Student Blogs

This week’s novel, Soldiers of Salamis written by Javier Cercas definitely felt like such a long read. Although, I was extremely thankful that I had a physical copy for this long novel because reading on a computer screen would definitely strain my eyes, and make the reading process longer. I found that it was interesting […] read full post >>

I found this week’s reading to be intriguing, really informative and pretty emotional. I haven’t really ever known much about the civil war in Spain and I found that through the interviews and piecing stories together I was able to … Continue reading → read full post >>

Using the Spanish Civil War as a narrative foundation, Javier Cercas’s Soldiers of Salamis illustrates the complexities of humanity vividly and touchingly. The novel takes a rather unusual narrative methodology through the point of view of a fictional author and journalist who also happens to be named Javier Cercas. He became interested in investigating a legendary story […] read full post >>

  When our original beliefs are defeated by reality, is it that we have changed, or is the society that is the way it is, it is only when we grow up that we realize the most primitive self. “Soldiers of Salamis” is a classic war novel. I like this book very much. Although I … Continue reading Review of Soldiers of Salamis → read full post >>

Soldiers of Salamis is a novel set during the Spanish Civil War and is probably the closest experience we have to reading historical nonfiction than any of the other novels and stories. Rafael Sánchez Mazas, an important figure in the actual Spanish Falange, is the main character we encounter in the novel as a fascist writer […] read full post >>

Reading Javier Cercas’ Soldiers of Salamis was filled with many different emotions. At first, reading about Cercas’ – the narrator – detachment from his literary career made me sad. However, upon quickly realizing that he had found a new impulse to write again, I felt excited for the narrator. This quote in page 55 resonated […] read full post >>

Reading the first few pages, Soldiers of Salamis, it was already a dark story filled with war and violence. One section that stood out was Machado’s death and his brother finding his last poem in his pocket. “These blue days, this childhood sun.” It was saddening to read this poem after him and his family […] read full post >>

I was not particularly expecting too but I absolutely loved this book. Part one and part three were definitely my favorite to read. It’s always such a thrilling experience to observe a character uncover pieces of a story bit by bit. It reminded me of a show I’m currently watching called ‘Inventing Anna’ where a […] read full post >>

First off – wow! On a personal note, I am struggling to keep up with reading at this point. This novel felt longer than others, and this week is extra hectic with school in general. I still found myself to enjoy it, even though I may have felt an extra push from my contract! I […] read full post >>

 I found the novel "Amulet" by Roberto Bolaño to be very interesting. I was confused at first as to if the stories Auxilio was telling were things that had happened in real life or were only that of a dream. As the novel went on, it revealed that it was the dreams of Auxilio and that cleared a lot of confusion for me and the novel made sense. I found all the different stories and experiences in this novel to be very interesting. I would think that having the several different stories and plot lines of the dreams in the novel would be confusing, but in conclusion it was done in a perfect way where I was able to hear the right amount of each story and make sense of it, which made me interesting into what was going to happen next. I wonder what the end part of the novel during the snow and ice storm represented and if it was part of a dream of Auxilio's. I know that during the snow storm, there was a little voice that had been conversing with Auxilio and I wonder who that little voice was and how they knew Auxilio. My question is who was the little voice in relation to Auxilio? It seemed like they knew a lot about Auxilio and happened to be someone that knew she had a power. That power being telling the future, I wonder if that had something to do with the level of vividness of the dreams that Auxilio had or that has raised her ability to dream like that. I think that the way these dreams were written was very beautiful and I found myself getting lost in each of them as it moved on towards another dream full of memories. I was able to follow along with each part of the novel and understand. It was interesting to see the part in which Auxilio tells the little voice that she can tell the future. Auxilio pointing out the dates in the future was interesting and put life into a different perspective for me. I was able to see all these dates and it just lead me think more about how time works and how powerful work and art from humans is and how it makes such an influence and impact on the future and lives of other humans. I found this book to be a beautiful novel.

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 I found the novel "Amulet" by Roberto Bolaño to be very interesting. I was confused at first as to if the stories Auxilio was telling were things that had happened in real life or were only that of a dream. As the novel went on, it revealed that it was the dreams of Auxilio and that cleared a lot of confusion for me and the novel made sense. I found all the different stories and experiences in this novel to be very interesting. I would think that having the several different stories and plot lines of the dreams in the novel would be confusing, but in conclusion it was done in a perfect way where I was able to hear the right amount of each story and make sense of it, which made me interesting into what was going to happen next. I wonder what the end part of the novel during the snow and ice storm represented and if it was part of a dream of Auxilio's. I know that during the snow storm, there was a little voice that had been conversing with Auxilio and I wonder who that little voice was and how they knew Auxilio. My question is who was the little voice in relation to Auxilio? It seemed like they knew a lot about Auxilio and happened to be someone that knew she had a power. That power being telling the future, I wonder if that had something to do with the level of vividness of the dreams that Auxilio had or that has raised her ability to dream like that. I think that the way these dreams were written was very beautiful and I found myself getting lost in each of them as it moved on towards another dream full of memories. I was able to follow along with each part of the novel and understand. It was interesting to see the part in which Auxilio tells the little voice that she can tell the future. Auxilio pointing out the dates in the future was interesting and put life into a different perspective for me. I was able to see all these dates and it just lead me think more about how time works and how powerful work and art from humans is and how it makes such an influence and impact on the future and lives of other humans. I found this book to be a beautiful novel.

