Hello everyone, this week I read Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy”. Seeing that the protagonist is just a teenager, I found this book more bleak than I expected as it discusses heavy topics such as class and betrayal. Silvio as a character was relatable in…
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with adolescence, class, labour, poverty
I thoroughly enjoyed delving into Roberto Arlt’s, Mad Toy (El juguete rabioso), immersing myself in the compelling narrative that unfolds the tumultuous life of Silvio Astier, a youth entrenched in poverty, yearning for a better existence amid the harsh realities that envelop him. Published in 1926, the novel intricately explores Silvio’s escapades, his intrigue with criminality, […]
Posted in Arlt, Blogs | Tagged with love, poverty, Societal Hierarchies, Wealth
This week’s reading was Roberto Arlt’s “Mad Toy”, compared to Proust’s “Combray” it was much easier to read and a shorter read for me. However, “Mad Toy” was a much “heavier and more serious read for me since it dives into topics such as social inequality, the struggles of the working class, and the impact […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with equality, growth, poverty, Roberto Arlt
Hello everyone! For this week’s reading, I picked “Mad Toy” by Roberto Arlt. The first chapter started off kind of wholesome since it was simply just children fantasizing about being cunning yet intelligent like a bandit. I didn’t really think anything…
Hello everyone! For this week’s reading, I picked “Mad Toy” by Roberto Arlt. The first chapter started off kind of wholesome since it was simply just children fantasizing about being cunning yet intelligent like a bandit. I didn’t really think anything…
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 […]
Posted in Arlt, Blogs | Tagged with Argentina, crime, identity, madtoy, poverty, youth
For this week, we were given the task of reading Amulet by Robert Bolaño. I found this to be one of the best books we’ve read in this course so far. This book, like many of the other ones, have the consistent theme of memory, and I think repetition. The story is one long monologue, […]
Posted in Blogs, Bolaño | Tagged with Chile, history, history of the future, literature, memory, Mexico, narrative, poet, Poetry, poverty, recollection, sad, sadness, trauma, Weekly Book Blog
For this week’s reading, I read The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda. It was an easy read to get lost in. It felt like an emotional rollercoaster as I read the book. The past tense narrative of Natalia made it seem like she was reliving these momen…
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with family, gender, poverty, war
For this week’s reading, I read The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda. It was an easy read to get lost in. It felt like an emotional rollercoaster as I read the book. The past tense narrative of Natalia made it seem like she was reliving these momen…
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with family, gender, poverty, war
This is the first novel that I have a physical copy of and the feeling of holding a book and flipping through the pages was so different compared to scrolling through the pages on a computer, so I was looking forward to reading this novel. This week I chose to read The Time of the […]
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with blog, family, poverty, war
