Hi Again

I am a fourth year student of Romance Studies. I have been learning Italian for the past four years. The first film I made was in Amantea, Calabria and I have been making films and learning Italian ever since. I am also an avid criterion channel watcher. My relationship to stories is personally explored through film and theatre, which of course is reliant upon literature.

I feel rather open minded when it comes to my expectations for the course. I am curious about what insights others will draw from the novels they have chosen. What really matters to me is keeping an open mind and heart and listening to what others have to say. It is my first time in a course where I will be reading a novel as long as The Savage Detectives for the duration of the course. In that sense I expect to develop with the characters of the story. A lot can happen in four months so reading as a collective whilst growing in connection with the characters will hopefully allow for a deeper understanding of the text. Since I am about to graduate my greatest expectation is to enjoy being part of a classroom and embrace the process as it comes, however that takes form.

I honestly have not had the capacity to read for pleasure since the summer. My approach to choosing a long book to accompany The Savage Detectives is to refer to the authors that have brought me joy in other Romance Studies classes. Junot Diaz is an author I love. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This is How You Lose Her are both works that I consumed with delight. I’m leaning towards Hopscotch but that novel gets abstract at points in a way that might make it hard to compare with The Savage Detectives. I’m not so sure at this point. Marie-Cheveux is an author I have felt seen by in her meditations on race and love. That’s the intersection I am most curious about.

I have been looking for my a-ha moment in choosing a novel to accompany The Savage Detectives. It has not come, but I am hopeful it will. I just want to find something so compelling I have no other choice than to really dig into. Ultimately, I hope to find the piece of literature that gives more than it takes.

Thanks for being here.

Harmela