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RMST 202 Literatures and Cultures of the Romance World II: Modern to Post-Modern
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“My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante

I really enjoyed this book and I wish I had more time to spend reading and enjoying it. I found there to be a lot of different dimensions within it, such as the relationships and dynamics between the girls and the other characters, the opposing classes, the use of language and education, the violence, the […]

Posted in Blogs, Ferrante | Tagged with childhood, class, death, education, family, memory, modernism, violence

Agualusa’s "The Society of Reluctant Dreamers"

For the final book of this course, I chose to read The Society of Reluctant Dreamers by José Eduardo Agualusa. I really liked this book. There was a lot going on that added so much detail to the plot. I especially liked the incorporation of Hossi’s journal entries and the letters between the characters. I always like when authors add different forms of writing to their writing. This in particular reminded me of Paris Peasant because I remember how Aragon incorporated menus and newspaper clippings. On another note, when Daniel Benchimol is dreaming about people that he has not met and events that have not happened yet it reminded me of Amulet and how while trapped inside the bathroom, Auxilio was able to recall memories from the future. However, unlike some of our other readings, I was glad that this one had a more happy ending for Moira, Daniel, and Karinguiri.

The book itself had a dreamlike quality on its own. I found it a little confusing to figure out whether I was reading something that was in the present or in a dream or in the past. It was such an interesting plot combining the political aspect of Angola with the idea of the dream lab technology taking pictures of dreams and how the two began to interact with each other. Dreams in this book were a way of connecting people with similar ideologies. I think Daniels’s daughter, Karinguiri was my favourite character because she was true to her beliefs no matter what. Even with her mother’s family’s disapproval, and being imprisoned she never gave up on what she thought was right.  

I thought Daniel Benchimol’s relationship with Moira was interesting considering that he had been recently divorced from Lucrécia who had completely different values than Daniel. At the beginning of the novel, Daniel is upset because of his failed marriage and tells his friend how people shouldn’t marry for love, instead “if people always got married when lucid, they’d only ever do it out of self-interest, like [his]  parents.” Then by the end of the novel, we see him re-establish what love means to him and how he can both be in love and have his self-interest in mind. While romance isn’t the most important theme, I thought this aspect of character development was nice to see for Daniel.

My question to the class is: What did you think of Moira and Daniel’s relationship?


Posted in Agualusa, Blogs | Tagged with Dreams, family, politics, relationships

Agualusa’s "The Society of Reluctant Dreamers"

For the final book of this course, I chose to read The Society of Reluctant Dreamers by José Eduardo Agualusa. I really liked this book. There was a lot going on that added so much detail to the plot. I especially liked the incorporation of Hossi’s journal entries and the letters between the characters. I always like when authors add different forms of writing to their writing. This in particular reminded me of Paris Peasant because I remember how Aragon incorporated menus and newspaper clippings. On another note, when Daniel Benchimol is dreaming about people that he has not met and events that have not happened yet it reminded me of Amulet and how while trapped inside the bathroom, Auxilio was able to recall memories from the future. However, unlike some of our other readings, I was glad that this one had a more happy ending for Moira, Daniel, and Karinguiri.

The book itself had a dreamlike quality on its own. I found it a little confusing to figure out whether I was reading something that was in the present or in a dream or in the past. It was such an interesting plot combining the political aspect of Angola with the idea of the dream lab technology taking pictures of dreams and how the two began to interact with each other. Dreams in this book were a way of connecting people with similar ideologies. I think Daniels’s daughter, Karinguiri was my favourite character because she was true to her beliefs no matter what. Even with her mother’s family’s disapproval, and being imprisoned she never gave up on what she thought was right.  

I thought Daniel Benchimol’s relationship with Moira was interesting considering that he had been recently divorced from Lucrécia who had completely different values than Daniel. At the beginning of the novel, Daniel is upset because of his failed marriage and tells his friend how people shouldn’t marry for love, instead “if people always got married when lucid, they’d only ever do it out of self-interest, like [his]  parents.” Then by the end of the novel, we see him re-establish what love means to him and how he can both be in love and have his self-interest in mind. While romance isn’t the most important theme, I thought this aspect of character development was nice to see for Daniel.

My question to the class is: What did you think of Moira and Daniel’s relationship?


Posted in Agualusa, Blogs | Tagged with Dreams, family, politics, relationships

Week 12 – Conclusion

Throughout the past few months, this course felt like an endless seesaw ride, bouncing against different – yet similar – themes and cultures. In the beginning of the course, I questioned what “Romance Studies” was, or rather, what it could have meant. However, right from the introductory lecture, I realized I won’t be able to […]

Posted in Blogs, Conclusion | Tagged with adulthood, Bricolage, family, literature, Magic Realism, recollection, Relationship, temporality, war

Week 12, Agualusa, “The Society of Reluctant Dreamers”

Jose Eduardo Agualusa’s The Society of Reluctant Dreamers was a very interesting read. It felt surreal in one hand, but also had a lot of relatable, applicable lessons to take away as a reader. The first thing that stood out to me was protagonist Daniel Benchimol’s unstable state. Although in the early pages Benchimol stated […]

Posted in Agualusa, Blogs | Tagged with Democracy, dictatorship, Dreams, family, literature, politics, Relationship, Surrealism, temporality, war

The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes

 For this week, I decided to read The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes. It touches on themes including memory, regret, war, and family. The Old Gringo, who turns out to be the American author Ambrose Bierce, travels to Mexico at the time of the civil war to die in the revolution. I found this reading to be a little difficult to read, but still quite interesting.

