{"id":33,"date":"2026-03-08T23:28:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/?p=33"},"modified":"2026-03-08T23:28:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:28:58","slug":"ambiguity-at-its-finest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/2026\/03\/08\/ambiguity-at-its-finest\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambiguity at its finest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manea\u2019s <\/span>The Trenchcoat <\/span><\/i>was such a breather compared to the other books, I actually liked reading it. Starting the book, I didn\u2019t know how to feel or what to expect, but the dinner party created an uncomfortable environment. From the title itself, I expected some crime, thriller, or murder mystery vibes just through the ambiguity surrounded by the title, along with the trenchcoat as an object. That may just be me, but the idea of a trench coat made me resonate it to a mystery or detective genre since they\u2019re pretty prominent in those books and shows. Because of that association, I went into it expecting some sort of big climax.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The chaos created by simply a trench coat being left behind was so fascinating to me, and what made it interesting for me. Thinking about it, if any of us were to lose our trenchcoat or see a lost trenchcoat, today we wouldn\u2019t think much of it. However, the reaction here is completely different. I think this is related to the characters living in communist Romania, where they live under fear and surveillance. Due to this political environment, I believe that\u2019s why they’re so careful with what they talk about, and even something simple like a coat being forgotten may feel so threatening. I think the trench coat didn\u2019t even need to belong to a spy to be powerful, but the idea of them being watched or under surveillance is sufficient to control their behaviour. It was so interesting how just the fear of the political system easily ruined the trust between the individuals when they started suspecting each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, I found the unclear ending pretty ironic. The title in itself leaves a lot of mystery\/ambiguity, as I mentioned and reading the novel, you\u2019re expecting an answer, there\u2019s a sense that the mystery of the coat will be explained. However, instead of the answer we\u2019re expecting, Manea gives us an answer, showcasing how the mystery of the coat showcases the environment of uncertainty and fear that society people experience. I feel that Manea not providing us with a clear explanation somewhat makes the read more impactful. In a sense, it conveys the same uncertainty the characters experience to the reader, incorporating the same ambiguity as in the title, into the message itself. My question to you is, did the ambiguous ending (not having a clear answer on the trenchcoat\u2019s owner) make the story more powerful or frustrating for you as a reader? Why?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manea\u2019s The Trenchcoat was such a breather compared to the other books, I actually liked reading it. Starting the book, I didn\u2019t know how to feel or what to expect, but the dinner party created an uncomfortable environment. From the title itself, I expected some crime, thriller, or murder mystery vibes just through the ambiguity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[31,29,30],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-manea","tag-ambiguity","tag-manea","tag-the-trenchcoat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/34"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/tripteasthoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}