The Trenchcoat by Norman Manea was a book which had importance and meaning, hidden by the disguise of normalcy. At first read, the book depicts the drama and relationships of many characters, and displays their conversations over dinner parties, and in the privacy of their homes. It is only in the small details where one […]
Posted in Blogs, Manea | Tagged with censorship, class, communism, history, life, politics, revolution, Symbolism, war
Carlos Fuentes, The Old Gringo
Posted in Fuentes lecture, Lecture Videos | Tagged with C20th, history, Marx, memory, Mexico, politics, repetition, revolution, war, writing
After a long (but much-needed) break, I, Giaan Deol, am back to talk about the crazily depressing, but nonetheless beautifully written, The Time of the Doves by Mercè Rodoreda. And, surprise surprise, I am again in complete awe of the talent, range, story-building skills, structure, tone, and so much more exuded by another brilliant female author. […]
Posted in Blogs, Rodoreda | Tagged with blog, death, melancholy, revolution, war
“The war isn’t over, my friend. It’s only sleeping.” (p.131) At first, it was refreshing to be reading a book set in the modern-day. Seeing mentions of social media and smartphones was a slight surprise after reading older pieces of literature. However, very quickly, I began to forget what time period it was set in. […]
Posted in Agualusa, Blogs | Tagged with Colonialism, dreaming, Dreams, history, memory, revolution, war, writing
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, particularly the style of prose. I love poetry, so this was a riveting read. It is not surprising that an author writing about poets is a poet himself, and thus uses poetic language/devices in his writing. One of my favourite lines is, “women, dust and literature have always gone together” […]
Posted in Blogs, Bolaño | Tagged with historical, poet, Poetry, prose, revolution
I really liked this book. It’s definitely one of my favourites of the ones we’ve covered. We’ve read a few books that are based on memory, and we’ve discussed how fickle memory can be and what kind of story is created when it is strung together by a collection of memories. However, The Old Gringo […]
Posted in Blogs, Fuentes | Tagged with Dreamy, history, memory, Mexico, repetition, revolution, tragedy
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
Initially when reading this novel I found the words and names to all mix together. The start of the book felt like a bag of random facts and information which made it hard for me to follow along and get invested to. But who knows maybe I was just reading “The Old Gringo” on an […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with love, revolution, war