The one book that stood out in my mind was Nabokov's Lolita. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, it is about an older gentleman, Humbert, who becomes obsessed with a twelve year old girl in his care, Lolita. While I was reading this book, though I found the main character, Humbert, to be repulsive, I also found at times, as he was the narrator, that, despite his repulsive obsession, I was able to understand his reasoning and even felt sad for him. My point here being, the fact that I felt for the characters (both Humbert and Lolita) resulted in my enjoyment of the book.
In comparison, though I felt satisfied that I was reading literature for a change and not long winded articles on, say secularism, and I did enjoy the fantastic voyage Allende took me on from one character to the next, I walked away from this book with no feelings whatsoever. I didn't have that same sadness I have when I finish a book and say goodbye to the characters and put them away. Mind you, preference does not make a book a good piece of literature and I believe that, though it is hard to separate personal taste from objective reasoning, it must be done.
So do I think we need to be able to relate to and feel for the characters in a book for it to be good literature? No. I tend to enjoy a book more when I do relate to the characters. When I read Pride and Prejudice, I could barely stay awake and found I was irritated by the characters throughout the entire book, but I was able to recognize that it was good literature and deserved merit. Is Eva Luna good literature? Not so sure anymore, I thought it was at first but I found the last three chapters to be contrived. I think Allende rushed her happy endings, and though Eva’s happy ending was ambiguous, I think both endings were somewhat happy – she did get the great job and was with Rolfe, if even temporarily. Anyways, I digress, I think I am sitting on the fence really, the book wasn’t great, but it may deserve merit.
2 comments:
Like you, I finished the book without feeling anything for it. I did not feel any emotion from reading this book. I am not sure if both of the endings are "somewhat happy" though. To me, Eva is just trying to convince herself of her happy ending. But I think she knows that it's not going to last, and since the ending leaves the reader feeling somewhat unsatisified. I think perhaps Allende will write a sequel to continue exploring her characters.
~ Jennifer
I agree with you, I like that you compared it to Lolita and how this book gave you a better impression than Allende's in certain aspects. Although both books have different stories, I understand the point you made that as a reader, "feeling" some emotions for the characters makes it more appealing. I did enjoy the political aspects of the book and how Eva comes to forge a relationship with Melesio. As I mentioned in my post, the first part of the book did not spark as much interest as the second part. As Jennifer said, perhaps a sequel might make up for it.
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