SPAN 312

  Hi everyone! I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. This week I chose to read Mario Vargas Llosa’s Captain Pantoja and the Special Service and I think I enjoyed it? I found some parts of the novel such as the objectification of women and the rapes to be disturbing, but other parts I actually really enjoyed. I, like a few others have mentioned in their blogs, was also surprised to hear about the history of the military and their actions at the time as Jon mentioned in his lecture. I think it was the things like this that made me question the novel's true genre and if comedy or dark comedy was the right way to describe it. There were a few other times where I was a bit confused as to what was going on as the novel involved a lot of different captains, colonels, and lieutenants, but it was easier to follow along than 100 Years of Solitude.  I think the part that I enjoyed the most and found the most relatable was the lengthy gossip letter that Pochita wrote to...

  Hi everyone! This week I decided to read Pablo Neruda’s Twenty Love Poems. I am normally not drawn to poetry as a whole as I find that sometimes I just get lost in trying to decipher a meaning from the words rather than just enjoying the art in front of me. However, I do still respect this art form greatly and am in awe of writers who can convey emotion and art so beautifully and effortlessly. Nonetheless, this collection of poems was definitely an interesting ride. Some of them I understood right away and others required a second or third read.       Right off the bat these poems go very in depth in describing the womens body. It did feel very much like the woman he was describing was somewhat of an object or physical thing to him rather than a human being. The many poems that were describing her body and breasts left an interesting taste in my mouth, as they felt very possessive and dominant over the woman. The lecture was describing this as well. The quote ...