Even if it was very confusing, I will try to read as many blogs as I can and try to understand what was happening as I am very excited for Thursday’s lecture in which we will get to speak with Manea which is definitely an exciting thing. Because of all of this, my question for this blog is if anyone felt some bits of confusion over this novel and why do you think that was?.

Perec W or the memory of childhood

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Perec W or the memory of childhood.

I struggle reading this book and not specifically because of translation or aspects like that which has been the case with other books. I struggled because the book is a mix of two different stories which go back and forward and I believe this makes the book much harder to read. It reminded me a little bit of Combray on the way the book is set up with all of the going back and forward between different stories.  Overall I found this book being rather sad at some points which is something that I have been experiencing a lot with the books in the last couple weeks but even with that and the struggle to read it, I still enjoyed it.

Even though I struggled, there are huge things which I believe are rather important in the book. We have been talking in class about the importance of titles in books and I believe the title of this book is very important as the writer could have used “W and the memory of childhood” rather than using the word “or ”. This I believe is a hint onto saying that the two worlds or stories that he is explaining are the same or relate to the same thing. I had not thought much about the title of the book until after I finished reading it but I do believe there is some hidden meaning there. 

The fiction story or W talks about the sport events that happened on an island. But the island and sporting events I believe are tight together with the real story which are the memories of childhood from the second world war and concentration camp. This is shown even more at the end of the book with the last letter of someone explaining a concentration camp and how they used to have “sports” there, which I think is another hint towards saying that W is actually related directly to concentration camps and how people were treated there.

 

My question for the week is if you found the title of the novel being relevant or important to the story. As said before, I did not realize this until the end of the novel as I reread the title of the book again. But I think the title is hinting since the start about the correlation between W and the memories of childhood. 

The time of Doves, Rodoreda

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The time of doves, or as I read it La plaza del diamante.

 I had the opportunity to read this book in spanish which is my native language, and i have to say that it was a better experience than reading books in english, which even though, I understand perfectly being able to read the book in spanish made me understand much more of the lecture and be more in touch with what was happening.

I don’t know if i am the only one that feels like this, but all the readings we’ve done have touched rather deep or uncomfortable topics. With this week for me being how Natalia experiences all of the effects on war and especially the thought of killing herself and her kids due to them having nothing else to do.

But even with all those sad and uncomfortable things there are two things that I like a lot about this book. The first one is how we look at the events of a war but from a different perspective. We are used to looking into a war by looking into the soldiers that go into it and the big turning points that might end up deciding the war. But we forget about the normal working people who also feel the effects of the war in their home. Natalia is a perfect example of this, as the books show us not the soldiers fighting, but rather how it affects Natalia and her home and how bad the effects of war were on them. This is a perspective we are not used to hearing about but it’s definitely something that happens every time there is a war. The other thing that I liked about this book is even with all the struggle and bad things that war brings. At the end Natalia is able to find someone who she loves in Toni and the story finalizes with a happy ending.

The story did end up with a happy ending, which is a thing that I enjoyed the most about the book, but my question has to do with rather the sad or dark part of the story. With my question being if you think it was the correct decision to kill her children and if she would have actually done it.

 

Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse

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I want to start by saying that I enjoyed this week’s reading due to it being a linear storyline which makes it much easier to read but also by the fact that it is narrated which for me makes you feel much more in interaction with the reading and everything that is happening and because of all of this, I think that this reading has been my favorite one so far.

Onto the reading, I think this is a dark reading because of everything that happens and I personally experienced a lot of uncomfortable moments, especially at the last two chapters of the book. A moment that made me especially uncorftable is on page 126 when she is saying how Anne was very different from them, as she explians how they would’ve commited suicide diferently compared to how Anne did it and to me that paragrapgh seemed really cold as Cecile is talking about the death of someone and I felt she says it as if she does not even care.

Relating back to where I said that I felt that Cecile was really cold about all that happened. Also in the last chapter how they said they are not going to rent the same villa again but another one nearby. To me that just felt as if they did not care that much about all of that happening and were just thinking of what to do next year, which again to me seems very cold.

