“As in a game of chess, death advanced her queen. A few more moves should open the way to a checkmate, and the game will end.” (186) Is the wish for immortality a blessing or a curse? That answer seems simple. What begins as a celebration devolves into the unknown. Humanity’s fear of death is […]
Posted in Blogs, Saramago | Tagged with absurdism, death, Existentialism, futility, humanity, immortality, life, limbo, morality, murder, Music, personification
My first feeling about Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago was disappointment. I felt a bit disappointed because I had high expectations for the book, but I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the book, but I did have some issues with it. My […]
Posted in Blogs, Saramago | Tagged with death, Death with Interruptions, José Saramago, love, morality, mortality
Dang that was crazy. At first I read this book as a completely fictitious account not at all inspired by a true story, but throughout most of it I was like wow the addition of the newspapers and “eyewitness” accounts really made it more realistic. But afterward I was like… well how much of that […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with crime, madness, morality, Ricardo Piglia, robbery
“What has to be most feared, the worst thing in life, always happens out of the blue, without anyone being ready for it, which makes it all the worse, because one is both waiting but has no time to get used to the idea and is caught out, paralysed, yet obliged to act and take […]
Posted in Blogs, Piglia | Tagged with betrayal, Corruption, crime, Drugs, love, mafia, money, morality, queer, robbery
Hey guys! For this week, I read The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. The story revolves around Macabéa, a poor and uneducated young woman from northeastern Brazil who moves to Rio de Janeiro for a better life. Macabéa works as a typist and lives simply without luxuries or meaningful relationships. However, while I […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with Clarice Lispector, death, existence, hope, identity, loneliness, morality, poverty
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse
Posted in Lecture Videos, Sagan lecture | Tagged with affect, bodies, C20th, desire, France, gender, judgement, language, life, morality, surfaces, translation
Javier Cercas’s “Soldiers of Salamis” is a story which examines the human condition in wartime. From his own experience, he places the study in the context of the Spanish Civil War. A sparring match between fascist and socialist sides, it was a battle which was ultimately viewed as a precursor to World War […]
Posted in Blogs, Cercas | Tagged with Entries, morality, truth, war