Student Blogs

Bolaño’s “Amulet” caught my interest with its gripping first line – “This is going to be a horror story”. The narrator, Auxillo is an unlikely choice and voice of a book. She is far from ordinary; impulsive, thoughtful and ambivalent. … Continue reading → read full post >>

Roberto Bolaño’s Amulet is the journey of a narrator who is originally from Uruguay but later shifted to Mexico with influences from other Latin American countries as well. The narrator and the author reflect on Latin America while living in another Spanish country. To start, I enjoyed reading this novel as, based on the migration […] read full post >>

This book is really interesting to me for a multitude of reasons. As a boy from the prairies of Alberta I couldn’t be farther from the turbulent and yet vibrant dives and campuses of Mexico city. Yet through the life … Continue reading → read full post >>

This novel was interesting. I especially liked the conviction and control the narrator uses at the beginning. Letting us know she is in charge of telling the story. The opening lines of the text are so thought-provoking, as they preface the story as being of horror but refusing to tell it as such a story. […] read full post >>

Roberto Bolano’s Amulet was an interesting read particularly because of the way its central motifs interact with one another in a way that feels very natural. On the one hand, the narrative is centrally concerned with time, however its dissection of time is not one of some objective or empirical account of time’s nature, rather […] read full post >>

amulet (noun): a charm (such as an ornament) often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol to aid the wearer or protect against evil (such as disease or witchcraft) Amulet follows Auxilio Lacouture, a woman trapped in the women’s bathroom of a university while it is being taken over by the military in response to […] read full post >>

After reading “Amulet”, I really like how Bolano wrote the violent story in a peaceful and tranquil way, just like how he promised at the beginning of the book. From reflecting on the notorious Tlatelolco Incident in Mexico in 1968, Bolano intends to portray the struggle of entire Latin America as a whole, by blending […] read full post >>

First, I have to say that I was particularly excited for this reading for several reasons, some of them being:... read full post >>

 This week we read the novel "Amulet", written by Roberto Bolano. I found this book to be fairly easy to follow in terms of language and writing style, although unfortunately I did catch myself having a hard time staying focused at times, as the subject matter wasn't my favourite. I found some parts to be a bit bland, while other parts kept me engaged and wanting more information. This novel follows the story of Auxilio Lacouture, a poet living in Mexico. Despite being from Uruguay, she holds the title of "Mother of Mexican Poetry". Auxilio recounts memories and experiences from her life in Mexico while hiding in the bathroom from an invasion. She spends 12 days cooped up in the upper level bathroom of UNAM where she sits in a stall, starving. She shares stories mostly of her chaotic and unstable life meeting new poets and creating bonds with them. There was one younger fella she bonded with in particular, his name was Arturo Belano. 

I think the most striking part of the book for me, was when Auxilio first found herself stuck in the bathroom, hiding from soldiers. Specifically, the part when she heard footsteps enter room and had to lift her feet to make sure no one found her. Perhaps I found this to be the most engaging part because it got my adrenaline going a bit, wondering if she would be safe or if they found her what the consequences would be. 

Another thing I found interesting about this novel, was Auxilio's relationship with Arturo. The two of them seemed to have a pretty tight bond, despite having quite an age difference. Though I know this bond was entirely due to their shared passion for poetry, while reading I wondered why an older woman would care to hang around a boy in his late teens. I believe this may have been the result of Auxilio grasping for relationships because she put herself in unfamiliar territory when moving to Mexico without family or a place to live. I think she sees him as a son, or someone that she's proud of and wants to guide in the right direction (a mothers instinct). 

If you were in Auxilio's shoes, do you think you would have looked for friendships in the same places as she did?

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 This week we read the novel "Amulet", written by Roberto Bolano. I found this book to be fairly easy to follow in terms of language and writing style, although unfortunately I did catch myself having a hard time staying focused at times, as the subject matter wasn't my favourite. I found some parts to be a bit bland, while other parts kept me engaged and wanting more information. This novel follows the story of Auxilio Lacouture, a poet living in Mexico. Despite being from Uruguay, she holds the title of "Mother of Mexican Poetry". Auxilio recounts memories and experiences from her life in Mexico while hiding in the bathroom from an invasion. She spends 12 days cooped up in the upper level bathroom of UNAM where she sits in a stall, starving. She shares stories mostly of her chaotic and unstable life meeting new poets and creating bonds with them. There was one younger fella she bonded with in particular, his name was Arturo Belano. 

I think the most striking part of the book for me, was when Auxilio first found herself stuck in the bathroom, hiding from soldiers. Specifically, the part when she heard footsteps enter room and had to lift her feet to make sure no one found her. Perhaps I found this to be the most engaging part because it got my adrenaline going a bit, wondering if she would be safe or if they found her what the consequences would be. 

Another thing I found interesting about this novel, was Auxilio's relationship with Arturo. The two of them seemed to have a pretty tight bond, despite having quite an age difference. Though I know this bond was entirely due to their shared passion for poetry, while reading I wondered why an older woman would care to hang around a boy in his late teens. I believe this may have been the result of Auxilio grasping for relationships because she put herself in unfamiliar territory when moving to Mexico without family or a place to live. I think she sees him as a son, or someone that she's proud of and wants to guide in the right direction (a mothers instinct). 

If you were in Auxilio's shoes, do you think you would have looked for friendships in the same places as she did?

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Amulet, to me, was a simple read. It did not feel as though the story was as hard to follow as some others we have read this term. Just like many other novellas we’ve read, the story focused a lot on the past and reflection of important moments of the narrators life, primary being locked […] read full post >>

The novel, “Amulet” by Roberto Bolano was an enjoyable read. It features Auxilio Lacouture who is an uruguay immigrant living illegally in Mexico City. She is passionate about poetry and literature which leads her to having many different relationships with different famous Mexican writers, as well as working odd jobs at the National Autonomous University […] read full post >>

Amulet opens with: “This is going to be a horror story. A story of murder, detection and horror” (1). This explanation by the narrator, Auxilio Lacouture, created, right off the bat, a sense of suspense and mystery that allowed readers to expect an exciting or thrilling story. However, in my opinion, the novel was the …

Continue reading "Amulet and “Sleepwalking”"

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Amulet was such an interesting read, with the novel at times dipping into fantastical and sporadic narratives and at other times detailing straightforward and raw accounts of Auxilio’s life in Mexico. I found the book to be very fun to read, with the protagonist detailing the accounts of the people in and out of her […] read full post >>

First of all, I enjoyed reading this book. Mostly because I enjoyed the historical and social aspects of their lives. Since the book is written in her autobiographical manner, she put a lot of the historical scenes she encountered as a dweller in Mexico City along with the description of her own life as a […] read full post >>