The reason why I think that Cecile thinks this way and is not that bothered or touched by someone’s death, is because of two things. The first one might be because of the death of his mother when she was younger and the second because she is still only 17 and thus might be a little too innocent or naive to understand the full event of what has just happened, although I could be wrong about this as I think that even though you could be considered still naive about a lot of situations at 17. The death of someone because of your acts is something that I believe must create some type of emotions inside you and not just be as cold as I believe Cecile is.

To finish my blog, this week’s question is whether you think that if the dad had introduced Anne more cautiously and slow to Cecile. If Cecile could have felt different about the entire situation and thus leading to a different story where Cecile is fine with the idea of him marrying Anne.

 

Agostino

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Moravia’s Agostino

 

This week the reading was a linear storyline which I can say was actually enjoyable as it makes it easier to read. I enjoyed the fact that it was a linear story, as I am not a big reader and reading like last week can get me a little bit confused.

 

This reading  was not as surrealistic as the ones before which I actually enjoyed. It did not have much of that fantasy stuff which I am a fan of,  but rather it was a usual story line, which even though we have been reading.  I am a little disappointed compared to what we have been reading. I enjoyed it a lot, to the point where I read it all in one sitting.

 

I enjoyed this reading because as said before I am not a big reader which causes me to miss some big things. But this one, I was able to keep up with the whole reading which made me feel good and actually enjoy the book compared to last week’s. I did not feel as attached to the reading and I think I know why. The whole thing about changing the way Agostino sees his mother did not entertain me as much but rather made me feel in discomfort. I enjoyed the whole interaction with the fisherman boat people. But the interaction with the mother did not make her see her as just his mother. But something else I did not enjoy is it made me feel rather a little uncomfortable.

 

I will say again that the factor of this being a one story line that was easier to read for me. Which was rather enjoyable as it allowed me to follow the whole lecture without much of a problem. And it was good but I would much rather go with last week’s reading even though it is a little more hard and nonlinear. much more enjoyable and a storyline which has you much more hooked into the story.

 

Because of this I would like to know If you enjoyed this week’s lecture more than last weks which did not follow a linear storyline. I personally, even though it was harder, enjoyed much more last week because I thought this week had much more of a sentiment impact compared to last week which did have an impact on me.. In the case that you did not read last week, I w9uld like to know if you like reading more than the other  weeks compared and I would like to know why. As I believe this story was a little bit more dark and sad compared to last, but it did follow a linear storyline I believe.

Thoughts on The Shrouded Woman by Maria Luisa Bombal

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Compared to the last two weeks, I enjoyed the reading much more this week and I think that has to do with the fact that this is a short novel which follows more of the traditional way a story is told. This book compared to last week’s did have an actual story which made it easier to read for me, which I enjoyed.

The fact that I was actually enjoying the book made me feel much more attracted to the reading and though the last half of the book I felt a necessity to finish it as fast as I could, which is something I don’t usually experience with books but that was very enjoyable. Although I did enjoy the reading very much, throughout the reading I felt sad and this is part of where my question for this blog is going to be.

I felt sad because throughout the reading I felt like even though the woman that narrates the book is already dead, I felt a little bit like that might be the feeling that someone that is very sick might have. These thoughts of reliving the most important moments of your life, I believe that those could be part of the thoughts that someone who is very sick might be experiencing. Throughout the book I was thinking how the narrator only mentions things that were important to her and not really stuff that is ordinary in our lives. She mentions all these different love stories which I thought she was remembering as those were the parts of her life that were important to her. Because of this I related the whole book to the life of someone that is very sick and that might be experiencing the last moments of their life which is the reason I got sad with this book.

Even with all of that i can still say that this is a reading that I like a lot more than last weeks and I wanted to relate my question to how I felt thought out the entire reading, because of that, my question for this reading is if anyone felt sad throughout the reading as I did or in the case that did not happened, if you felt any specific emotions reading this book.