Starting off, The Time of the Doves by Rodoreda, I was immediately intrigued with the dancing scene. Call me cheesy but I enjoy a little bit of drama. It was entertaining to read how the man was ready to make her his wife and his queen. Along with that, him calling her “colometa” or little dove was really sweet. Initially, I really enjoyed the way the setting was described. From how she described her dresses to how she described Quimet. It really helped set the scene for what I imagined it to be. The author described it with a lot of emotion as well which I really appreciated since it is sometimes difficult for me to follow along. I also enjoyed how it was laid out. Some previous novels we read such as Paris Peasant were more on the challenging side for me to follow, especially with how descriptive it was, but despite the level of descriptiveness in The Time of the Doves, I was able to follow along the story with smooth transitions of scenes. While reading what she thought about her previous relationship with Pere, it seemed as if she regrets the fact that she ended things off with him. Finishing up with the introduction of the story, It had the feeling of what I would think to be a rather sweet story but slowly it turned more melancholic. Natalia and Quimet got married and even started a family by having two kids! Sadly, as the war started, Quimet went off to fight and was eventually killed in the process, leaving Natialia in hardship. Despite working, Natalia faced many hardships with her husband’s passing. This story brought me to tears while reading it. I can not even bring myself to imagine how difficult it must have been for her to decide to kill her own children so they will not suffer.
Overall, I feel as if this was one of my favourite stories so far. It brought forward so many emotions and I was able to follow along despite how descriptive it was. I can’t wait to discuss the symbolism of the doves in class since I feel as if we might have different perspective of what it means to us!
“calling her “colometa” or little dove was really sweet.”
“Colom” in Catalan can also mean “pigeon,” and arguably that’s a better translation. So does it change things if we imagine Quimet calling Natalia “little pigeon” or (as Peter Bush’s alternative translation has it) “Pidgey”?
I agree but it also felt a bit like Quimet had her on a string at the beginning of the story. I didn’t entirely like him because I didn’t trust him. In class we spoke about how doves are free but also restricted at the same time. It felt like that with this opening scene because she kind of felt captivated or drawn in by Quimet’s almost demanding presence.
Hi! Haha I personally picked up a completely different vibe with Natalia and Quimet’s relationship. Although he called her “his queen” in the beginning, all of his actions after that were questionable to say the least (unwarranted jealousy fits, being overly possessive etc).
Hey! It is interesting to see a different perspective on the feelings regarding their meeting. When I read the beginning scene I thought this story would be about her walking into an abusive relationship because Quimet seemed quite pushy to me. I also thought it was quite interesting to hear Natalia describe him as having eyes like a monkey, the comparison was so random I could not picture it as beautiful but rather questionable or dangerous.
Hi !
Nice blog! I was also intrigued with the drama and it kept me really invested in the story. I noticed that I was really excited for the plot to move forward and to reveal its events.
Hi, thank you for your post. I agree with you this was one of my favourite reads for this class. I think I enjoyed how descriptive it was because it felt like we were with Natalia throughout all of the important and not as important events so we could really see what shaped her character.