I found this week's reading Amulet by Roberto Bolaño a captivating read. I personally don't read a lot of books about war or know much history about this context in the book, but Bolaño made it enjoyable with the narrator Auxilio. I was quickly grasped by the book because of her captivating narration. Throughout this class, I was surprised by how much these books made me more aware of the history and the brutality of war and revolutions. The writing in this book and its details made it easy for me to visualize her thoughts and these different scenarios in my head.
The narrator Auxilio hides in the lavatories of her university, fearing that soldiers will come and discover her there. She begins to recall memories of her friends, literature, and life. She is seen as unsure about her purpose and roots, trying to re-imagine herself as she says, "one day I arrived in Mexico without really knowing why or how or when.” These memories and reflections of her friends seem like she is a sideline character in her own life. Auxilio does not fit into any of the Mexican cultural roles, so she finds herself taking on a nurturing role to the young poets. She seems to find her purpose in life and lives through her friends and their experiences and this is what she holds onto while stuck in the lavatories, along with the visions of the future. I found it surprising that Auxilio remained calm despite her fear in the lavatories. As a reader, I was distracted and somewhat stressed out by this scenario as I was worried about what was going to happen to her.
As we have talked about in our class lectures a concept that is a reoccurring theme in every book we have read is memories. These memories that we follow from these characters show a pattern that we can start to connect and compare each of them with each other. The shrouded woman was one that stuck out to me as they both revolve around a woman who is reaching and guessing about what possibilities could have come from their lives. Also comparing Amulet to W, both main characters are experiencing displacement due to the impacts of their respective traumatic events.
My question for the class is: How do you think her memory and the event of the occupation impact her visions about the future.
Hey Diya, love the connections you made between this text and Shrouded Woman and W! Now that I think of it, Amulet does feel a bit like a mix between Shrouded Woman and W. To answer your question: the ending of the text makes me think that her visions of the future only became more positive, especially as she saw the young people and their metaphorical amulet - their courage.
ReplyDeleteI also felt a bit distracted and on the edge of my seat because of the setting of this text, but also remember noting how that stress was not reflected too much in Bolaño's writing. That itself kind of made it an interesting read!
Hi Diya, I liked how you mentioned how calm everything seemed while Auxilio was stuck in the lavatory. It made me interested in how she coped for such a long time. I have noticed a lot of comparisons to our other readings in the blog posts and I wrote about a couple too. I like how you brought up the shrouded woman and how Auxilio and Ana Maria are both in a time of reflection on their lives.
ReplyDelete