This week’s book was Agostino, and wow, yet another boy with mommy issues. Like many of you, I have also made a connection between Proust’s Combray and Agostino. The book definitely made me think of Combray and the relationship between Proust and…
Sometimes I wonder why literature writers (or is it just the romance ones?) get so obsessed with the Oedipus complex and overall Freud’s theory. There must be something poetic or beautiful within the layers of uncomfortable incestuous relationships for these many writers to focus on it. Even though I started reading the book without any […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with adolesence, childhood, Freud, innocence, oedipus, sexuality
Oh, boy…where do I even begin? I mean it was definitely an interesting read but, I won’t lie, it did make my stomach turn at some point. From the overly sexual descriptions of his mother to the racism to the overall underlying misogynistic tone of the book, Alberto Moravia’s Agostino never failed to disturb and […]
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with adolescence, blog, childhood, Italy, oedipus
Week 5’s reading is Agostino by Alberto Moravia, a very short yet interesting reading. I found this the easiest to read and get into so far, partly because it was only 57 pages and I could read it all in one sitting, but also because the plot and…
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with childhood, coming of age, sexuality
Week 5’s reading is Agostino by Alberto Moravia, a very short yet interesting reading. I found this the easiest to read and get into so far, partly because it was only 57 pages and I could read it all in one sitting, but also because the plot and…
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with childhood, coming of age, sexuality
Well, well, well… of course, Freud is back for more! After reading the first few pages, Freud was the man who immediately came to mind. In this week’s novel, I read Agostino by Moravia, and it’s definitely an interesting book. Going into it after reading the blurb, I expected it to be an innocent book […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with Alberto Moravia, childhood, coming of age, Freud, friendships, innocence, Maturing, Oedipus complex, peer pressure, sexuality, societal pressures
Set in a beach village in Italy during the summer, “Agostino” focuses on a 13-year-old boy and explores the loss of youthful innocence and the perplexities of growing up. The central theme in this novel is sexuality and Agostino’s loss of innocence. While reading this book, I could almost imagine Freud sneering at me. Agostino […]
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with childhood, Freud, Italy, loss, sexuality
The reading for this week was definitely not your average reading, for me, this book is practically screaming the Oedipus complex at me, although reluctant but I still tried to give the book a fair chance and it went similar to what I expected. Similar to the first book we read Proust’s Combray, it starts […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with Abandonment, childhood, growth
“This is why he must not betray the annoyance and disappointment that he was feeling. But try as he may to feign an air of composure and serenity, he still felt the everyone could read in his face how forced and petty his attitude was” (7) A story can be powerful despite the length. Where […]
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with adolescence, childhood, comingofage, mother, sexuality
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 […]
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with Abandonment, childhood, identity, relationships, sexuality
