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bye everyone

  Hey everyone! I can’t believe it is our final blog post of the semester, I don’t know about you all but the last few months have flown by for me. When I first started this course, I honestly didn’t think I would like it at all. It seemed like a lot of reading so I was just trying to get through my literature requirement, but now that I’m reflecting back on the course this semester, I actually did enjoy it. One of my favourite things about this course was that our blog posts didn’t have to be perfect pieces of writing. I think that took off a lot of pressure in this course because I felt like I could truly just share my thoughts as they came to me, not having to make sure it was exactly what the professor wants to hear. It was also the first time I had actually read all of the required readings/books for a course before. I think we have all been in courses where we may skip some readings or skim through books, but the books we read throughout the course were enjoyable (for the mos...
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wtf is happening? - faces in the crowd?

    Hi Everyone!   Many of the novels we have read so far have been confusing for me in the beginning, but then make sense as I get further along in the book. There had always been a point that I begin to understand what exactly is going on. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the novel we read this week. Although Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli wasn’t necessarily a difficult read, in fact it was probable one of the easiest because the sentences flowed nicely, it was still chaotic and impossible to understand fully. I kept hoping that by the end it would all connect and I would know who’s life we were following and how they all connected but that did not happen.   After about 5 or 6 pages I realized that we were switching back and forth between the woman’s current life and her past. However she kept saying it was fiction, which I hardly believe. Then all of the sudden it switched to a male narrator which I later realized was Owen. When Owen got to the par...
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Money to burn - Ricardo Piglia

     I would give this book a 3/10.     I don’t usually like crime/thriller or action books. I also really didn’t like that it was a true story because the descriptions of the deaths were definitely creeping me out to be honest. Another reason that I didn’t like this book was because it was pretty hard to follow. I had to constantly reread parts because I couldn’t figure out how it went from one event to the next. It would be in the middle of a serious explanation about the trauma that led them to where they are now into an uncomfortable sex scene. After watching the lecture this week, it helped me understand the book a bit better and made the story and events that occurred easier to follow. I also found it hard to read through the parts where they discussed women. I understand that this happened a while ago but I just didn’t like the language that was used whenever a woman was brought up or in the scene and it kind of made me cringe when they were constantly re...
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Time of the Doves - Mercè Rodoreda

 Hey everyone, I hope you all had a good reading break! This week we read Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda. I had a bit of difficulty starting this novel and was a bit confused at first but ended up really enjoying it. I also think that I found it harder because of the content of the reading because it can get upsetting to read things like this.  The novel is about a young woman in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, who falls in love with a man that is extremely abusive and toxic. This is why it can be hard to read because it is upsetting that she has to be in a relationship like this but it’s also easy to be blinded by love or remain in a situation that is comfortable because it can be scary to leave this type of relationship. I liked that this novel was narrated by the protagonist and we got to read the thoughts in her head because it gave us a better perspective and understanding of the situations she was experiencing. One part that stuck out to me in the beginning ...
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Agostino - I am uncomfortable.

  This week we read “Agostino” by Alberto Moravia. This book was definitely the easiest to follow out of the books I have read so far. When I began reading, I thought that I would end up liking it more than last weeks reading (The Shrouded Woman) but that was not the case. Once Agostino meets the group of boys, starts to spend time with them, and learn about how they speak of his mother, it completely changes the relationship he has with her. He ends up sexualizing his mother, actions that he once found normal and motherly now have different meanings and bring up different feelings for him which as a reader, it was really hard to get through. There were many parts where I started to physically cringe while I was reading and left me feeling so uncomfortable just thinking about.   Trying to get past the discomfort, I think that this coming-of-age story highlights how we often try to grow up as fast as we can and usually end up looking back wishing we spent more time doing childi...
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thoughts on The Shrouded Woman

  Hi everyone!  This weeks reading was “The Shrouded Woman” by Maria Luisa Bombal. I found this reading to be more enjoyable compared to other books we have read so it has definitely become one of my favourite books I have had as an assigned reading, it was also much easier to follow and understand. Throughout the book, I learned about the multiple complex relationships she had with all of the people who are introduced to us. From her children to her husband, there are unique circumstances that have shaped their relationship and how they feel about one another. It also amplifies how maneuvering relationships with both family members and romantic partners can be difficult because you may never truly know how one another feel until it is too late.   This leads me to a couple of quotes from the book that I wanted to mention that stuck out to me while I was reading this book that I think both resonated with me on a more personal level while at the same time, highlighted some ...
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Thoughts on Combray

  Hey everyone!  The assigned reading for this week was “Combray” by Marcel Proust. Before I started reading, I didn’t think it would be as difficult as it was to get through this reading. I found it to be a bit hard to read because of the longer sentences I found myself struggling to stay focused while reading. I would also notice my mind wandering when I was reading it so I ended up having to read the same parts over again before moving forward. I also think that one of the reasons I may have struggled initially a bit more than usual on this reading was due to the fact that this was the first reading of the semester and it’s always difficult to get back into doing assigned readings. As I progressed through the reading, it became easier to read as it felt like a familiar feeling of going down memory lane. I became more interested to learn more about his childhood and meaningful moments that were being explained throughout the book. Another part of this book that stuck out to ...
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