Student Blogs

feb 1, 2026 If I were to sum up my reading experience on Agostino it would be these images: Even though I listened to the lecture video and the conversation video before reading the book, it could not prepare me for the contents I got hit with at 100km/h. I learnt from the videos that […] read full post >>

Moravia/Agostino’s descriptions felt like both a blessing and a complete curse in this book. There were many beautiful descriptions of the sea and the town that painted a vivid picture, like the “rows of cabins painted in pastel colors”, the “crowded beach”, the “festive buzzing”, and the “sparkling sea…filled with bathers” (pg. 21). That being […] read full post >>

Hi again! One of the elements that stood out to me the most in Nada was its irony, which is seen from the title itself. Nada, which means ‘nothing’, truly captures the space between the expectations Andrea came to Barcelona with and the reality she lived, learning that what she envisioned was nothing like it. […] read full post >>

Okay, so “Agostino” isn’t your typical vacation read. Sure, it’s set in Italy during the summer, but it’s way more than just tanning and sand. It kinda takes you on this interesting ride through the mind of a 13 year old kid who’s suddenly hit with the first few harsh realities of the adult world […] read full post >>

Agostino was a short read, but one that leaves a lot to think about. I think it’s more than your usual coming-of-age story. It’s one of those reads where the writing coaxes you to keep going even though you’re lowkey really weirded out. It actually reminded me a lot of Proust, in the sense that […] read full post >>

I quite miss the days of reading a book and not worrying that the main character is going to perform some questionable acts in the name of being unhealthily attached or attracted to his mother. But alas, here we go again. I don’t think Agostino is meant to be a comfortable read, and I fear […] read full post >>

I actually quite liked this one despite how long it was. Though I can’t tell how much of the writing style is Laforet and how much is the translation, it’s by far my favourite so far (though the bar is low). I’m starting to think it may not be the texts that are the issue […] read full post >>

Reading Agostino was a very unsettling but yet eye-opening about growing up too quickly, as Moravia shows adolescence not as an exciting transition, but something that I believe a lot of people can relate to which is confusing, and painful. Agosto’s relationship with his mother starts out as a very close one as they would […] read full post >>

  Wow, Nada was an interesting, interesting read. It follows the story of a young girl post Spanish civil war moving to attend university. Our protagonist Andrea moves in with her extended family who seems to have lost almost everything due to the war, given that they were quite well off before the war. I […] read full post >>

I have no words. In starting this book, I did not expect the book to pan out in the way that it had. There are so many aspects of the book that sent shivers of disgust through my body, yet also evoked a sense of pity and understanding for Agostino’s coming of age. One instance is the mixed role of... read full post >>

I kind of saw this coming if I am being completely honest, since the professor did give us a head-up in class that the main character would have “mommy issues”. I did NOT estimate for once how intense, and filled with these wide range of thoughts this novel would get. My impression of purely the […] read full post >>

Stories have to start somewhere, but even stories have stories. To answer the question of “backstories”, and how important they are to novels, well they are quite significant, even if not directly shown. For example, to understand the atrocious history of the Spanish Civil War, we find a backstory to give context to Andrea, our […] read full post >>

When I think about Nada, what stays with me most is how difficult it is to explain what the novel is “about” without saying that not much really happens. Andrea arrives in Barcelona full of expectation, spends a year surrounded by hunger, tension, and emotional decay, and then leaves feeling like she has gained nothing. […] read full post >>

At the beginning of the book, I was immediately hit by the environment and emotions of Andrea who was arriving in Barcelona with lots of hope. Soon after arriving the harsh atmosphere of the home created by her relatives became clear. The home was small, but was heavy with tension that I found myself finding […] read full post >>

Reading Nada honestly felt kind of heavy, but in a way that stuck with me. It follows Andrea, a young woman who moves to Barcelona after the Spanish Civil War to start university. She shows up excited and hopeful, imagining this new chapter of her life, and then almost immediately that optimism gets crushed. The […] read full post >>