Reflection : Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago

Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago, was a fun one. The style of writing was very different, sentences were long and separated by commas which made it hard to follow at some points as you had to figure out who was talking mostly based on context. Also, the author would address the reader midway through to try to explain potential plot holes or inconsistencies with logic in the book, like the first family that decided to bring their relatives across the border owns (I think it was a horse and a cart ?)  but they were said to be poor so it is unlikely that they could own these things??? It felt like the author was pre-firing and silencing the people who would point out inconsistencies before they could even finish the book, showing that he was one step ahead of the people who believed they could outsmart the novel. I also realized while reading like what was said in the lecture video, that the way that Death writes her letters is similar to the way that the author uses punctuation and that the whole thing with the grammarian critiquing Death’s writing and Death's snarky reply to him was probably Saramago getting back at his critics once again.

For a book that focuses a lot on death, I found it to be quite funny. Like the fact that one of the major problems that the government has to face is dealing with the people who are in charge of funerals because they are mad that they lost their only source of revenue with the government's solution being to make it obligatory to hold burials and create coffins for all the animals that died. While that sounds pretty absurd it also kinda reminds me of ancient Egypt which I thought was cool.  Also, death as an entity was not what I would have expected it to be like. Instead of the grim reaper that you imagine, which is cold, and calculated and only takes people to the land of the dead, the one presented in the novel is much more human-like and is capable of being frustrated or tired, and that even death is not free from the nightmare of bureaucracy.

I also found the idea of how Death would affect the government and society as a whole to be interesting. In theory, the prevention of death would mean that old values should never really die since those that hold them don't die either, but the novel offers a different perspective on this. The Church and Christianity, upon which society at the time based its sense of morality would cease to exist since death is fundamental to religion, and as the Cardinal says “without resurrection, there is no church” (10).

My question for everyone,

Did the novel change your perspective on eternal life?

Reflection - The Time Of The Doves by Mercè Rodoreda

 The Time Of The Doves was probably my favourite book we have read so far in this class. The book covers some dark topics and is not a particularly happy one and shows a resilient protagonist who is brought to her breaking point, who is then able to overcome it and have hope at the end of the novel.

At first, you start to feel bad for Natalia as her boyfriend Quimet doesn’t really care about her and is very manipulative, but then you remember that she kinda did leave her fiance for him. It was kinda obvious from one of their early encounters that Quimet isn’t a very considerate person, as Quimet was an hour late to the scheduled time and did not even apologize and said the most egregious line to her “if I wanted to be his wife I had to start by liking everything he liked” (22). Even after they get married Quimet always seems preoccupied with something else, like making the dovecote, raising the doves, and going out on adventures with his friends. There are several more incidents of Quimet gaslighting and being manipulative, but if I keep talking about everything bad he has done throughout the novel it would probably span a couple more pages.  It starts to get to the point where it is quite funny to think about how many bad traits he has and you start to question why Natalia even chooses him.  It might be from the fact that Natalia says that her mother had never told her about men and she is somehow ignorant about what a good person is or that her parent's relationship was not a particularly healthy one either and she does not know what a healthy relationship looks like yet. Or maybe perhaps that society at that time expected women to just get married no matter how unhappy they were and were expected to just endure through it for the rest of their lives. 

Life gets worse for Natalia as Quimet’s shop starts getting less work and she is forced to find a job, all while having to care for her two children. On top of this Quimet’s passion project now has invaded their home and there are just doves that live with them. She finally reaches her breaking point and starts trying to make sure the doves' chicks will never hatch by repeatedly shaking them.

As if life could not get any worse, a civil war commences, and Quimet goes to the front lines. Quimet sometimes returns from the front lines to their home for a bit before going back to fight, and Natalia is left wondering each time he leaves if he is ever going to come back. After she receives news that Quimet and Cintet have died in the war, it is hard not to feel her grief alongside her. Even though Quimet was not a very good person, it is still sad to see someone's life taken away, especially for reasons outside of their control and the fact that they are leaving a family behind. 

Things start to look up for Natalia and her family after finally getting a job that saves them from almost dying of starvation. Her boss an older man named Antoni eventually proposes to her and she accepts not really knowing why does. I was concerned that this second marriage would be a repeat of her first one, where she would be stuck and unhappy. However, it seems like Antoni loves their family and is a good person, after realizing this, Natalia seems happy at last after having gone through so much.

