- The working of memory is a key theme of this novel. As a young woman, remembering the missing paintings is a deliberate act of survival and homage for Marina. In old age, however, she can no longer control what she remembers or forgets. "More distressing than the loss of words is the way that time contracts and fractures and drops her in unexpected places." How has Dean used the vagaries of Marina's memory to structure the novel? How does the narrative itself mimic the ways in which memory functions?
- Sometimes, Marina finds consolations within the loss of her short-term memory. "One of the effects of this deterioration seems to be that as the scope of her attention narrows, it also focuses like a magnifying glass on smaller pleasures that have escaped her notice for years." Is aging merely an accumulation of deficits or are there gifts as well?
- The narrative is interspersed with single-page chapters describing a room or a painting in the Hermitage Museum. Who is describing these paintings and what is the significance of the paintings chosen? How is each interlude connected to the chapter that follows?
Monday, November 6, 2017
Madonnas Questions/Work on Magic Realism
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1. Dean has used the vagaries of Marina's memory to structure the novel with the going back and forth between inside Marina's mind and memories, aka her art museum, and back to real life. The real life sections show how Marina is losing her memory, but the sections inside Marina's mind shows the reader how Marina thinks and how things deposit in her mind and in her memory.
ReplyDelete2. Aging is an accumulation of deficits, but it can also be an accumulation of gifts. As for Marina, her memory loss was a deficit, but it also enhanced her focus on small things which can be considered a gift, and could have helped her create this art museum in her mind paying close attention to the details of her "paintings".
2. These paintings are being described by Marina and I think the paintings chosen are significant because they reflect pieces of Marina's memory which are activated by the action that happens in the connected chapter.
1. Dean has used the vagaries of Marina's memory to structure the novel by using her different memories to tell something about her past, thus providing readers with more knowledge on her experiences and who she is as a person/character (characterization). The narrative itself mimics the ways in which memory functions because the stories sort of jump around, which is somewhat similar to Marina's memories.
ReplyDelete2. I suppose that aging includes the accumulation of both deficits and gifts, although, there's more of one than the other. Age can come with things like the worsening of one's health. However, age generally comes with more wisdom because older people have had more experiences in life.
3. Marina is describing the paintings. The paintings that are chosen are significant because they are symbolic of the things that Marina has experienced (her memories). Each interlude is connected to the chapter that follows because they share common themes.
1-The working of memory is a key theme of this novel. As a young woman, remembering the missing paintings is a deliberate act of survival and homage for Marina. In old age, however, she can no longer control what she remembers or forgets. "More distressing than the loss of words is the way that time contracts and fractures and drops her in unexpected places." How has Dean used the vagaries of Marina's memory to structure the novel? How does the narrative itself mimic the ways in which memory functions?
ReplyDelete2-Sometimes, Marina finds consolations within the loss of her short-term memory. "One of the effects of this deterioration seems to be that as the scope of her attention narrows, it also focuses like a magnifying glass on smaller pleasures that have escaped her notice for years." Is aging merely an accumulation of deficits or are there gifts as well?
3-Marina is describing the paintings and they are significant because they represent things she has experienced in her past life. The interludes are connected because they all share familiar themes.
Madonnas Questions
ReplyDelete1. Dean has used the vagaries of Marina’s memories novel to format the novel in a very unique way. By using the unpredictableness of Marina’s memories, he is able to fracture the chapters and develop a sophisticated, yet confusing, structure while providing background information for the reader that gives insight into Marina’s experiences and characteristics. Not only does this technique create an intriguing narrative, it also succeeds in mimicking the essence of memory itself. This is because Dean’s novel, just like memories, can draw upon seemingly random and unrelated events from Marina’s past at any time.
2. I think that while aging certainly comes with it’s share of deficiencies, both physical and mental, there can be some positives as well. There is the obvious accumulation of wisdom with age as growing older entails new experiences and knowledge. However, another gift that aging provide is the ability to appreciate smaller things that were previously considered negligible and of little value. This ability provides someone who may be deteriorating mentally and physically to shed a whole new light on the world and it’s mysteries.
3. The singly page chapters that are interspersed across the novel are described by Marina. The paintings are chosen specifically to foreshadow the following chapter. For example, on page 12 Marina describes the painting Stolen Kiss and the next chapter is about the relationship between Marina and Dimitri and how he has to leave her to fight in the war. Another example of this is one page 48 where Marina describes a painting by Caraffe where a city is surrounded by an army and many are left dead. Marina describes how there was no mercy or beauty in these events which greatly foreshadows the bombs dropped on leningrad in the following chapter that destroy the city and cause many deaths.
1) The working of memory is a key theme of this novel. As a young woman, remembering the missing paintings is a deliberate act of survival and homage for Marina. In old age, however, she can no longer control what she remembers or forgets. "More distressing than the loss of words is the way that time contracts and fractures and drops her in unexpected places." How has Dean used the vagaries of Marina's memory to structure the novel? How does the narrative itself mimic the ways in which memory functions?
ReplyDeleteEvery few chapters or so Dean has Marina describe a painting. Where it was, what it looks like, what it meant. Than this introduces the next part of the story. A lot like how an object can provoke a memory in someone’s mind.
2) Sometimes, Marina finds consolations within the loss of her short-term memory. "One of the effects of this deterioration seems to be that as the scope of her attention narrows, it also focuses like a magnifying glass on smaller pleasures that have escaped her notice for years." Is aging merely an accumulation of deficits or are there gifts as well?
