Week11: The Book of Chameleons

Hi, everyone. Welcome to the week 11 blog. The cherry blossoms in UBC are in bloom. I wonder if you have gone to see them, they are really beautiful. I took a lot of photos! OK, Back to the book. 

This week I read "The Book of Chameleons" which was written by José Eduardo Agualusa. At first, I thought it was a book about chameleons, but it turned out to be told from the perspective of a gecko, and not just any gecko, but a special one, a tiger gecko that can make sounds like human laughter. In fact, I think the title of this book may be based on the owner of this gecko, a man named Felix Ventura who has albinism. He is a person who fabricates a good past for others. So, I believe the title "The Book of Chameleons" might symbolize Felix Ventura tailoring a beautiful past for each individual based on their experiences. Chameleons can change the color of their bodies in different environments to adapt to the current environment.

The name of the Chinese version of this book will be more understandable because the Chinese version of this book is called "The Man Who Sold the Past". Compared with "The Book of Chameleons", I think one is simple and the other is dreamy. But what I find strange is that Felix Ventura sells the past. I don’t quite understand this. He can make money just by fabricating a non-existent past for others? When the photojournalist came to him and asked for a new name, a new identity that could be corroborated by the country, Felix Ventura became panicked. He said that he was creating dreams rather than creating false evidence. So why do so many people seek him out just for a vague dream? And even if a perfect past is really fabricated, everything that happened will always remain in everyone's memory. Does this kind of self-deceiving dream really have any meaning in existence?

The entire book gives me a dreamlike feeling, much like its title. It evokes a sense of interplay between reality and dreams. Regarding the question I posed earlier, my self-answer is as follows: Perhaps in reality, many people are unwilling to recall past sad memories, or perhaps they desire to break free from those haunting memories of the past. So, they turn to Felix Ventura. Perhaps Felix Ventura is more like a hypnotist? He can truly erase people's past memories, allowing them to live in the memories he weaves.

Question: Would you rather have a beautiful dream instead of a painful memory?

Comments

  1. Jon Beasley-MurrayMarch 26, 2024 at 9:58 PM

    'The name of the Chinese version of this book will be more understandable because the Chinese version of this book is called "The Man Who Sold the Past".'

    As I mention in the lecture, that's also what the original (Portuguese) title means.

    "The entire book gives me a dreamlike feeling."

    What about the ending, and the confrontation between Buchmann, Angela, and Edmundo? I feel that's a point at which the dream is broken, no? Or how did you read that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Arissa NaumannMarch 27, 2024 at 1:42 PM

    Hi Xinrui, I also got a dreamlike feeling from this book. Especially the ending where the plot went from being chaotic to Felix having nobody to talk to felt like reading about waking up from a crazy dream. I think people seek out Felix because it lets them change how others perceive them, even if temporarily. - Arissa Naumann

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week3: Mad Toy

Hi everyone. Welcome to my third blog! This week I read the book "Mad Toy" and have many thoughts to share with you.  This book is written by Roberto Arlt. He  writes this book from the perspective of a lower-class youth named Silvio. From Silvio's descriptions, it seems that the people around him are not good individuals . The first person he describes is an old cobbler, who is portrayed as hunchbacked, with a face covered in stubble, a haggard complexion, and a slight limp. Next is Irzubeta, the second person he describes. He is tall and thin, with freckles all over his forehead and a slanting gaze. What shocked me was the family of Irzubeta, his family is a family that buys things on credit and has creditors. Despite their impoverished state, they are still quite arrogant, viewing those creditors as untouchables . This makes it difficult for me to imagine their psychological state. When Silvio describes the people around him, it is not difficult to see that he lives i...
Read more

Week 7 The time of the doves

Hi, everyone. Welcome to my week 7 blog! I read this novel during the reading break and have many thoughts to share with you.  The novel "The Time of the Doves" is written by Mercè Rodoreda. I think this book gave me a depressing feeling, and I thought Quimet and Natalia's marriage was doomed to be a mistake from the beginning.  I didn't feel that Quimet had a strong love for Natalia; on the contrary, I felt that Quimet wanted Natalia to be obedient to him. Before they got married, Quimet had been extremely angry when Natalia went out for a walk with another man, demanding that she beg for his forgiveness. This makes me feel that Quimet never really loved Natalia from the beginning, but tried to control her, restrict her and possess her. This is a relationship that I cannot accept, but I can also understand why Natalia chose to marry Quimet. Part of the reason should be because of the death of her mother. In the book, Natalia mentioned that her mother never talked to ...
Read more

Week2: Combray

Hello everyone, welcome to my second blog! After reading Proust’s Combray this week, I have a lot of insights that I want to share with you. In this novel, the author mainly recounts a childhood memory in Combray. In the first part, the personal traits of Swann, great-aunt, and grandmother are vividly depicted. A significant portion of the novel's opening is dedicated to portraying Swann. I believe there is a stark contrast between Swann's humility and politeness and the great-aunt's arrogance and ignorance. Swann is very modest, so the narrator's great-aunt does not consider him part of the upper class. Instead, she thinks that his status is lower than hers. Therefore, when hosting banquets, she does not extend an invitation to Swann because she thinks Swann is not qualified to be a participant in her banquet. But in contrast to Swann, he doesn't have the nobility and arrogance that we might expect from someone in the upper echelons of society. He doesn't even ...
Read more