Week 13, the semester is coming to an end, and it’s time to reflect. I think my biggest takeaway from this course is I was definitely wrong about books. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always respected the medium of literature, and known its importance, but nevertheless I just never cared for a novel, or rather …
Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia, is a fictional novel blending crime and social commentary. The story follows the events of a real life bank robbery that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by a group of thieves looking to change their lives. We follow them and witness the aftermath of their crime, how they …
Italo Calvino, author of ‘If on a winter’s night a traveler’, is probably the most unique book I have encountered till date. Although not a terribly hard read, the book entails a unique style of dual narration. The book begins with a rather direct, second-person narration of what the reader is doing and feeling while …
Continue reading “Week 8: If on a winter’s night a traveler”
The Time of the Doves, originally published in Catalan, written by Mercè Rodoreda. On introduction to this book, I was reminded of a short story I had studied in high-school – Old Man at the Bridge by Ernest Hemingway. Immediately apparent why, this short story follows a solider during the Spanish civil-war, as he encounters …
Black Shack Alley, a book by Joseph Zobel, is the story of a young boy navigating the struggles of childhood, in colonial Martinique. I especially enjoyed this book for its ability to weave intricate descriptions and exciting moments, capturing the essence of adolescence and its inevitable transition into adulthood. The novel is predicated on its …
Agostino, a novel by Alberto Moravia, is the coming of age story of a young boy, with his widowed mother. Set on a beautiful sunny beach in the Italian summer, this book explores themes of loss, angst, youth, innocence, sexuality and the complexities of trying to understand the world around you. Infatuated with his mother, …
Book 3 of the semester and I feel like it’s starting to get good. I found Proust and Breton to be overly complex, needing a lot of rereading and reflection, however, The Shrouded Woman by Maria Bombal was an enthralling narrative, filled with beautiful imagery, oozing emotion. I found myself lost between the lines from …
Nadja, by Andre Breton, the second work published by the author, originally published in French, is one of the prominent works of the French surrealist movement. One of the first things that struck me about this book was the style of narration, how it was magniloquent yet foreign. My initial reaction was to chalk this …
Combray by Marcel Proust, the first text I have ever encountered of such a descriptive, narrative nature. I found the book especially hard to consume due to, what I found to be, increasingly complicated and elaborate descriptions of the world. This took form in the shape of extremely long sentences, heavy use of adjectives and …
Hi, my name is Prathyush. This is my second year at UBC in the faculty of arts. I plan to major in History, with a minor in Law and Society. I’m an Indian international student from Dubai, UAE with an unwavering passion for all things art. My favourite things to do are larp as a …
