Student Blogs

I really enjoyed reading My Brilliant Friend, it felt like such an easy book to understand, especially compared some of the books we’ve been reading. I was a little worried when I was reading the character index in the beginning. It just kept going and going. But once I started reading, it all made sense. I liked how Ferrante would... read full post >>

Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli centres on the life of a mother living in Mexico, who is reflecting on the period of her life spent in New York. As a homemaker, she finds her desire for self-expression and creativity constrained by her responsib... read full post >>

Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli centres on the life of a mother living in Mexico, who is reflecting on the period of her life spent in New York. As a homemaker, she finds her desire for self-expression and creativity constrained by her responsib... read full post >>

 Valeria Luiselli's  novel “faces in the crowd” kinda felt unsatisfactory and not because nothing happens, but because what happens keeps folding in on itself and made me a little confused reading it because she kept blurring the line between... read full post >>

 Valeria Luiselli's  novel “faces in the crowd” kinda felt unsatisfactory and not because nothing happens, but because what happens keeps folding in on itself and made me a little confused reading it because she kept blurring the line between... read full post >>

I do not really like this book. I mean, it is a very good book, but I am not particularly drawn to it. I like how the two girls struggle against the darkness with each other’s support, and also like how Ferrante portrays them in such a way, but at the same time, their complex […] read full post >>

Reading Faces in the Crowd was quite a mindf*ck at times and I now see why Jon described it as a ‘strange’ on the course website. I’d like to suggest that it also be described as a ‘comedy’ book because of the line: “shrimps are little-dicks” (28). Anyway, as we near the end of the semester, […] read full post >>

After reading Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli, I learned that identity is not something fixed, but something constantly shaped by memory, imagination, and the stories we tell ourselves. The author shows how the boundaries between past and present or reality and fiction can be confusing to people so easily they can overlap. The narrator shifting […] read full post >>

Faces in the Crowd was definitely my favorite book we have read so far. It gave me a strange but interesting feeling, mostly because parts of the narrator’s life felt surprisingly relatable. When she describes her younger self living alone in New York, it made me think about what it means to be a young […] read full post >>

One of the first things that stood out to me in My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is how intense Lila and Lenù’s friendship is. It’s not just a normal “best friend” situation, it’s kind of messy. There’s a lot of jealousy, competition, and comparison going on. I kept noticing how much Lenù bases her […] read full post >>

I did not expect My Brilliant Friend to stress me out this much, but the relationship between Lenù and Lila is honestly one of the most obsessive, intense friendships I have ever read about. They both seem to be measuring themselves against each other the whole time. I felt like Lenù, especially, was living her […] read full post >>

With our narrator saying “It all began in another city and another life” makes me think of how many people grow up in a place that shapes them, and may end up moving away to a place that suits them better (p. 1). “…in that apartment, in that other city” (p. 5). Choosing an environment […] read full post >>

Wow. I think we can all agree that My Brilliant Friend had quite the brilliant end. If someone wrote a 100-hundred-page thesis on the significance of Marcello wearing the shoes laboured over by Lila that Stefano bought, I would read it front to back. In a way, I feel like I already did by reading […] read full post >>

I pray I never become a living ghost read full post >>

 When I read the beginning of My Brilliant Friend, I have already known I would like this book. It is not the disappearance, but Lila's way of making herself disappear. She wanted to disappear without leaving a single trace. She wanted nothing of ... read full post >>