Hey everyone! Moravia’s Agostino is a coming-of-age type book that focuses on our main character, Agostino’s thoughts, and experiences during…
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with adolescence, change
Agostino by Alberto Moravia was an interesting novel, to say the least! The protagonist Agostino who is around the age of puberty experiences unsettling feelings towards his mother during their holiday. The themes of sexuality are predominant in this short novel and they tend to override Agostino’s formation of thoughts which lead to his misfortunate …
Hi everyone! Today, I’m going to be reflecting on Alberto Moravia’s novel, Agostino. I figure most people would have noticed…
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with coming of age story, disturbing, journey, sexual awakening
The juxtaposition between Agostino’s summer as an Italian boy compared to the crudely honest and undeniable thought processes of a growing boy were evident in this reading. The boy who is so incredibly reliant emotionally on his mother has been catapulted and ridiculed into a no longer sheltered reality when he meets a gang of […]
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with dynamics, masculinity, narratives, toxicity
The text Agostino by Alberto Moravia discusses a period of time during a vacation between a mother and her son. For me, while the novel was short, I felt that the author successfully created a world that presents different themes, such as maternal relationships and the process of maturing. The text gives specific emphasis to […]
Alberto Moravia’s Agostino explored important themes upon coming of age, in particular within sexuality. A few pages in after starting…
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with Oedipus complex
This week’s reading Agostino by Alberto Moravia was an interesting and easy read that gave voice to sexuality, class, and maturity. I was slightly uncomfortable with the relationship between Agostino and his mother and how he viewed her. It definitely did not help the situation when his mother welcomed a young man, Renzo, who had the same friendly and spontaneous ease that characterized her relations with her son. The thought of sharing his mom or not having his mother complete desirable attention made him extremely jealous. This betrayed behaviour made me think that he had a hard time accepting his family dynamics. The betrayal was hard for him to take since he may have thought she was not just leaving him but also moving on from his dead father.
Agostino seems to have lost his childhood and is confused with growing up. He seems confused with his true identity. He explores brothels, experiments with risky behaviour, like smoking, and sneaking out to hang out with his friends. It is definitely not easy for a thirteen-year-old teen during this stage of life. We all went through these fragile years of coming to maturity and handling all the emotions and questions that came with it. Alberto Moravia did a great job setting the scenes and the feelings felt by Agostino coming to face the separation he was getting from his mother. I think this confusion and loss of innocence Agostino feels has a lot to do with his father not being there. I believe as a growing boy with all these emotions coming in, it’s more difficult without a father figure present to help guide the situation. I sympathize with the narrator as he is going through a significant milestone in his life and does not have any guidance or support. His new friends are not quite the mentors as he is repeatedly humiliated for his weakness and ignorance regarding women and sex.
I could not stop making connections to Freud’s Oedipus Complex throughout reading this novel. Everything that I learned in psychology made me wonder how much Freud would love to dive into Agostino’s mind and make sense of his secret unconscious thoughts and desires on his mother since many psychoanalysis were present.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was an easy and detailed read. It was easy for me to be captivated within the book, feel the confusion from the narrative, and visualize the imagery and scenery of the beaches and boats of Tuscany. My question for the class is: How would a father figure have helped Agostino navigate these difficult changes?
This week’s reading Agostino by Alberto Moravia was an interesting and easy read that gave voice to sexuality, class, and maturity. I was slightly uncomfortable with the relationship between Agostino and his mother and how he viewed her. It definitely did not help the situation when his mother welcomed a young man, Renzo, who had the same friendly and spontaneous ease that characterized her relations with her son. The thought of sharing his mom or not having his mother complete desirable attention made him extremely jealous. This betrayed behaviour made me think that he had a hard time accepting his family dynamics. The betrayal was hard for him to take since he may have thought she was not just leaving him but also moving on from his dead father.
Agostino seems to have lost his childhood and is confused with growing up. He seems confused with his true identity. He explores brothels, experiments with risky behaviour, like smoking, and sneaking out to hang out with his friends. It is definitely not easy for a thirteen-year-old teen during this stage of life. We all went through these fragile years of coming to maturity and handling all the emotions and questions that came with it. Alberto Moravia did a great job setting the scenes and the feelings felt by Agostino coming to face the separation he was getting from his mother. I think this confusion and loss of innocence Agostino feels has a lot to do with his father not being there. I believe as a growing boy with all these emotions coming in, it’s more difficult without a father figure present to help guide the situation. I sympathize with the narrator as he is going through a significant milestone in his life and does not have any guidance or support. His new friends are not quite the mentors as he is repeatedly humiliated for his weakness and ignorance regarding women and sex.
I could not stop making connections to Freud’s Oedipus Complex throughout reading this novel. Everything that I learned in psychology made me wonder how much Freud would love to dive into Agostino’s mind and make sense of his secret unconscious thoughts and desires on his mother since many psychoanalysis were present.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was an easy and detailed read. It was easy for me to be captivated within the book, feel the confusion from the narrative, and visualize the imagery and scenery of the beaches and boats of Tuscany. My question for the class is: How would a father figure have helped Agostino navigate these difficult changes?
Agostino was a very interesting story to me. It dipped into many different topics, such as sexuality, class, and “growing pains.” Although it dealt with heavy and uncomfortable subject matter, I felt somewhat relaxed while reading it. I think this was due to the fact it is written in such a passing way, since nothing […]
The novel, “Agostino” by Alberto Moravia was not what I expected from its description. I found this story to be extremely different than most texts I’ve read before, but still interesting. I also liked the writing style of the story. I felt it had more flow and structure than the previous texts we’ve covered, but … Continue reading Week 5: Moravia’s “Agostino” →
