Hasfariza Hassan

  The Time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda is such an interesting read and is honestly one of my fav reads so far throughout this course! The book centres around Natalia’s hardships of poverty and despair. This is evident through the quote in the prelude by George Meredith, “My dear, these things are life.” This exemplifies how life can be hard and messy. Honestly, this book felt real to me. Recently, I’ve been going through a lot of hardships in my life with family and friends. It made me feel that I could relate to Natalia’s hardships because there are always going to be ups and downs in life. Doves are often connoted with peace and grace. I think Rodoreda utilizes the imagery of the doves to be juxtaposed with the hardships within Natalia’s life. I think the story also gave me a clearer understanding about the struggles of war during the Spanish Civil War as a woman. Quimet and Natalia’s relationship was interesting to read. I thought Quimet was honestly a red flag because of the...

  Theme : Finding One’s Self Compared to the other books that I’ve read so far throughout this course, Deep Rivers by Jose Maria Arguedas was harder for me to get into. I think it’s because there’s no concrete ending or structure to the story, which made it harder for me to enjoy. The story focuses on a boy named Ernesto who is of mixed heritage and his journey in navigating his mixed identity and cultural background. I haven’t read a book like this before, so it was interesting to see how Ernesto navigates the intersecting parts of his identity with his indigenous background and having to go to a boarding school that centres around colonial education. This shows the sense of struggle he faces in belonging at school. People would give him the nickname “forraneo”, “forastero” or “forasterito” : outsider, stranger, or little stranger. This reinforces the notion that he feels that he is an outsider. He feels as if he’s not Indigenous enough and doesn’t feel like he’s part of his schoo...

  Theme: Love?! I feel like in this course, I have read about the most unusual characters and that says a lot because I read A LOT of books. Agostino by Alberto Moravia was such an interesting read which says a lot because I have never read a book that explored Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex. Freud asserts that “while he is still a small child, a son will already begin to develop a special affection for his mother, whom he regards as belonging to him; he begins to feel his father as a rival who disputes his sole possession” (Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis).  I remember in my A-levels Psychology class, learning about the Oedipus complex and thinking how could this theory be even real. That’s where it surprised me that this book untangles Agostino’s sexuality and attraction for his mother (which I never knew was possible to occur).  In the beginning of the novel where Agostino went out to the sea with his mother, he was proud because it seemed as if “all the...