Student Blogs

My decision to read Mad Toy this week was entirely based on the (perhaps naive) assumption that it might take me back to reading The Outsiders in my eighth-grade English class, when I first crushed on Ponyboy Curtis and learned that teenage rebellion often comes from a lonely, poetic place. I was hoping for that […] read full post >>

My initial reaction to Breton - not simply as a character, but also an individual since this novel allegedly recounts his true life story - is that he a lost figure. He is unfulfilled by his marriage and by life as a whole. I believe that this disconte... read full post >>

My initial reaction to Breton - not simply as a character, but also an individual since this novel allegedly recounts his true life story - is that he a lost figure. He is unfulfilled by his marriage and by life as a whole. I believe that this disconte... read full post >>

Nadja was a very interesting read and builds onto the Proust reading we did last week, especially in terms of me stepping into a form of writing I’m not very familiar with. This book is very disconnected and doesn’t seem to follow a typical storyline comprised of a beginning, middle and end. Nadja is my […] read full post >>

While reading Nadja, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Nadja is such a “manic pixie dream girl.” Maybe she was like the first one… But after making that comparison, the rest whole novel feel even more uncomfortable for me… Breton seems fascinated by her spontaneity, her intuition, her drawings, and the way she experiences the … Continue reading breton… read full post >>

I really enjoyed Nadja and how it included photos and drawings. Right at the start of the book, I noticed the question, “Who am I?” can correlate well with the themes of surrealism and the unconscious. Breton follows this question by suggesting parts of him “haunts” others. He clarifies that he doesn’t view himself undead, […] read full post >>

To me, Nadja is filled with statements that feel like they should be profound. Yet, I only truly comprehend few. Of these statements, the question, “Who am I”, gave me most pause. I reflected on how often I have had to answer this question. I tell interviewers and new friends about my identity without great […] read full post >>

I really liked this book and managed to read it in one sitting, unlike Proust. I read it in the original language, Spanish, and I was a tiny bit lost at first. Honestly, I think it might have been easier for me to read it in English. I don’t know if my Spanish vocabulary has […] read full post >>

Nadja, Nadja, Nadja. Nothing in Nadja seems make much sense but I think that’s on purpose. André Breton’s sole focus is the character, the idea of Nadja (except at the start when he was talking about who knows what). He also does not care for the reader; “I shall discuss these things without pre-established order, […] read full post >>

The strongest impression this book gave me is synesthetic memory. Proust often uses sensations like taste, sound, and visual images to trigger memories, which makes the story move back and forth along the timeline. When I first started reading, I felt a bit confused and dizzy, because I couldn’t always tell whether he was talking […] read full post >>

Hi everyone! I’m a 3rd year student currently pursuing a major in Economics and a minor in Commerce. This being nothing related to those fields, I’m taking this course to mainly to fill the literature requirement but at the same time felt like this course would be an interesting time. It’s not every day you […] read full post >>

Why does nothing happen in Combray and why that matters read full post >>

Mad Toy: very fun read, did it in a day. Other blogs and the lecture have alluded to the idea that every chapter is centered around books and knowledge in connection to good society’s system. And related to this, every chapter is structured around Silvio’s failure to obtain or use this knowledge, as mentioned in […] read full post >>

What really stood out to me after reading the book and watching conversation and lecture videos was a point mentioned where Nadja functions as a projection of the narrator's inner disorder or insecurity. It's so evidently put, a void in the narrator's ... read full post >>

What really stood out to me after reading the book and watching conversation and lecture videos was a point mentioned where Nadja functions as a projection of the narrator's inner disorder or insecurity. It's so evidently put, a void in the narrator's ... read full post >>