Student Blogs

Hey everyone! For this week’s reading I decided to read Robert Arlt’s Mad Toy. Coming into this book, I read the summary on the RMST website and expected this to be a typical story about a boy who enjoys the thrill of stealing and never gets caught. However, this book does a good job of […] read full post >>

Nadja, by Andre Breton, the second work published by the author, originally published in French, is one of the prominent works of the French surrealist movement. One of the first things that struck me about this book was the style of narration, how it was magniloquent yet foreign. My initial reaction was to chalk this …

Continue reading "Week 3: Nadja"

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Nadja, a quicker read for me than Combray was captivating and I found myself having a hard time putting the book down. The dream like state of the surrealism of this book kept me on my toes and forced me during time to rethink what Breton was saying. A lot of the questions Jon asks … read full post >>

Reading Nadja by Andre Breton was quite interesting to me because I have a little bit of background knowledge, I am going to Major in Visual Arts and during my studies have seen Breton’s artworks, I have also read and learned a lot about surrealism, what it is, it’s history, it’s practice, so I feel […] read full post >>

“Mad Toy” by Roberto Arlt was a fascinating read about a young boy named Silvio Astier who is confused, to say the least about society, life, love and responsibilty. By the end of the first chapter, he has formed a “club” which is accurately a gang, comprised of himself and his two friends Enrique and […] read full post >>

In contrast to Proust’s “Combray,” which I found to be longer and more difficult to read, this week’s reading was Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy.”  I connected more deeply with “Mad Toy.” I couldn’t help but consider the difficulties individuals, particularly those from the working class, experience on a daily basis. I had the impression that […] read full post >>

While I wouldn’t compare “In Search of Lost Time” and “Mad Toy” in terms of style of writing because they have so many artistic differences, one thing they have in common is that they both deal with the subject of time and the changes that occur to people over time. For our narrator Silvio in […] read full post >>

 "Mad Toy" by Roberto Alta takes place in the bustling streets of the early 20th century Buenos Aires, and tells the tale of Silvio, a young man trying to find his footing in life, marked by camaraderie, resilience and his quest of identity. Perso... read full post >>

 "Mad Toy" by Roberto Alta takes place in the bustling streets of the early 20th century Buenos Aires, and tells the tale of Silvio, a young man trying to find his footing in life, marked by camaraderie, resilience and his quest of identity. Perso... read full post >>

“I shall discuss these things without pre-established order, and according to the mood of the moment which lets whatever survives survive” (23) [Nadja] was never an easy book to understand fully in one reading. In fact, the first impression of the book was pure confusion — it never goes as time passes generally, and it […] read full post >>

Dr. Jon Beasley starts the video lecture about how this book is neither an autobiography nor a novel. So going into Nadja, I wasn’t expecting much because I thought it’d be a boring book. However, the twists and turns of this story between Nadja and Breton had so much ‘madness,’ to say the least. There […] read full post >>

Mad Toy by Roberto Arlt, is written in an episodic style. The story reflects on the life of Silvio and his challenges with poverty. His story is divided into four chapters where we see how he is inspired by the fantasy world of literature but is stuck in a reality where he is to fetch […] read full post >>

One aspect that particularly struck me is how the characters are portrayed as raw and authentic, effectively depicting the struggles of urban life through the lens of a teenager. Reading the book in Spanish significantly contributed to my immersion in the story, particularly due to the characters’ dialogue and the various colloquial expressions used. Rebellious […] read full post >>

One aspect that particularly struck me is how the characters are portrayed as raw and authentic, effectively depicting the struggles of urban life through the lens of a teenager. Reading the book in Spanish significantly contributed to my immersion in the story, particularly due to the characters’ dialogue and the various colloquial expressions used. Rebellious […] read full post >>

This week’s reading was Roberto Arlt’s  “Mad Toy”, compared to Proust’s “Combray” it was much easier to read and a shorter read for me. However, “Mad Toy” was a much “heavier and more serious read for me since it dives into topics such as social inequality, the struggles of the working class, and the impact […] read full post >>