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Agostino was a very interesting story to me. It dipped into many different topics, such as sexuality, class, and “growing pains.” Although it dealt with heavy and uncomfortable subject matter, I felt somewhat relaxed while reading it. I think this was due to the fact it is written in such a passing way, since nothing […] read full post >>

The novel, “Agostino” by Alberto Moravia was not what I expected from its description. I found this story to be extremely different than most texts I’ve read before, but still interesting. I also liked the writing style of the story. I felt it had more flow and structure than the previous texts we’ve covered, but … Continue reading Week 5: Moravia’s “Agostino” → read full post >>

    While reading Agostino I was disturbed by the relationship between thirteen-year-old Agostino and his mother. It quickly became clear that Agostino had a less than innocent attraction towards her. I think Moravia was direct with regard to  Freud’s Oedipus Complex as Agostino was entering a reality where he realizes that he unconsciously desires a sexual union with his mother and spends the remainder of the book trying to repress it. When his mother starts to spend time with her new love interest Renzo, Agostino feels neglected and jealous. The summer was the start of his sensual awakening, not only did he feel pride for being associated with his mother’s beauty, but with the association of his new friends, he learnt what his desires meant and why he didn’t like his mom spending time with Renzo.

    Agostino’s shame later turns to anger towards his mother for example on page 69 “unable to bear his mother’s unawareness or his own attentions, he wanted to shout, “Cover yourself, stop showing yourself to me, I’m not who I used to be.” He uses his new friends as a distraction from his situation with his mother, but the more time he spends with them the more he comes to realize how naive and childish he is. They expose him to rough behaviours, a perspective on the low-income class, and gave him a strong male presence that he had been lacking since the death of his father. They viewed him as weak and sheltered, so he had to work on being the person he thought they wanted him to be. His newfound sexuality paired with his new friends gives him an overwhelming escalation into manhood. The change that happened within him this summer had already been a source of suffering for him and getting kicked out of the house of prostitutes gave him the idea that he was still young and how he was not yet a man “and many unhappy days would pass before he became one.”

    Overall I thought the story was well written and an easy read. It had a number of well presented themes that I enjoyed, including class, sexuality, and coming of age. I thought the author’s psychoanalytic approach illustrated Agostino’s agony of his position and attraction to his mother.  My question for the class is how do you think Agostino’s relationship/attraction to his mother will affect his future relationships?

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    While reading Agostino I was disturbed by the relationship between thirteen-year-old Agostino and his mother. It quickly became clear that Agostino had a less than innocent attraction towards her. I think Moravia was direct with regard to  Freud’s Oedipus Complex as Agostino was entering a reality where he realizes that he unconsciously desires a sexual union with his mother and spends the remainder of the book trying to repress it. When his mother starts to spend time with her new love interest Renzo, Agostino feels neglected and jealous. The summer was the start of his sensual awakening, not only did he feel pride for being associated with his mother’s beauty, but with the association of his new friends, he learnt what his desires meant and why he didn’t like his mom spending time with Renzo.

    Agostino’s shame later turns to anger towards his mother for example on page 69 “unable to bear his mother’s unawareness or his own attentions, he wanted to shout, “Cover yourself, stop showing yourself to me, I’m not who I used to be.” He uses his new friends as a distraction from his situation with his mother, but the more time he spends with them the more he comes to realize how naive and childish he is. They expose him to rough behaviours, a perspective on the low-income class, and gave him a strong male presence that he had been lacking since the death of his father. They viewed him as weak and sheltered, so he had to work on being the person he thought they wanted him to be. His newfound sexuality paired with his new friends gives him an overwhelming escalation into manhood. The change that happened within him this summer had already been a source of suffering for him and getting kicked out of the house of prostitutes gave him the idea that he was still young and how he was not yet a man “and many unhappy days would pass before he became one.”

    Overall I thought the story was well written and an easy read. It had a number of well presented themes that I enjoyed, including class, sexuality, and coming of age. I thought the author’s psychoanalytic approach illustrated Agostino’s agony of his position and attraction to his mother.  My question for the class is how do you think Agostino’s relationship/attraction to his mother will affect his future relationships?

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This week I chose to read the novel Agostino by Alberto Moravia. My decision to read this book came from some reviews I read on Goodreads that left me wondering what this novel was about. The story of Agostino was … Continue reading → read full post >>

  Nada by Carmen Laforet really captured my attention as the book was filled with drama, relationships and betrayal surrounding a young university student. Laforet did an excellent job in portraying the characters as somewhat delusional as I often found myself questioning many of their actions. Although this book has a lot to unpack, this …

Continue reading "Laforet “Nada”"

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 This week I chose to read Nada by Carmen Laforet.

