The Shrouded Woman and Toxic Relationships

TW

This has been my favourite book to read so far! I loved the poetic way it was written and I found it much easier to follow the story line than with the Breton or Proust. I noticed that I read this book much slower but I wanted to savour every word and feeling that was evoked on the page. It reminded me a lot of something I talked about in CRWR 208. We talked about how comic books move at the rate at which you read them and I really felt that here. I could control how fast or slow the story went. I also liked how there were repeated phrases throughout the book like “Arise! Come!” or “seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years.” I especially like the second quote because it represents the passing of time in someone’s life and the way they might look back on it whether or not they are on their death bed.

I loved how each of the chapters was almost like a letter to each person in Ana Maria’s life. She acknowledged each of them as they came to her funeral to say good bye and she would recall the memories of she had of that person. I thought the nature of all of the relationships was interesting. They all seemed to have their own issues but one main one was the beauty of Maria Griselda. Her son, Alberto, who was married to Maria Griselda, was so insecure about her beauty that he kept her locked away in their home. Additionally the relationship issues between Fred and Silvia also revolved around Maria Griselda’s beauty. It was such an issue that Silvia committed suicide. I was also shocked at Anita’s relationship with Rodolfo and how she practically raped him into staying in their relationship. Ana Maria’s relationships were also interesting because we got to see how each one developed in her life. First, we have Ricardo who left her however, she remains in love with him. Then there is her husband, Antonio, who seems to be abusive towards her especially when she falls in love with him after their arranged marriage. Finally there is Fernando who I believe she has a small emotional affair with. I think that because of her remaining love for Ricardo, Ana Maria is unable to fully love Antonio in addition to them having an arranged marriage. I also think that she can’t stop seeing Fernando because of Antonio’s emotional indifference towards her.

This book was so dramatic I hope someone turns it into an opera. It reminds me of the story of La Traviata by Verdi so here is the overture. The opening is beautiful yet haunting.

To me it seemed that the point of view changed from Ana Maria’s perspective to a third person view. My question for this week is: When you look back on your memories, do you see them from your point of view or from a third party/birds eye view?