Please use categories and/or tags when writing your blog posts. Use categories to indicate the author (Proust or Arlt etc.), and tags for key concepts or topics covered. Remember also to include a question for discussion.
Check out the Blog Post Awards 2024 for further inspiration.
‘The Passion According to G.H’
Posted by: feedwordpress
Reading this book was in a word.. frustrating. I normally quite enjoy novels without a plot, it’s always exciting reading a person’s unfiltered, unaltered thoughts and that’s what I expected when I started to read this book. I was also excited that G.H addressed me asking me to hold her hand. It is hard to explain why I enjoyed that so much at the beginning but later came to be repulsed by it. She was stuck in that room with the cockroach and I was stuck listening to her ramblings.
x
G.H is rich, privileged, creative and bored. She walks into the room of the cleaning lady who has lived with her for years. As she walks into the room, she has trouble remembering her name and face. She lived in a bubble and did not care much about things around her. This may not be because she’s self-centered, but rather because her head is such a mess! I hate saying this as someone who claims to be interested in psychology but how else could I refer to this? I sit with G.H in that room with a cockroach as she starts losing her sense of self and sense of reality. I had to picture the white and later yellow matter oozing out of the cockroach. The cockroach that was stuck between life and death just like she was stuck inside her head between reality and psychosis.
Whenever I start a novel, I avoid reading or knowing anything about it. I think it makes for a much different experience. Last week, reading Bonjour Tristesse, I started reading thinking Tristesse was a character’s name and kept waiting for them to show up, ha! In this case however, I wish I knew that I was going to be reading 160 pages of random ramblings leading up to her EATING the roach!
Earlier in the book some of the things she said made very little sense to me, while others I could relate to. However, halfway into the book, I did not want to relate or agree with anything she said! When I finished the book, I thought I just didn’t like it, but as I am reflecting now I realize that it had aroused very strong feelings in me. Not positive feelings, mind you. And that’s what makes it hard to allow myself to be interested in her thoughts and perspective on what it means to be human. What God is. Tedium. Love. Abandonment. All the topics that otherwise I would love to hear someone’s thoughts on, but not her! I’m wondering if you’ve also had strong feelings towards G.H as well? Do you pity her? Loathe her? Like her? Normally, she would be someone I’d feel bad for but I really don’t and I can’t articulate why.
read full post >>Reflection on The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodereda
Posted by: feedwordpress
W7 – “The Passion According to G.H”
Posted by: feedwordpress
The Time of The Doves: The Most Irritating Character I’ve Ever Read
Posted by: feedwordpress
‘The Time of the Doves’ by Mercé Rodoreda
Posted by: feedwordpress
‘The Time of the Doves’ by Mercé Rodoreda
Posted by: feedwordpress
My Take On.. “The Passion According to G.H”
Posted by: feedwordpress
Week 7 – Merce Rodoreda "The time of the doves"
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week, I chose to read The time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda.
I pity and feel bad for Natalia. However, I also believe she kind of deserved what had happened to her. Since she is the one that made the decision of breaking her engagement with her fiance, Pere, to be with Quitmet. This may be due to the lack of advice she had received since her mother had passed away for a long time and her dad is remarried. She is alone.
Quitmet is a controlling and abusive man. He ordered Natalia around a lot and also seemed to have gaslighted her by saying he saw her on the street with Pere when she wasn't with him. He demanded an explanation, apology and called “all women were crazy and they weren’t a nickel” (p32) when Natalia was just trying to explain herself. Quitmen is not caring and doesn't seem to respect Natalia. When Natalia was pregnant and tried to sleep, he would do anything to wake her up. After the birth of their son, Quitmet was annoyed at how he needed to make a new bedpost because Natalia broke it while giving birth.
“...when my father remarried a few years later there was nothing left for me to hold onto” (p28). Despite knowing Quitmet did not treat her well, she is still with him. I believe it may be due to the fact that she is able to find a sense of belongingness and someone to hold onto when she is with Quitmet. The pros are greater than the cons for her.
After receiving the message from the militiaman that “Quitmen and Cinet had died like men’ (p137), Natalia didn't want to think Quitmen had died and wanted things to go back to how it always had been. This made me wonder if it's because she couldn't get over the death of her husband or she is afraid of the ideas on ‘things changing’.
One of the biggest twists for me was the name Maria. Quitmet mentioned Maria many times to the point where Natalia began to take it seriously and thought about her in many situations. She would think Maria could clean the dishes better when she's washing the dishes, etc (p46). It also made me wonder who this mysterious Maria is. However, it turns out that “Quitmen had never known a girl named Maria. Never” (p121).
Which leads to my questions for the class: Do you think think ‘Maria’ represents/symbolizes anything? Is there a reason why Quitmen kept mentioning ‘Maria’?
Week 7 – Merce Rodoreda "The time of the doves"
Posted by: feedwordpress
This week, I chose to read The time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda.
I pity and feel bad for Natalia. However, I also believe she kind of deserved what had happened to her. Since she is the one that made the decision of breaking her engagement with her fiance, Pere, to be with Quitmet. This may be due to the lack of advice she had received since her mother had passed away for a long time and her dad is remarried. She is alone.
Quitmet is a controlling and abusive man. He ordered Natalia around a lot and also seemed to have gaslighted her by saying he saw her on the street with Pere when she wasn't with him. He demanded an explanation, apology and called “all women were crazy and they weren’t a nickel” (p32) when Natalia was just trying to explain herself. Quitmen is not caring and doesn't seem to respect Natalia. When Natalia was pregnant and tried to sleep, he would do anything to wake her up. After the birth of their son, Quitmet was annoyed at how he needed to make a new bedpost because Natalia broke it while giving birth.
“...when my father remarried a few years later there was nothing left for me to hold onto” (p28). Despite knowing Quitmet did not treat her well, she is still with him. I believe it may be due to the fact that she is able to find a sense of belongingness and someone to hold onto when she is with Quitmet. The pros are greater than the cons for her.
After receiving the message from the militiaman that “Quitmen and Cinet had died like men’ (p137), Natalia didn't want to think Quitmen had died and wanted things to go back to how it always had been. This made me wonder if it's because she couldn't get over the death of her husband or she is afraid of the ideas on ‘things changing’.
One of the biggest twists for me was the name Maria. Quitmet mentioned Maria many times to the point where Natalia began to take it seriously and thought about her in many situations. She would think Maria could clean the dishes better when she's washing the dishes, etc (p46). It also made me wonder who this mysterious Maria is. However, it turns out that “Quitmen had never known a girl named Maria. Never” (p121).
Which leads to my questions for the class: Do you think think ‘Maria’ represents/symbolizes anything? Is there a reason why Quitmen kept mentioning ‘Maria’?
Week 7, Rodoreda, “The Time of the Doves”
Posted by: feedwordpress
