Andrew Andrew

As we wrap up this semester, reflecting and looking back throughout what I have done in this course  seems pretty crazy to me. One of my new year resolutions was to read more books than the previous year  (which was 1) and this course helped me achieve that! As I signed the contract, I was a bit unsure about aiming for an A- as it required me to read 9 books out of 11, but it was far more enjoyable than what I had anticipated. I enrolled for this course as it sounded extremely enticing and I wanted a change of scenery from the stats and mathematics courses I have been taking. And let me tell you, it was the change I was looking for. One of the reasons why I enjoyed this course so much was the significant freedom and creativity it granted us when writing about the books we read. This gave me less stress and pressure and allowed me to focus more on expressing what I was genuinely interested in for each book. I will admit, there were a couple of books that I wanted to just breeze...

This week's book is "Money To Burn" by Ricardo Pigila. Personally, I think this book is definitely the most action-packed, engaging read so far. Even though it was a bit on the longer side with around 200 pages, the constant adventures the characters are put through makes it very intriguing to read. Moreover, I do enjoy watching or reading thriller or action-adventure packed stories. This book was about a group of men robbing banks throughout Buenos Aires as if they were invincible but eventually after many police reports, their crime caught up to them. What makes this book different, yet similar to the books we have read so far is the the trope of family and how important that is to the characters in this novel.  Although their blood ties with family members may not hold as much over the men's lives, the novel portrays the group of robbers as a closely-knit family. Through the numerous crimes they had done, it built a sense of trust, camaraderie and loyalty between e...

 Reading Agostino by Alberto Moravia, I expected a very light-hearted read, but, it was anything but that. "Agostino" follows a journey of a young boy named Agostino on a summer vacation at a beach resort. The story revolves around him uncovering his subconscious desires, sexual frustation and how he tackles these challenges that he faces.  If I were to describe what Agostino was on the beginning of the novel, it would be a mama's boy. He was infatuated with his mother's love and expected to be showered by it all the time until she met a young man. When most of his mother's attention was taken up by the young man, Agostino felt left out and  frustrated. That led him to meet a gang of teenagers playing on the beach. This was the first time Agostino was exposed to a new world and that feeling of curiosity of the unknown made him try venture and forge relationships with these boys. However, those boys openly made remarks about his mother's appearance, and the act...