RMST 202 :P

 This week, I chose to read The Society of Reluctant Dreamers by Jose Eduardo Agualusa. Though this was one of the longer books i read in this course, i quite enjoyed it. I found that it differed quite a bit in terms of genre from the other novellas i read throughout the semester, which is why i think i enjoyed it so much. It felt new and refreshing. This book kind of toyed with the topic of memory (which a lot of the other novels did as well), however, it had an element of fantasy added to it.  This book mainly follows Daniel Benchimol and a few other characters. Daniel is journalist who dreams vividly about interviewing well known figures. At the beginning of the book, Daniel is faced with divorce and finds himself staying in a beach-side hotel. While swimming one afternoon, he discovers a camera riddled with photos of a woman. The book is then interrupted to tell the story of the hotel owner, Hossi. This man claims to have been struck by lightening twice, and while in hospital disco

 This week we read the novel "Amulet", written by Roberto Bolano. I found this book to be fairly easy to follow in terms of language and writing style, although unfortunately I did catch myself having a hard time staying focused at times, as the subject matter wasn't my favourite. I found some parts to be a bit bland, while other parts kept me engaged and wanting more information. This novel follows the story of Auxilio Lacouture, a poet living in Mexico. Despite being from Uruguay, she holds the title of "Mother of Mexican Poetry". Auxilio recounts memories and experiences from her life in Mexico while hiding in the bathroom from an invasion. She spends 12 days cooped up in the upper level bathroom of UNAM where she sits in a stall, starving. She shares stories mostly of her chaotic and unstable life meeting new poets and creating bonds with them. There was one younger fella she bonded with in particular, his name was Arturo Belano.  I think the most striking p

 I unfortunately found this weeks reading to be a bit more difficult to follow than other books we read so far. Not so much in regards to difficult language or translation discrepancies, but rather the multiple storylines that took place throughout the book. In all honesty, I found it quite confusing and found myself having to reread certain passages and pages. From what I gathered, Georges attempts to recall memories from his childhood, while intertwining stories and scenarios from the present.  An initial thought I had after reading the first few chapters, was that it reminded me of our first reading, Swann's way. In this book, Marcel reflects on his past, specifically childhood and what his relationship was like with his mother and father at the time. I found similarities with this reading, as Georges tries to scrap together memories of his parents before they both perished due to different circumstances during the war. Though most of Georges memories didn't specifically con

 This week, I decided to read Bonjour Tristesse by Francois Sagan. Like another student mentioned in their blog, I felt compelled to read it, as i thought i would likely be able to relate to it. This story follows a 17 year old girl named Cecile who is on summer vacation in the south of France. The novel explores, her relationship with her widowed father, his love interests, as well as her own. I assumed that I would like this story because i too experienced a relationship at 17, furthermore I have divorced parents and had to go through the process of watching them both move on to new people. However, after reading the entire novel I found it not as relatable as i had initially thought it might be. Also, i found that my opinions on each of the characters shifted back and forth quite a bit throughout.  The characters that stood out to me the most over the course of the novel were Cecile, Anne and Cyril. At first, I seriously sympathized with Cecile. Her mother had passed away and the ne

This week I decided to read Agostino by Alberto Moravia. It was a short and easy read as advertised. Though this was definitely the easiest read so far, I have mixed feelings on this story. In short summary, this story follows 13 year old Agostino throughout his summer vacation at a beach in Italy. The young teen sees his widowed mother move on with a new man, all while exploring a brand new friend group that seems to revolve around violence and behaviours that stem from poverty. I would call this reading something along the lines of a coming-of-age story, as Agostino discovers sexuality and straddles the line between childhood and manhood.  While I honestly did quite enjoy this story, i found parts of it mildly disturbing. For a while the young 13 year old talks about his mother as a beautiful, inspiring and nurturing role model. For the first few pages he speaks about her with such innocence, and even refers to her as "mamma" plenty of times throughout the novel. However, w

 The Shrouded Woman was my second reading for this class. Compared to our first reading Swann's Way , I found this novella not only easier to follow but far more capable of keeping me fully engaged as well. Before starting the reading, I can honestly say i was a bit worried that i might not understand it, or like it enough to read through it comfortably, but I can truly say I enjoyed reading it from beginning to end! This story is narrated by woman who had recently passed away. My guess is that it takes place at an open casket funeral. Ana Maria, or the shrouded woman, recounts key moments of her life while she lies dead. With each person that approaches her lifeless body, Ana Maria shares a detailed story on how they had impacted her life. She struggles to rest peacefully before facing these individuals and the hardships they caused her, one last time. Her stories involve life with her children and past lovers.  There were two key men/lovers that played a huge roll in the woman