The Shrouded Woman - Maria Luisa Bombal
This week's book was such a fun read, it felt like a breath of fresh air after the last 2! It was super simple and entertaining. I would not wish the amount of shit she goes through on anyone.
The book starts off immediately at her funeral and throughout the book we follow Ana as she recounts her life and various significant moments in her life concerning the people around her. We start off with her first love Ricardo, I honestly thought the memories between the two of them were sort of cute and intimate! Compared to the rest of the people that Ana Maria will meet throughout her life, I don’t think he’s a bad guy. Also I just want to express my deepest love and admiration to Zoila throughout the book. She was truly Ana’s rock throughout the entirety of her life! From raising her to supporting her through the turbulent times in her life. Shoutout to Zoila!
Everyone in this book was weird. Why can’t these people be normal? The chapter surrounding her children and Maria Griselda was so off-putting and strange. Why can’t anyone be normal about her! Also like her kids kind of suck. Alberto sucks because he mistreats his wife because of his own insecurities. Fred sucks because he can’t fucking lie to his wife. Anita, I am just disappointed because girl, please do better. I know that she’s like an otherworldly beauty and it’s borderline magical, but like Fred, you can lie to protect your wife’s feelings. It's okay. ALSO just the concept of writing poems about your brother’s wife is so messy. I just feel so bad for the women, they deserve so much better! Especially Maria Griselda, being held captive because of your own husband is horrible.
Speaking of husbands being horrible Antonio, at first It was just unfortunate what happened between the two of them. Poor timing all around, but as the book progresses on, this guy is actually just the worst. The way he talked about Marta??? Pack it up buddy. The way he and Sofia went behind her back! Honestly, I quite like Sofia. I thought she was super funny, I’m not gonna justify anything she’s done. However, to frame it like that was so funny. “No bestie, I didn’t betray you! Kissing and hanging out with him felt like it was an extension of your company!” Which first of all if that’s true, that’s gay as hell. Second, what sort of mental gymnastics did you do to get to that rationalisation. I had high hopes when I started that part, but good things never lastðŸ˜.
When Ana Maria talks about Antonio, she says to herself “One must be wise in matters of love.” I think that is a lesson that everyone in this book needs to learn like right now.
Has anyone ever been wise when it comes to love? To me love isn't something you can calculate and be prepared for. It's always raw and passionate.💓
"Compared to the rest of the people that Ana Maria will meet throughout her life, I don’t think he’s a bad guy."
ReplyDeleteOooh, controversial!
"Why can’t these people be normal?"
Ha! But perhaps we can push harder for an answer... perhaps it's not so much them, as the social structures in which they have found themselves stuck. Which is why Ana MarÃa can only become "normal" once she dies?
Meanwhile, don’t forget to use tags ("labels" in Blogger) to indicate key concepts and ideas in your post (weirdness? love? gender?).
I feel like you answered your own question in the end, no one can be normal because everything gets messy when it comes to love. WHICH IS NOT a justification for some truly messed up shit some of these characters are up to, yes they actually are weird. The psychologist in me was tryna find clues to some childhood trauma that royally fucked up some of these characters but Bombal wasn't giving me anything. And also YES, what the professor said, its the 1920's girl in the upper class society, are u really thatttttt surprised. Rich people give themselves too many problems cause otherwise they would have nothing to sit around and do.
ReplyDeletePosting this again cause the last one got sent as anonymous
DeleteI feel like you answered your own question in the end, no one can be normal because everything gets messy when it comes to love. WHICH IS NOT a justification for some truly messed up shit some of these characters are up to, yes they actually are weird. The psychologist in me was tryna find clues to some childhood trauma that royally fucked up some of these characters but Bombal wasn't giving me anything. And also YES, what the professor said, its the 1920's girl in the upper class society, are u really thatttttt surprised. Rich people give themselves too many problems cause otherwise they would have nothing to sit around and do.
Posting this again cause the last one got sent as anonymous
ReplyDeleteI feel like you answered your own question in the end, no one can be normal because everything gets messy when it comes to love. WHICH IS NOT a justification for some truly messed up shit some of these characters are up to, yes they actually are weird. The psychologist in me was tryna find clues to some childhood trauma that royally fucked up some of these characters but Bombal wasn't giving me anything. And also YES, what the professor said, its the 1920's girl in the upper class society, are u really thatttttt surprised. Rich people give themselves too many problems cause otherwise they would have nothing to sit around and do.
I can so relate to what you felt while reading this blog! Everyone was soooo messy- all the relationships were so tangled up that sometimes I had to double take at the audacity. Like 'she'd so find it funny if I tell her I kissed her husband' WDYM it's "just jokes"?!?!? loud exhale on that one. Also YES- fred should've lied, maybe save your marriage ? But nope, doubled down and Silvia shot herself. I mean don't get me wrong, all of the twists were thoroughly entertaining and I loved the vivid descriptions of the seasons, plants, etc. However, I think the book did a great job balancing that with intense phrasing that made you want to take a step back since it had so many levels to it. Moreover, Ana and Maria went through so much it was truly saddening too. How they view themselves, how others view them, and how they get treated was just so frustrating that you could only hope maybe that towards the end they have a better ending.
ReplyDeleteHi Nana!
ReplyDeleteI resonate with your post a lot, for real a huge shout out to Zoila for being Ana Maria's rock! Also Antonio just boiled my blood the whole time, lowkey Fred too for not being able to lie and writing poems to his brother's wife cuz that was just a WTF moment ong. I feel like the characters were always up to something absolutely diabolical so all I could do was get some black truffle chips and popcorn out for the show. Love is weird, especially in this book, as I don't think anyone was wise about love in this read. Pretty much everybody had something devious going on.
Hi Nana! I really liked what you said about Zoila. I felt the same way. Out of everyone in her life, Zoila was the only one who consistently supported her without wanting anything in return. I'd like to think her presence made all the chaos around Ana feel a bit more grounded.
ReplyDelete