Student Blogs

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of incestuous behaviours, toxic masculinity, and pedophilia. Cover Painting: Tavik F. Simon “Sunny Beach” 1934 “He felt as if he had bartered away his former innocence, not for the virile, serene condition he had aspired to, but rather, for a confused hybrid state in which, without any form of recompense, the old […] read full post >>

“This is why he must not betray the annoyance and disappointment that he was feeling. But try as he may to feign an air of composure and serenity, he still felt the everyone could read in his face how forced and petty his attitude was” (7) A story can be powerful despite the length. Where […] read full post >>

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. The book for this week is Agostino by Alberto Moravia. I had the pleasure of reading an old and weathered copy from the public library which felt more appropriate compared to the PDFs of previous weeks. I enjoyed this this book and found it rather nostalgic, as it […] read full post >>

Nada, a book of madness, trauma and grotesqueness that encase its pages. Nada was a book full of drama, conflict and messiness from all characters. Like Bombal’s novel I found it so hard to like anyone, when I started to like someone or feel sorry for them I would quickly realize that they sucked as … read full post >>

Agostino by Alberto Moravia was a complex coming-of-age story that left me with feelings of unease throughout reading and afterwards. The plot of the book was very easy to follow and focused more on the psychological aspects of growing up rather than the physical changes which makes sense as the content in the book was […] read full post >>

While reading Agostino, I found myself saying "What?!" audibly every time a scene surprises me. During other times, I even physically back away from my screen when I feel uncomfortable. For instance, when Agostino describes his mother's appearance, and... read full post >>

While reading Agostino, I found myself saying "What?!" audibly every time a scene surprises me. During other times, I even physically back away from my screen when I feel uncomfortable. For instance, when Agostino describes his mother's appearance, and... read full post >>

Agostino by Alberto Moravia was a very interesting read. This young boy who is completely infatuated by his mother’s presence and longs so dearly for her love becomes evident in the rest few pages of the book. Right at the beginning of the book, Agostino states how much it means to spend time with his mother. Going boating every day, laying on the beach, and being in her presence fills his pride and identity but when her presence is shared with others he becomes jealous. An interesting theme that came...read more read full post >>

In the beginning, Agostino’s jealousy toward his mother’s lover immediately reminded me of Proust, since he also yearns for his mother’s kisses. Both characters coveted attention from their mothers; their identities are partly contingent upon their mothers’ affection. For instance, the kisses from Prosut’s mother give him satisfaction and a sense of connection with her. […] read full post >>

Alberto Moravia is an Italian author who wrote the novel “Agostino”, the book which was first published in 1942 and examines the difficulties of puberty and how cultural factors affect an individual’s perception of self. It centers around the journey of Agostino, the little kid who serves as the main character, as he grows up. […] read full post >>

The most glaring theme from this reading that I think most of us will have noticed is the theme of sexuality and loss of innocence. We understand that at the beginning Agostino loves his mother very much. Some of you may argue that he loves her sexually at first but I don’t think this is […] read full post >>

Hi Everyone!    This week I chose to read Agostino by Moravia. I think this was an interesting read, but it made me uncomfortable at times. It includes a lot of discussions about growing up, trauma and class.  In the beginning of the novel, Agostino is a high class child living with his mother, and […] read full post >>

Moravia’s “Agostino” made me so uncomfortable. I found the very sensual and detailed descriptions of Agostino observing his mother and her physicality to be quite disturbing. However, despite these unpleasant feelings, I appreciated the simple structure of the book and how easy it was to read and understand. Compared to the previous books we have […] read full post >>

“Nada” by Carmen Laforet had me questioning if this was the craziest, yet oddly realistic, family I have ever read about. Aside from all the comments about the women in the book acting like animals, from the grandmother or men, I still could not understand why Andrea bothered to stay so long in this family […] read full post >>

If you read my last blog post you may remember that I found The Shrouded Women quite anxiety inducing, for this weeks story I read Agostino by Alberto Moravia but if I thought last weeks story was “bad” (in the sense of feeling, not content, I quite enjoyed The Shrouded Women!) then this weeks story […] read full post >>