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Week 5 – On Moravia’s “Agostino”
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Carmen Laforet, Nada——WEEK5
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This week I read Carmen Laforet's work Nada, and here are some of my post-reading feelings.
Through this week's reading of Nada, I learned about the desolate landscape of post-war Barcelona. Through the subjective and objective perspective of the protagonist, the author takes the protagonist's family as the main object of description, creating a microcosm of the miserable post-war society at that time. The author's expression is very delicate. The article contains a lot of reports of the scenery, which highlights the eerie atmosphere of the family and shows the protagonist's rejection and fear of living here. The words of the article are straightforward, but the emotions revealed are meticulous and accurate. It's easier to understand how the author feels and how things have gone.
The protagonist comes to Barcelona to complete her studies and seeks refuge from her relatives. Still, when she lives here, she gradually gets to know everyone who lives in the family and the unusual relationships between relatives. During the time she lived here, every day she spent seemed painful and unbearable, and the family members seemed to be ghosts lacking the vitality of life under her description. As a bystander, she observes the family's disputes, the old grandmother, the terrible aunt, the grumpy uncle, and the aunt. She is entangled with her husband's brother. The constant torture of the family makes the house's atmosphere very depressing. Her campus life is not as good as imagined. However, she met a good friend, just the exchange on campus it difficult to dispel the loneliness in her heart. The relationship with a boy also ended without beginning because of his family conditions. Fortunately, In the end, Andrea had the opportunity to leave the city that had tormented her and embark on a new journey.
As I read this book, I also searched the context of the times. I can see that Bartholome was very depressed after the war. Most of the literary works advocated the existence of women in the family. The protagonist of Nada observes the flaws of this family model from the perspective of a bystander; she describes the involuntary nature of women living in such a family. This straightforward reality may awaken many women who have suffered in the family, making them aware of their situation. The protagonist's courage to embark on a new path to pursue their dreams also gave people the courage to pursue their true selves.
My question for this article is: Do you think the friendship between the protagonist and his popular college classmate is equal? It looked as if she was in a state of escort.
Carmen Laforet, Nada——WEEK5
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week I read Carmen Laforet's work Nada, and here are some of my post-reading feelings.
Through this week's reading of Nada, I learned about the desolate landscape of post-war Barcelona. Through the subjective and objective perspective of the protagonist, the author takes the protagonist's family as the main object of description, creating a microcosm of the miserable post-war society at that time. The author's expression is very delicate. The article contains a lot of reports of the scenery, which highlights the eerie atmosphere of the family and shows the protagonist's rejection and fear of living here. The words of the article are straightforward, but the emotions revealed are meticulous and accurate. It's easier to understand how the author feels and how things have gone.
The protagonist comes to Barcelona to complete her studies and seeks refuge from her relatives. Still, when she lives here, she gradually gets to know everyone who lives in the family and the unusual relationships between relatives. During the time she lived here, every day she spent seemed painful and unbearable, and the family members seemed to be ghosts lacking the vitality of life under her description. As a bystander, she observes the family's disputes, the old grandmother, the terrible aunt, the grumpy uncle, and the aunt. She is entangled with her husband's brother. The constant torture of the family makes the house's atmosphere very depressing. Her campus life is not as good as imagined. However, she met a good friend, just the exchange on campus it difficult to dispel the loneliness in her heart. The relationship with a boy also ended without beginning because of his family conditions. Fortunately, In the end, Andrea had the opportunity to leave the city that had tormented her and embark on a new journey.
As I read this book, I also searched the context of the times. I can see that Bartholome was very depressed after the war. Most of the literary works advocated the existence of women in the family. The protagonist of Nada observes the flaws of this family model from the perspective of a bystander; she describes the involuntary nature of women living in such a family. This straightforward reality may awaken many women who have suffered in the family, making them aware of their situation. The protagonist's courage to embark on a new path to pursue their dreams also gave people the courage to pursue their true selves.
