Author Archives: susan

LITERATURE: Mrs. Dalloway – Finale

I don’t think this will be one of my favorite ever novels, but I admire the work of Woolf and the intricacy with which she’s woven her story. Overall, I come away with a sadness, hope yet hopelessness, change yet … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Mrs. Dalloway – Character Study

There is a challenging aspect to the multiple pov in this book, especially since it gets right inside the characters’ heads.  Who do you believe? I think however that we’re getting a composite image that includes the characters’ own self-image, … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE:Mrs. Dalloway – Language

Yes, I realize that this is a classic.  And I do enjoy the use of language to its fullest potential.  But honestly, Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is beginning to wear a bit thin.  I think perhaps that once the dazzle of … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Mrs. Dalloway – Symbolism

Working within the consciousness of her characters, Virginia Woolf has–I think–brought in some interesting metaphorical items.  This scene, when an old flame, Peter Walsh surprises Mrs. Dalloway at her home while she is mending a dress to wear for her … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Mrs. Dalloway – A Thinking Free-for-all

Just spent a few minutes in Regal Park inside Mrs. Dalloway’s head, as well as the heads of everyone else who happened to be there.  An amazing concept. Remember the movie with Mel Gibson (What Women Want?) where he gets … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Final Finale

I’ve upset Mark in my finale review of this novel, and realize that I didn’t truly give adequate time to the novel in my post. Perhaps I should have made it clearer; sex was not the be-all, end-all of their … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Mrs. Dalloway – Whoa!

Okay, so it’s hot and I’ve taken up residence in the only air conditioned room in the house–the bedroom–and deciding to run out only for lack of a chamber pot, am reading and writing.  But hey, what’s with Virginia Woolf’s … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Finale

"If we’re going to do it, let’s do it," she said, "but let’s do it like grownups." At long last, Fermina and Florentino are about to make love.  She, realizing that this love is not the same as what she … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Underlying Theme

I’m sensing within Marquez’s narratives a continuity of low-level conflict that is a constant beneath the layers of ongoing story.  Perhaps because this novel, as well as 100 Years of Solitude is based upon his own country of birth, there … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Character and Conflict

I am realizing that Marquez’s love story is not about sex, and not really about love.  It is about relationships but, I think, in the individual sense of what a character is seeking and how he/she goes about it and … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: S/Z – Comprehension

I was all set to spar with Barthes, prepared for this bible of interactive insight.  Even with the reluctant acceptance of readers’ rights to write and the understanding of readerly/writerly, I was up for the fight.  It is a self-defeating … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Reading Deeper

I’m having a less than ideal experience with Marquez in this novel in that I am not having those moments of awe and elation that I recall from 100 Years of Solitude.  Just when I am writing it off to … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Marquez on Sex

Obviously, what Florentino Ariza discovers about women through his liaisons with prostitutes is never applied to ladies such as his beloved Fermina Daza, but this observation is interesting: It was in those days that he devised his rather simplistic theories … Continue reading Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Philosophy

Marquez slips in some food for thought: His (Florentino Ariza’s) uncle was angry with him because of the manner in which he had thrown away the good position of telegraph operator in Villa de Leyva, but he allowed himself to … Continue reading

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LITERATURE: Love in the Time of Cholera – Drama

Marquez touches upon a sensitive topic here with Florentino Ariza, who has just discovered that Fermina Daza has decided upon wedding the persistent Dr. Juvenal Urbino.  Urbino may not have had the dedication to the affair from Fermina, but he … Continue reading Continue reading

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