Span365

Hmm….I don’t have my final grade yet…so maybe I should be careful what I am saying about this course. Well, too bad, because I only have a few things to say, and they are good.

Loved the prof…no, not that way!!! He was challenging the class, and me, to think. And trust me, it has been a few years that a prof asked me to think, be creative, and critical. I felt very at ease talking in class and he was a great moderator.

Loved the readings. Most of them, at least. I am not sure I can say that I learned something definitive about Latin American literature, besides the fact that for the period that we covered, there were a few themes recurring. Some other themes transformed themselves and evaluated along with the author and the history.

Loved the blogs. Even though I didn’t do them all on time, and probably some of them were boring as hell, at least I was somehow forced to think, and gather my conclusions, share them with the rest of you, and see what you had to say. It felt as if we had an extended class discussion.

Loved the fact that we have the option to use English or Spanish. Sometimes I wanted to write my blogs in Spanish, but I was afraid that people would not understand me. Maybe for the future, John, you could ask your students to write them in both languages. For those of us not gifted with grammatical skills in Spanish, it might help improve ourselves a bit, and give us more confidence in the end, while at the same time, have it there in English as well just to be sure everyone gets the jest.

I am happy to have taken this course. The concept was great, and I really enjoyed the "once minutos, no, doce minutos" of group discussion, followed by short presentations. I have to say that those little expositions helped me in my other Spanish classes be more confident and calm in front of an audience.

Finally, thank you John for being such an inspirational instructor. As I said before, I really missed that.

Wow…what an intense book. I read the last 50 pages or so completely lost in time. I was hoping that the demise will somehow not come, and that finally, Amarata Ursula and Aureliano will have escaped the fate of all the other Bunedias. I had such mixed emotions about them: on one hand, knowing how they are related, I expected something major and mind blowing to happen, but on the other hand, I was hoping that their true love would overcome the predictions of an old, somewhat paranoid woman. I did not expect that ending. I did not expect the complete demise of the family, and moreover, Melquiades parchmens to contain the hundred years of their family history. I think I have to say that Cien Anos de Soledad is the best book I have read so far. I can see why it would deserve Nobel Prize.

I guess I was right about the part where the same things happen to the next generations.  It seems to me that this family was cursed with something that I still try to decipher.  All of them, young and old, are going through sort of a loneliness that brings them apart even more.  The old Buendias, they dwindle in their fragility, incapacity, and keep returning to their youth, where they find comfort.  They look at the days long gone, and with the wisdom of old age, realize how wrong their judgments were in the past about their family (see Ursula, Colonel Aureliano, Amaranta), and that it is too late now for changes of heart.  That they are alone in their misery, while the world is passing by them.   Then you have the youngsters, who try to live the moment, sometimes, so innocently and serene, that they cause death and misery, and then end up alone themselves (see Remedios the Beauty who “kills” all those who fall in love with her); or they cause more loneliness by being themselves, and without intention (see the Colonel’s sons that were assassinated).  And of course, you always, always have this general feeling of somberness, of mystery, when you ask yourself what is next? What sinister thing will now happen and how will this family deal with it?

I have to admit that I am shocked.  I did not expect this book to be this way.  I think I expected a little more realism, and I definitely did not see it coming all the incest, sex, and …children.  What period did this take place in?? Funny enough, I found the constancy of Melquiades’ returns, and later on, the room dedicated to him, the only stable point in this book; stable in the sense that it was predictable, and almost always the same.  Compared to all the complications resulted from having children with prostitutes, then those children being adopted by the family, grow up (never know how old they truly are), fall in love with another member of the family…etc etc.. I could go on forever.  My point it, I feel that this book should have been called Babilon or Babel…Comings and goings, and no one knows what time of the day it is, what day it is, or what year it is.  I find it hard at times to connect with the settings, because I keep trying to guess when is all this taking place, and when I think I have the answer, something miraculous or extraordinary happens, and I tell myself: It cant be that year.  Conclusion: I am confused…and curious what will happen in the next 200-300 pages. Will it be the same things, happening to the next generation?  Oh, Ursula is very constant throughout all this.  I really like her. 

