Student Blogs

The Impatient by Djaïli Amadou Amal, was such an insightful book to read. Im truly really happy with the choice of books I chose for this term, and this last book really was the cherry on top. I took a number of quotes, but I won’t do all of them to keep some simplicity. I […] read full post >>

I really enjoyed this novel. It felt different from a lot of the other things I’ve read so far, mostly because of how direct and stripped down it is. The writing is minimalist and straightforward, but that’s what made me like it. There’s no overexplaining or beating around the bush. Things are just said quickly and […] read full post >>

Rethinking a world of difference #RMST202 read full post >>

apr 4, 2026 Can’t believe we made it to the last post! I’m really bad at writing conclusions. We’ve discussed so many different topics throughout the entire course, from genre, themes, and character writing, to history, religion, and (a lot of) different kinds of oppression. Although my memory is really bad (I promise I did […] read full post >>

“nothing to bog me down, a style inspired by emptiness, the only one for me” (29). This was the easiest novel for me to read in this course – I usually take several hours over multiple sessions but this one I did all in a couple hours. The prose is very matter of fact, short […] read full post >>

Over the course of this Romance Studies course, my understanding of literature has shifted in ways I didn’t initially expect. At the beginning, I approached texts like Combray or Mad Toy as isolated works tied to specific national and cultural niches. Now, I see them as part of a broader, interconnected field that constantly crosses […] read full post >>

Apr 4, 2026 Finally (unfortunately) we’ve reached the last book of this course. Despite some horrors I’ve read in the past few months I enjoyed experiencing the books, and what an honor to get the chance to feel all the ranges of human emotion through voices of characters from different places and times. I’m actually […] read full post >>

Hi everyone.. To be honest I was kinda dreading writing this last post since I hate writing conclusions and I had no idea what to say, but I’ve finally decided on just trying to remember what happened in each book I read without going back and skimming. Actually, I will probably forget about a book … Continue reading done read full post >>

Love Me Tender by Constance Debré left me with a slightly frustrating reaction because it felt like nothing really happened? The narrative drifts rather than builds and it circles the same emotional terrain instead of moving forward in any traditional sense. I suppose the more I reflect on it the more it could be an […] read full post >>

I feel like the way I think about literature has changed a lot. At the beginning, I kind of just saw literature as stories. But now, I see it more as something shaped by history, politics, language, and social structures. It is not just about what is written, but also about who is writing, under […] read full post >>

When tasked to reflect on this course by writing this final blog, my first thought was to do a ranking of all books I read, but then I thought, no, Sofia, you can’t just regurgitate what you’ve been writing all term, but you know what? Jon said he doesn’t care if our blogs are “hot […] read full post >>

This blog post marks the end of my journey in this class! I can finally say I've read over 10 new books in the shortest period of time. I'm honestly surprised I pushed through with all these books. I'm proud and relieved. I could probably talk about th... read full post >>

This blog post marks the end of my journey in this class! I can finally say I've read over 10 new books in the shortest period of time. I'm honestly surprised I pushed through with all these books. I'm proud and relieved. I could probably talk about th... read full post >>

Let me begin this blog by saying there was much insight in this book about existentialism, which complemented and helped me think through/work with my recent existential crisis and the issue, the search for meaning. I spent the last few months or so th... read full post >>

Let me begin this blog by saying there was much insight in this book about existentialism, which complemented and helped me think through/work with my recent existential crisis and the issue, the search for meaning. I spent the last few months or so th... read full post >>