Concluding the course :(

We did it! We reached the last week of the semester and completed our assigned books! I learned a lot about how I read, what kind of reader I am, and what books I enjoy and don't enjoy. This is my second romance studies class; I took 201 in the first semester of my first year. I genuinely appreciated that we got to choose our grades and have a contract to follow to ensure we received the grades we wanted. I have grown throughout this course with the way I read. I was a slower reader at the beginning of the course and had trouble comprehending the material we were given. For example, in Marcel Proust's Swanns Way, I needed help understanding and following the sentences and how they were structured. I tried my best and wrote a blog post using the parts of the book that made the most sense to me. Aunt Leonie was my favourite character, so I wrote about her. 

The next book I read was The Shrouded Woman by Maria Luisa Bombal, which was interesting. That Novel caused me to think about how short life is. I enjoyed Time of the Doves by Rodoreda, and I enjoyed writing about how Natalia goes through the five stages of grief on her journey, and she survives and doesn't end up hurting her children. Natalia was on the last straw but put all her damaged pieces back together. Next Novel... my favourite one. If on a Winter's Night, a Traveler by Italo Calvino stood out. I had much to say on this one.

To summarize, the plot entertained me, and it was a different story in every chapter; however confusing this book may sound, I followed along, relished my ideas, and wrote them down in my blog post. The Lover by Marguerite Duras, I had some thoughts on this book. I was shocked by this one; I grew to dislike the older brother and how he treated his siblings, and I think the narrator had more control over the relationship between her and the Chinese man. My opinion on the relationship is that he could have treated her better as he called her a whore and a slut after they had slept together and calling her that is not okay. Last and least, Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia is the worst book I have read in my life, with all the nonconsensual sex scenes and the killing. As I said in my blog post, I was not here for it. This book taught me that I am sensitive about what I read, so I learned that at least. 

I found books that I enjoyed during this course and one I didn't appreciate. Writing blog posts allowed us to all express our ideas and feelings about the book, which led to a better understanding of the books we had read. I cannot choose which romance studies course has been my favourite so far because they both have different great qualities about them. I want to thank our professor, Jon Beasley-Murray, and our wonderful, smart TAs. 

Discussion Question: What has been your favourite book throughout this course and why?