In general, up until this point, I have thoroughly enjoyed the course material and differences in literary pieces that we have studied. I liked how Cumanda focused on the difference between the distinct indigenous culture of Cumanda’s family with that of Carlos'. Mama Blanca was a good contrast, although not as exciting, in that it enabled us to learn more about family life and interaction within the hacienda.
Moreover, I also found it interesting how Mama Blanca revealed destruction with the progression to modernization, while Piedra Callada was the opposite which really emphasized their differences.
My favourite piece would be Veinte Poemas by Neruda since the style of writing and chronological format of the poems appealed to me greatly. Piedra Callada was another piece I liked a lot because it was action packed and full of drama and the character of Eufrasia was quite extreme. The one reading I was not fond of would be Las Hortensias because the story was just too bizarre, weird and a bit creepy for my liking. I didn’t like how the story revolved around dolls which feed Horacio’s and Maria’s imagination and obsession.
I have never read Cien Años de Soledad so I am looking forward to starting the book and learning more about it!
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4 comments:
Stacey,
I agree with you that the variety in what we have read has been good. I too found Mama Blanca to be less exciting, especially following Cumanda. Despite the fact that it was really disturbing, I liked Piedra Callada. I ending up liking Las Hortensias, I think because it was so bizarre. The fact that it was so weird kept me engaged and wondering what would happen next. One good thing about this course so far is that people's opinions about what we have read are really varied which I think is a very good thing.
Kerry
Hey, I also found Piedra Callada to be my favorite read of the course so far, I found it to be a heart felt story with a lot of emotions and a solid plot. I found Hortensias to be intreging and different from all the other novels, so I liked it. I found it had a different wist and approached the topic of industrialization from a very different prespective.
I loved Neruda poems as well, I have studied them in English as well and they didn't have nearly the same effect as they did in Spanish. However, I did really like Mama Blanca, the story was not action packed but it was beautifully written (and incredibly changelling to read). I didnt't really enjoy Las Hortensias either, though i liked the absurdity of it, I found it confusing. I was always questioning whether I was understanding what was going on. My least favorite was Piedra Callada as it was just really depressing.
It's good that everyone gets something out of at least some of the literature and it's interesting that there isn't a strong consensus as to what was the best and the worst.
Hey Stacey!
Hehe - yeah I enjoyed the books we read in class too. I'm a little surprised so many people didn't really like / found Mama Blanca boring.. I personally thought it was amusing and comical. Nonetheless, I disagree with your opinion on Las Hortensias - I thought it was bizarre in such a cool way cuz I've never read anything like it.. and the creepy doll factor made it unique. It was by far my favourite piece of literature we've read this term.
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