I enjoyed reading “Mama Blanca’s Memoirs” this week. I truly love when something you are reading is descriptive and uses strong imagery, and I found Mama Blanca’s Memoirs was full of good imagery to help me envision the stories in my head. The way the memoirs are written, to me, came across as halfway between a diary and story. The descriptions of everything were so powerful it felt like more than just reading someone’s diary, however it was also personal to the point that made it clear it was not just fabricated tales.
The forward by Teresa da la Parra to the memoirs was a great way to set the tone for what was to come. I thought it was nice to see Mama Blanca through de la Parra’s eyes. Additionally, the context it provides for the relationship between the two made the reading more meaningful to me. Knowing the maternal relationship that took place between Mama Blanca and de la Parra made reading about Mama Blanca’s family dynamics much more interesting. It also helped to paint different perspectives of Mama Blanca, not just hearing everything from only her point of view but being able to hear about her from someone else’s.
A quote that really stood out to me was from the forward by Teresa da la Parra. It read “life’s splendor comes not from what it gives but what it promises.” I feel like this stood out to me as it was something that as soon as I read, I felt I completely understood and agreed with, yet the actual thought itself had not crossed my mind until that moment. I think this quote is entirely true, much of life’s joy comes from anticipation towards things. The excitement leading up to the holidays is often much more exciting than the holiday itself. The same can be said for other major celebrations, milestones in life, or even just a movie. Much of the joy we feel in our daily lives is from the excitement of what’s to come, and not fully knowing how it will play out.
My question for this week is: “that what extent do you think Mama Blanca’s Memoirs by Teresa de la Parra differs from the original memoirs by Mama Blanca?” How do you think having a memoir be edited in this way impacts the experience of reading it? Do you think most memoirs being published today follow this same editing style, or do you think it is different?
“The forward by Teresa da la Parra”
Is the Foreword by Teresa de la Parra? Do we ever learn the name of the person who writes it?
NB this is a novel… not actually a memoir! Your question seems to suggest that these are really memoirs of a real person, and that Mama Blanca really existed.
(If anything, in fact, Mama Blanca is Teresa de la Parra, or a version of her…)
Meanwhile, please use categories (for this post, “de la Parra”) and tags to indicate ideas and themes. Thanks!
Hi! I really enjoyed your reflection. I also found that the book had great imagery, and I was also able to envision the scenes in my head quite easily. I agree that the forward was a great basis to kick off the story in terms of reflecting on the maternal relationship between Mama Blanca and de la Perra, and seeing similar relationships that existed in Mama Blanca’s earlier life. I found myself identifying bits and pieces within Mama Blanca that she may have picked up from Evelyn (in terms of her strictness and sometimes harsh behaviour, exhibited when she was teaching de la Perra piano) and Cochocho (her patience and respect that she has for anyone of any walks of life). That is also a great quote to pick — sometimes the anticipation and the journey is better than the result anyways.