RMST 202 Blogs

Hi, everyone. Welcome to my week 12 blog. How was everyone's weekend? Time flies so fast. This week’s blog is also the last book I read this semester. I have to say that this course is really a wonderful course that allows me to read a lot of meaningful books. If I have opportunities in the future, I would like to take more reading courses just like this course. This week I read the book "Faces in the Crowd" which was written by Valeria Luiselli. When I'm reading this book, I still feel a bit confused, as if the narrator is interweaving memories while recounting them. I don't know if you understand what I mean. It's like many segments of memories are mixed together, so I often feel lost when I'm reading. The "I" in the novel is a mother and a writer. Although we can sense her love for her children from her words and actions, the existence of two children undoubtedly hinders her writing. Just as mentioned in the book, she can only write when her d...

This week I read the book "The Lover". When I heard the name of the book, I was thinking if it was a happy ending, but actually not... But this is also very realistic, because life is often full of regrets, and regrets about love account for part of it. It is really lucky to meet a lover who can stay with you for a lifetime. This novel tells the love story between a 15-year-old impoverished French girl and a 27-year-old wealthy Chinese man. The book was written by the author Marguerite Duras based on her own experiences, and it unfolds entirely from the perspective of the female protagonist. Therefore, I believe Marguerite Duras inserted herself into the female lead, thus achieving this classic novel. The love between the girl and the man at the beginning is not pure, because initially, the girl is attracted to the man's wealth. Due to her mother and brother's circumstances, she needs money, and at the same time, she also needs someone to give her love, which this wea...

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 ...