Student Blogs

I quickly realized why José Agualusa’s “The Book of Chameleons” was titled as such: many character’s take on different colours, changing based on their environments. Even the first-person narrator isn’t a chameleon, but a gecko. As stated in the lecture, the Portuguese original title means “The Seller of Pasts,” referencing the albino, Felix Ventura. The […] read full post >>

“The only thing about me that doesn’t change is my past: the memory of my human past. The past is usually stable, it’s always there, lovely or terrible, and it will be there forever” (55). This whole book left me thinking a lot about an essay I did in first-year philosophy class, where I wrote […] read full post >>

I think the style of this novel was quite refreshing because it was different from what we’ve previously read. The short sections (can I even call them chapters?) honestly made it easier to read, I felt like I was going through the novel faster than before because it was like little short anecdotes rather than […] read full post >>

… I think this is one of those books where I was interested the whole time, but also never fully trusted what I was reading. Which I think was on purpose? The novel felt less like reading a normal novel and more like following someone’s obsession in real time. The narration kept pulling me in … Continue reading salami read full post >>

There were no chameleons in this book, but there was a talking gecko. The original title in Portuguese is Seller of Pasts, which honestly aligns more directly with what the story is actually about. But “chameleons” works in a deeper, more theoretical way that I think fits the themes of the novel better  it’s just […] read full post >>

I liked this one! I felt like I read it in mere minutes, it went by so quick. I really felt this book, felt it sweating and sweet as I read it, as our gecko narrator scurries along the wall “like a tick on its host’s skin” and describes how the sun “silenced the birds, […] read full post >>

 The first thing that came to mind when reading this book was a reading I did for a SOCI class by Baudrillard  “Simulacra & Simulations: Disneyland”In which Baudrillard argues that in a modern society, we no longer live in reality but we ... read full post >>

 The first thing that came to mind when reading this book was a reading I did for a SOCI class by Baudrillard  “Simulacra & Simulations: Disneyland”In which Baudrillard argues that in a modern society, we no longer live in reality but we ... read full post >>

#JavierCercas #SoldiersofSalamis read full post >>

I see before me pieces of the human condition, bound together by the umbrella of a narrative that does not quite make any sense. Names reel in and out of sight, like stars in a black river flowing tear-like across the immensely lonely regions of the wo... read full post >>

A personal reflection on the distortion of my identity read full post >>

Well, The Book of Chameleons is not actually about chameleons. I expected this because none of the books we have read in this class have been about the literal meaning of their titles. As I read new books for this class, I try my best to identify the underlying themes. For instance, when I was […] read full post >>

After finishing this book, I felt the same that I did when finishing If on a winter’s night a traveler, the satisfying end to a meta-story and a long journey. It even ends with its own wink to itself: kust as how that book ends with the reader beginning to read the titular book, this ends […] read full post >>

A review of Ricardo Piglia's "Money to Burn" read full post >>

This was definitely a book that I would go back and reread. It is a genre that I like to read (well actually I tend to read more on the other side with a detective trying to solve the crime) … Continue reading → read full post >>