Student Blogs

Week 3's read is Nadja by André Breton, a semi-autobiographical novel following the authors fascination with a women, Nadja. It is set in France and includes and explores the ideas of surrealism. The semi-autobiographical nature of this reading created... read full post >>

Hi everyone! I personally think, the reading I chose for this week, Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy,” really captured the essence of early 20th-century Buenos Aires through the eyes of its protagonist, Silvio Astier. Reading it almost felt like navigating a maze as it illustrates the complexities of ambition, disillusionment, and the raw realities of urban […] read full post >>

Hello everyone, I’m back again this week for my weekly book reflection. This week’s book is Mad Toy by Roberto Arlt. The book follows a very bright young boy in Buenos Aires, Argentina named Silvio Drodman Astier. Overall, I liked the book a decent bit. I’d say I preferred it to last week’s Combray reading, […] read full post >>

Nadja by André Breton.   Surrealism as a form of art is one of the most intriguing concepts ever. I have seen surrealist films like Charlie Kaufman’s, art pieces like Salvador Dali, but never really dove into the world of surrealism in literature (Does Haruki Murakami count?). Looking more into it, I just now discovered […] read full post >>

As a surrealist text set in early twentieth century Paris, Nadja takes readers through a story of love and infatuation in a relationship scattered with madness. Upon reading, my first thoughts were that, while there were definitely some elements of this text which I found difficult or jarring to read, I was hooked, from start […] read full post >>

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend, as well as a nice start to your week:) I know we’ve had a little bumpy start to the new term. It has been a bit hectic lately with the snow days and transit strike, but hopefully, we can soon get back into our normal […] read full post >>

    I found to my surprise that I deeply enjoyed this novel. Though in the lectures Arlt’s writing is described as “perverse” and “bad” I found that his peculiar style drew me into the plot and Slyvio’s story. Specifically, I found mysel... read full post >>

    I found to my surprise that I deeply enjoyed this novel. Though in the lectures Arlt’s writing is described as “perverse” and “bad” I found that his peculiar style drew me into the plot and Slyvio’s story. Specifically, I found mysel... read full post >>

 Nadja was a book I wouldn't typically pick up outside of a classroom setting, and it definitely made for an interesting read. The story follows André Breton,the author, as he recounts his encounters with a mysterious woman named Nadja. The book i... read full post >>

 Nadja was a book I wouldn't typically pick up outside of a classroom setting, and it definitely made for an interesting read. The story follows André Breton,the author, as he recounts his encounters with a mysterious woman named Nadja. The book i... read full post >>

Here is a link a conversation and rant about Nadja! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAVPom6J5zc&ab_channel=   My discussion question is what are your thoughts on the first 60 pages of the book, how does it connect to the story of Nadja and how... read full post >>

To begin, I did not mind reading Roberto Artl’s “Mad Toy”. I did not love it, but I did not dislike it. I enjoyed the structure of the writing as it was clear, and the desriptions were explained in a strong way, but did not run on like with Proust’s writing. In my eyes, this […] read full post >>

The most pertinent theme of Nadja is the idea of self the philosophy of the person and the mind, this theme takes up an overwhelming part of the intro to the text. Which can cause the text to feel difficult to fall into as the preface is rather complex, as the narration ponders a series […] read full post >>

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. We’ve had quite a strange start to the term with the snow days and the strike, but that keeps life interesting: the unpredictable, just like our character in this week’s book, Nadja.  This week, I chose to read Nadja by André Breton. I had no particular […] read full post >>

Compared to the last novel “Combray”, I found Mad Toy to be a much easier read. The most distinct aspect of this book is the way the content is categorized. The book is split into four parts, each representing a different episode of the main character, Silvio’s life. “The Band Of Thieves”, just like this […] read full post >>