Tag Archives: memory

Valeria Luiselli, “Faces in the Crowd”

Valeria Luisell’s novel, “Faces in the Crowd,” was intricately written from the perspective of two different narrators originating from different cities and periods. The author didn’t introduce nor warn the readers of the back-and-fourth narration occurring throughout the story, so I was very confused about the events transpiring until more than halfway through the book. Even after the realization that there were two points of view, I was confused about the man’s identity and thought that the male perspective came from the female protagonist’s husband instead of Gilberto Owens. The lecture confirmed the identity of the male narrator and suggested that perhaps it was actually the female protagonist writing from Owen’s perspective. That was intriguing because I myself thought that it was a completely different narrator. The novel was uniquely structured, it was deliberately fragmented and told in bits and pieces, resembling the unpredictableness of resurfacing memories and the disruption of family and work in the female protagonist’s life. Not only were there different narrations, but the storyline jumped between different times in their lives as well, which increased the difficulty of the reading because I needed to lock in and puzzle together the narrative.

The woman lived with her husband but frequently reminisced on her life before her kids and family obligations. Her narration emits a sort of detached feeling like she regards herself from an external viewpoint. For instance, she never names her family members, she just refers to them as “son”, “the baby”, or “my husband”. It’s this detachment that makes me consider that the female protagonist possibly lost her sense of identity (a recurring theme in this course, like in Agostino and Agualusa) due to the responsibilities and commitments that come with marriage and motherhood. She introduces and revisits many characters from her premarriage days, merging the line between past and present. This novel was like reading her diary, but it’s difficult to interpret how much of the story was her own as she told her husband “It’s all fiction…” (pg. 57) when he snuck glances at her writing.

A very fascinating point in the story is when Gilberto Owens begins to take note of a “woman with the dark face and shadows under her eyes (pg. 43)” on the trains. Owen’s description of her “red coat” (pg. 43) made me recognize the woman’s identity, which revealed that he shockingly saw glimpses of the female protagonist. It was kind of like the two characters are interconnected through different realities. But if it had always been the female protagonist narrating, then wouldn’t this impossible event that defies the bounds of time and reality be a figment of her imagination due to her fascination with Owens? Overall, this was a difficult novel to navigate and interpret, I struggled to place characters and timezones and figure out the different narrations.

Discussion Question(s)

What reason do you think the female protagonist chose not to include the names of herself and her family in her writing? What is your interpretation of the narration(s)?

José Eduardo Agualusa, “The Book of Chameleons”

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Jose Eduardo Agualusa’s novel, “The Book of Chameleons,” is an imaginative novel that explores the themes of identity and memory through the lens of a gecko living in the house of Felix Ventura. The gecko undergoes life with feelings and thoughts adjacent to those of humans, capable of processing human behaviours and interactions. This made sense as it was later revealed that the gecko was a man “in an earlier life (pg. 29)” whose “soul has been trapped in this body [of a gecko] (pg. 40).” There are many interesting characters in this story and the narration was engaging and straightforward, without the philosophical and abstract writing from previous readings.

Felix Ventura was the owner of the house and he established a close friendship with the gecko whom he named Eulalio (not sure if this was his true name in his past life). He was very creative and imaginative, saying that “Literature is the only chance for a true liar to attain any sort of social acceptance (pg. 68).” This quote intrigued me and got me reflecting on the values that I was taught. Society often declares that “honesty is the best policy,” so is there ever a time when lying is justified? Is it only when words are typed out on pages of fictional novels that it’s acceptable to spin tales from our minds? Another quote from Felix that stood out to me was “I think what I do is really an advanced kind of literature… I create plots, I invent characters, but rather than keeping them trapped in a book I give them life, launching them out into reality (pg. 68).” This confirmed my hypothesis that Felix was in the business of selling false identities and creating artificial memories to his customer; the most prominent one being Jose Buchmann, who became so immersed in his new identity that it appeared that “this man has been Jose Buchmann all his life (pg. 59).” Jose’s dedication and faith he put into his new identity was alarming and frightening, he listened intently to Felix’s fabricated story of his past life while asking detailed questions to reinvent himself.

Another interesting aspect of this story was the gecko’s capability to enter into the human character’s dreams. At first, I thought that he could only enter Felix’s dream as they lived under the same roof and shared a connection because they were “best friends (pg. 179),” but he was in Jose’s dream as well. What’s even more fascinating is that the gecko took on a human form in these dreams: “In the dream he had human form, a serious sort of man, with a face that seemed familiar to me (pg. 69).” Was this human form the man he was in his former lifetime?

Discussion Question(s):

One of the main themes of this novel is identity, do you think that identity is fixed or ever-changing? Why do you think someone may ask Felix to change their identity? Under what circumstances would you consider changing your identity?

Marguerite Duras, “The Lover”

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Marguerite Duras’ novel, “The Lover,” is a unique literature that explores the themes of love, family, and colonialism. At first, I was confused about the story’s setting as there seemed to be a diverse array of ethnicities and there were some city names (such as Mekong, Cholon, and Saigon) that I had never heard of before. It turns out that this novel was based on the French colonial period in Vietnam in the 1930s, which piqued my interest. At the novel’s beginning, I thought that the protagonist’s family was well-off because her mother greatly valued education and wanted her daughter to specialize in mathematics. Later on, it was revealed that the protagonist’s family was poor. Still, they were White which heightened their socioeconomic status: “The head agrees because I’m white and the place needs a few whites among all the half-castes for the sake of its reputation (pg. 71).”

Throughout the story, the protagonist has to navigate through complex family dynamics and her sexual relationship with an older Chinese man who is very wealthy. The blatant racism and prejudice in some parts of the story were very discomforting as societal norms and racial prejudice made the relationship between them unsustainable. Everyone gossiped about their relationship when they found out which caused tension between the two so they never connected on a deep level despite their sexual desires. Even though the Chinese man was rich and treated her well, society and even her own family couldn’t look past his ethnicity and still considered the girl to be too good for him.

