For this weeks book, I read The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes. To be honest with you, I found this book to be a little bit confusing, but for a few different reasons. At the beginning of my reading, I found the old gringo’s motivation to be a bit strange; he has come to Mexico […]
Posted in Blogs, Fuentes | Tagged with Conflict, death, life, Mexico, reflection, relationships, repetition, revolution, the old gringo, Weekly Book Blog
I found “The Old Gringo” by Carlos Fuentes to be about what I was expecting; a somewhat turbulent novel that is set around war. It was a bit confusing to read as the perspective seemed to change frequently, but how the chapters were broken into smaller parts helped organize the text a little more. Throughout … Continue reading Week 9: Fuentes’s “The Old Gringo” →
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with death, life, memory, Poetry, relationships, repetition, Romance Studies, war, Weekly Posts
I’m not sure if it was just the version of the novel that I had, but certain parts of the story resembled poetry to me. Not only with how it was written, but how it was visually represented on the pages. With some sentences cutting short and then finishing them in subsequent lines that have […]
Posted in Blogs, Fuentes | Tagged with Civil war, death, death wish, existential, Poetry, relationships, Romance text, unknown, war, Weekly Response
I found Fuentes’ novel, The Old Gringo, a little bit hard to read. The plot was convoluted, and I didn’t quite understand the nature of the relationship that most of the characters shared. However, reading the lecture notes definitely made me feel better because I realized that that was done intentionally.
Personally, I found the whole plot of the book kind of odd because of how the idea of the Mexican Revolution was romanticized in the old American’s mind. For example, when the narrator likens being a gringo in Mexico and dying there to euthanasia, I felt like the old man was undermining the ramifications of the Mexican Revolution. This is somewhat reminiscent of how people tend to treat wars that do not concern them directly as something that could serve their pleasure. Moreover, he chose to insert himself into the situation at his age just to die in a blaze of glory.
Additionally, I was kind of uncomfortable with Harriet Winslow’s role throughout the book. She played an important part in bringing the old man’s body back to the United States and was the sole survivor of all the events, but was largely treated as an object by Arroyo and the old man. Both of them viewed her as a means to an end, whether it was forcing her into the role of a lover or into a weird daughter/lover dynamic. Hence, I found this portion of the text was difficult to comprehend, no matter how hard I tried.
A fascinating aspect of this book is how it is a fictionalized work of an actual incident; following the actions of American writer Ambrose Bierce. I found this to be quite interesting, especially because of how he disappeared without a trace and how no one actually knew what happened to him. The notion that this text is a fictionalized narration of a series of events is intriguing because there is a minute chance that some of it could be true.
Overall, I found The Old Gringo to be a confusing read with many messages. I guess my question to the class would be: what are your thoughts on the old American’s decision to take part in a Mexican Revolution for no reason other than to die a glorious death? Do you think Harriet impacted him in an actual, real way?
Posted in Blogs, Fuentes | Tagged with relationships, war
I found Fuentes’ novel, The Old Gringo, a little bit hard to read. The plot was convoluted, and I didn’t quite understand the nature of the relationship that most of the characters shared. However, reading the lecture notes definitely made me feel better because I realized that that was done intentionally.
Personally, I found the whole plot of the book kind of odd because of how the idea of the Mexican Revolution was romanticized in the old American’s mind. For example, when the narrator likens being a gringo in Mexico and dying there to euthanasia, I felt like the old man was undermining the ramifications of the Mexican Revolution. This is somewhat reminiscent of how people tend to treat wars that do not concern them directly as something that could serve their pleasure. Moreover, he chose to insert himself into the situation at his age just to die in a blaze of glory.
Additionally, I was kind of uncomfortable with Harriet Winslow’s role throughout the book. She played an important part in bringing the old man’s body back to the United States and was the sole survivor of all the events, but was largely treated as an object by Arroyo and the old man. Both of them viewed her as a means to an end, whether it was forcing her into the role of a lover or into a weird daughter/lover dynamic. Hence, I found this portion of the text was difficult to comprehend, no matter how hard I tried.
A fascinating aspect of this book is how it is a fictionalized work of an actual incident; following the actions of American writer Ambrose Bierce. I found this to be quite interesting, especially because of how he disappeared without a trace and how no one actually knew what happened to him. The notion that this text is a fictionalized narration of a series of events is intriguing because there is a minute chance that some of it could be true.
Overall, I found The Old Gringo to be a confusing read with many messages. I guess my question to the class would be: what are your thoughts on the old American’s decision to take part in a Mexican Revolution for no reason other than to die a glorious death? Do you think Harriet impacted him in an actual, real way?
Posted in Blogs, Fuentes | Tagged with relationships, war
Georges Perec’s novel, “W, or the Memory of Childhood” is an interesting mix of reality and imagination. I found the writing style to be quite similar to Proust’s and Aragon’s as Perec often jumped between different memories and thoughts. Something I found intriguing was how Perec describes the relationship between writing and the people from … Continue reading Week 8: Perec’s “W, or the Memory of Childhood” →
Posted in Blogs, Perec | Tagged with autobiography, childhood, family, history, Imagination, memory, narrative, perspective, relationships, Romance Studies
This week I read “the Time of The Doves” by Merce Rodoreda. I found this book to be a great read. Throughout the novel I felt a sense of deep empathy for Natalia the main character. Without her mother around and with an unsupportive father, Natalia was lead/forced into many decisions throughout her life time […]
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with relationships, war
I chose The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda for this week’s text. I found this book really interesting to read from Natalia’s perspective. I felt very sympathetic towards her because she was trapped in these circumstances with no way of escapi…
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with class, family, relationships, war
I chose The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda for this week’s text. I found this book really interesting to read from Natalia’s perspective. I felt very sympathetic towards her because she was trapped in these circumstances with no way of escapi…
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with class, family, relationships, war
The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda is a captivating story with a unique protagonist. Initially, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about Natalia, the narrator. My emotions swung from sympathy to shock to frustration while reading about her. However, as the book progressed, her character developed as she learned to adapt to her circumstances. Oddly enough, this made me enjoy the book even more. It was interesting to see how she navigated life in a begrudging marriage and during a war.
I found the dynamic that Rodoreda created between Natalia and Quimet symbolic of the traditional ‘submissive woman/dominating man’ dynamic. Quimet was a controlling man who more or less declared that Natalia would be his wife after one encounter in the town square. Additionally, he finds ways to measure up the pain that she has felt with himself to prove that she cannot outdo him in any way. This was evident when he compared having a tapeworm to childbirth, claiming that they had been through a similar level of pain now.
What is noteworthy during their interaction is his nickname for her, Colometa, which means dove. Throughout the book, we see Quimet’s obsession with doves through collecting and breeding them in their house. I find this to be symbolic of how he views his relationship with Natalia as well, his so-called dove. He views her as his property, something he can collect and control.
Thus, Natalia’s hatred for the doves is a powerful indication of her rebellion against him and his behavior. When she receives news of Quimet’s death, the last dove also dies, marking the end of their relationship too.
Additionally, it is also important to note how the author has described the effects of war on an average civilian. Natalia never goes too in-depth about the war and who is fighting; this could indicate how she does not care for the politics of the war. All she focused on was her children and keeping them alive. It was devastating to read about her consideration of killing her and her children so that they would die of their own will and not because of the effects of the war.
Overall, I found this book to be a fascinating read, despite the certain level of predictability it possessed. My question for everyone else would be: what do you think of Natalia’s relationship with her children? Do you think she was a good parent?
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with family, narration, relationships, women
