Student Blogs

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 >>

I found this book an uncomfortable read… I immediately thought of the Oedipus complex, it’s so so very Freudian, but I tried not to think about it too much, because it made me ill, and instead appreciate it as best … Continue reading → read full post >>

This novel definitely had some interesting characters, however, it made me so unbelievably angry at men. Agostino is a young boy, despite having the privilege to attend school, he doesn’t know much about life. When he meets the group of boys, he starts to discover things about a part of the world he isn’t part […] read full post >>

Labyrinth. This story was a labyrinth of emotions and relationships, with an odd enigma in the center waiting to be discovered. Looking at the story the only adjective that comes to mind when describing Agostino as a character is strange.  That was the first and perhaps only word I could think to describe the character of Agostino. He […] read full post >>

This book made me sad, happy and at many points angry at the characters, especially the men. I found myself wanting to know how the events of the story would unfold. This novel was more of what I usually read in terms of structure and style. So far this is the book I have enjoyed […] read full post >>

After reading Alberto Moravia’s book “Agostino,” I began to reflect on the term ‘adolescence.’ From childhood to adulthood, adolescence marks one of the most significant psychological transformations we undergo. I believe that adolescence education reinforces the self-awareness of teenagers. Self-awareness refers to the subjective experience, self-recognition, and self-evaluation of a sentient and thinking entity, namely […] read full post >>