Carmen Laforet, Nada——WEEK5
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week I read Carmen Laforet's work Nada, and here are some of my post-reading feelings.
Through this week's reading of Nada, I learned about the desolate landscape of post-war Barcelona. Through the subjective and objective perspective of the protagonist, the author takes the protagonist's family as the main object of description, creating a microcosm of the miserable post-war society at that time. The author's expression is very delicate. The article contains a lot of reports of the scenery, which highlights the eerie atmosphere of the family and shows the protagonist's rejection and fear of living here. The words of the article are straightforward, but the emotions revealed are meticulous and accurate. It's easier to understand how the author feels and how things have gone.
The protagonist comes to Barcelona to complete her studies and seeks refuge from her relatives. Still, when she lives here, she gradually gets to know everyone who lives in the family and the unusual relationships between relatives. During the time she lived here, every day she spent seemed painful and unbearable, and the family members seemed to be ghosts lacking the vitality of life under her description. As a bystander, she observes the family's disputes, the old grandmother, the terrible aunt, the grumpy uncle, and the aunt. She is entangled with her husband's brother. The constant torture of the family makes the house's atmosphere very depressing. Her campus life is not as good as imagined. However, she met a good friend, just the exchange on campus it difficult to dispel the loneliness in her heart. The relationship with a boy also ended without beginning because of his family conditions. Fortunately, In the end, Andrea had the opportunity to leave the city that had tormented her and embark on a new journey.
As I read this book, I also searched the context of the times. I can see that Bartholome was very depressed after the war. Most of the literary works advocated the existence of women in the family. The protagonist of Nada observes the flaws of this family model from the perspective of a bystander; she describes the involuntary nature of women living in such a family. This straightforward reality may awaken many women who have suffered in the family, making them aware of their situation. The protagonist's courage to embark on a new path to pursue their dreams also gave people the courage to pursue their true selves.
My question for this article is: Do you think the friendship between the protagonist and his popular college classmate is equal? It looked as if she was in a state of escort.
Week 5 – Moravia’s “Agostino”
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Never Growing Up and the Influence of Peers- Agostino
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Agostino is a kid who never really grows up. In the beginning, I thought that Agostino was around the ages of 10-11 years old. I could picture this from how he envisioned his mother, so blessed by her presence and in awe of her beauty. He loved her like a child. He also was treated like a young child by his mother too, and the way he complained about her attention towards him and his jealousy made me think he was much younger than he actually was. Later in the book, we learn that he is 13 years old when he tells the man and his son on the boat ride. This book shows how much others' influence has on you. In the beginning, Agostino was a young, innocent, well-behaved boy who enjoyed his mother's company. After encountering the young boatman who "stole" his mother away from him, feelings of hatred, disgust, and jealousy arose within him. He could not fathom the idea of having to share his mother, especially let this man enjoy and indulge in her beauty that was only admired by him before in his mind. The young boys he met at a further down beach on his vacation changed his thoughts about women forever and himself. Agostino had no idea of his mother's relations, he saw her as a pure angel, and these boys crushed this image he looked up to instantly. Although his age or older, the boys knew more about women, power, and lustfulness. Agostino was still in his innocent age. He had not heard or even ever explored the ideas of these topics, which made his mind start to spin. These feelings confused with the image he had of his mother beforehand. He now saw her as a pleasure and a woman, not his mother. This shows us how Agostino has not grown up or matured even after learning about these "maturing" subjects. He cannot differentiate between the two and lets his feelings take over his actions he would have once considered inappropriate or looked down upon. The text shows us how unaccountable he is when he gives all his money away to his friend and is cheated by him. He put his trust into a boy he still barely knew and just accepted his words for truth without questioning anything. This once again proves that Agostino is still young and, although not as innocent, he is immature.
My question I have after reading this text is...
Do you think if Agostino never met the boy in the cabin who brought him into the gang, that he would still have this innocence and see his mother for her motherhood and not a lustful woman?
