A. Initial Thoughts Though “Mad Toy” is much shorter than Marcel Proust’s “Combray”, I found it tougher to get through. As I read, I often wanted to stop because it seemed like the story was just going in circles, with Silvio repeatedly failing to break out of poverty. But after finishing the book and taking … Continue reading Mad Toy: What Do We Live Our Lives For?
Mad Toy is a coming-of-age novel that explores the four stages of growth in a young man named Silvio, presenting a fascinating character. I believe he is not a typical hero protagonist in the true sense but rather resembles a young individual filled with ambition and fantasies, constrained by his environment. Silvio’s adventures are not […]
While it had its moments, I had a difficult time getting drawn into Mad Toy. However, while I didn’t enjoy the book last week because of the writing, I really enjoyed Arlt’s writing style this week. My main issue with the book was that I just couldn’t …
While it had its moments, I had a difficult time getting drawn into Mad Toy. However, while I didn’t enjoy the book last week because of the writing, I really enjoyed Arlt’s writing style this week. My main issue with the book was that I just couldn’t …
Roberto Arlt’s novel, “Mad Toy,” was a refreshing coming-of-age novel that invited readers to follow the harrowing journey of a struggling youth named Silvio Astier. In the first chapter, “The Band of Thieves,” Silvio befriended Enrique Irzubeta and Lucio. Together, the three adolescents became members of the “Club of the Midnight Horsemen,” entangled in a […]
For this week, I chose to read Mad Toy, a reading that I enjoyed but did leave me with the question of why the book is called Mad Toy. First off, I read the third section, “Mad Toy” first which definitely coloured my perception of the story when I realized my mistake and went back […]
To me, it felt that Robert Arlt’s “El Juguete Rabioso” (“Mad Toy”) provides an interesting tale into the life of an adolescent as he struggles to fit in within the society that surrounds him. While the protagonist Silvio Astier is certainly a genius bookworm, his environment barely has a place for academic pursuit of any […]
Roberto Arlt, Mad Toy
Questions on Mad Toy
1984 adaptation of Arlt’s novel (in Spanish)
