In Alberto Morovia’s novella Agostino, the main character Agostino is a 13-year-old boy who has an unusual attachment with his mother. Despite he is already 13, he loves his mother with a “naive” heart and adores her as a mother figure. One summer, he and his widow’s mother went on holiday to the Tuscan coast, […]
Alberto Moravia’s novel, “Agostino,” follows the story of a young boy transitioning into adolescence while exploring themes like identity, loss of innocence and sexual awakening. While many adolescents struggle with a sense of identity during their journey of self-discovery and growth, Agostino seemed to have matured much too fast in the span of one summer. […]
One theme that I found interesting in the novel was the theme of transition. Agostino is often caught between childhood and adulthood and expresses the want to enter the next stage of his life by doing more “adult” things. I think the moment when he isn’t allowed into the home at the end of the […]
Maria Luisa Bombal’s “The Shrouded Woman” revolves around the life of Ana María, a woman from an aristocratic Chilean family. The novel is structured around Ana María’s funeral, where she narrates her story from within the coffin, providing insight into her thoughts, emotions, and experiences. While Ana María is physically dead, her soul and awareness […]
I cried. The story, narration, imagery, everything about this book was so sad and touching that I couldn’t help but shed some tears as I read it. Perhaps the reason I felt so strongly about it is because one of my best friends passed away last September and I couldn’t help but think of her […]
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend, as well as a nice start to your week:) I know we’ve had a little bumpy start to the new term. It has been a bit hectic lately with the snow days and transit strike, but hopefully, we can soon get back into our normal […]
Hello everyone! My reading for this week is Roberto Arlt’s Mad Toy, a novel that explores the life of Silvio, a young man entangled in a turbulent life of poverty and adolescence. This tale is not about the life of a carefree youth growing up but rather explores a different phase of development, an identity […]
This week’s reading was much better than the last one in my opinion. I found it easier to follow along but also extremely entertaining. I want to share my favourite paragraph from the reading. “I seemed to see her outside of time and space, on a dark, dry plain,with a sky so blue it was […]
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 […]
Discussions from January 12, 2024
