Amulet, Roberto Bolaño

 

    One of the wonderful things I have realized throughout this course is that, despite how I have been often made to feel throughout other literature classes, it is not always necessary to pick out every detail and hidden theme from a book. I am all for analyzing stuff but I've noticed while reading and writing these blogs that often it really isn't necessary. Roberto Bolaño's Amulet was another great example of this for me. Last week I read The Trenchcoat and learned about an awful situation that I had not known anything about previously. This week I also found myself learning something new and once again questioning why the American school system taught me literally nothing about other countries' history. I am sure I could have found some underlying things throughout this novel but just reading it and understanding the situation was enough. 

    Amulet was a novel narrated by Auxilio who hides in a bathroom stall as UNAM is occupied by soldiers. She thinks about the past and, the future while she sits for some somewhat unclear amount of days. During this time we are sucked right into the past with her. This style (type may be a better word?) of narration reminded me a lot of The Shrouded Woman. While I found it all pretty interesting the multiple pages of prophecies is what really piqued my interest more. I think it is because we have already passed some of them and while I cannot say whether or not Anton Chekhov was reincarnated in 2003, 2010 or, 2014 it is still so interesting to think that in the mind of Auxilio, he would only has one more reincarnation to go now. Anyway, the recollection of memories seemed really on brand for this class. I also was reminded somewhat of W, or the Memory of Childhood just because of how she could not remember the details of her own story too well and the way fantasy flowed throughout the story. It is really interesting beginning to see these big similarities throughout the books we have read this term. 

My question relates to the fact that I know I and many others have been starting to notice similarities between all of these books: Which one interests you the most and why? I was skeptical at first of how all these books could share things in common while being written at different times and places but so far it has really proven to be true and it's interesting to see what these common themes are.

Comments

  1. JonMarch 21, 2022 at 11:09 PM

    "I was skeptical at first of how all these books could share things in common while being written at different times and places but so far it has really proven to be true and it's interesting to see what these common themes are."

    I am almost as surprised as you, to be honest! I'm loving the connections you all are making, but I have to say that many of them I hadn't at all anticipated.

    I should say that for me it also justifies the fact that I'm making you (or most of you, depending on the grade for which you contracted) read a lot... the more you read, the more you are able to see and make such connections. I think it's great.

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  2. PatricioMarch 21, 2022 at 11:25 PM

    Thanks for your post Dee.
    Yes, it also reminded me of W, as he tries to rebuild memory. Many of your classmates have also found similarities with other texts, and it's great. Let´s see at the end of the course what we have created!

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  3. Marie AlemiMarch 31, 2022 at 12:08 PM

    Hi Dee!
    Great blog post! I'd say that reading Amulet also reminded me of of W, or the memory of childhood. There are a lot of similarities between the repetition, forgetfulness, and diary like format. Memory seems to be a common theme throughout the books we have read in this class and it is always interesting for me to see how each one of their memories are reconstructed. I feel as though for some of the characters rebuilding their memory is more for them (the character). Whereas, other times I feel like these details are more for the reader!

    Thanks for sharing.

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