RMST 202 Blogs

  " This is going to be a horror story. A story of murder, detection and horror. But it won't appear to be, for the simple reason that I am the teller." Bolaño's  Amulet  is a powerful read, to say the least. The introduction (as quoted above) is poignant enough to captivate a reader and make them ponder about perspective. Personally, those lines developed a stream of consciousness in my mind that began to wonder about how war and revolution always have multiple sides to them, whether it may be the perspective of a civilian, an activist, a politician, or a child.  Auxilio Lacouture played more than one role in her life - she was a poet and a mother to many. Moreover, she symbolically resisted the army's invasion of her university by hiding in the bathroom for around two weeks. As she began to recount her story, the introduction of the book became clearer than ever. I forgot about her situation and the horrors that she would have experienced. This was kind of unset...

  I found Fuentes' novel,  The Old Gringo , a little bit hard to read. The plot was convoluted, and I didn't quite understand the nature of the relationship that most of the characters shared. However, reading the lecture notes definitely made me feel better because I realized that that was done intentionally.  Personally, I found the whole plot of the book kind of odd because of how the idea of the Mexican Revolution was romanticized in the old American's mind. For example, when the narrator likens being a gringo in Mexico and dying there to euthanasia, I felt like the old man was undermining the ramifications of the Mexican Revolution. This is somewhat reminiscent of how people tend to treat wars that do not concern them directly as something that could serve their pleasure. Moreover, he chose to insert himself into the situation at his age just to die in a blaze of glory.  Additionally, I was kind of uncomfortable with Harriet Winslow's role throughout the book. S...

  Perec's W is a fascinating read for a multitude of reasons. The book starts with a disclaimer warning readers about the dual nature of the upcoming story - an unusual thing to begin a story with!  I found the idea of calling the book 'W' because of the double 'V' incredibly smart. I came across another interpretation of how the choice of the double 'V' was creative because of how 'vie' in French translates to life in English. This is pertinent to the book because of the two parallel stories and how they influence each other.  Perec's description of pictures in the somewhat autobiographical portion of the book is what stood out to me the most. I would like to think that he went the extra mile with his descriptions of the images because of how desperately he wanted to remember his childhood and his parents. The idea of placing importance in memory is a very interesting concept for many reasons. The desperation to cling to one's childhood is u...