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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.

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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.

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I really enjoyed this week’s reading of The Shrouded Woman by Maria Luisa Bombal. Compared to the previous week’s, I didn’t have too much of a hard time finishing or understanding the text. Honestly, while reading the Shrouded Woman, at least at the beginning, it felt personable. Life is SO demanding as it is. As […] read full post >>

 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?

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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?

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I really enjoyed reading this week’s novel, perhaps the most of any of the others thus far. I especially liked the short length and the easiness. I appreciate books that don’t take an excessive amount of effort to understand and … Continue reading → read full post >>

    “The Shrouded Woman,” for all its experiments in structure and style, is perhaps most notable for its show of just how far perspective can go by providing the most unorthodox viewpoint: that of a body in a coffin, briefly suspended between life and death. The piece is comprised of social commentary, including but not limited […] read full post >>

Hi Everyone! I am going to be reflecting on Bombal’s The Shrouded Woman in this week’s post. I have to... read full post >>

As I started to read “Shrouded Woman” by Maria Luisa Bombal, my initial thoughts were mixed emotions of grief and sorrow. The first few pages, I was saddened to read how her sons saw their own mother. How they were annoyed by her and avoided giving their mother any compliments. I find the story very […] read full post >>

This is the first book in a while that I have sat down to start reading, and only got back up when I was done. The entire novella felt poetic, I adored the flow of the writing and it felt very easy to read in comparison to the two other books we have read so far. Along with that, I think reading something from a woman's point of view drew me in as someone who has been raised as one. While reading I went through a variety of emotions but often I just felt sad for Ana Maria, and all of the other women in the story. As Ana recalls memories from her life it becomes obvious the role women had in society at that time. Also, the constant comparisons between female characters. I could be mistaken but not once was a man's appearance described as in-depth as a woman's. Beauty, entirely defined by what men were attracted to, was constantly discussed. Contrary to the gender roles, which are less dramatically oppressive now, the male gaze is definitely as strong as ever so these parts of the story stuck out to me. I will not use this blog post to get into the details of the idea of the male gaze but I can safely say that all of the women in this book had it ingrained into their minds. Pages were spent describing Marie Griselda's beauty and how it affected those around her, both men and women. The women around her compared themselves and deemed themselves inferior causing anxieties of if they were good enough for their own husbands. Silvia is driven to suicide over time due to her husband's obvious interest in Marie. It is only Ana who sees past this and forgives the woman. This woman's effect on so many lives leads me to my next point, an irritating and depressing theme within this book was the lack of healthy or happy marriages which unfortunately was probably realistic. Ana Marie's retelling of her first love was filled with childlike joy until she had to have a herbal abortion (side note that was probably wildly dangerous at the time?) because he was not allowed to marry her. She then marries and by the time she feels the same way for her husband he has lost interest. So on and so on. The same can be seen with marriages like that of poor Silvia, and even Marie Griselda who while so beautiful still cannot seem to be happy. 

I will be thinking about this book for ages and have so many other rambling thoughts that I really can't quite put into words, mostly revolving around Ana Maria's. and other characters, obvious mental health issues. My question for the class is: If you were to look back on your memories the way Ana Maria did after death what do you think you would be drawn to reliving? How would your views change without the pettiness and grudges we sometimes hold onto our whole lives?

... I really loved this book lol.

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