I am still not used to reading. It might be the selection of books in the course, but it’s probably just me. I rarely read books that do not involve supernatural powers or mystery solving. Anyway, I am definitely sensing a pattern here. Why does every book need a problematic figure? To be frank, I felt slightly uneasy with this book. And I know I am probably alone on this one but it’s just all too realistic. I can see everything happening in life. Basically, I only read to escape reality. I want to have fun while reading. Now put all those aside, let’s talk about the actual story (I am running on low battery mode with a messed up sleep schedule).
In The Time of the Doves, we follow the life of Natalia and most importantly her two marriages. Her first husband was an arse, at least to me (feel free to hop onto the bandwagon and use the #arse tag). He is a furniture designer who is pretty self centered. Before they got married, he basically didn’t allow Natalia to have a coversation with any man. She had to apologize by kneeling, in the public, for talking with Pere. Their relationship was also driven by lust. Yet, the most awkward thing about Quimet is how he kept mentioning a woman by the name of Maria which drove Natalia crazy. She would compare herself to this woman (whom she probably have never met) in everything she did. “Maria would look better in this dress”, “Maria can cook this better”, etc. Of course, as readers we are approaching all these from Natalia’s perspective. Naturally, I wonder if there is another side to the story. I think the trustworthiness everything regarding the first marriage depends on how traumatized Natalia was. Oh yeah, I didn’t even mention Quimet died in a war.
Natalia became a single mother of two, until she married Antoni, her second husband. I would describe her second marriage as the complete opposite of the first. Antoni was not a man driven by lust (in fact, he lacks the tool). He was also way more caring than Quimet. I don’t know if young and naive Natalia would marry Antoni, but at this moment in time, this was what they both needed. Antoni wanted to have family but he couldn’t start one, and Natalia’s kids needed a father figure.
Near the end of the book, we witnessed the marriage of Rita, the daughter of Natalia. I actually really enjoyed this part. I initially thought it’s just a fun little section that doesn’t contribute much to the story, but it’s somewhat of a microcosm of Natalia’s experience.
Question: when reading this kind of books, do you put yourself in the eyes of the protagonist? Or do you try to remain a witness?