Student Blogs

Hello everyone, it is with sad typing that I bring you my last blog post for the weekly readings. But... read full post >>

Hey Everyone,  I can’t believe this is the last time I’m adding to this 20 paged google doc. After 11 readings and 13 blog posts, we have finished this course! I remember being so intimidated by the contract at the beginning of this course that I was ready to drop the course before I started. […] read full post >>

blog#12 – concluding thoughts — Man. I read a lot of books this year, and it’s only april. I’m not sure if I’ll ever take a course like this again. Not because I didn’t like it but because I’m not sure what to call this kind of class, or where to find it. (Other than […] read full post >>

 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 discovers that he unknowingly appears in everyone's dreams wearing a purple coat. The book then moves back to Daniel where he travels to visit the lady in the photos. She is a well known artist who uses dreams as her muse. 

One part of this book that i particularly enjoyed reading was Hossi's story of being held in an apartment and his short lived fling with Ana. Though this was only roughly 10 pages of the novel I really enjoyed it, as a story like this would be something i would totally reach for on my own. I found it to be slightly comedic, while also being romantic at the same time. While being questioned about why Hossi might be appearing in other people's dreams he responds with "how the fuck would I know?", a very real answer that made me chuckle. Im also huge romance fan so I definitely enjoyed reading about him and Ana. I had hoped for the rest of the book that they might find their way back to each other. 

Did you enjoy the genre of this book more or less than others we have read this semester? 

read full post >>

 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 discovers that he unknowingly appears in everyone's dreams wearing a purple coat. The book then moves back to Daniel where he travels to visit the lady in the photos. She is a well known artist who uses dreams as her muse. 

One part of this book that i particularly enjoyed reading was Hossi's story of being held in an apartment and his short lived fling with Ana. Though this was only roughly 10 pages of the novel I really enjoyed it, as a story like this would be something i would totally reach for on my own. I found it to be slightly comedic, while also being romantic at the same time. While being questioned about why Hossi might be appearing in other people's dreams he responds with "how the fuck would I know?", a very real answer that made me chuckle. Im also huge romance fan so I definitely enjoyed reading about him and Ana. I had hoped for the rest of the book that they might find their way back to each other. 

Did you enjoy the genre of this book more or less than others we have read this semester? 

read full post >>

The Society of Reluctant Dreamers has probably been my favourite book all term and I would recommend it to anyone, especially people interested in postcolonialism or contemporary Africa. I was really fascinated by the idea of giving life and artistic representations to dreams, and I think the book added an interesting perspective to issues of […] read full post >>

I can’t believe how fast this semester has gone by, just like that, I am done with my first year of university. This course has been a pleasure to take, and I am honestly quite sad there is nothing further … Continue reading → read full post >>

At the beginning of this course, I didn’t even know the full breadth of what “Romance Studies” was, let alone... read full post >>

I don’t think I’ve ever taken a course like this before, but I very much enjoyed both the content and the structure this term. Getting introduced to new literature was quite exciting, of course; and I think the focus on the “Romance World” or lack thereof made me even more curious about the languages, cultures, […] read full post >>

This week I decided to read My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. I thought it was an enjoyable read. I found the short chapters very motivating to keep engaged. I’m the type of the person to track my reading by setting time to finish a few chapters. For this book, it was easy to convince …

Continue reading "My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante"

read full post >>

blog#11 – Time and the way She swims through Dreams — As soon as I finished the book, I fell asleep. I read The Society of Reluctant Dreamers in a period where I was (and am) sleeping a lot. I clocked in about 14 or 15 hours straight the other night. I’m not quite sure why […] read full post >>

I am so happy I took this survey course which introduced me to European and Latin-American authors writing in the “Romance languages”. Some of the readings were definitely challenging and different, but I believe that the only way one can learn and grow is by forcing oneself to read challenging texts in different genres. I […] read full post >>

Conclusions RMST 202 Well here it is, the final blog post of this class. Before I start, I want to say thank you to the professor and to both the Tas of this class and also to all the people who took this class alongside me. My first blog of this class talked about how […] read full post >>

The society of reluctant dreamers, Agualusa I Think this book could be considered surrealist because it brings things that are not real into reality, in the way that Daniel is able to speak with different people throughout his dreams which is a thing I enjoyed a lot. Another thing I liked is how you can […] read full post >>

Hey Everyone,  Wow, this novel had a lot to unpack. It covers sociological concepts like the reproduction of inequality, as well as romance, betrayal, and jealousy through the story of friendship. The friendship between Lila and Elena reminded me of the Gossip Girl characters Blair and Serena, as these young women navigate their changing lives […] read full post >>