Student Blogs

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 >>

My initial reaction to Breton - not simply as a character, but also an individual since this novel allegedly recounts his true life story - is that he a lost figure. He is unfulfilled by his marriage and by life as a whole. I believe that this disconte... read full post >>

My initial reaction to Breton - not simply as a character, but also an individual since this novel allegedly recounts his true life story - is that he a lost figure. He is unfulfilled by his marriage and by life as a whole. I believe that this disconte... read full post >>

Nadja was a very interesting read and builds onto the Proust reading we did last week, especially in terms of me stepping into a form of writing I’m not very familiar with. This book is very disconnected and doesn’t seem to follow a typical storyline comprised of a beginning, middle and end. Nadja is my […] read full post >>

While reading Nadja, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Nadja is such a “manic pixie dream girl.” Maybe she was like the first one… But after making that comparison, the rest whole novel feel even more uncomfortable for me… Breton seems fascinated by her spontaneity, her intuition, her drawings, and the way she experiences the … Continue reading breton… read full post >>

I really enjoyed Nadja and how it included photos and drawings. Right at the start of the book, I noticed the question, “Who am I?” can correlate well with the themes of surrealism and the unconscious. Breton follows this question by suggesting parts of him “haunts” others. He clarifies that he doesn’t view himself undead, […] read full post >>

To me, Nadja is filled with statements that feel like they should be profound. Yet, I only truly comprehend few. Of these statements, the question, “Who am I”, gave me most pause. I reflected on how often I have had to answer this question. I tell interviewers and new friends about my identity without great […] read full post >>

I really liked this book and managed to read it in one sitting, unlike Proust. I read it in the original language, Spanish, and I was a tiny bit lost at first. Honestly, I think it might have been easier for me to read it in English. I don’t know if my Spanish vocabulary has […] read full post >>

Nadja, Nadja, Nadja. Nothing in Nadja seems make much sense but I think that’s on purpose. André Breton’s sole focus is the character, the idea of Nadja (except at the start when he was talking about who knows what). He also does not care for the reader; “I shall discuss these things without pre-established order, […] read full post >>

The strongest impression this book gave me is synesthetic memory. Proust often uses sensations like taste, sound, and visual images to trigger memories, which makes the story move back and forth along the timeline. When I first started reading, I felt a bit confused and dizzy, because I couldn’t always tell whether he was talking […] read full post >>