The main protagonist, Andrea, was excited about the trip by herself to the place she had adored. She is moving to Barcelona to attend university and study literature. The descriptions Andrea had made when she arrived in Barcelona all seem to be dark and gloomy. After she got to her relatives house, it “all seemed like nightmare” (p5) to her. She was first greeted by her grandma who seems to have forgotten about her, then it was her uncle Juan whom she described as“ a skull in the light of the single bulb in the lamp” (p6) and seeing “several ghostly women” (p6) when she looked up.

The house seems to be in disorder and suffocating. It is filled with cobwebs, dust and a bathroom that seemed like a witches’ house (P8).

She described the room she is staying as “like the attic of an abandoned palace” and“like a grave mound surrounded by mourners” (p9). When the candle got put out, Andrea thought she “was trembling with undefinable terror” (p9). Not only the house, there also seems to be tension between the family members. There are a lot of arguments and fights going on, even Andrea’s uncle Roman told her not to be frightened as it happens everyday (p18).They also have a complicated relationship going on in the house.

The reason why Andrea is making friends and connecting with people around her age may be because of the wish to escape from her family. “Only these beings of my own generation and my own tastes could support me and protect me from the somewhat ghostly world of older people” (p44). I believe being with her friends allows her to briefly escape from the pain/conflicts her estranged family brings. She especially cherished her friendship with Ena.“She made me feel that I was everything I wasn't: rich and contented” (p53), being with Ena helped her feel a sense of belonging because no one she loved has ever shown her so much affection as Ena had (p52). Ena is able to make her feel loved in a way that her family never provided. The thought of leaving her family never left her even when she was with Pons, “Illustrations of… Pons leading me by the hand, out of my house and towards happiness” (p181).

A question I have for the class is: When Andrea just got to Barcelona, aunt Angustias told her not to become friends with Gloria or she would be disappointed. If it was you, would you avoid Gloria just to be on aunt Angustias good side?

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 This week I chose to read Nada by Carmen Laforet.

The main protagonist, Andrea, was excited about the trip by herself to the place she had adored. She is moving to Barcelona to attend university and study literature. The descriptions Andrea had made when she arrived in Barcelona all seem to be dark and gloomy. After she got to her relatives house, it “all seemed like nightmare” (p5) to her. She was first greeted by her grandma who seems to have forgotten about her, then it was her uncle Juan whom she described as“ a skull in the light of the single bulb in the lamp” (p6) and seeing “several ghostly women” (p6) when she looked up.

The house seems to be in disorder and suffocating. It is filled with cobwebs, dust and a bathroom that seemed like a witches’ house (P8).

She described the room she is staying as “like the attic of an abandoned palace” and“like a grave mound surrounded by mourners” (p9). When the candle got put out, Andrea thought she “was trembling with undefinable terror” (p9). Not only the house, there also seems to be tension between the family members. There are a lot of arguments and fights going on, even Andrea’s uncle Roman told her not to be frightened as it happens everyday (p18).They also have a complicated relationship going on in the house.

The reason why Andrea is making friends and connecting with people around her age may be because of the wish to escape from her family. “Only these beings of my own generation and my own tastes could support me and protect me from the somewhat ghostly world of older people” (p44). I believe being with her friends allows her to briefly escape from the pain/conflicts her estranged family brings. She especially cherished her friendship with Ena.“She made me feel that I was everything I wasn't: rich and contented” (p53), being with Ena helped her feel a sense of belonging because no one she loved has ever shown her so much affection as Ena had (p52). Ena is able to make her feel loved in a way that her family never provided. The thought of leaving her family never left her even when she was with Pons, “Illustrations of… Pons leading me by the hand, out of my house and towards happiness” (p181).

A question I have for the class is: When Andrea just got to Barcelona, aunt Angustias told her not to become friends with Gloria or she would be disappointed. If it was you, would you avoid Gloria just to be on aunt Angustias good side?

read full post >>

I am made to believe that it might be better to be in one’s own company than in the wrong one after reading Alberto Moravia’s “Agostino”. However, I think not having fun would definitely leave the narrator in an existential mindset. By avoiding this, he is trying to find some meaning through attaining experience that […] read full post >>

When I first began this book, I could not stop thinking about a theory I learned in psychology. While it may not be directly correlated, I was instantly considering how it could be applied to Agostino. It is called the Oedipus complex. That is, where children can develop a desire or protectiveness of the opposite […] read full post >>