“Combray” by Proust takes us through the nostalgia trip of our main character. This one was admittedly a harder read for me. I found myself passionately reading on and on with these very descriptive adjectives being thrown at me continuously. There were parts I found to be rather boring and others I found truly captivating. …
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with France, memory, nostalgia, week 2
My first thought when reading “Combray” by Marcel Proust was, why are these sentences so long? It wasn’t until I continued to read the novel and watch the video on Proust that I realized these unconventional grammatical rules and sentence structure were simply a part of modernism. The reason for the length of sentences became […]
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with memory, nostalgia, time
Bolaño’s “Amulet” caught my interest with its gripping first line – “This is going to be a horror story”. The narrator, Auxillo is an unlikely choice and voice of a book. She is far from ordinary; impulsive, thoughtful and ambivalent. … Continue reading →
Posted in Blogs, Bolaño | Tagged with abyss, future, history, language, memory, nostalgia, war
Manea’s “The Trenchcoat” stirred up some discomfort in me, given the ambiguous nature of the text, but it was certainly an enjoyable read. The discomfort came primarily from moving across the pages in an unfamiliar setting, with unfamiliar characters, in … Continue reading →
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with Authoritarianism, communism, history, language, mundane life, nostalgia, political turmoil, suspicion
Although I thought that this ended up being a great book, I didn’t particularly like the writing style that this book was done in. The double narration sometimes made story details and characters feel blurred together between the two stories that were being told. This made it very hard for me to become interested and […]
Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with childhood, memory, nostalgia, trauma, war
This reading was a little easier and fun for me because of the dual narrative. I personally find it easier…
Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with childhood, memory, narratives, nazi, nostalgia, olympics
When thinking back on Joseph Zobel’s “Black Shack Alley” I am struck by theme of the individual seeking liberation from the limitations placed on them socially. The journey that young José embarks encapsulates the duality that many people, especially marginalized people, experience trying to affirm themselves and establish their own voice within a society whose […]
Posted in Blogs, Zobel | Tagged with classism, community, eurocentrism, marginalization, nostalgia, racism, simplicity, stories
When thinking back on Joseph Zobel’s “Black Shack Alley” I am struck by theme of the individual seeking liberation from the limitations placed on them socially. The journey that young José embarks encapsulates the duality that many people, especially marginalized people, experience trying to affirm themselves and establish their own voice within a society whose […]
Posted in Blogs, Zobel | Tagged with classism, community, eurocentrism, marginalization, nostalgia, racism, simplicity, stories
Of all the books on the reading list, this is the only one I’ve read before. In fact, I studied it in the original language as part of my French A-Level just before I left the UK. And to be honest, I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now.
I feel sorry for Cecile, but I just know that I would find her incredibly irritating if I had the misfortune of encountering her in real life. That being said, the book brings such vivid images of an upscale, movie-like experience of the French Riviera that I appreciate it just for that. I also think it’s kind of fun that the book was so controversial upon its release. They just weren’t ready for Cecile’s unladylike-ness or for all the raunchy behaviour going on.
As I mentioned, I don’t really like Cecile. In the book she’s 17, Sagan herself was 18 at the time of publication, I myself was 17 when I read it for the first time, and at the ripe old age of 20 I can make the executive, yet humble, declaration that we girls that age can be messy. Cecile really takes the cake though, with all that palaver over a rather Oedipal obsession with her dad. If I could describe her in two words, they would be: callous disregard. She just doesn’t care. Or doesn’t think. Or both.
She’s clearly not stupid, despite her disinclination toward school. If she didn’t have two braincells to rub together then she wouldn’t have come up with the bizarre plan to invoke jealousy in her dad and Anne. But the very fact that it happened is just weird. On the one hand, I can sympathise with her fear of change, and her satisfaction with her current position in life and with her father. On the other hand it’s just immature to expect everything to stay the same indefinitely, and the lengths she went to in trying to keep everything the same is just ridiculous.
