Hey guys! For this week, I read The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. The story revolves around Macabéa, a poor and uneducated young woman from northeastern Brazil who moves to Rio de Janeiro for a better life. Macabéa works as a typist and lives simply without luxuries or meaningful relationships. However, while I […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with Clarice Lispector, death, existence, hope, identity, loneliness, morality, poverty
Hey Everyone!I hope you all could unwind and relax during the reading break. As we return to our classes, Time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda stood out as a thought-provoking novel. When I first started reading this novel, I was a bit confused. The sen…
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with hope, identity, love, relationships, survival, Time of the Doves
Hey Everyone!I hope you all could unwind and relax during the reading break. As we return to our classes, Time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda stood out as a thought-provoking novel. When I first started reading this novel, I was a bit confused. The sen…
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with hope, identity, love, relationships, survival, Time of the Doves
Hey everyone, whilst reading the novel and even after, it gave me a bitter, heartbroken feeling for Natalia. The novel follows Natalia from her as a working-class girl to her struggles as a wife and mother in a war-torn society. Through Natalia’s eyes, we witness the profound impact of war as she struggles with poverty, […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with abuse, grief, hope, identity, loss, love, merce Rodoreda, poverty, relationships, Socioeconomic Struggles, violence, war
Mercè Rodoreda’s novel, “The Times of the Dove,” was a captivating and page-turning read told through the lens of a resilient and hardworking mother who struggled through the Spanish Civil War. The narrator, Natalia, provided readers with valuable insights into how women lived through the war and the challenges they had to face to provide […]
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with hope, love, marriage, motherhood, Suffering, Symbolism, war, women
Viewing the world through the lens of the novel’s central character, Natalia, Mercè Rodoreda intricately delves into themes of poverty, despair, and the fragile intricacies of human existence. Rodoreda crafts a profoundly moving narrative, with readers confronting the challenging truths encountered by those navigating displacement, scarcity, and the erosion of self. Rodoreda skillfully employs imagery […]
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with despair, doves, hope, Human Resilience, war
Yet again another woman with a troubling life, by the social circumstances given by the men in her life. A book called “The Time of the Doves” by Mercè Rodoreda. The main character, Natalia starts off by working at a pastry shop and is persuaded by her friend Julieta to go to an event. That […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with choices, decisions, dove, hope, love, patriotism, The Time of The Doves, toxic men, war
A. Initial Thoughts This is probably an unpopular opinion but I actually quite liked this book. Moravia’s straightforward writing, reflecting the post-WW2 shift to realism discussed in lecture, really appealed to me. It felt fresh, especially compared to the more decorative language in “Combray”. Additionally, I appreciated that the book primarily used internal monologue instead … Continue reading Agostino: The Cost of Adulthood (Feb 6)
Posted in Blogs, Moravia | Tagged with 4 Stars, hope, innocence, Realism
Out of all of the books we’ve read, I’ve never felt so emotionally connected towards a character as I do for Natalia. I feel pity for Natalia; her life was by no means perfect, even before the Spanish civil war reached its peak. Her first-husband, Quimet, was a detestable man who degraded her and abused […]
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with dove, hope, manipulation, poverty, starvation, war