Never Growing Up and the Influence of Peers- Agostino
Posted by: feedwordpress
Agostino is a kid who never really grows up. In the beginning, I thought that Agostino was around the ages of 10-11 years old. I could picture this from how he envisioned his mother, so blessed by her presence and in awe of her beauty. He loved her like a child. He also was treated like a young child by his mother too, and the way he complained about her attention towards him and his jealousy made me think he was much younger than he actually was. Later in the book, we learn that he is 13 years old when he tells the man and his son on the boat ride. This book shows how much others' influence has on you. In the beginning, Agostino was a young, innocent, well-behaved boy who enjoyed his mother's company. After encountering the young boatman who "stole" his mother away from him, feelings of hatred, disgust, and jealousy arose within him. He could not fathom the idea of having to share his mother, especially let this man enjoy and indulge in her beauty that was only admired by him before in his mind. The young boys he met at a further down beach on his vacation changed his thoughts about women forever and himself. Agostino had no idea of his mother's relations, he saw her as a pure angel, and these boys crushed this image he looked up to instantly. Although his age or older, the boys knew more about women, power, and lustfulness. Agostino was still in his innocent age. He had not heard or even ever explored the ideas of these topics, which made his mind start to spin. These feelings confused with the image he had of his mother beforehand. He now saw her as a pleasure and a woman, not his mother. This shows us how Agostino has not grown up or matured even after learning about these "maturing" subjects. He cannot differentiate between the two and lets his feelings take over his actions he would have once considered inappropriate or looked down upon. The text shows us how unaccountable he is when he gives all his money away to his friend and is cheated by him. He put his trust into a boy he still barely knew and just accepted his words for truth without questioning anything. This once again proves that Agostino is still young and, although not as innocent, he is immature.
My question I have after reading this text is...
Do you think if Agostino never met the boy in the cabin who brought him into the gang, that he would still have this innocence and see his mother for her motherhood and not a lustful woman?
A reflection of Laforet’s ‘Nada’
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Agostino: A 13-Year-Old’s Coming of Age Story
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The Shrouded Women by Maria Luisa Bombel (1938)
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Week 5 – Laforet’s “Nada”
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My thoughts on "The Shrouded Woman" by María Luisa Bombal
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I enjoyed reading "The Shrouded Woman" by María Luisa Bombal. I found that in this novel it was a lot easier to follow the storyline or text versus in the other novels I had read. I found it interesting how the narrator was dead. It was interesting because she was narrating important moments in her life as well as focusing on peak memories that she experienced during her lifetime.i found this interesting because I have not read a book that has been narrated or told in this format. It surprised me when the narrator described many of these moments in her life in an almost glamourized or positively descriptive way. But, while these moments seem great, the narrator was saying that she wanted to die. This was confusing to me. But, what I picture it as is the narrator speaking from regret of not living out the life she once had. The narrator seems to be feeling as though she did not appreciate the moments she had experienced in her life. In the way she states that she had wished she was dead at a point where it seemed as though she was saying it in a way of disbelief or that she had could not believe that she had wished that. It seems to show that the narrator feels a though she had not appreciated her life experiences or that she was missing or grieving her own memories, life and specific people in the narrator's life that had a significant impact on her. The text seems to reminisce on the narrator's past life which I found to be very interesting. My question for this novel is what was the narrator's original reason for wanting to die? What I found really interesting in the text was the relationship between the narrator and Roberto. It felt as though Roberto had abandoned the narrator and that she really cherished having him in her life. I think this relates a lot to times now, and is something that is still a relevant factor in today's society or life. The narrators want and craving for Roberto's presence seemed to be a relevant memory that had stood out for her and created a lot of the emotion involved in to the storyline of the novel. I feel as though the emotion and the feelings that were involved in this novel made it an easy and beautiful read.