 I enjoyed how we were able to trace how each The Old Gringo, General Arroyo, and Ms. Winslow’s pasts played a role in how they all ended up encountering each other. For the Old Gringo, his past actions and the downfall of his family and the lifestyle that led to the death of his sons brought him across the border.  It is often repeated in the text how “to be a gringo in Mexico is one way of dying,” (89). The old man comes to Mexico with the intent to die, but before he does he builds a relationship with Ms. Winslow. There are many times within the story that we see one of the character’s identities being impacted by their parents. Especially for Ms. Winslow and Arroyo who were abandoned by their fathers and try to compensate for this through their respective relationships with the old man. This is made clear when Ms. Winslow has the old gringo buried as her father, I think it’s an act of closure for her to have someone to put to rest in that grave. However, because of this father/daughter dynamic, I was confused by their suggested romantic relationship. 

I found it really interesting to learn that this story was based on a real American short story writer, journalist, and soldier. Also, the concept that Carlos Fuentes used of taking a real narrative and filling in the gaps with a fictional story to answer the mystery of the circumstances of his death. This along with the poetic style Fuentes wrote in, made it a unique narrative that allows the reader to reflect on the greater themes. I think because the story was told from Ms. Winslow’s point of view, the readers were able to have a better understanding of both the old man and General Arroyo from the perspective of a woman who understands and was exposed to both their perspectives. 

My question for the class is why do you think Fuentes used Ambrose Bierce’s story as a point of view for the Mexican revolution?


Posted in Blogs | Tagged with family, life, memory, war

The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes

 For this week, I decided to read The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes. It touches on themes including memory, regret, war, and family. The Old Gringo, who turns out to be the American author Ambrose Bierce, travels to Mexico at the time of the civil war to die in the revolution. I found this reading to be a little difficult to read, but still quite interesting.

 I enjoyed how we were able to trace how each The Old Gringo, General Arroyo, and Ms. Winslow’s pasts played a role in how they all ended up encountering each other. For the Old Gringo, his past actions and the downfall of his family and the lifestyle that led to the death of his sons brought him across the border.  It is often repeated in the text how “to be a gringo in Mexico is one way of dying,” (89). The old man comes to Mexico with the intent to die, but before he does he builds a relationship with Ms. Winslow. There are many times within the story that we see one of the character’s identities being impacted by their parents. Especially for Ms. Winslow and Arroyo who were abandoned by their fathers and try to compensate for this through their respective relationships with the old man. This is made clear when Ms. Winslow has the old gringo buried as her father, I think it’s an act of closure for her to have someone to put to rest in that grave. However, because of this father/daughter dynamic, I was confused by their suggested romantic relationship. 

I found it really interesting to learn that this story was based on a real American short story writer, journalist, and soldier. Also, the concept that Carlos Fuentes used of taking a real narrative and filling in the gaps with a fictional story to answer the mystery of the circumstances of his death. This along with the poetic style Fuentes wrote in, made it a unique narrative that allows the reader to reflect on the greater themes. I think because the story was told from Ms. Winslow’s point of view, the readers were able to have a better understanding of both the old man and General Arroyo from the perspective of a woman who understands and was exposed to both their perspectives. 

My question for the class is why do you think Fuentes used Ambrose Bierce’s story as a point of view for the Mexican revolution?


Posted in Blogs | Tagged with family, life, memory, war

Week 8: Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood”

Georges Perec’s novel, “W, or the Memory of Childhood” is an interesting mix of reality and imagination. I found the writing style to be quite similar to Proust’s and Aragon’s as Perec often jumped between different memories and thoughts. Something I found intriguing was how Perec describes the relationship between writing and the people from … Continue reading Week 8: Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood” →

Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with autobiography, childhood, family, history, Imagination, memory, narrative, perspective, relationships, Romance Studies

blog#8 – the burden of Names —

blog#8 – the burden of Names — Georges Perec’s book ‘W, or The Memory of Childhood’ was by far the book with the most interesting formatting. (Out of the books that I’ve read for this class anyway). The two parallel stories and the switching back-and-forth took a lot of getting used to, and admittedly, I […]

Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with childhood, family, France, identity, living experience, lost in translation, memory, names, or the Memory of Childhood, perspective, time, vestige

W, or the Memory of Childhood…

This book was quite tragic though undoubtedly beautifully written. It’s hard not to feel sadness when reading Perec recount the memories he has of his childhood and the hardships that come with being an orphan. I felt especially moved when, describing his mother, he wrote “The arbitrary, schematic image that I have of her suits […]

Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with family, history, Imagination, loss, memory, tragedy

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