Student Blogs

  I really enjoyed this weeks reading of the Shrouded Woman. I think it was an easier read compared to the previous books we read and I was also very captivated throughout the book. One of the key themes (for me) in this book is that it is written from the perspective of a woman, […] read full post >>

“But now, now that I am dead, it occurs to me that possibly all men once in their lifetime long to make some great renunciation… in order to feel themselves masters of their own destiny.”      wow….  I really liked this novel. The narration through a “ghost’s” POV made it interesting in a way […] read full post >>

To begin, I actually had a hard time reading this week’s literature. I felt lost and thought that Proust was somewhat more of an easier read. I am unsure if this is because it was written in a different perspective, something I am not used to or because I struggle to keep track of each […] read full post >>

Whilst reading The Shrouded Woman, I didn't immediately realize that Ana Maria was dead. I might have missed a couple of details at the start, but I don't expect to fully grasp all of the details upon my first reading. I only realized she was dead a bi... read full post >>

Whilst reading The Shrouded Woman, I didn't immediately realize that Ana Maria was dead. I might have missed a couple of details at the start, but I don't expect to fully grasp all of the details upon my first reading. I only realized she was dead a bi... read full post >>

I knew throughout the book that Ana Maria was dead. Yet, I was left wanting more when I finished reading. I wanted to continue to learn about her life, even though she felt that it was small and did not amount to much. Knowing that she was dead did not lighten the emotional response I […] read full post >>

What struck me the most in this book is how often Bombal shifts the narrative perspective. At first, I thought it was just a stylistic experiment, but the more I read, the more it felt like something much deeper. The constant switching between first person and third person narration doesn’t feel random at all. Instead, […] read full post >>

What a book! Within just the first few pages, I felt strangely emotional about Ana María and her life.. which caught me completely off guard. It almost felt.. relatable? It’s given me lots to think about, that’s for sure. There is something so incredibly intimate about the way she reflects on her life from the […] read full post >>

Wow. And I thought I held grudge. The Shrouded Woman is this breath-taking story about a woman on her death bed. She revisits different parts of her life, sifting through memories as various family members and friends say their farewells. I don’t know what to say. It was just so beautiful. Let’s start when she […] read full post >>

 I quite enjoyed this reading, it was a point of view that I’ve never read a book from before. This short novel touched on an issue of gender and agency. How a woman is always the focus of others in terms of her beauty and appearance, even when sh... read full post >>

 I quite enjoyed this reading, it was a point of view that I’ve never read a book from before. This short novel touched on an issue of gender and agency. How a woman is always the focus of others in terms of her beauty and appearance, even when sh... read full post >>

Luisa Maria Bombal’s The Shrouded Woman feels like the kind of book that sneaks up on you. In the same fashion as Proust, nothing explodes and no dramatic plot twist comes and sweeps you off of your feet. Instead, a woman lies dead, wrapped in white, and only finally does she get to tell the […] read full post >>

Right from the beginning that is a sense of significance in the seemingly trivial, like the falling of rain, and a glimmer of existential beauty to be found in repetition, exhaustion, and freedom from logic. If inexplicitness was a literary principle, ... read full post >>

My first impression of “A Shrouded Woman” was that the many perspectives were really cool: shifting from her POV to the other funeralgoers and even times when it was like she “talked” to others’ narration, like the Father. But the weirdest one is still her own. From what I’ve read, most forms of the post-death […] read full post >>

Hi, everyone! After finishing the book The Shrouded Woman by María Luisa Bombal, a question came to my mind – why does Ana Maria care so much about her image after death? She cares about her embroidered sheets, perfumed with lavender. She also fo... read full post >>