read full post >>My thoughts on "The Shrouded Woman" by María Luisa Bombal
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I enjoyed reading "The Shrouded Woman" by María Luisa Bombal. I found that in this novel it was a lot easier to follow the storyline or text versus in the other novels I had read. I found it interesting how the narrator was dead. It was interesting because she was narrating important moments in her life as well as focusing on peak memories that she experienced during her lifetime.i found this interesting because I have not read a book that has been narrated or told in this format. It surprised me when the narrator described many of these moments in her life in an almost glamourized or positively descriptive way. But, while these moments seem great, the narrator was saying that she wanted to die. This was confusing to me. But, what I picture it as is the narrator speaking from regret of not living out the life she once had. The narrator seems to be feeling as though she did not appreciate the moments she had experienced in her life. In the way she states that she had wished she was dead at a point where it seemed as though she was saying it in a way of disbelief or that she had could not believe that she had wished that. It seems to show that the narrator feels a though she had not appreciated her life experiences or that she was missing or grieving her own memories, life and specific people in the narrator's life that had a significant impact on her. The text seems to reminisce on the narrator's past life which I found to be very interesting. My question for this novel is what was the narrator's original reason for wanting to die? What I found really interesting in the text was the relationship between the narrator and Roberto. It felt as though Roberto had abandoned the narrator and that she really cherished having him in her life. I think this relates a lot to times now, and is something that is still a relevant factor in today's society or life. The narrators want and craving for Roberto's presence seemed to be a relevant memory that had stood out for her and created a lot of the emotion involved in to the storyline of the novel. I feel as though the emotion and the feelings that were involved in this novel made it an easy and beautiful read.
read full post >>The Shrouded Woman – My take
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The Shrouded Woman – How dead is dead?
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The Shrouded Woman by Maria Luisa Bombal has been my favourite of the books we have read so far. I certainly found it the most compelling, and recognised many of the themes that were going on.
I think the theme that most stood out to me was that of realisation. We as people tend to be our most sober around death, and you often hear people talking about their realisations of what really matters in life and how they want to live each passing day only after being confronted with mortality; be it their own or someone dear to them. Bombal manages to take this theme and subvert it by showing that while those who live are faced with hard-hitting realisations, so are the dead.
The regret of wasted time is one that we have all felt (I reckon it's one of the most universal regrets), including Ana Maria. She is struck by this realisation when she is reunited with her first love, only to realise that they both loved each other despite all the years they'd been apart. Her cry of "Oh God, dear God! Must we die in order to know?" (p176) really hit home for me. At the time of writing, I have been fortunate enough to not have felt the impact of a death close to me. However, I have seen people I love be devastated by grief and the loss of someone dear. Death is a very taboo subject in many societies, which makes it difficult to talk about openly. This often causes it to be an "out of mind, out of sight" situation where people aren't exposed to it until it happens, and the shock of it all can be very disorientating.
Beside death, a theme that is worth talking about is that of beauty. In this book, beauty can be lumped in with jealousy, insecurity, and the male gaze. Maria Griselda, the character known for being astonishingly beautiful. She reminds me a bit of Remedios the Beauty in Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude in that her beauty supposedly causes men to make bad decisions, and then she's held accountable for things that she has no control over.
Maria Griselda's beauty is also a source of suffering for the women in the novel, with Silvia eventually resorting to suicide because she was so jealous of this woman for sTeaLiNg hEr HusBanD; "I thought I was lovely until I met Maria Griselda. Maria Griselda is a hundred times more beautiful than I!" (p193). However, her beauty can never be held in isolation from other perspectives. All the suffering and emotions that are felt as a result of her appearance come from the male gaze. Be it men's disloyalty to their wives, or women's jealousy as a result of their inherent value as women being threatened, it all comes down to what men think. It is what it is I guess. Bombal puts it more eloquently than I do: "Why oh why must a woman's nature be such that a man has always to be the pivot of her life?" (p226).
There's so much more to discuss about this novel, since there are many rich themes. However, the question I pose is: Are emotions a good "reason to be"? If so, is hatred a bad one?
