Student Blogs

Please use categories (on WordPress) and/or tags (on WordPress and on Substack, labels on Blogger/Blogspot) when writing your blog posts. Use categories to indicate the author (Proust, Arlt, Piglia…), and tags for key concepts or topics covered (gender, postmodernism, truth…), or labels for both purposes on Blogger.

Remember also to include a question for discussion.

Check out the Blog Post Awards 2026 or the Blog Post Awards 2024 for further inspiration.


Mad toy by Roberto Arlt

Posted by: Domenica Loor

Mad toy, I’d say is an easy read that hooks you with the dialogue and imagery. Nonetheless, its value should not be underestimated. The literary text is filled with all types of experience, unfolding numerous adventures and stages in the life of Silvio, the main character. We are immersed in the nuanced development of Silvio’s […] read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs

A mess of emotions ~ Mad Toy

Posted by: frannyj

Mad Toy is a story that evoked many emotions from me. From sadness, frustration, and unfairness, the harshness of reality was always apparent. Roberto Arlt did an excellent job allowing readers to understand Silvio’s character, as his emotions are elaborate and consistently intense. To be honest, the jumble of stories made my heart sink further and […] read full post >>
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Mad Toy- Che, he steals lightbulbs?

Posted by: chia chi ou-chin

This week we were tasked with reading Mad Toy, by Roberto Arlt, which I actually enjoyed reading quite a bit. In the beginning before I committed to reading this book, I tried looking around for some information about the book and found that there were a whopping 0 reviews of this book on Goodreads, with […] read full post >>
Posted in: Arlt, Blogs
Tagged with: ,

Mad Toy

Posted by: Julia W

  Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good and enjoyable week amidst all the chaos. As for myself, over the past few days, I read the book Mad Toy by Roberto Arlt. This book was a refreshing change from last week's Combray book by Marcel Prous... read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs

Mad Toy

Posted by: Julia W

  Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good and enjoyable week amidst all the chaos. As for myself, over the past few days, I read the book Mad Toy by Roberto Arlt. This book was a refreshing change from last week's Combray book by Marcel Prous... read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs

Reflection – ‘ Mad Toy’ By Roberto Artl

Posted by: Marcus

 Mad Toy by Roberto Artl is about a teenage boy named Silvio who is an avid inventor and idolizes outlaws and bandits. The first part of the novel follows Silvio and his friends Lucio and Enrique and their adventures which mostly consist of commit... read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs
Tagged with: ,

Reflection – ‘ Mad Toy’ By Roberto Artl

Posted by: Marcus

 Mad Toy by Roberto Artl is about a teenage boy named Silvio who is an avid inventor and idolizes outlaws and bandits. The first part of the novel follows Silvio and his friends Lucio and Enrique and their adventures which mostly consist of commit... read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs
Tagged with: ,

Perception of Poverty – A discussion surrounding the life of Silvio

Posted by: Sam Makkar

Hey everyone! I finished reading Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy” this week and it was so interesting to see the life of Silvio Astier unfold. It is a classic story about wanting more while stuck in a troubled space such as poverty. This is an old piece of literature and I believe it is also Arlt’s […] read full post >>
Posted in: Arlt, Blogs
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Nadja, André Breton

Posted by: Samantha

Week 3's read is Nadja by André Breton, a semi-autobiographical novel following the authors fascination with a women, Nadja. It is set in France and includes and explores the ideas of surrealism. The semi-autobiographical nature of this reading created... read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs, Breton
Tagged with: ,

Nadja, André Breton

Posted by: Samantha

Week 3's read is Nadja by André Breton, a semi-autobiographical novel following the authors fascination with a women, Nadja. It is set in France and includes and explores the ideas of surrealism. The semi-autobiographical nature of this reading created... read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs, Breton
Tagged with: ,

Reflecting on “Mad Toy”

Posted by: ren1130

Hi everyone! I personally think, the reading I chose for this week, Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy,” really captured the essence of early 20th-century Buenos Aires through the eyes of its protagonist, Silvio Astier. Reading it almost felt like navigating a maze as it illustrates the complexities of ambition, disillusionment, and the raw realities of urban […] read full post >>
Posted in: Arlt, Blogs
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Mad Toy Reflection

Posted by: nathanmh2003

Hello everyone, I’m back again this week for my weekly book reflection. This week’s book is Mad Toy by Roberto Arlt. The book follows a very bright young boy in Buenos Aires, Argentina named Silvio Drodman Astier. Overall, I liked the book a decent bit. I’d say I preferred it to last week’s Combray reading, […] read full post >>
Posted in: Arlt, Blogs
Tagged with:

Nadja – not a love story

Posted by: Indra

Nadja by André Breton.   Surrealism as a form of art is one of the most intriguing concepts ever. I have seen surrealist films like Charlie Kaufman’s, art pieces like Salvador Dali, but never really dove into the world of surrealism in literature (Does Haruki Murakami count?). Looking more into it, I just now discovered […] read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs
Tagged with: , ,

‘Nadja’ – André Breton

Posted by: haileygillian

As a surrealist text set in early twentieth century Paris, Nadja takes readers through a story of love and infatuation in a relationship scattered with madness. Upon reading, my first thoughts were that, while there were definitely some elements of this text which I found difficult or jarring to read, I was hooked, from start […] read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs

A Tough Read

Posted by: Jivan Cheema

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend, as well as a nice start to your week:) I know we’ve had a little bumpy start to the new term. It has been a bit hectic lately with the snow days and transit strike, but hopefully, we can soon get back into our normal […] read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs