Student Blogs

I found he first part of the novel, an explanation of Breton's philosophies, quite hard to follow as surrealism is quite hard to comprehend when it is the stream of conscious of another individual. It's so easy to understand our own pattern of thought ... read full post >>

The second French book of the course, Nadja by André Breton is a short surrealist novel. It was a very fast and interesting read but took me a minute to get into. At first, Breton talks about the theatre and his inability to recognize actors. Upon meeting Nadja however, things become much more interesting. Nadja […] read full post >>

Hi everyone, welcome back to my blog. The book for this week is Nadja by Andre Breton. The description of this book as a surrealist romance was intriguing to me, as I’ve enjoyed a few surrealist movies in the past, like Holy Motors and Synecdoche New York. At the same time others, like most of […] read full post >>

In Najda by Andre Breton, the author is able to eloquently capture the anxieties and life of the era while identifying the role of surrealism in our understanding of the text. I greatly enjoyed the non-traditional narrative structure and heavy use of c... read full post >>

In Najda by Andre Breton, the author is able to eloquently capture the anxieties and life of the era while identifying the role of surrealism in our understanding of the text. I greatly enjoyed the non-traditional narrative structure and heavy use of c... read full post >>

I thoroughly enjoyed delving into Roberto Arlt’s, Mad Toy (El juguete rabioso), immersing myself in the compelling narrative that unfolds the tumultuous life of Silvio Astier, a youth entrenched in poverty, yearning for a better existence amid the harsh realities that envelop him. Published in 1926, the novel intricately explores Silvio’s escapades, his intrigue with criminality, […] read full post >>

How one person can change your entire life read full post >>

“I have more and more difficulty following her monologue” (106) My response to this quote: Likewise, Breton, likewise. Navigating through the initial section of the book, an incessant cycle of philosophical perspectives on the self and the question of “who I am,” I saw myself in the aforementioned quote. A cause for this is actually […] read full post >>

To begin, “Nadja” by Berton Andre, was simple yet a bit complex to read. I say this because the novel did not have any breaks in it such as organizational tactics like chapter cutoffs. Rather this novel just had a blank page that split the narration into different parts. Most writing pieces that I have […] read full post >>

Reading André Breton’s Nadja was an interesting experience for me. I honestly did not know what to expect when reading a surrealist novel. For me, the narrative felt like Breton was taking me through his diary, vaguely describing moments, yet at the same time, almost exposing too much. Certain parts, especially regarding the world around […] read full post >>

Mad toy is made up of four not-too-close-knit stories, Thieves, Work and Days, Mad Toy, and Judas Iscariote. The reason why they are not too closely related is that the four stories are basically not very related in terms of plot and content, the only connection being that the main character of all four stories […] read full post >>

Hey everyone! For this week’s reading I decided to read Robert Arlt’s Mad Toy. Coming into this book, I read the summary on the RMST website and expected this to be a typical story about a boy who enjoys the thrill of stealing and never gets caught. However, this book does a good job of […] read full post >>

Nadja, by Andre Breton, the second work published by the author, originally published in French, is one of the prominent works of the French surrealist movement. One of the first things that struck me about this book was the style of narration, how it was magniloquent yet foreign. My initial reaction was to chalk this …

Continue reading "Week 3: Nadja"

read full post >>

Nadja, a quicker read for me than Combray was captivating and I found myself having a hard time putting the book down. The dream like state of the surrealism of this book kept me on my toes and forced me during time to rethink what Breton was saying. A lot of the questions Jon asks … read full post >>

Reading Nadja by Andre Breton was quite interesting to me because I have a little bit of background knowledge, I am going to Major in Visual Arts and during my studies have seen Breton’s artworks, I have also read and learned a lot about surrealism, what it is, it’s history, it’s practice, so I feel […] read full post >>