April 5, 2022 · 7:03 am

Concluding Post

I have to say, this course, which I mostly took to fulfill the lit requirement, ended up being one of the more enjoyable courses I’ve taken so far. Like most, I think that the course surprised me in what it was actually about, but ended up being a present surprise. I would have never read this many books and analyzed them and I am really glad I got the chance in this course. I especially appreciate the genre/variety in the book, because it’s not one that I had really ever touched on while reading.

It’s pretty hard to rank the books, I personally think that all of them had their pros and cons. I really enjoyed My Brilliant friend, but think that W or the memory of childhood might have been my favorite. Any of the novels that were clear and dealt with flashbacks of memory I found were really enjoyable. I can also say I have a newfound appreciation for memory-centered novels. I love the variety within the genre.

Overall, I really liked the class setup as well. I loved the structure and routine, how there were no surprises or big assignments that collided with other classes. I felt more relaxed, but still, feel like I learned a lot.

I think the class taught me a lot too in the sense that I could have never thought I would be able to finish a book in a week, let alone do that for a whole semester. Also, sticking to my contract I thought would’ve been impossible, but I’m glad I aimed higher than I usually would’ve. I overall feel accomplished and relieved that I made it.

My final question to the class is, where are your favorite novels in the course group in any sort of way by their themes? ex. war, memory, etc.?

Thank you to Jon, Jennifer, and Patricio for the course and for making it run so enjoyably and smoothly.

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· 1:00 am

My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante

This week I chose to read my Brilliant Friends. I really enjoyed this week’s reading and can say that it was really interesting to me. I felt that the story flowed really well and it was a pretty captivating story. I did think that some parts dragged on a little more than they should have, but nonetheless, it was overall a good story.

I found so many different themes in the text which I think is why I found myself to be so intrigued. Firstly, the relationships and the dynamics between characters shifting were really descriptive and entertaining. Through Lila and Elena’s relationship, in even just the years outlined there were so many struggles, yet the reader could almost feel the bond that they had. As well, although outlined a large portion of their lives, the text still came across as almost a coming-of-age novel in the sense that readers see these two friends grow and go through experiences together. i think this added some relatability to the text.

This is something else I really liked about the novel, I feel that Ferrante did a really great job of conveying emotions to the readers through the text and storyline. One part that I found especially true was when Lila was not able to go to school, while Elena was. I think that this really helped the reader to understand the background of the two girl’s relationship. As well, when Elena seems to be almost jealous over Lila’s looks when she starts to prosper. I think that this really showed the emotion in growing up together with a friend as they change, and again, I think almost all readers were able to feel those emotions.

Overall, I really enjoyed the text, I felt really interested in it and could not think of a better book to end the semester on! My question this week is, given the different strengths and weaknesses outlined of the two girls, did you find yourself relating to one more than the other? Do you think that this might have been a reason for Ferrante creating such a contrast between the two characters?

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March 27, 2022 · 11:15 pm

Soldiers of Salamis – Javier Cercas

I found this week’s reading to be intriguing, really informative and pretty emotional. I haven’t really ever known much about the civil war in Spain and I found that through the interviews and piecing stories together I was able to understand a lot. However, I felt that through switching through the three different “parts” of the novel that I got a little confused. I found that overall it was a good read and as I said last week, I’m really starting to appreciate stories that focus on memory and making connections between the texts.

I think an undeniable main theme of the novel is the battle between fact and fiction, and with having a lack of background on the history, this was even more true for me personally. I found what Jon said in his lecture really stayed with me while I read the text. “How much of what we are told here is conjecture or sheer invention?” I wonder if the author did this on purpose, meaning blurring the lines between the truth and imagination to keep his audience guessing and more engaged. I also really agreed with how Jon depicted the story telling as a “guessing game” between fact and fiction. I found this to be an interesting part of the story because in my  opinion, a story without any imagination doesn’t always engage it’s audience like I felt I was while reading Soldier of Salamis. I think overall this sort of “guessing game” aspect really added another layer to the story.

