Nadja in the very unorganized stacks

 Hello all, and welcome back to the cottage. 

The stacks are toppling already--not the best of signs, but hopefully I should be able to get these tremors under control with a good spell of focus. I won't dally with describing the organizational troubles I underwent this week, this paper is short as it is and I'd like to get down some thoughts I had about Nadja, though I've only just begun to delve into it. 

So far, the way in which Breton writes is as if he is speaking to himself. I can't recall having knowingly read surrealist novels, though the style of the narration is very reminiscent of another book that I read a few moons ago called Open City, by Teju Cole. Cole's narrator also shows the audience a view of the world only through his own mind, which appears so removed from reality that there is always a question of reliability and truth lingering around his words. The way that Andre (the narrator) almost loses himself following a thread of his own thoughts on the page also puts a certain distance between the text and the audience, with every change of topic feeling like impulsive turns. 

It only really begins to fall into line when Breton begins discussing the woman he saw at the theatre and the events during which his descension into "the mind's lower depths" (Breton, 38) occurred. Up until then, it took me a couple of pauses and double takes to ascertain the change in the conversation (between Breton and the readers) and when exactly it had occurred. Even then, it feels as though I am wandering a hedge labyrinth and mistaking dead-ends for the path that I am clearly meant to follow. There is a clear line of events, but it is difficult to discern when you are traversing the depths of Breton's stream of consciousness (for lack of a better term). 

I pose this week's question tentatively--seeing as I've yet to reach the deeper levels of comprehending this story--but there are plenty of curiosities to pull from. This time, it is this: does recording an experience that strongly affected your way of thinking or doing (such as Breton seems to be doing with Nadja) help to reconcile you with the experience, or does it exacerbate the impact? For example, would Breton be ensnared by the madness for longer because he wrote about it? 

Hoping to discover more points of discussion for Wednesday's gathering.

Your local woodland witch,

June 

Comments

  1. Daniel OrizagaJanuary 19, 2026 at 12:23 AM

    "...but there are plenty of curiosities to pull from..." It will be very interesting to discuss this in class! The labyrinth of the stream of consciousness also runs parallel to that of the city where all this takes place, Paris, which is also important here.

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  2. Hasfariza HassanJanuary 19, 2026 at 1:20 AM

    I think that he utilizes his experience and encounter with Nadja as a transitionary period of his life . Before meeting her, he was stuck in the qualms of his life vs. when he meets her, he feels like he has more to live for. Perhaps this experience in his life propelled to find stability and get his life back together

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