After pretty much every page read, I had to look up online who that character I was reading about was.  I had to stop myself a few times, and try to remember what I read, who I read about, and what I have retained.  When I reached page 80 or 90, I made myself stop and start taking notes.  It was getting way too confusing and complicated.  Not only the characters were complex and deep, but the scenario many times made no sense to me.  I could not understand when all this was taking place, why, and what was the point of all the detailed and painfully intricate descriptions.  I really wasn’t looking forward to reading almost 500 pages of this….thing!!  And then, I am not sure what happened, I started to like it. I really really got caught up into the dramas and the daily lives.  I got curious!! Why am I not talking about the characters and the storyline instead?  Because I am certain that Marquez’s intention was to stir something in the reader, not necessarily to make us talk about characters.  I am sure later on one or two characters will catch my attention, but until then, I will enjoy being captivated.

Piedra callada…I really enjoyed the story. Not only is it about life in Chile in the 19th century, but it is about a seemingly normal family, that in fact is very dysfunctional. Initially, one might think that the mother, loving and caring, wants the best for her daughter, and does what any normal mother might do: stop the wedding, and when it happens against her wishes, disowns her daughter. Esperanza seems to be a young girl, in love, but at the same time realistic about her future husband’s character. The story evolves and characters slowly change into monsters, for lack of a better term, and these transformations are reflected in the weather. Esperanza, lovely and pretty, turns out to be a weakling, sickly and unhappy, until the day she dies. Her husband turns out to be a selfish, violent man, who wants to keep the children with him, not necessarily out of love, but more so to spite the old woman. He blames the children for his wife’s death, and again, not because he misses her and loves her, but because he feels he needs a wife to be with him and give him children. The old mother, initially caring and loving, slowly becomes more introverts, taciturn, and spiteful. She plans carefully how to win this final battle against her son-in-law, while at the same time taking care of the children. She ends up killing him, and winning the children. This is a story of hate and violence, and at the same time of love that is shown in very strange ways. It is the story of a seemingly normal family, that live apparently a normal life; the twist is the all the scheming that goes on, that eventually ends up with a murder. Very interesting and complex characters!

It is hard to decide whether I like this novel or not. I read about 90 pages so far, and I find it sometimes difficult to follow, and at other times, I am wondering what is going on? After reading a little about La Parra, I believe that this novel is a mix of a diary and a fiction. It is interesting to notice the lifestyle of somewhat wealthy children in Venezuela during those times, and to compare it to the children nowadays, but other han that….. This novel seems to me very feministic, and very exclusive. I find it slow, and confusing. I think Parra must have been quite bored to be writing such a boring book. I feel sorry for her, and I have no interest to continue reading about her memories as a spoiled child. Why should I care what she did, or how her mother treated her? I am not really learning anything from it, and all I see is a very biased opinion of childhood and society.

I don’t read poems anymore. I used to a lot when I was young, and when love was this sensual, out-of-reach, unknown world. I would read poems, even write a few, just to feel the warmth of mixed emotions. I used to read Neruda back then too, in English and Romanian, and I find it slightly strange to read them in Spanish.  Back then, as I remember, I thought his poems were so full of love and passion, and they touched me deeply.  I don’t think I fully understood his message completely.  Now, as I read them again, they seem unearthly. I liked the nature references, but what made me think the most was the language: I sensed a deep, strong longing, even sadness in his poems, even though they are mostly about love.  They were so…refreshing, clean, simple, and mostly they seemed sincere and unpretentious.   I was surprised to learn how young he was when he wrote them. Some of his poems sounded like a song…I am not sure whether I got that impression because of the words, the feelings they brought up in me or just because they are melodious.