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I finally purchased a book rather than reading the text online. Somehow it made reading it more enjoyable. I feel as if reading the story from paper rather than online can help with understanding the story more. It started off with a strong tone, “this is going to be a horror story”. Already it hooked […] read full post >>

    Roberto Bolano’s “Amulet” is a unique tale which, in its focus on character development in a time of political violence, makes a more potent statement about human perseverance. The perspective is the student Lacouture hiding in the bathroom of UNAM from the army coming to crush the student protest movement. On the surface, it appears […] read full post >>

 At the beginning of this book I was very intrigued yet scared at the idea of a horror story taking place in this book. What took place was not what I was expecting but it was in fact intriguing and I wanted to read more. The narrator mentions that it will be a story of "murder, detection and horror" but that it wont seem like that. I was confused by this statement but it made such more sense after finishing the book. 

The story takes off when the protagonist Lacouture hides in a bathroom of the "Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico for almost 2 weeks to resist the army during the "student movement". This is something I had no knowledge on prior to reading so I was very worried to see where it would go. 

As I read on, I find myself once again relating this book to others we have read in the course. This is because, as I think I may have mentioned in every blog post, major themes of dreams and memories comes up once again. While she has locked herself in the bathroom, Lacouture begins to recall her life. she recalls Belano himself and other poets who were her friends. 

As mentioned in the lecture, her memories were described very poetically themselves which was very beautiful to read.  One contrast I found interesting was how she was telling these memories while violence was going on just outside of this bathroom stall. It made it seem like two different stories. Sometimes I'd forget she is even hiding because I would get so lost in her memories, then I would remember the circumstances. 

Another thing I found myself doing while reading, besides comparing this book to others, is imagining myself in this scenario. I believe because it was set in a University, my mind was imagining bathrooms at UBC and corridors or windows I would be looking out in this circumstance. It was a very easy thing to imagine as all of us reading this attend a University, so my mind just automatically goes there, this definitely heightened my worry for this being a horror. 

Lastly, I was confused about the title as there was no mention of an Amulet the entire book, until I read the last lines and see it being mentioned. 

My questions for this week are, why do you think Bolano named this book "Amulet" , what significance does it have? and did you find yourself imagining UBC while reading, or picturing yourself if it were you in this scary circumstance? 

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 At the beginning of this book I was very intrigued yet scared at the idea of a horror story taking place in this book. What took place was not what I was expecting but it was in fact intriguing and I wanted to read more. The narrator mentions that it will be a story of "murder, detection and horror" but that it wont seem like that. I was confused by this statement but it made such more sense after finishing the book. 

The story takes off when the protagonist Lacouture hides in a bathroom of the "Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico for almost 2 weeks to resist the army during the "student movement". This is something I had no knowledge on prior to reading so I was very worried to see where it would go. 

As I read on, I find myself once again relating this book to others we have read in the course. This is because, as I think I may have mentioned in every blog post, major themes of dreams and memories comes up once again. While she has locked herself in the bathroom, Lacouture begins to recall her life. she recalls Belano himself and other poets who were her friends. 

As mentioned in the lecture, her memories were described very poetically themselves which was very beautiful to read.  One contrast I found interesting was how she was telling these memories while violence was going on just outside of this bathroom stall. It made it seem like two different stories. Sometimes I'd forget she is even hiding because I would get so lost in her memories, then I would remember the circumstances. 

Another thing I found myself doing while reading, besides comparing this book to others, is imagining myself in this scenario. I believe because it was set in a University, my mind was imagining bathrooms at UBC and corridors or windows I would be looking out in this circumstance. It was a very easy thing to imagine as all of us reading this attend a University, so my mind just automatically goes there, this definitely heightened my worry for this being a horror. 

Lastly, I was confused about the title as there was no mention of an Amulet the entire book, until I read the last lines and see it being mentioned. 

My questions for this week are, why do you think Bolano named this book "Amulet" , what significance does it have? and did you find yourself imagining UBC while reading, or picturing yourself if it were you in this scary circumstance? 

read full post >>