My Question for Everyone: 

When Natalia feels like there is no other option, she devises a plan to murder her children and then herself, but she is eventually given a job saving her family from starvation and her plan is no longer needed. Did the fact that tried to go through with this plan change your opinion of her? Or did you already have a negative opinion of her before this point?

Reflection - Deep Rivers by José María Arguedas

 Deep Rivers by José María Arguedas gives a violent and ugly depiction of life while at the same immersing you in the beauty of the world and the natural world. The author spends significant time creating a detailed depiction of the vivid Peruvian landscape and of the different cities and towns that the protagonist Ernesto and his father travel through. He also goes into great detail describing the rich culture of the Quechua people and their love for the natural world, often including poems and songs written in Quechua.  The novel also includes words in the Quechua language when Ernesto is speaking rather than translating them, which I thought was a cool addition. 

The novel focuses on Ernesto’s struggle with identity as he was raised by the Quechua people but is a descendant of settlers (Western side). This struggle becomes apparent when Ernesto is forced to attend a Catholic school and leave his old life behind. Even though the other students and the priests considered him mostly as one of their own because of the way he looks, they often still call him the name “stranger” because of his different upbringing.  

Some of Ernesto’s classmates also make him question what is correct and make him question if the new society he is forced into is really for him. He despises the mistreatment of the indigenous people, when the indigenous people have an uprising and steal salt as an act of rebellion, Ernesto celebrates and chants with them in the streets. Ernesto finds actively himself routing against the colonizers, in a conversation with his friend Antero, he states that he thinks that the Indigenous people's revenge is justified and that “A man who weeps because they’ve been slapping his face for no reason at all can become angrier than a bull that hears a dynamite explosion, that feels the condor’s beak on his neck”, his friend replies that “The Indians must be kept down” and that “You can’t understand because you are not a land-owner” showing the disconnect between Ernesto and the views of the people around him.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but I wouldn't put it among my favorites that we have read in class so far. It did take quite a bit of time to get into it as the first third of the novel is pretty slow and I had not really connected with any of the characters yet. When the story starts focusing more on Ernesto and his time at the catholic school I was able to get more invested in the story and characters.

My question:

One part I thought was interesting is that I didn't find any definite reasons why Ernesto’s dad hates Ernesto’s uncle, the Old Man so much. What do you think the reason is?

Reflection - 'The Shouded Woman" by María Luisa Bombal

While reading “The Shrouded Woman” I found some parts (especially in the middle of the novel)

to be rather confusing, I found that there were way too many characters to remember and some names were very similar (I think it might have been because I read it in multiple days). However by the end of the novel, after I had gained an understanding of what happened and all the characters, I can say that my opinion had mostly changed for the better. I enjoyed how the author explored the relationship between Ana Maria with her friends and family through a new lens and the complexity of the characters which made them feel like real characters allowing us to feel the same emotions as them.

I found myself initially interested in the idea of being conscious while in death, and being able to see all the people you loved and admired throughout your life for one last time. The novel explores the grief caused by death but also shows that it allows for reflection and to be grateful towards those you love, by having the protagonist Ana Maria offer a new perspective on death that is usually only seen from one side, by allowing her to remember the times (both good and bad) she had with the people closest to her.

The novel explores gaining a new perspective, the complex relationship with her first love Ricardo, and how external pressure caused a fracture in their relationship (Her parents didn’t agree with the relationship and he went to study in Europe). Ana Maria only realizes this in death, while Ricardo is looking at her casket the fact that they were never truly separated, as she still saw a part of herself in him. 

A prevalent theme in the novel is rediscovery, like when Ana Maria’s brother Luis visits her casket and they seem to both remember the strong bond they once had that had been long forgotten. Ana Maria even says that if her death makes her brother remember his old lover Elicia by making him remember the times the three of them have spent together, she would have no regrets and would have given her death a new meaning.

Isolation is also a recurring theme in the novel. Maria Griselda’s beauty affects how everybody treats her and how it contributes to her isolation. She tries to be friendly to Sylvia, but Sylvia is extremely jealous of her and eventually commits suicide as a result of actions caused by Maria’s beauty. Even her husband Alberto is jealous of her and hides her away. We also see this in Ana Maria’s own life, from the distant relationship between her and her husband.

My question for everyone: At the funeral, we are supposedly seeing the first time that Antonio, Ana Maria’s husband crying. Due to their strange relationship, even Ana Maria herself debates the reason that he is crying. Do you think he is crying to grieve her death and is it because he has lost something else like Ana Maria hypothesizes?