Book Review : Old Rosa


Book Review


Title: Old Rosa
Author: Reinaldo Arenas
Genre: Fiction/Translation (Spanish)

Old Rosa is a powerful novella which is divided into 2 stories revolving around the same character. 

The first story titled Old Rosa chronicles the life of Rosa, her marriage, family life and the hardships that she endures in her life at the farm. It becomes even more difficult when her eldest son joins the Castro's rebels and when she discovers her youngest son to be a homosexual. It also talks about the advent of Cuban revolution and the impact that it had on farmers. 

The second story titled The Brightest Star chronicles the life of Rosa's youngest son in a Castro Camp for homosexuals. He is subjected to immense torture and brutal labour. He manages to find solace through to express his fantastical thoughts. He manages to escape into another world which consists of magnificent castles, beautiful gardens and recurring images of his mother Old Rosa.  

The writing style in both the stories have a continuous flow without any structure or paragraphs. In the first story, there are shorter sentences with full stops and reflects the dominant voice of the character Rosa. She is not always a likeable character with her staunch beliefs and harsh stance towards her children. Yet one can't help but empathise at times with her emotional attachment towards her farm. 

In the second story, the writing style is like a continuous chain of thoughts separated by a comma. There is no full stop or paragraphs which makes it exhausting for the reader. It gives them the feeling of living inside the character's head who appears clearly shattered and his thoughts are all over the place. One aspect that strikes a chord is his ability to find an outlet through writing. 

Themes of family, pain and loss are touched upon here. Old Rosa is a read that is one of a kind. It envelops your mind like the flames of the fire and dissolves into your system like ash. Such is the writing-powerful, disturbing and evocative. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heidi: Movie review

Image
I had read this classic by Johanna Spyri as a little girl. I won it as a prize along with my merit card when I was graduating from Primary to Middle School.  When I stumbled upon this on Amazon Prime, I was delighted. It always feels good to watch your favorite fictional characters on screen. Its often slated that the book is always better as it captures a lot more depth with regards to the plot and characters. However a couple of adaptations that I had seen in the recent past made a good watch. A couple of them ended up being a visual treat. One was The Call of the Wild which showcased the beauty of the Alaskan Wilderness. Another one was Heidi which exhibited the splendor of the snow clad Alps.  Heidi is the story of a young orphaned girl who is sent to live in the mountains with her rather eccentric grandfather-who is known as Alm Uncle by the villagers. Heidi manages to melt his heart as he develops an affection for her. She spends her carefree days in the mountains a
Read more

100 meters : Movie Review

Image
Watched this inspiring Spanish film over the weekend on Netflix!  100 meters is a based on a true story of a man named Ramon who is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He is told that he will be able to even walk 100 meters in the next one year. Determined to prove this wrong, he takes up the challenge of doing the grueling Ironman race which involves 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking and 26.2 miles running.  With the help of his father in law with whom he initially shares a shaky relationship with, he begins to train relentlessly. Ramon faces challenges on the way and is almost pushed to the brink of being bed ridden. He overcomes every hurdle with grit and a positive frame of mind. It remains to be seen if he actually finishes the race.  This movie struck a chord in many ways. A triathlon is not just a race-its a humbling journey which alters your life forever. The training period is especially a challenging one as it demands a lot out of you. The film showcases the importance of f
Read more

My friend Ganesha: Friendship with God

Image
-By Swetha Amit http://content.msn.co.in/MSNContribute/Story.aspx?PageID=b7ab149a-5f35-4861-8859-6a890ddb71fe Loneliness often propels one to longingly seek a friend. Times like these often push us into a solitary stance or we find our solace in the road to spirituality striking an unspoken friendship with God. My friend Ganesha is one such film which depicts this divine friendship between a child and the elephant faced God and takes you down the mythological lane. The movie revolves around a family consisting of Ashu, his parents, aunt and the maid Gangubhai who places her sincere devotion in Lord Ganapathy. Ashu is a lonely child devoid of any friends and to top it all he is bullied by his counterparts at every given opportunity. To make matters worse, his parents who are caught up with the corporate lifestyles hardly spend time with him. One day he ends up saving a little mouse from the harsh rains. On sharing this with the maid, leaves her enthralled enough to tell him of being the
Read more