Monthly Archives: February 2022

Weekly Book Blog

The Time of the Doves Review

The Time of the Doves by Mercé Rodoreda is definitely a heart-wrenching book, and challenging to read at times (well, I mean basically all of the time). There is little to be happy about in this book, and the times that are happy, you can probably count on two hands. Nevertheless, I think that the complexity and layers that the book has are a lot to unpack. This book left me with so many questions that I think discussions would be very helpful to clear up. I enjoyed reading from Natalia’s perspective the effects the war had on a woman living through the revolution; that is not something you often read in war-centered books. It made me think a lot about the significance of conflict on civilians, people of different classes, and a mother to two children.

One of the first sadnesses I identified in the book was how Natalia decided to leave her fiancé for Quimet; it really hurt me when she found her ex-fiancé and they talked for a little and he had nothing but well wishes for her. Quimet was once charming, lovely, and intriguing. However, over the course of the novel, it basically fades into nothingness, and creates more pains for him, his family, and for Natalia. I believe that there is a reason for this choice to write him this way, but its still difficult because Natalia had a choice and upon reflecting on her decisions, she might have regretted getting with Quimet. 

While reading, I continually found myself thinking ‘wow. Natalia truly is a hard-working woman whom I cannot begin to understand.’ Well, Im attempting to do so now, but I suppose you know what I mean; she works until she can barely stand, takes care of her two children who were painstakingly difficult to raise, deal with her husband who moans and groans til the cows come home, and look after a ton of doves which she soon grows to despise. I remember her ‘last straw’ moment with the doves, and as violent as she was, I sort of understood why she acted as she did. I interpreted her feelings as being sick and tired of Quimet’s actions, especially with the doves and towards her. I feel like Natalia is so under appreciated by her husband. It seems as if Natalia once was very fearful of changing in front of Quimet, but the amount of time they have spent together, she was just done. I think that the use of doves within the novel is a massive metaphor; the exact meaning, I am still grappling with. But there is no way that the use of doves was this heavy and there is no significance to them. Originally when reading, I thought that the use of doves could be a metaphor for Quimet and Natalia’s dreams and hopes, but I don’t know if that would make sense due to Natalia absolutely destroying the doves. Unless that is actually what was intended…

The Time of the Doves is packed with symbolism, metaphors, and references. I constantly found myself taking note of them. For example, the constant use of flowers to describe Antonio and Rita, while also mentioning them when Quimet’s mother died, and the jonquil’s that his mother planted in her flashback about the boys uprooting them. Even the rose of Jericho that she had kept since Quimet was born (p. 59). So much thought and meaning went into the intentions of the symbols that Rodoreda used throughout the story. I also found that the consistent use of foreshadowing to be intriguing. Similar to the flower example, Quimet’s mother makes a remark about boys being difficult; we then see how Antonio is born, and he clearly is not an easy child. The employment of symbolism. Metaphors, and foreshadowing enrich the story and make it extra enjoyable to read. It felt slightly like a puzzle, in which if I went over it again, I would find things I missed the first time around. 

A question I sort of brought up before that I would like to discuss is ‘what exactly is the significance of the doves within the context of the story?’ Maybe it was clear and I misunderstood it, but I’m a little confused about it. 

I feel like this meme is from a super insignificant part of the book, but I thought of it anyways lol.

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Weekly Book Blog

Zobel’s Black Shack Alley

After reading Black Shack Alley, I really enjoyed this novel. I have read stories with similar themes like colonialism, supremacy, and poverty, but nothing like how the main character reconciles with these themes. At the beginning of the book, the main character is almost sort of naive to the idea of his grandparents and the other parents as enslaved peoples; their absence while working is seen as something positive where the kids get a break from parents, which speaks to his perspective. I find it interesting that the narrator refers to ‘the overseer’ and ‘the house’ to what I believe are certain aspects of the bosses and their plantation’s functions. Its like the kids know what they are and their purposes, but don’t fully grasp it yet because they’re simply children (little do we know that this’ll change!!). Nevertheless, authority attempts to keep them in check; for example, majority of the kids fear what’ll happen if they disobey their parents (especially M’man Tine). For example, on page 27 when M’man Tine is describing her upbringing, her daughters upbringing, and past that led her to parent José; she seems incredibly tired and fed up, and I have a great deal of sympathy for her, and for him. Another example is when the kids start the fire and are seriously reprimanded because of it. The Shack Alley in which they live is not just shelter for them, but is a place away from the plantation and its gruesome work; I don’t think its appropriate for me to call it a place of comfort, because the whole situation is based around the plantation and living in extreme poverty.

