Student Blogs

I enjoyed reading The Times of the Dove and it felt super easy to read. Typically the literature we have read in this course so far seems difficult to an extent where it might be hard to understand what you are reading or what is going on. However, I did not feel that way with […] read full post >>

Time of the Doves follows the life of Natalia, an ordinary working-class woman in Barcelona whose personal story unfolds alongside the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath. The novel traces her journey from a passive young girl at a festival to her journey through motherhood and marriage, and finally to a widow struggling to survive […] read full post >>

I DON’T THINK I fully appreciated this novel. read full post >>

I really enjoyed reading Time of the Doves. It felt very mellow and was quite easy to read. The writing style managed to keep me engaged throughout the story. Overall, the novel was very emotional and the author did a fantastic job portraying the frustrating, helpless and suffocating emotion through her simple yet effective writing. […] read full post >>

I found The Time of the Doves interesting, and I liked Natalia’s narration throughout. I feel like I am slowly but surely overcoming my bias towards the first-person perspective. In fact, in this novel specifically, I believe that only the first person could have made me so infuriated about Quimet. In this blog post, I […] read full post >>

One of those novels that stays with you long after you finish reading it is “The Time of the Doves” by Mercè Rodoreda. The aspect that struck me the most about this novel is its personal nature, despite the fact that it is set during the Spanish Civil War, an event of huge proportions. The […] read full post >>

My takes from Time of the Doves by Rodoreda read full post >>

What stayed with me most while reading The Time of the Doves is how normal everything feels, even when it absolutely shouldn’t. In the setting of the book we can see there’s political chaos, war, hunger and lives are being torn apart, but Natalia moves through it all, noticing almost miniscule things like the tightness […] read full post >>

In The Time of Doves, Rodoreda tells a story of Natalia’s life entirely from her own perspective, and also reflects how the Spanish society was back in the time. This novel didn’t dramatize the confusion and suffering in life, but simply described the facts. I think that’s why this novel makes us feel moved. People […] read full post >>

In The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda, what struck me most was how ordinary everything feels, even when Natalia’s life is falling apart. The story never becomes dramatic in a loud or exaggerated way. Instead, it stays close to Natalia’s daily thoughts: what she notices, what she worries about, what she endures. That […] read full post >>

Question: How does this book view love and control, and how are they related? -LS read full post >>

First and most importantly, I think that Colometa/Natalia/Maria is so real. The way that the book is narrated is so relatable, as some of the things she says and thinks reminds me of some debrief sessions I would have with friends. Her narration of meeting Quimet, of how she broke Pere’s heart, and her feelings towards her […] read full post >>

To be honest, this was not what I was expecting from a book set during a war, but nonetheless, it was a pretty good read (it would’ve been better if Quimet died sooner and Rita didn’t marry Vicenç). Throughout the book, Natalia’s narration seems repetitive and confuses the reader, which represents the dizzying world she […] read full post >>

“The time of the doves” is interesting in the sense that we’re put in the shoes of Natalia, who seems to be emotionally confused at first and simply allows things to happen, someone does not seem to be in control of their life. She leaves her husband to be with Quimet, a charming personality that […] read full post >>

The Time of the Doves opens with a prelude quote by George Meredith: "My dear, these things are life". Looking back, this quote beautifully summarizes Natalia's extremely painful story. Throughout the novel, we follow Natalia as she encounters struggle... read full post >>