As I said in my first paragraph, I’m really starting to enjoy reading stories so focused on memory. I like how this text made the connection to our reading last week in speaking of Bolano, and it make me think back to some of the other texts we’ve read and compare them a little bit. Although all touch heavily on memory, they are all unique in their own way. As we read a few weeks ago, in Perec, those memories were altered from the trauma of a childhood, whereas here, Javier seems to almost blur the lines between the memories and fiction to add something extra to the story.

Given this, my question this week is would you rather read a novel that stretches truth and memory into imagination, or one that is guaranteed to be true to real events? And does this answer change at all depending on the type of text? (In this case a historical novel.

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March 20, 2022 · 12:16 pm

Amulet – Roberto Bolano

I found this week’s reading to be really captivating, and from reading some other blog posts, I think this is a fairly objective opinion. Personally, I didn’t have that much background education on Latin American history, and I found Amulet provided a lot of information on some really important moments. Another reason I liked the novel was the way the history was told and portrayed through memory, specifically memories significant to Auxilio.

Until taking this course, I had never read so many texts focused on memories, and am really starting to enjoy them. I think there is something specifically captivating about how individuals’ recollections differ and how they are altered by different characteristics of their lives. Specifically here in Amulet, Auxilio’s memories at the beginning seem fairly clear, occasionally irrelevant but nonetheless, depicted well for the readers to follow. As the novel goes on, it almost seems as though with the hunger and exhaustion of being stuck in the Univerity, that her memories start to become very “dream-like”, inconsistent, and growing more irrelevant to her current situation.

With her quotation at the beginning, starting with ” This is going to be a horror story…It won’t seem like that” I would defiantly say that I was expecting the novel to be perhaps a little more graphic, but the story itself still seems very traumatic, and I could never imagine myself being stuck inside a building for two weeks. I also really enjoyed the set-up of the text, I think the plot of Auxilio having nothing to do, but recalling her past allowed a lot of imagery and symbolism to be used to make the novel even more captivating.

 

My question this week is: Auxilio, even given her intense situation in hiding, talks a lot f her past with young writers, artists and friends. Why do you think this is? Do you think it poses any symbolism?

 

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March 14, 2022 · 3:47 pm

The Old Gringo – Carlos Funetes

This week I read The Old Gringo and cannot say that I cared for it too much. I found the plot and the storyline flowed well, however, cannot say that I was completely engaged with the content itself. I think that it was fairly easy to understand but the most interesting part of the plot was in the end when readers find out that the old man’s story is actually a theory of the disappearance of American writer, Ambrose Bierce. Overall I’m not exactly sure that I gathered the main message of the writing.

With that being said, I did find the characters to be intriguing and the differences they brought to the story. I think that Harriet’s place in the story was almost as if she was “along for the ride” but then became a pretty instrumental character that Fuentes touched on a lot. I was pretty disturbed at the objectification of her when Arroyo threatened the old man’s life and coerced her to have sex with him, as I think almost all readers would be. Her individual story in the text gives her the most “grounded” or “normal” feeling.

The old man or Bierce, I felt was an interesting character that I couldn’t completely comprehend. I think that in the description of his previous life, it seemed as though he lived a pretty full and eventful life, which made me wonder why he chose for it to end by joining the civil war in Mexico with the sole purpose of dying, that was a little strange to me in itself. Moreover, it was also very weird that he was sexually attracted to someone he later said was like a daughter to him.

Arroyo was my least favorite part or character of the novel and I think he was a pretty objectively bad person. However, without him, I don’t think that the realness of the Mexican revolution plot would have been present. I found it to be good for the plot when he was killed at the end and was definitely done to please readers, as I said, I think he was widely and consistently disliked.

My question this week is: Is there any circumstances in which you can imagine yourself doing what the old man did, in terms of going to Mexico to die in a “blaze of glory” or does that seem like something you would just hear of in a book or movie?

