Tag Archives: Love

How Many Lives Can We Live?

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Hey everyone, we have finally made it to the final week of novels for RMST 202!!! I am so relieved this semester is coming to an end. For the final week of books, I chose “Faces in the Crowd” by Valeria Luselli. This book was poignant, challenging and misleading all at the same time. Firstly, I want to note that even though this was not my favourite read, the aspects I did not enjoy definetly served a purpose to the message of the book. After finishing this book, I really thought about how we initially judge people and aren’t usually aware of all the layers to their lives after one meeting. A bit of a personal connection, but it made me think of my parents and how little I know of them outside of them being parents. Even with all their children being adults, in our family things are usually quite hidden away, so there are honestly so many questions I have about my parent’s identities and what is fiction or truth to them.

Now talking about the book itself, the part that most relates to my bigger thoughts and concepts I drew from the book is when she started recalling her past life in New York City and the research she was doing on Gilberto Owen. Her life in New York before her husband and children is completely different, and especially her children, they have no idea their mother has ever even experienced anything like this. The narrator feels constantly neglected and misunderstood in her routine and so she finds something to break her mundane routine, by recalling a time where she was much more free.

Her work in New York City primarily was to translate the Mexican poet Gilberto Owen. However, this quickly becomes the principal thing in her life, to the point where she starts fabricating an entire backstory for the poet and taking other people’s works as well. This made me think about Felix from the Book of Chameleons and how she was also constructing people’s pasts as well. In this though, she is also defining herself by giving so much time and dedication to her work, that the lines of reality versus make belief are blurred, and we readers are a bit confused.

Then, the book decides to get more weird and now all of a sudden we learn Owen’s perspective when he is riding the subway and when he sees the woman as well. Owen’s story in this novel at the end is conflicting and maybe different to what we expect from him while the woman is writing about it. From his perspective, it seems like he wants to fade away actually and we learn more about his struggles with his illness. This makes the readers question how real is Gilberto and what does his fictious story mean to the woman narrator.

Overall, this book was challenging for me to read, but I like that there were so many interpretations that could apply to the book. I liked the woman narrator as well because I think she emulated the complexity of lacking a personhood when becoming a mother and the types of things people may do when they want to feel like themselves. They may become obssessed with a poet, which is ironic because that isn’t yourself (or is it???)

Discussion Questions:

  1. Since the novel includes events from Mexico City and New York City, do we think the different settings also were intentional to highlight the vastly different lives the woman has lived?
  2. Going back to my personal connection, do you think there is something huge your parents have done before that you have no idea about?

Ana Maria- A Product of Her Time

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“The Shrouded Woman” by Maria Luisa Bombal is a beautiful and somewhat tragic unfolding of Ana Maria’s life. The concept of this book is that Ana Maria is now dead and being prepared for her sending off from this life. Since Ana Maria is dead, she is now finally revisiting her entire life and delving into the complex relationships she held with her family, lovers and others. While reading the book, I felt there was an unique lens of objectivity, that is not very common for me to feel while I read fiction. What I mean is that most fiction works that are written in first person perspective, so while I read them, I am thinking about why the story is being told in a certain way and I also try to consider the possibility of the story being different if it was being narrated by someone else. However, her recollection of her memories felt raw and unfilitered and I think this is strongly tied to the fact of her death. To me, this account of her life was herself trying to honour and commemorate the complicated life that she lived.

Now discussing what I personally thought was the most interesting reoccuring theme in the novel, was the potrayal of women and their interpersonal relationships. Ana Maria suffered a tremendous heartbreak early on in the novel, with a young man named Ricardo. This caused her to be submerged in a whirlwind of emotions, but most importantly, I think she became permanently attatched to the idea of being with Ricardo. “You had marked me forever.” (169). This is what she remarks when she remembers how they touched for the first time. I think this is connected to certain gender norms and stereotypes of the time frame of this novel. That being in a romantic relationship with another man as a woman, must mean that you are eternally connected and committed to them, even if this notion is not reciprocated back to you. While Ana Maria shows signs of being in competition with other women in her life, such as her own sister, she is also aware and maybe slightly sympathetic to other women who are battling strong insecurities and uncertainities. An example of this comes much later in her life, when her son Alberto explains a dilemma of the fact that he loves a woman Silvia, but Silvia is convinced that Alberto thinks a woman named Maria Griseldo is more beautiful. In my opinion, this is one of the first and only times we see Ana Maria put aside her competitve nature with other women and admits she understands how Silvia feels, being compared to another woman. I think Bombal did a great job of exploring the complexity and layers to womanhood of the time. It highlighted how in every phase of Ana Maria’s life, there was a man that was a central portion of her life, that she devoted majority of her time and energy to, whether it be Ricardo, her husband or her sons. It also displayed a complicated relationship with her daughter Anita and how Ana Maria almost felt a jealously of her intelligence. I think this novel having a backdrop of the “protagonist” being dead, made the novel quite an different lens to understand the story through.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do we think that Ana Maria sees Alicia (her sister) in her own daughter Anita?
  2. Do you think there was any real aspect of love for Ricardo, or was it more of an infatuation?