However, it seems as if there are certain aspects that bring comfort, like the explanation of what happens on Saturday nights, and the experiences the kids have of playing with each other. The people living in Shack Alley are stuck in a life controlled by white supremacy, enslavement, and injustice. Even José’s friend Mr. Medouze speaks of it (rip; I loved his character and his relationship with José), colonialism and white supremacy are not themes that are blind to the characters of the book, but is something very present and influential. The more the story progresses, the more I see that the main character is becoming aware of what his life really is. After he is tasked with working with M’man Tine, he really grasps what little freedom he has, what his future may look like, and how little he is to receive for his efforts. However, it seems confusing to me that he originally says he enjoys this way of life; is he still unaware of how difficult and painstaking it is? 

Originally when I was reading the book, I was nervous as to why M’man Tine wanted to send José away to school, but then grew to thoroughly appreciate the idea. M’man Tine shows how much she loves and wants José to succeed, which I think is truly beautiful. Her character reminds me of a protective parent who wants the best for her children, grandchildren and future generations; they want a better life for them in comparison to what she has lived. Their relationship is ultimately founded on love and protection, and although she gets fiercely angry with José, she wants the best for him. Another important component in the novel was José’s homesickness and feelings when he was sent to school. Comparing his life in Martinique to his life at school are very different, which I think is an interesting observation in the novel; a question I constantly found myself thinking about was ‘what would José’s life be like had he not gone to school? Conversely, what would his life be like had he not have influences like M’man Tine, Mr. Medouze, and the experience of growing up on the plantation to shape his ideologies?’ Thinking of alternate perspectives of characters and story plots always help me engage with their personalities and character motivations better. I hope you think about them too!

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Weekly Book Blog

Moravia’s Agostino…

Okay, so I finished reading Agostino, and I would definitely say that I have some mixed feelings about this novel (to say the least). It is absolutely a novel about coming of age, class, self-discovery, but has some other themes such as love, lust, brutality, and low-key incest. I particularly enjoyed how it was written; I think that Moravia (or maybe the translated version of Moravia) does a really good job at engaging the reader by painting a clear picture, all while accurately describing the feelings and thoughts of the main character. Now with regards to Agostino’s feelings and development, I really found that to be a very important part of the story. I found that Agostino’s coming of age development had quite a bit of layers to it. Personally, I found his affection for his mother to be slightly off-putting, and quite oedipus-like. Although he attempts to grow out of it naturally, I interpreted the spite he had for his mother as stemming from his subconscious and incessant love for her. His possession for her is almost obsessive, to the point where I found it a little crazy, because it seems slightly abnormal. There is a lot to unpack with regards to the possessiveness over his mother. To be honest with you, I think Freud would very much approve of how the main character was written, because that was essentially what he was all about. I am not opposed to reading a novel that integrates themes like such, but it seems to be a very very permeating topic, to the point where I got a bit tired of it. Nevertheless, I think that this theme speaks to who Agostino was and the innocence that he holds, specifically at the beginning of the novel and then towards the middle. Agostino is incredibly sheltered and privileged, which leads me to discuss the topic of class within the novel. Berto and the gang are evidently lower class than Agostino, and I found it very interesting how he really gained a different perspective by hanging out with them. A scene I found particularly interesting was when the boys start pestering Agostino about his lavish lifestyle and what it would be like to live as fancily as him. For him to speak so highly of it, and for the boys to recognize that that lifestyle was so out of reach was something that really stuck out to me. Agostino seems so sheltered, which I think could speak to his upbringing. By juxtaposing the two types of characters, I found a lot of differences (such as class, ways of communicating, acting, and essentially living life), and in some ways found similarities (the ability to be frustrated by certain things, the ability to make connections and to want to fit in with the group). I really thought Berto’s character was interesting, because I originally thought that he was a tough guy who ran the group, but found that there was more complexity to him and his place within the gang. The aspects of the book that I particularly enjoyed were the engagements with Agostino and the gang, how their relationship sort of grew, and how they helped him grow. What I didn’t particularly love was the infatuation Agostino had with his mother, and that strange relationship Saro had with Agostino, Homs and the gang in general. There were many nods to his ‘paternal’ relationship with them, and that rubbed me the wrong way. The book had many ups and downs for me, which made me question the significance and importance of them within the development of the novel. Could Agostino have been written without such significant nods towards freudianism and perversion in order to have the same effect on the readers? Would readers be able to understand the importance of his development as a character if those underlying themes not been integrated into the novel? That is a question that’s been riddling my mind, and I don’t know if I even have an answer for that. However, if that were to ever be the case, I would much rather read that book. Nevertheless, I can say I had an interesting time reading Agostino, but I would not recommend it for everyone. 

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