There are definitely both. Things are made known to you the older you get. Things only time and experience allow you to understand. Marina time in the museum during the bombing has taught her to appreciate the little things. Although is does take thing away, Marina for example is unable to enjoy her present due to her loss of memory.
3) The narrative is interspersed with single-page chapters describing a room or a painting in the Hermitage Museum. Who is describing these paintings and what is the significance of the paintings chosen? How is each interlude connected to the chapter that follows?
Same answer for #1
1) The vagaries of Marina's memories structure the novel by connecting her fondness of art paintings to her real life experiences. She has difficulty retaining her memories so she lives through the paintings where she can recall lots of information to her life where she struggles with that. This shows how trapped she must feel coping with the disease. The chapters function around this idea which can explain why the shift in tone feels chaotic.
ReplyDelete2) For Marina, her age comes with more deficits than benefits. Her age gave her an extremely detrimental drawback; Alzheimer's Disease. This takes away her ability to remember and she becomes really insecure seeing her husband's face every time she forgets something. Old age makes you unable to accomplish certain tasks than previously... such as physical activities or timed games. While you might have many years of experience, most old people simply reflect on the time when their lives were good. Which is pretty sad for the most part.
3) Marina is describing these paintings. The paintings are significant to the book because they relate to pieces of Marina's life. It's also an astounding fact that Marina can remember all the paintings and their intricate details. Most of the paintings are usually preludes to the following chapters.
ReplyDeleteAlquasia Maye
11-6-17
Ms.Gamzon
1. The working of memory is a key theme of this novel. As a young woman, remembering the missing paintings is a deliberate act of survival and homage for Marina. In old age, however, she can no longer control what she remembers or forgets. "More distressing than the loss of words is the way that time contracts and fractures and drops her in unexpected places." How has Dean used the vagaries of Marina's memory to structure the novel? How does the narrative itself mimic the ways in which memory functions?
Dean uses the vagaries of Marina’s memory to structure the novel by taking the memories from her perspective. Since, before the siege, it was her job to recognize all of the paintings and remember their positions and their history, it would be easier to talk about the paintings through her memory rather than someone else’s. The narrative itself mimics the way memory structures itself because there are some parts of the text that are more detailed than others, showing that Marina has more of a vivid memory of that moment than maybe another part of the text that may not have as much details, meaning that the memory in particular may not be as vivid in her mind. In Marina’s case, she has Alzheimer's. So the fact that her memory can’t be controlled by her anymore, so the flashes of description are quick but just enough to emphasize the importance of the memory.
2.Sometimes, Marina finds consolations within the loss of her short-term memory. "One of the effects of this deterioration seems to be that as the scope of her attention narrows, it also focuses like a magnifying glass on smaller pleasures that have escaped her notice for years." Is aging merely an accumulation of deficits or are there gifts as well?
Aging has deficits but it also has benefits. For example, if you’re up there in the ages, you have more life experiences than most people. Like Marina says, with aging, even though you may not remember everything, the things you do remember, you will remember with such precise detail, it would be like you were reliving the moment all over again. Although, aging can also skew the memories and make them remember things that maybe have never happen..
3.The narrative is interspersed with single-page chapters describing a room or a painting in the Hermitage Museum. Who is describing these paintings and what is the significance of the paintings chosen? How is each interlude connected to the chapter that follows?
I think the person describing the paintings is Marina before she developed Alzheimer’s. The significance of the paintings chose were that they all had something to do with a memory that she laters recalls on in her life. Each interlude is connected to the chapter that follows is that sometimes, the chapter before would reflect on something in the past, while the current chapter would talk about something that was in the present.
1)Using Marina's memories puts a unique spin on a typical story format. Since she has fragmented memories, the information that we get about the story is in the same vain. The chapter is the introduction to the strange development of the mental illness.
ReplyDelete2.Though age might come with knowledge and wisdom, Marina comes with a special case. As she grew older, her memory with Alzheimer's fleeted more and more. The story of her struggles is sad to watch through. Some old people who are disabled in some way or have lost an ability lament about the days when they were young.
3.The person who is describing the paintings is Marina. She finds comfort in the art since they contain pieces of her life that she somewhat remembers and misses subconsciously.
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ReplyDelete1. Dean has used the vagaries of Marina's memory to structure the novel by moving between memories and reality. Therefore, it adds a better understanding of exactly who this character is, what’s she’s been through, and why she is the way she is. In addition, it creates a connection between readers and Marina, opening a metaphorical portal of comprehension and sympathizing.
ReplyDelete2. In my opinion, aging is merely an accumulation of deficits. Age brings you one step closer to death, despite death being a daily struggle for any age. It also reduces strength, happiness, and more. Marina is a prime example of age being an accumulation of deficits, with her constant battle with her elderly disease. Readers experience the pain of aging through this complex character, and begin to understand that age is in fact a deficit.
3. These painting are being described by Marina and the significance of the paintings chosen reflect how Marina, the protagonist thinks, and it describes her perception of life. This is her story, so it is also her perspective, and the paintings help further elaborate what it is in life that she sees, and how she sees it.
! The author used the memories of the main character to make the book come together. The book goes from reality to flashback which is the memory of the main character. The reader can connect with the main character.
ReplyDelete2. Personally I think aging is an accumulation of deficits. When you age you become older and more mature but also as you age you become closer to death and you began to forget things. When you age you become more independent but you also need someone to take care of you. When you get deep into the book you become connected with Marina and when you become connected with her you began to feel what she feels.
3.Each painting gets described by Marina. Each painting that gets described is a painting of her choosing. I think that each painting connects with her life.