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March 8, 2022 · 12:11 pm

W or the Memory of Childhood – Georges Perec

I found W or the Memory of Childhood to be a fairly fascinating and enjoyable read. I felt that the story was interesting to follow, however, I cannot say that I find it flowed very well. Something as a reader that I find crucial is imagery and especially in a novel that focuses on memories and past events so much, I find that I am so much more engaged when I put myself in the character’s shoes. I thought this text brought these memories to life, even though in short bursts, or what could be remembered of them.

As intrigued by Perec’s voyage as I was, I found the blanks in the memories a little hard to follow at times. However, I have never read a book where the character could not remember their own past and found this to be a very interesting theme. I think that a lot of times when we hear of people not remembering big parts of life, especially childhood we almost think of them as “damaged” or there is a general understanding that they have been through something traumatic. This made me feel a sort of empathy towards Perec and feeling that he was really trying to find himself was kind of sad.

This novel and its premiss really made me think of the quote “ignorance is bliss.” As Perec’s childhood was surrounded by the second world war, it is completely understandable how traumatizing and difficult this must have been for him, especially as a child. Therefore, I think that he had these coping mechanisms in place and he had suppressed these memories and began to try and remember them less painful than they actually were.

My question is, do you think it is possible for someone to have no recollection, or very little of their childhood, especially when there are other vivid and traumatic memories?

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February 28, 2022 · 10:02 pm

The Passion According to G.H – Clarice Lispector

I can’t say that I really enjoyed this week’s reading as much as in past weeks. I felt the novel to be a little repetitive and a little boring I understand what Lispector was trying to do in the text however I don’t think the text flowed well enough or was at all captivating. I can appreciate the room within the text that allows for analysis and I do believe that the novel goes quite a bit deeper them the plot.

The novel follows the story of the previous day in the life of G.H. The wealthy sculptress finds herself cleaning out the room of her now ex-maid. She assumes that it will be a fulfilling task as she imagines it being messy and dirty. She is very surprised to find the room extremely tidy, clean, and empty. She describes the room as “a portrait of an empty stomach.” she begins to start overanalyzing the emptiness. She goes over to the wardrobe and sees a cockroach and kills it. GH is overcome with different thoughts and emotions. In the novel, it begins to feel like she’s overreacting to a pretty small event.

GH starts losing control and all of these emotions cause her to start questioning her being and send her into a spiral. I think that this is obviously part of a bigger issue within her life and that this small event was just the breaking point. This can be analyzed in several ways, ut the conclusion that I came to while reading was that for a while, G.H has probably had reservations about her life and lifestyle and has tried to push them down with her overcompensating vanity. I think that this all catches up to her while she’s standing alone in a room distraught over a cockroach. 

My question this week is, although it seems as though G.H’s reactions and emotions are a little far-fetched, can you remember a time in your life that you overreacted to something small that was actually a reflection of a bigger issue in your life?

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February 17, 2022 · 11:10 pm

Bonjour Tristesse – Françoise Sagan

I found Bonjour Trisresse to be a fairly enjoyable novella. I really liked the way that I seemed to feel the emotions that I think the author meant to convey through the different parts of the text. I also really enjoyed the character development throughout the text, and felt that Sagan made it easy to fall into the shoes of each character he was speaking of.

Bonjour Tristesse, in my eyes is a novella that focuses on the father-daughter relationship that isn’t exactly sturdily built, and how it is affected by how both Raymond and Cecile choose to live their lives. The readers see character development in these characters, as well as Anne, Elsa and Cyril throughout the changes in relationship dynamic throughout the text.

I think a notable theme of this “coming of age” novella is the emotions felt by characters, such as loss of control, sadness, jealousy etc. and also the use of different types of relationships that help build the story. The emotions felt, largely by Cecile are almost always contingent on her father’s lifestyle and in this text, his love life. She seems very care free and living her best life while Raymond seems to be care-free towards her while he is seeing Elsa. However this changes when he begins his relationship with Anne. Cecile’s emotions begin to take a turn when she fears that the life she enjoys, with her un-strict father will cease to exist while he is seeing Anne.