Speaking of ridiculousness, I question all the characters’ thought processes. Even Cyril, who is allegedly a law student goes along with Cecile’s plan? Elsa I understand. The poor girl just wants Raymond back and nobody (myself included) expects any better of her. But Cyril’s haplessness is just disappointing. Anne is a complicated one, though. She’s a certified #girlboss and I reluctantly respect her, but she definitely went too far in trying to control Cecile. Did she though? I don’t know, I haven’t fully made up my mind. On the one hand maybe it’s not too much to ask for her to go back to school, but on the other hand I thought the many comments on her behaviour and her appearance were unproductive and unhelpful.
Despite all the issues I have with the characters and their decisions, I loved reading this book. I loved thinking back to where I was in my life when I read it the first time (17 was a very happy age for me, to an extent like Cecile) and especially recalling certain words and phrases that the original version used. It felt very nostalgic reading the story again; even though it’s only been 3-ish years, it feels like a lifetime ago (immigration and a pandemic will do that to you).
The question I now pose is: Assuming that Cecile’s bubble of naivete would have eventually burst, what do you imagine would have caused it?
Posted in Blogs, Sagan | Tagged with bad decisions, girlboss, immaturity, nostalgia, unlikable characters
Of all the books on the reading list, this is the only one I’ve read before. In fact, I studied it in the original language as part of my French A-Level just before I left the UK. And to be honest, I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now.
I feel sorry for Cecile, but I just know that I would find her incredibly irritating if I had the misfortune of encountering her in real life. That being said, the book brings such vivid images of an upscale, movie-like experience of the French Riviera that I appreciate it just for that. I also think it’s kind of fun that the book was so controversial upon its release. They just weren’t ready for Cecile’s unladylike-ness or for all the raunchy behaviour going on.
As I mentioned, I don’t really like Cecile. In the book she’s 17, Sagan herself was 18 at the time of publication, I myself was 17 when I read it for the first time, and at the ripe old age of 20 I can make the executive, yet humble, declaration that we girls that age can be messy. Cecile really takes the cake though, with all that palaver over a rather Oedipal obsession with her dad. If I could describe her in two words, they would be: callous disregard. She just doesn’t care. Or doesn’t think. Or both.
She’s clearly not stupid, despite her disinclination toward school. If she didn’t have two braincells to rub together then she wouldn’t have come up with the bizarre plan to invoke jealousy in her dad and Anne. But the very fact that it happened is just weird. On the one hand, I can sympathise with her fear of change, and her satisfaction with her current position in life and with her father. On the other hand it’s just immature to expect everything to stay the same indefinitely, and the lengths she went to in trying to keep everything the same is just ridiculous.
Speaking of ridiculousness, I question all the characters’ thought processes. Even Cyril, who is allegedly a law student goes along with Cecile’s plan? Elsa I understand. The poor girl just wants Raymond back and nobody (myself included) expects any better of her. But Cyril’s haplessness is just disappointing. Anne is a complicated one, though. She’s a certified #girlboss and I reluctantly respect her, but she definitely went too far in trying to control Cecile. Did she though? I don’t know, I haven’t fully made up my mind. On the one hand maybe it’s not too much to ask for her to go back to school, but on the other hand I thought the many comments on her behaviour and her appearance were unproductive and unhelpful.
Despite all the issues I have with the characters and their decisions, I loved reading this book. I loved thinking back to where I was in my life when I read it the first time (17 was a very happy age for me, to an extent like Cecile) and especially recalling certain words and phrases that the original version used. It felt very nostalgic reading the story again; even though it’s only been 3-ish years, it feels like a lifetime ago (immigration and a pandemic will do that to you).
The question I now pose is: Assuming that Cecile’s bubble of naivete would have eventually burst, what do you imagine would have caused it?
Posted in Blogs, Sagan | Tagged with bad decisions, girlboss, immaturity, nostalgia, unlikable characters
