This week’s book is “Money To Burn” by Ricardo Pigila. Personally, I think this book is definitely the most action-packed, engaging read so far. Even though it was a bit on the longer side with around 200 pages, the constant adventures the characters a…
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with abuse, adventure, crime, family
“very early in my life it was too late”. I feel like that quote in itself really encapsulates the tone of the book very well- the moodiness of the book, to the writing style being a sort of recollections of instances in her life past but sort of looking at it sometimes as if from […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with Colonialism, family, history, love, narration, pedophile
By far the shortest and most uncomfortable read at this point in the semester, The Lover by Marguerite Duras is a novel about the clandestine relationship between a 27-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl. The prose in this book is beautifully written, as an autobiography with Duras recalling her time in Saigon. She captures the […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with "whore", age-gaps, book review, book-reviews, books, colonialsation, complicated-family-relationships, family, fashion, fiction, France, gross, icky, love, Marguerite Duras, reading, Vietnam
After reading this novel, I’m now thinking about the subject of names. When the girl (who, as far as I can tell, was never named) talks about her lover and her family, they are not named (unless I missed the mentions of their names) – except when she names her younger brother, “our little Paulo” […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with age, desire, family, Marguerite Duras, memory, names, The Lover, war
Jon actually approached me at the start of the last class as I was reading this book. He asked me how I felt about it and honestly I did not have an answer for him. I kept flip flopping between who genuinely was the problem in this book and I think that’s what Duras wanted. …
Posted in Blogs, Duras | Tagged with addiction, class, coming of age, family, family dynamics, gender, girlhood, I hate men, pedophile, poverty, race, sexuality, youth
Marguerite Duras’ novel, “The Lover,” is a unique literature that explores the themes of love, family, and colonialism. At first, I was confused about the story’s setting as there seemed to be a diverse array of ethnicities and there were some city names (such as Mekong, Cholon, and Saigon) that I had never heard of […]
Posted in Blogs, Duras | Tagged with age, family, love, memory, poverty, race, relationships, social class
Despite this book’s uncomfortable age gap relationship, I really enjoyed reading it. The way Duras writes “The Lover” hooked me the entire time. Her descriptions of the environment, like Saigon, to each complex and rich character, I felt so immersed in this novel. My heart was in this one! I really loved the first sentence […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with age gap, colonies, depression, family, France, race, saigon, social class, The Lover
I loved this book so much, and I will have to read the next ones. I can’t be left in such a cliffhanger! Of course, this book is an coming of age story, a common theme in the course. It takes us on a journey where we can see how a small neighborhood in Italy […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with childhood, COA, coming of age, Elena Ferrante, family, friends, identity, Italy, jealousy, life, love, My brilliant friend, Personal Growth, poverty, Teens
I was really excited about reading this book and finished it in one sitting. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It takes the number one spot for me dethroning The Time of Doves. The Lover, a novel about exploration of identity with a hint of coming-of-age, will stay with me for a while. Let’s address the elephant […]
Posted in Blogs, Duras | Tagged with COA, coming of age, Dysfunctional Family, family, Forbidden, France, identity, Indochina, Lolita, love, Marguerite Duras, melancholy, nostalgia, Personal Growth, poverty, The Lover, Vietnam
From only the first few pages in, I already felt the effect of Rodoreda’s writing style- many instances seem like a whirlwind or a snapshot of events, with the narration of someone who sort of seems like they’re always rushing to a get to their point yet they also seem to be constantly rambling about […]
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with family, gender, narration, war