Student Blogs

Who am I? Such an ambiguous question that had me thinking about my identity, which later progressed to me questioning my existence by the end of the novel. Now, before I dive into an “analysis” of the novel and pick it apart, I want to point out that this novel had me going through so […] read full post >>

The first thing that came to mind as I read the summary on the back of the book was “Oh, Nadja is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl,” and I stand by that. She is only there to forward the male protagonist’s understanding of himself/the world (which is discussed in the lecture), she is a quirky […] read full post >>

Mad Toy is a coming-of-age novel that explores the four stages of growth in a young man named Silvio, presenting a fascinating character. I believe he is not a typical hero protagonist in the true sense but rather resembles a young individual filled with ambition and fantasies, constrained by his environment. Silvio’s adventures are not […] read full post >>

This novel was much easier to read than “Combray” and it was also more entertaining. I really enjoyed the structure of this book and how it was broken into distinct parts. I loved seeing the different stages of Silvio’s life. Right from the start I was very intrigued by Silvio’s fascination with bandits and theft. […] read full post >>

“Beauty will be CONVULSIVE or will not be at all.” André Breton, pg 160 André Breton’s Nadja was published in 1928 and was a part of a collection of books during France’s Surrealist Movement post World War II. Straight off the bat, I absolutely loved this book. Perhaps I’m just a romance junkie, but I […] read full post >>

This week’s reading was much better than the last one in my opinion. I found it easier to follow along but also extremely entertaining. I want to share my favourite paragraph from the reading. “I seemed to see her outside of time and space, on a dark, dry plain,with a sky so blue it was […] read full post >>

I was intrigued by the brief description of Andre Breton’s “Nadja” that was provided on the course website, but found the first section of the book to be a bit scattered with the narrator’s constant thoughts and names of what appeared to be random people. However, I did like how Breton made the text somewhat […] read full post >>

“Of a more or less unfamiliar character, whose secret we feel might be learned merely by questioning ourselves closely enough.” That’s precisely how I felt as I was reading Nandja.  Nadja begins with the awful question of “who am I?” which sends the narrator into a spiral of self-doubt. It leads to the ideals of […] read full post >>

Roberto Arlt’s novel, “Mad Toy,” was a very fun and interesting read about Silvio’s adventures as a youth as he engages in the quest to become a bandit. I found this text very interesting as it described in great detail the moments in his life as a teen. At first, I was a little confused about the setting and where in fact this text would lead me. As I continued to read about Silvio’s fixation on bandits the text started to get more interesting. One thing I liked about this...read more read full post >>

While it had its moments, I had a difficult time getting drawn into Mad Toy. However, while I didn't enjoy the book last week because of the writing, I really enjoyed Arlt's writing style this week. My main issue with the book was that I just couldn't ... read full post >>

While it had its moments, I had a difficult time getting drawn into Mad Toy. However, while I didn't enjoy the book last week because of the writing, I really enjoyed Arlt's writing style this week. My main issue with the book was that I just couldn't ... read full post >>

When I first started reading this novel, I was a little confused and intimidated by what the author was trying to convey. But as the story progressed, I found that the author was someone who was interested in poetry and loved writing about the events that occurred in his life or that he witnessed. After […] read full post >>

Roberto Arlt’s novel, “Mad Toy,” was a refreshing coming-of-age novel that invited readers to follow the harrowing journey of a struggling youth named Silvio Astier. In the first chapter, “The Band of Thieves,” Silvio befriended Enrique Irzubeta and Lucio. Together, the three adolescents became members of the “Club of the Midnight Horsemen,” entangled in a […] read full post >>

Hello Everyone! Welcome back to week 2, and let me introduce you to Nadja, a woman written by the author André Breton. This book is about a man who becomes obsessed with this woman he met in Paris, Nadja, and his account of his experiences with her, and his thoughts about her. One thing about […] read full post >>

For this week, I chose to read Mad Toy, a reading that I enjoyed but did leave me with the question of why the book is called Mad Toy. First off, I read the third section, “Mad Toy” first which definitely coloured my perception of the story when I realized my mistake and went back […] read full post >>