showing how fragile our system is. One thing goes awry, and everything comes toppling down. Albeit, no one dying anymore is not something we could have planned for, but it is something the government and people now have to figure out. Saramago questions our societal systems by exploring their improbability. As you may have guessed, […]
Marguerite Duras’ novel, “The Lover,” unfolds against the backdrop of pre-war colonial Southeast Asia, a landscape that mirrors the author’s own upbringing in French Indochina, now Vietnam. Duras draws heavily from her experiences in crafting a narrative that blurs the lines between autobiography and fiction. She challenges societal assumptions and norms, delving into the complexities […]
Initially, I didn’t like The Time of the Doves. For a while I couldn’t figure out why. I found that some kind of energy was missing from the book. When I made it to page 79, however, I realized why I had found the book unappealing up to that point, and from that moment onwardContinue reading “Inner Life and Agency in Rodoreda’s Time of the Doves“
Reading ‘The Shrouded Woman’ by María Luisa Bombal felt like watching a reality TV show. I felt like I was watching the Real Housewives: the first loves, first wives, unhappy marriages… all felt like a TV plot and I loved it! But for such a packed story, the novel is so short. Even Ana Maria […]
María Luisa Bombal, The Shrouded Woman
blog#7 – a woman and her Cockroach — Reading The Passion According to G.H. was one of the closest moments that I felt like I was reading a well-composed transcript of my own thoughts. The way the Clarice Lispector seamlessly yet abruptly changes from concept to concept is mind-bogglingly impressive – all the while articulating […]
My initial reactions throughout the first two thirds of Mercé Rodoreda’s “The Time of the Doves” was one of a character whose agency is constantly in question. The novel is structured almost as though our protagonist Natalia is simply recounting the events of her life. As the narrator, she often describes events in her life […]