In addition, the manipulation held and felt by these characters I feel is also an important theme to note. The loss of control that Cecile felt in terms of her relationship with her father led her to manipulate him into cheating on Anne, whom he felt a strong connection with and ultimately potentially being a main cause in her death. In addition, Elsa taking part in the plan also shows some heavy manipulative tendencies and immaturity through her emotions of jealousy.

While reading the text, I could not help but notice that there were parallels to last week’s reading of Agostino. I felt that the exploration of the theme of sexuality was so prominent in both novels, as well, felt it interesting that both authors explored the theme using the relationship with a parent to do so. Both novels displayed the troubles and emotions of coming of age and exploring sexuality and it’s difficulties through the relationship with a parent whom also seems to be developing in that part of their life

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February 8, 2022 · 6:42 pm

Agostino – Alberto Moravia

Agostino is a coming-of-age novel that follows the very short timeline of the main character, a young boy Agostino’s loss of innocence. In the novel, Agostino (13)  and his widowed mother are on a vacation in which his mother sparks a new romance with a younger local, Renzo. Agostino feels a lot of emotions toward this romance and is very curious and confused. He tries to create some space between him and his mother when he finds a group of local boys around his age. Although they are young, to Agostino they seem more mature and knowledgeable. The boys don’t treat Agostino well and in reality, spend most of their time tormenting him. The novel, in my opinion, really accentuates the lack of social skills and experience that Agostino has with other people and peers. Moravia shows this by using his lack of knowledge in understanding things about the world.

I personally found multiple parts of this story to be a little disturbing. Although Moravia got the point across of coming to age in an unorthodox way, I think there were several parts that came as a bit of a shock. For starters, the part where Agostino was taken to a brothel and taught about prostitutes when he was just a 13-year-old boy. As well, the whole idea of Agostino being sexually intrigued by his mother, although not a concept far off of reality still was rather weird to read about.

Another noteworthy theme in the novel is the speak about the difference in class. It seemed like a pretty big theme amongst the group of boys, they seemed to always be asking Agostino about how much money he had and different aspects of his life in a monetary sense. I think this also plays into the lack of social skills and experience in society that he has. In my opinion, Moravia uses Agostino as the one character that is wealthier than the others and that this in a sense almost represents being sheltered from the outside world, and that’s where this wall of innocence comes from.

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February 1, 2022 · 1:27 am

The Shrouded Woman – Bombal

I really enjoyed reading this week’s novel, perhaps the most of any of the others thus far. I especially liked the short length and the easiness. I appreciate books that don’t take an excessive amount of effort to understand and I really felt that The Shrouded Women encapsulates that. As well, I enjoy books that follow a usual plot pattern which I feel that this text did more than in past weeks.

Aside from my opinion, I felt that this novel was a great read that was full of emotion that easily carried to the reader. While reading, it felt effortless to take on the feelings of that of the narrator. That being said, I feel important to note how the emotion and feelings of Ana Maria were purposely made to be different than those alive. I feel that this adds another dimension to the book and is unique. It’s not very often that a novel is narrated by the deceased and as a reader, living through the eyes of a narrator in a novel feels much different when they are reminiscing about their past after they have passed away.

I think one of my main takeaways from this novel is seen as Ana Maria relives her life and by the things that she notes. I think there is definitely something to say about the way that she highlights major moments and themes in her life that stand out. I think that through her different stages of life and the moments that she highlighted, remembered, and the feelings behind them really demonstrate what different people find important in their lifetimes and how it helps them grow as a person. this I found especially true through the descriptions of her different relationships. I felt that the author was trying to demonstrate that these all brought something different to her life and made Ana Maria who she was up to the end of her life. I feel that this is made to teach its readers that through the day to day life, there are things that people worry about and think will stand out, but in reality, when looking back on life, it’ll be major moments that stick with you. In addition, the novel really makes a point to highlight to the reader the emotion and feeling behind said moments in Ana Maria’s life and through this, we can see that it is the feeling behind memories that people hold onto and remember.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and the way that I perceived its teachings through the different stages of Ana Maria’s life. My question to the class is did this novel make you reflect on your past thus far and think of what moments stand out to you?

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