Friday 2 September 2011

Book Review: Benito Perez Galdos- Two Tales of Married Women

Fortunata and Jacinta: Two Stories of Married Women (Penguin Classics)Fortunata and Jacinta: Two Stories of Married Women by Benito Pérez Galdós

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Galdos is the Spanish Dickens. He's completely underrated and if you like Victorian literature you are certain to like this too.



Galdós, Benito Pérez, Fortunata and Jacinta. Two Stories of Married Women. Translated with an Introductionby Anges Moncy Gullón. The University of Georgia Press. Athens. 1985.

Galdós masterpiece work Fortunata y Jacinta: Two stories of married women is , an accurately drawn social portrait of nineteenth century Madrid. Written in four parts from 1886-1887. According to Turner, who wrote the introduction for Fortunata and Jacinta , the novel is set in the following historical background: Carlist wars, palace of intrigues, the revolution of 1868, an overthrow of the Queen Isabella, the brief reign of Amadeo of Savoy, the abort of the First Republic and the Bourbon restoration ( Alfonso XII ).

The book depicts both the lower class and bourgeois society through two female Fortunata and Jacinta. Galdós weaves a witty, entertaining yet complicated and engaging plot. The story is told between huge dynasties, and close knit families where cousins marry cousins and your next door neighbor is likely to be your relative. Set in Madrid Spain, Galdós true to the tenets of realism, gives the reader an actual true to life portrayal of the shopkeepers, egg sellers, hookers, merchants, clerks, government officials, aristocracy, entrepreneurs, and neighbor all coming and going vibrantly within the stark contrast of the lower, and upper class neighborhoods of Madrid. Galdós powerful use of imagery gives you a feeling of being in Madrid: smelling the smell of hot chocolate and doughnuts, smelling the rain or seeing the mist frost a train window. Hearing the loud mouth vulgar hookers and gypsies that put their hands on their hips, or whether it’s with the bourgeois Santa Cruz family enjoying a night at the Opera at the Royal Theatre of Madrid not so much because they enjoy opera, but because they can afford to go. Perhaps, Barbara Santa Cruz taking a trip to the tailors in Madrid’s finest boutiques to buy the best chambray linen or going shopping to buy the best sirloin and the best tobacco for her husband Baldomero to enjoy on Sundays.

Galdós writing is a great historian much of his writing takes place in the 1870´s, during the Alfonsine era of Spain. Fortunata and Jacinta is such an intellectually rich novel that it can be analyzed on many levels: psychologically, historically, religiously, and even from the feminist point of view. Galdós tells this story in four parts, as each part subsequently unfolds it draws you deeper into the mystery of these interesting, yet all too human and loveable characters. With characters as real and familiar we can not help but recognize ourselves are shortcomings and at the same time our beauty.

What is unique about Galdós, that I haven’t seen in the Russian and French writers is his complete absorption and intricate detail that is at once captivating and intriguing. His narrative structure and style is utterly powerful and mesmerizing drawing the reader, into the unknown world of Madrid Spain in the late nineteenth century, where the use of the phaeton was still in vogue and it was customary for women to wear a flower in their hair. In the introduction of Fortunata and Jacinta, Page after page, Galdós, tells this story and you don’t want to put the book down. This should be required reading for anyone studying World Literature so they can compare with other writers from the realism literary movement like Dickens, and Balzac.





View all my reviews

Friday 19 August 2011

Book Review: The Second Sex, by Simone De Beauvoir

The Second SexThe Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

De Beauvoir. Simone. The Second Sex. Translated and Edited by H. M. Parshley. New York: Vintage Books, 1989.


Simone De Beauvoir, is the writer of many books of fiction including Les Mandarins (The Mandarins,1954); Memoires d'une jeune fille rangée (Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, 1958). Her philosophical, existentialist feminist treatise, The Second Sex, was written when she was close friends with existentialists Jean Paul Sartre. In this controversial non-fiction book, De Beauvoir states that women are not the first sex, but the second sex, the “Other.” We are not the first chromosome, we are the second chromosome. She describes women as being in relation to men, not as a separate identity, but existing as an attached appendage. Her book´s treatise and primary purpose was to demonstrate the many myths that have perpetuated throughout history, religion and science that say both directly and indirectly that women, is "the Other", that women are the weaker sex, less qualified for everything under the sun.

For me, when I read The Second Sex, I was utterly fascinated and enthralled. This book gave me a richer foundation from which I can look and revere my own womanhood. It also gives me a more profound sense of pride of being born with two XX chromosomes instead of just an XY.


View all my reviews

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Wordless Wednesdays- An Oxford Scholar goes for a Walk



 Taken from my Archives-  August 2009- Oxford


Take a good look at this photo, this is an absolute serene day, a coterie of bikes are parked, by the local cafe, the Bodleian Library is just a stone's throw. It's a quiet street not to many people are walking about, which is perfect for daydreaming. Imagine you are in the 14th century, you are an Oxford don have a respite from your studies, perhaps, a gingerly walk in the refreshing crisp breeze and an idle cup of tea and a scone, and a chat with your professor about the meaning of life.








All blogs are written by Sabrina Rongstad-Bravo More Tales and Adventures in Sabrina's London Diaries

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Letter and Update to Readers of Sabrina's London Diaries

Dear Readers of Sabrina's London Diaries and once and awhile pop in people:


 I am wanted to inform of you of my latest intentions with this wonderful, modern outlet for self-expression, the blog. I wanted to let you know that in future, I will be writing more regular posts. There will be interesting and fun photos taken from my archives for Wordless Wednesdays, on Fridays there will be book reviews of books I have already read and am reading currently, which are mostly of the Classic Literature genre, there will be Shakespeare Sundays. I adore Shakespeare and will use my blog not only to learn more about this wonderful man but to write about the bard and share my knowledge. I'd like to write about his contribution to the English Language and Literature. Being and Austenite, I will be writing about Jane Austen, her life, her novels, characters in her novels, movies made about her books, balls ( in London and abroad) English dating in the 18th Century and now. And, of course, my blog won't be complete without adding  some juicy tid bits of my dating experiences both in London and abroad, which I know you are just dying to read. ( Lol!) After all is said in done, I hope that I will also have time to work, start my Phd, publish a book of poetry, get married, travel abroad and volunteer in UGANDA. Well, as John Lennon said, " Life is what happens when your busy making other plans." So, will just have to see what happens.


Thank you for your continued loyalty in reading my blog.


much love and affection,


Sabrina Grace~



All blogs are written by Sabrina Rongstad-Bravo More Tales and Adventures in Sabrina's London Diaries

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails