Student Blogs

When I read the starting section of combray, I felt as if I drifted out of consciousness. It was less about just reading and following a story. It was more about being immersed in the words of the narrator. From the beginning everything felt very unstable with the room blurring into another and time slipping […] read full post >>

When I started reading Nadja, I honestly thought I was doing something wrong. I kept flipping pages, waiting for the moment where everything would click, where a storyline would emerge or where I’d finally understand what I was supposed to be paying attention to. That moment never really came. Instead, the book felt like being […] read full post >>

 Nadja by Breton was definitely interesting and different to read. It reminded me a lot of Proust and I felt like the difficulty of reading it was similar to Proust. This is because both the books were difficult to read and keep up with and they both were quite different from the form of writing […] read full post >>

It felt like I flew through this book in comparison to Proust’s Combray. I especially enjoyed the beginning when Silvio was a thief so I was a little disappointed when he had to get a job. I guess not as disappointed as him though… Looking at this world through the eyes of Silvio is quite […] read full post >>

While reading Mad Toy, one of the first things I noticed was how uncomfortable and raw the novel feels. Arlt doesn’t try to make Silvio Astier likeable or heroic, and that actually made the story more interesting for me. Silvio is intelligent and imaginative, but he’s also resentful, impulsive, and often self-sabotaging. Instead of a […] read full post >>

At the beginning, I found it strange that the text starts with a detailed description of the state of sleep — especially focusing on his conscious experience between being awake and asleep. Why would the author spend so much time on what, on the face value, seems to be just a man waking up in […] read full post >>

#Madtoy read full post >>

When I first picked up this book and started reading, I literally had no idea what was going on. I kept sitting there waiting for something to happen, be it a plot, a conflict, or anything that would make me understand the storyline better. Instead, it felt like I had opened someone’s diary and was […] read full post >>

After reading Proust’s Combray, I actually found it easier to work my way through Nadja, especially during the beginning. It was a little confusing at times, but I am at peace with the non-linear structure. At this point, I have realized that the confusion of it is the point. I enjoyed the first section for that reason. […] read full post >>

When I was reading the Breton, I found that I could more easily catch on to the story than when I was reading the Proust. However, there were still times when I was confused as to what was going on. My initial thoughts after reading was a curiosity as to Breton’s relationship with Nadja. Clearly they had some sort of... read full post >>

I’ve only known Surrealism as the art style, but that’s the exact way Breton’s writing made me feel as well. read full post >>

Proust seems to have used a new approach to narrating by using external action instead of internal conciousness. Instead of starting off with a generic sequential approach to narrating, the reading goes into passages of semi wakefulness, and disorients me with scattered pieces of his memory. which shows that the narrator is not stable or […] read full post >>

Hello!! I’m Radha, and I’m a third year student. I am majoring in International Relations, and pursuing a minor in Commerce. So yes, I’m also taking MATH 100 this semester (yikes). I joined this class late, and as you already know, there’s a lot to set up in the first few weeks of class. I’m […] read full post >>

Y’all know that Internet meme “Brazil Mentioned” whenever Brazil is mentioned out-of-context in anything? read full post >>

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 >>