Month: January 2026

Categories
Agostino Moravia Uncategorized

Mama’s Boy Deluxe

I won’t lie, this book was a little strange. Starting it, I thought (naively) that this would be a book about a boy who loved his mother dearly and wanted to tell the world all about her. Ending it, I’m seeing that this is a boy who loved his mother, yes, but loved her in a way that bordered on incestual. I don’t think I’ll be able to properly explain the rollercoaster I experienced as I read about his evolving perspective of her.

I think an interaction between them that really well summarizes their relationship is when the young man is late to come get his mother. It first displays his self awareness: “Agostino crawled through the sand to face her and repeat in what even he knew was a nagging and almost sarcastic voice” (14). This self awareness is something that is portrayed throughout the book, as he is introspective about the reasons behind why he enjoys boat rides with his mother, his discomfort with the young man courting his mother, and his persistence in returning to the group of poor boys. The second part of this scene, when his mother slaps him, and it feels “soft, almost accidental and regretful.”, to me presented this: even when he is the subject of punishment, he still is able to recognize his mother’s softness with him. To me, I thought that this conclusion presented the extent of the love that he had for his mother.  Finally, when she calls for him but does not really put in any real effort into finding him, I got from this that the same type of dedication that he felt towards her was not the same as what she felt towards him.

A section that was strange to me was with the Saro. **Random digression, he had six fingers, and so did Nadja’s first lover that was described in the book. Both of their response were of shock and slight disgust I believe.** Anyways –when he was first introduced as the older man who was surrounded by young boys, I was immediately suspicious. These suspicions were confirmed following his experience with him on the boat. What most confused me, however, was the fact that over time he chose to play into the conclusions that had been made about him. Which would be my question, why, despite his apparent disgust with Saro and the ideas being formulated about his boat ride with him, did he still choose to play along with these thoughts of him? 

I guess my final thought about this book (sorry I am about to get a bit political), was about his description of Homs. While it is a book set within history, I was really bothered by the constant referral to him as the “black boy”. I believe that authors can choose how to frame their characters, and I really really disliked his portrayal of Homs.

Categories
Bombal Memories

Who’s the fairest of them all?

I knew throughout the book that Ana Maria was dead. Yet, I was left wanting more when I finished reading. I wanted to continue to learn about her life, even though she felt that it was small and did not amount to much. Knowing that she was dead did not lighten the emotional response I had to reading about her final moments before her stroke.

I think that those final few pages, where the perspective slightly switches, and we see Ana-Maria through the eyes of Father Carlos was so profound. It was intriguing to see read about his descriptions of her as a child, and to see what an external perspective thought about her. I think that up until this section, we only learn about Ana-Maria through her own reflections on herself. Thus, I found this to be a very interesting brief change in the narrative voice.

Beyond this, I enjoyed learning about the different people in her life in the order that they came to visit her after her death. I found her recounting of her first love, Ricardo to be really well written. She was able to really clearly present the feelings of first love, such as initial elation and heart break, where she did literally everything else *but* die following Ricardo’s disappearance. Next, I found that Maria Griselda’s beauty reminded me of the Snow White fairytale. Nature (such as the doves) seemed to literally cave at her beauty. Similarly, Silvia’s need for Fred to assure her of her superior beauty to that of Maria Griselda’s reminded me of the popular question: “Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who’s the prettiest of them all”. It was so interesting how her beauty was so great that it even soothed Ana Maria’s hatred of her. I’ve never thought that beauty could be a burden, but through this section I recognize it now.

To me, the most profound part of this book was when she visited Sofia’s dreams. I think that there is something to be said about the fact that she was truly seen by Sofia. I think that Sofie is the only one who she identifies to be a true friend to her, and I loved that she was able to have a final moment with her. Their connection was just so strong. I respected how she was used this time to reflect on what she could have done better. I loved that she recognized that she should have given Sofia the chance to explain herself as someone who she claimed to love.

In all, I appreciated finally getting the female perspective after the first two books that we covered.

My question would be: Do you think this book can be read backwards?

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Breton Nadja

Who are you?

To me, Nadja is filled with statements that feel like they should be profound. Yet, I only truly comprehend few. Of these statements, the question, “Who am I”, gave me most pause. I reflected on how often I have had to answer this question. I tell interviewers and new friends about my identity without great thought. It seems to be such an easy question. Yet, something about seeing the book start this way gave new meaning to the question. Again, reading Breton’s similar question to Nadja, and reading her answer, gave me pause. Have I been answering this question wrong? Or is Nadja simply an eccentric woman, whose ramblings and path have no clear beginning, middle, or end?

“I am a soul in limbo”- Nadja

I must admit –I lean towards the latter of these questions. Yes, I recognize Breton’s apparent love for Nadja, which is most clearly expressed under his October 7th entry, where he is annoyed and at the same time, preoccupied by worry for her condition. To me, this entry makes it clear that at some point from their chance encounter on the street, she becomes the center of his world. For me, this interest in her is all the more strange, given that he even goes so far as to begin to discuss her with his wife. Love, I guess. At the same time, at no point did I understand what to make of Nadja. Whenever it was her turn to speak, I always rallied myself to have no understanding of what her point was at the end of her statement. 

