Having studied pretty much nothing about Romania up until now, I appreciated the glimpse into history that “The Trenchcoat” provides. At the same time, the censor-conscious writing and the inability of the characters themselves to acknowledge exactly what is happening to them made this period seem even more mysterious to me. Nearly every paragraph of the text had me feeling simultaneously frustrated and intrigued.

As mentioned in the lecture, “The Tenchcoat” involves a lot of small and possibly meaningless details that are brought up in largely ordinary situations – observations and bits of conversation that might be perfectly normal during a car ride, a dinner party, a marriage. Most of what happens is so “normal” that, when the air of suspicion started to set in, I was almost inclined to brush the characters’ concerns away. I believe this could have to do with the idea that nothing “exciting” happens to “boring” people in literature – I think I’ve gotten used to characters that are meant to stand out or appear likeable in some way, and so it was a little more difficult for me to believe that Manea’s characters really weren’t getting nervous over nothing.

Strangely enough, even though I doubted the characters’ suspicions at some points, I was still very much affected by the atmosphere of uncertainty that Manea creates. I fully believed in the power of the Romanian government and the existence of the interrogation practices referenced, and I think that helped me to understand why the characters have their concerns, despite my hesitancy to admit that there might be any particular truth in them. In this way, I was able to connect with the idea of “close reading” (as described in the lecture) in both literature and the lives of the characters.

Something that I’m still curious about is the role played by each of the three men – Ali, Mr. Beldeanu, and “the Learned One.” Ali seems to be friends with the other two, but they aren’t exactly friends with one another; Beldeanu is an important man, but much of his significant “action” comes from Ali’s accounts; and “the Learned One” – whom I briefly thought to be an actual child – never does anything particularly interesting except for appearing to be out with Mrs. Beldeanu. Are these “learned” men truly more aware of what is happening than the others are? Are they unconcerned, or simply unable to discuss the situation within “earshot” of the reader?