Month: January 2026

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I wanna see a picture of Maria Griselda

Wow, this book had a lot of men treating women like crap. And women treating other women like crap. In what world is making out with your best friend’s husband not a betrayal?? Sofia’s explanation seemed a little ridiculous to me personally. She was scrambling to justify her actions and saying what she did was not actually a betrayal, but knowing how Antonio’s dalliances with other women had hurt Ana Maria, I don’t see how she could think her behaviour was okay. It seems to me she had a little obsession with Ana Maria and her ability to feel and love so strongly and this was her way of embodying her friend, whilst also finding excitement in the affair.

Also, shoutout to the person on here who drew a family tree, I wish I’d had that while I was reading because I totally thought Ana Maria was marrying her son at one point. Aside from a little confusion on who was who, I loved all the intermingling storylines and connections we explored through Ana Maria’s memories and experiencing her reflections and hindsight all these years later was a part of the book I really enjoyed, especially the nostalgic element, as she is aware her time has passed.

The character of Maria Griselda depicted the patriarchy’s ideal woman pretty perfectly. She is described as quiet, obedient, and incredibly beautiful. So much so that she drives other women out of their minds with jealousy, as we see in the case of Silvia. Her story seems to me, one of the saddest sections of the book. Her beauty leaves her so desired, yet even more isolated because of this. Her husband’s obsession with her means she has no friends, barely even allowed to be seen by other people, while he himself will not even be close with her, viewing her as something he cannot truly possess. This causes him great grief, as in that time, and heavily depicted through this book, we see a woman was something to be possessed, and when men did not feel they could control their wives was when marriages became especially problematic.

If you had to choose to be a character in this book, which would you want to be? I would want to be a man for sure. They mostly suck but their lives seem easier. Maybe I would be Ricardo, and go live on a farm in Europe.

 

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Mad Toy: Silvio is a diva

It felt like I flew through this book in comparison to Proust’s Combray. I especially enjoyed the beginning when Silvio was a thief so I was a little disappointed when he had to get a job. I guess not as disappointed as him though…

Looking at this world through the eyes of Silvio is quite devastating as we feel his intelligence and desperation for more but we can do as little as he himself can to improve his station. As his pride is crushed and he agonizes over what others must be thinking of him working this “humiliating job” I sympathize, however stop and wonder if this job is really so awful and whether people are looking at him at all. Silvio is the centre of this book but in reality was nothing more than another working boy, whom people’s eyes likely skimmed over, without a second glance. When I managed to extricate myself from Silvio’s perspective I realized he is perhaps not the misunderstood, brilliantly intellectual character he believes himself to be, and is possibly a little delusional. He does not seem a person made for the real, hardworking world, but belongs in the fantasy world of his heroes, Rocambole and Bonnot.

The unjustness of life was shown to me in the moment Silvio lost his job in the army, immediately after such a positive conversation with Captain, after being praised for his intellect, he is discarded for this very same reason. To witness his hope and gratitude only for him to be brutally turned away because he was deemed “too smart” for the job made me feel sad and so frustrated. He is told he belongs in a technical institute and that he needs to study but he has no way of getting that education, meaning his potential, and I suppose that of many others in similar situations, will just waste away. This scene gave me a sense of hopelessness, a feeling reflected in Silvio as he reaches the conclusion he cannot live like this any longer.

Very nearly ending the novel in thievery, just as it began, only for Silvio to make the hard decision of betraying his accomplice was a great full circle moment. Silvio had to choose between two wrongs, he was never given an option to be “good”, but his choice was the societally correct one, and hence allowed him to finally find some success in his life. Do you think he made the right decision? What would you have done in his shoes? I think I would have chosen to lay low, not joining in on the robbery but not betraying Rengo either, so I respect Silvio having the guts to make this hard decision and change his life.

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Proust…zzzzz

I’m currently on the 7th page of Proust’s Combray and it’s making me feel quite sleepy. All this talk of sleep is making me wish I was in my bed instead of at school. Now I’m on page 11, and considering having a little nap. I feel I should be grateful for the ability to sleep after reading how this fellow struggles. Surely I should make the most of the opportunities I have.

The mother kissing business… At first I thought it was sweet, this kid really loves his mother. Then it became a little excessive/obsessive. But I can understand this kid does not get much affection so he craves this small act and it holds a lot of meaning for him.

The way the first passages were written created a sense of connection with the character for me. I could really imagine I was him in those moments, yearning for affection; his desperation was palpable and infectious. In the first few pages, I felt small like him in those moments and the experience of gradual growth as we progressed through his memories of childhood relieved me.

Now on page 110, I’m getting into the book. There are moments where I feel very engaged, and I enjoy these but also moments where I feel I’m drifting in and out. Some passages that drew me in more than others were the following: Francoise not liking or sympathizing with people, unless they are far away, I kinda get that. Some things are easier to appreciate or pity from a distance as when a connection is made it can feel too real and reality is not always where we want to be. Incomplete pictures and viewings from far away always seemed better, until we are close enough to recognize flaws. We prefer to imagine, experience fantasies of our feelings. The goodbye to the hawthorns section was beautiful and one of my favourites, as I feel a similar, if slightly less descriptive connection to my Nain’s (that’s grandma in Welsh, I don’t speak Welsh but I still call her that) hydrangeas. Our family home on Anglesey is similar to what I imagine Combray to look like and I feel a similar fondness for the place. I like to imagine them walking as that is also pretty much all I used to do when I was back home as a child and while in the moment I was not thinking such elaborate thoughts, looking back those times seem to hold much greater meaning to me. I think in the midst of all these descriptions of a world I am not familiar with, when I could relate to the content, it drew me in a little more. The scene of Francoise killing a chicken and the shock of little Marcel made me not laugh but feel a little sense of humour because I saw someone kill a chicken once and then I ate it pretty happily. Maybe I was hungrier than him. He seems like he would be a fussy eater.

Beginning to understand the character, as he gets older and makes sense of his thoughts more, the less abstract the text feels.  I was really wishing I could read this on paper but unfortunately I can’t be dropping 25 or so dollars on a book every week 🙁

This text doesn’t feel like a story in the sense that to be honest I didn’t feel like anything actually happened but after reading I feel an appreciation of the mental journey of Marcel, roaming his own thoughts and memories. Looking back on memories, fondly, with fragrances, sensations jumping out, only fragments yet creating the sense of a whole.

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Hi!

Hi! My name is Cat.

I already wrote this once but I accidentally deleted it because I’m technologically incompetent. Which is not a good sign for my future blog posts…

I’m a psychology student in my fourth year, hopefully graduating this semester unless I’ve really screwed something up. I loved reading when I was growing up; the first book I read was actually Harry Potter (sorry Professor Beasley-Murray) and that began my love of reading about magical, fantastical worlds. I’m hoping this class will help me widen my horizons. I’m playing rugby here as well as studying so I don’t usually have much time for reading but it will be nice to be able to read a book as my homework for the week.

I was born in Wales, then grew up in Dubai, so as I’m writing this, feeling cold and listening to the rain outside, I’m feeling quite homesick, especially having just visited home for the past two weeks. The good thing is that rain and snow and wind make perfect weather for reading a book in bed with a cup of tea!

I’m hoping to learn how to think about my feelings more deeply when I’m reading throughout this course, as while I do feel a lot when I’m reading, I don’t particularly dwell on my thoughts too much. I’m also looking forward to reading some more advanced literature and learning to appreciate these books, as the passion I see people like our Prof express is something I would love to experience.

Bye!

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