Reading The Time of the Doves didn’t feel like following a dramatic war story. Instead, it felt like being placed inside someone’s everyday struggle to keep going. The novel follows Natalia (often called Colometa), whose life is shaped not by political speeches or battlefield scenes, but by marriage, poverty, motherhood, and the slow exhausting life […]
Hello…. Usually when writing my blogs I go back and look at my notes from while I was reading. This time… I see there is a LOT of anger. Which is actually pretty normal for me, but wow. So this blog is basically a running list of all the times Quimet pissed me off. plus … Continue reading DOVES
At first, I was quite unsure about this book and felt that it moved very slowly. But after I got halfway through, the plot began to move much faster and I was captivated by the story. Initially, I was upset that Colometa would leave her fiance, Pere, for some guy who said he wanted to dance with her. And I…
Why is it that older generations have stories of meeting their partners in the creepiest ways? When my grandmother met my grandfather, she said she hated him at first because he would follow her around her university campus and try to get on the same work schedule as her just to talk to her. Romance […]
I’m feeling a frenzy of emotions right now, I don’t know what to write about. Maybe because I’m in forestry where they don’t believe in heating??? My hands are frozen but I’m kinda sweating too? And I’m hungry. Really craving baby octopuses right now but I’ll settle for some Tims hash browns. First thoughts were […]
I started this book slowly, a few pages a day. Then I read the entire second half in one sitting. At first Natalia’s problems are domestic, thanks to her tyrant of a husband, Quimet. But as the war takes over, Natalia and her children are brought to the brink of starvation and all she can […]
Mercè Rodoreda, The Time of the Doves
A conversation with Anna Casas
After reading “The Time of the Doves” by Merce Rodoreda, I enjoyed how deeply personal and intimate Natalia’s voice feels like as the novel throughout presents her life not only through dramatic events but through small, everyday struggles that slowly build into something heavy and overwhelming. I realized as well how powerful simplicity can be […]
A lively swing of events rolls into place at the beginning of the novel, full of musical brilliance, unknown voices, and objects scattered across empty spaces. This is a book of wavering stars. And in this midst of it all there is a shadow of contempla…