Furthermore, this is another novel from this course that plays with the fickle characteristic of memory. The storyline was fragmented, with her repeatedly retelling the death of her younger brother then jumping to the present where she had a husband and then back to her first lover. It made the plot a little more complex and engaging as it left the readers connecting the story and timeline on their own. Another interesting aspect of the narration is that the author switches from first person to third person throughout the story. At first, I thought it was to detach herself from unpleasant memories and interactions by narrating it as if it didn’t happen to her but to someone else instead. But I think it was more for the protagonist to reflect on her life in the past from the present from an external viewpoint because she can see and understand things more clearly now that she’s older and wiser.

Discussion Question:

It appears that the girl harboured a love/hate relationship with her family, especially her mother. How do you think the girl’s family influenced her life’s choices in relationships, education, and prospects? Do you think she would have continued the relationship with the Chinese man if her family wasn’t a factor in her life?

Maria Luisa Bombal, “The Shrouded Woman”

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Maria Luisa Bombal’s novel, “The Shrouded Woman,” was a captivating read surrounding the themes of love, memory, desire and womanhood. The main character, Ana Maria, reflects on her life, her relationships, and the choices that she made while lying on her deathbed surrounded by family and friends. The narration was told in the first person, which allowed readers to understand her thoughts and actions as she recounted the significant events and people in her life. The beginning of this story reminded me of the popular phrase, “Your life flashes before your eyes,” that people use when describing a near-death experience. So is it true then? Is it possible for all the memories, burdened with emotional ties, to replay and squeeze into a tiny frame in time? If yes, then in what intensity? There are memories buried so deep within each of us that it takes a specific trigger to bring them back to the surface. Astonishingly, Ana Maria can remember her life in such vivid detail and even recall the emotions associated with each event and personal interaction.

Although Ana Maria narrated many anecdotes about her past lovers, the relationships between the protagonist and other female characters were the most interesting and insightful for me. For instance, many of her neighbours described her daughter as an “exceptional mind” which caused her to be “proud and at the same time intimidated (p. 191).” This perspective is not uncommon, as a mother often sees a version of themselves in their daughter(s) and the potential they could’ve fulfilled given better opportunities. This was especially relevant in the early 20th century when societal norms often constrained women in homes to care for children and housework. Another female character that stood out to me was Maria Griselda, the ethereal being whose beauty entranced every person she happened upon. Although her natural beauty was of the realm of her control, women often found themselves jealous and scorned her. This made me contemplate the rivalries between women and how we often form judgments and associations based on only physical appearance. To demonstrate, Silvia (Ana Maria’s future daughter-in-law) asked, “Why did Maria Grisedla’s presence always give her a feeling of inferiority?” It didn’t matter how sweet Maria was, her beauty became her curse as women felt threatened and men became infatuated. It was difficult to envision the loneliness she must’ve suffered at the hands of her beauty.

It seemed like every person graced by the beauty of Maria was mesmerized, this leads me to my discussion questions: What is beauty subjective upon? Is it demographic or cultural or something else? Maria may have fit the beauty standards in Chile, but what if she lived somewhere else; would her treatment and life turn out differently? Additionally, don’t beauty standards evolve? What really makes one beautiful?

Marcel Proust, “Combray”

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Combray: Section 1

The novel opens with the narrator drifting in and out of consciousness, describing all the thoughts and memories that sneak into his mind as fatigue blurs out his rational thinking. The main story told was from his childhood, he recounted the days spent in his grandparents’ house where he was sent to bed early to face his insomnia alone as the adults continued with dinner. His only consolation was the anticipation of his mother’s goodnight kiss, which was frowned upon by his father. The only nights where his mother did not come upstairs to kiss him were the evenings when they had guests over, usually M. Swann, who the narrator described as “the unconscious author of my sufferings (p. 44).”

At the beginning of this reading, I struggled with the complex writing and lengthy sentences. It was difficult to follow the narrator’s story as he jumped from himself to others and from the future to the past. I kept circling back and re-reading paragraphs because of confusion surrounding the setting and characters, which increased my frustration and impatience. However, when I started to just read forward, the pieces fell together in a much more coherent manner and the story of the narrator’s childhood in Combray slowly began to unfold. A quote that stood out to me was from M. Swann’s father about the death of his wife: “It’s odd, I think of my poor wife often, but I can’t think of her for long at a time (p. 15).” This line perfectly captures some people’s grief after the loss of a loved one; you find their presence in everyday things such as a brush of wind or a distant melody, but you cannot bear to think about them for too long before the pain of their absence creeps in.

Combray: Section 2

Entering the second section of the story, it appears that the narrator jumped further back in time to relive the memories spent at his Aunt Léonie’s house. Although the narrator does a wonderful job painting a picture of the steeple of Saint-Hilaire (Combray’s church), the length and complexity of his sentences somehow escalated. There were instances when I finished a sentence but had to search for the beginning of it to remember what he was talking about in the first place. Overall, Proust’s writing was deep and thoughtful, revealing fragments of his past life to show readers the intricacy of human relationships and memories.

Questions

The narrator experiences high levels of anxiety before bed, leading to my question “What makes the character so anxious before bedtime? Is it external factors (such as his family) or internal factors (such as the fear of being alone)?” Ever since his Uncle Octave (Léonie’s husband) died, his aunt has been “always lying in an uncertain state of grief, physical debility, illness, obsession, and piety (p. 50).” This leads me to wonder if the narrator’s anxiety was perpetuated by his aunt’s mental health, as she was plagued with the belief of getting sick.