Student Blogs

Hello everyone, this week I read Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy”. Seeing that the protagonist is just a teenager, I found this book more bleak than I expected as it discusses heavy topics such as class and betrayal. Silvio as a character was relatable in... read full post >>

Hello everyone, this week I read Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy”. Seeing that the protagonist is just a teenager, I found this book more bleak than I expected as it discusses heavy topics such as class and betrayal. Silvio as a character was relatable in... read full post >>

I surprised myself this week; I found myself actually excited to read “Nadja” by André Breton and I can confidently say it was nothing short of an experience. Perhaps it was the little description left by Prof. Beasley-Murray depicting the book as one with themes of love, desire, and madness that piqued my interest, I […] read full post >>

I found he first part of the novel, an explanation of Breton's philosophies, quite hard to follow as surrealism is quite hard to comprehend when it is the stream of conscious of another individual. It's so easy to understand our own pattern of thought ... read full post >>

I found he first part of the novel, an explanation of Breton's philosophies, quite hard to follow as surrealism is quite hard to comprehend when it is the stream of conscious of another individual. It's so easy to understand our own pattern of thought ... read full post >>

The second French book of the course, Nadja by André Breton is a short surrealist novel. It was a very fast and interesting read but took me a minute to get into. At first, Breton talks about the theatre and his inability to recognize actors. Upon meeting Nadja however, things become much more interesting. Nadja […] read full post >>

Hi everyone, welcome back to my blog. The book for this week is Nadja by Andre Breton. The description of this book as a surrealist romance was intriguing to me, as I’ve enjoyed a few surrealist movies in the past, like Holy Motors and Synecdoche New York. At the same time others, like most of […] read full post >>

In Najda by Andre Breton, the author is able to eloquently capture the anxieties and life of the era while identifying the role of surrealism in our understanding of the text. I greatly enjoyed the non-traditional narrative structure and heavy use of c... read full post >>

In Najda by Andre Breton, the author is able to eloquently capture the anxieties and life of the era while identifying the role of surrealism in our understanding of the text. I greatly enjoyed the non-traditional narrative structure and heavy use of c... read full post >>

I thoroughly enjoyed delving into Roberto Arlt’s, Mad Toy (El juguete rabioso), immersing myself in the compelling narrative that unfolds the tumultuous life of Silvio Astier, a youth entrenched in poverty, yearning for a better existence amid the harsh realities that envelop him. Published in 1926, the novel intricately explores Silvio’s escapades, his intrigue with criminality, […] read full post >>

How one person can change your entire life read full post >>

“I have more and more difficulty following her monologue” (106) My response to this quote: Likewise, Breton, likewise. Navigating through the initial section of the book, an incessant cycle of philosophical perspectives on the self and the question of “who I am,” I saw myself in the aforementioned quote. A cause for this is actually […] read full post >>

To begin, “Nadja” by Berton Andre, was simple yet a bit complex to read. I say this because the novel did not have any breaks in it such as organizational tactics like chapter cutoffs. Rather this novel just had a blank page that split the narration into different parts. Most writing pieces that I have […] read full post >>

Reading André Breton’s Nadja was an interesting experience for me. I honestly did not know what to expect when reading a surrealist novel. For me, the narrative felt like Breton was taking me through his diary, vaguely describing moments, yet at the same time, almost exposing too much. Certain parts, especially regarding the world around […] read full post >>

Mad toy is made up of four not-too-close-knit stories, Thieves, Work and Days, Mad Toy, and Judas Iscariote. The reason why they are not too closely related is that the four stories are basically not very related in terms of plot and content, the only connection being that the main character of all four stories […] read full post >>