“I go out at three with my wife and a friend; in the taxi we continue discussing Nadja, as we have been doing during lunch.”

All this to say, I was excited when I read the lecture transcript for the book. Of the challenge to impose sense onto the book. I must confess, however, that I did not meet this challenge. His description of Nadja’s haunting was to me so difficult to follow. I am unused to reading without some sort of structure. At least, with Proust’s recounting, I could derive a clear setting and characters at all points. With Breton, on the other hand, their journey’s and conversations just felt so…surreal. 

The pictures added an interesting dimension to the book. It was nice to get an in depth explanation of a place, an image, or a painting, and then to scroll to later see what this actually looked like visually. It always looked different from what I imagined.

I won’t pretend that at any point in this book I knew what was happening, because I didn’t.

So, housekeeping:

My question would be: why did he wait so long to introduce Nadja into the book?

Can I rate these? I give it a 2/5.

Categories
Uncategorized

Combray

Getting into the flow of this book was difficult. I struggled with understanding the metaphors that were being used to describe the quality of his sleep. However, as this scene proceeded, I found myself empathizing. The interrupted sleep, the nightmare that was his great-uncle pulling his curls, this was all relatable on some level –though my nightmares take on a different form. Overcoming this initial hump of understanding this form of writing was difficult, but once this was done, I was well on my way to enjoying this piece. The section when he described his tumultuous relationship with sleep in the absence of his mother’s kisses was so sweet. How innocent his desire was, and how sad it was that he could only experience the affection of his mother so briefly.

Learning about Combray and his family was also quite amusing. I honestly found myself chuckling more than a few times at the scenes that were described. For example, his grandmother’s countless gifts of arm chairs, his aunt Leonie’s need to be distinct from all by never admitting that she slept, Francoise’s ‘evilness’, and so much more. One scene that was particularly funny to me was when his father was asking Legrandin about Balbec, and Legrandin’s ability to skillfully sidestep the question about whether he knew anyone from Balbec (even though he literally had a sister living there): “I know everyone and I know no one… places I know very well, people very slightly” (Proust, 1913, p. 214).

His discovery of how the human experience was characterized by experiencing the same thing, but having different conclusions based on these experiences was quite profound. For example, how during his walk in the rain he thought it was terrible, but he walked past someone who at the same time thought it was an amazing day. As such, I am curious to hear about everyone’s experience of this book, and to see how it differs from mine!

While this was a challenging book to get started with, I am happy I stuck with it, because I actually felt something while reading: empathy, humor, and relatability. It’s interesting how a piece from 1913 could invoke these feelings in a GenZ reader who spends a little too much time on reels. The vocabulary was unlike what I have ever encountered before, and I found myself constantly googling “define …”, but it was an overall enjoyable experience.

I noticed that the translation that I read is slightly different from the text that was embedded for us to read on the website. I am curious then, to see if my overall take away of how incredibly funny this book was could be attributed to the translation style (or maybe I am just easily amused). I would love to talk about Swann’s wife and the controversy surrounding her. I also got the sense that Mlle Vinteuil was queer, and would love to to discuss the presentation of this (and whether I interpreted this section correctly).

New word: ineluctable (unable to be resisted)

 

 

 

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Categories
Uncategorized

Hello world!

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Categories
Uncategorized

Introduction: Hello!

My name is Tolu, and I am really excited to be in this class! I am an out of province student, and my family lives in Ontario. Yes, I am from the Six, and no, I cannot do the Toronto accent. I am also in my third year, and I am studying political science.

I am particularly fascinated by the world of policy creation (both in the public and private sphere), and love engaging in conversations that ask, ‘how can we address this emerging problem?’. In a sense, that is why I love reading. I love reading about a problem in a book, whether in the form of a villain, or in the challenge to know oneself, and seeing how the author chooses to resolve this problem. For me, I like to pause and think about whether the ending the author has chosen is satisfactory or subpar. Based on my answer to this question, I like to invent possible alternative endings based on my understanding of the book I read.

Enrolling in this class, beyond it fulfilling my literature requirement, is like a challenge to myself. I want to see if I can engage with more recognized pieces and as a side note, I would really like to confirm my reading speed…. To that effect, I look forward to reading different kinds of genres from what I usually engage in (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery). Given the selection of texts in this class, I expect to widen my literary horizons, and foresee that I will likely also engage in a fair bit of criticism. Most definitely, the time I spend writing responses and blogs will replace the time I spend reading Goodreads reviews (which in my opinion are AMAZING pieces of literature).

Onto the lecture…

I liked the idea about the deterritorialized nature of Romance literature. That it belongs no where and to no one is intriguing. In political science, I am accustomed to engaging with theories that clearly originate from somewhere and belong to people. I am also used to engaging in critiquing theories only through strict lenses e.g.: decolonial ways of critique. Learning that no one can claim truly claim to know and speak for romance studies instills in me a sense of confidence stepping into this class. I don’t have to analyze a text through a special lens just because it was written in Spanish, for example. I can simply read, feel, and speak/write my mind concerning the text I read and be correct (or at least, not entirely wrong).

I hope this made sense 🙂 ????????

Warmly,

Tolu

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