Norman Manea’s ‘The Trenchcoat’ is definitely a confusing read. I felt there was a lot of what one of my high school literature teachers referred to as ‘invisible reading’ to be done. By this they meant that there is a story being told in between the lines and I have to agree that this was […]
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with literature, reflections, week10
Manea’s “The Trenchcoat” stirred up some discomfort in me, given the ambiguous nature of the text, but it was certainly an enjoyable read. The discomfort came primarily from moving across the pages in an unfamiliar setting, with unfamiliar characters, in … Continue reading →
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with Authoritarianism, communism, history, language, mundane life, nostalgia, political turmoil, suspicion
Manea, The Trenchcoat I do not have much to say about this novel as I felt lost throughout the whole book. It might be something that I missed at the start of the reading which then made me be lost through the reading but I just found it too confusing. I got lost between all […]
Having studied pretty much nothing about Romania up until now, I appreciated the glimpse into history that “The Trenchcoat” provides. At the same time, the censor-conscious writing and the inability of the characters themselves to acknowledge exactly what is happening to them made this period seem even more mysterious to me. Nearly every paragraph of […]
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with history, life, politics, power
Hey everyone! Norman Manea’s The Trenchcoat was certainly an interesting read. Reflecting upon the reading, I am still not entirely…
When I first finished reading Norman Manea’s “The Trenchcoat”, I felt way too confused. However, after watching the lecture video and reading blogposts of my peers, I realized that confusion – especially regarding the Trenchcoat – was a central theme of the story. For me, the anonymity and lack of description for the Trenchcoat made […]
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with allegory, censorship, communism, fictionality, literature, politics, suspicion, Symbolism
I’m very confused. Though I appreciate the lecture video providing historical context for this novella, it does not assuage the bulk of my confusion. I suppose some stories don’t provide, nor should they have provide, clear answers in their endings. However, I would have appreciated some sort of explanation regarding the meaning of the trenchcoat, […]
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with communism, novella, Romania
Norman Manea’s The Trenchcoat presents the traumatic excruciation of living under the communist regime for several decades in 20th century Romania. In the opening section, the discussion about temporality is noteworthy. The future is described as a conjugation of uncertainty. It is associated with the past and present, on a scale that can be reduced […]
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with paranoia, politics, power, suspicion
Manea’s “The Trenchcoat” was an enjoyable novella to read, although it left me fairly confused. Most things seemed to have a hidden meaning that was often going over my head. Especially after learning about all the censorship talking place at this time, it confirmed that likely what was being read was meant to be perceived […]
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with censorship, fake, hidden meaning
