Another disappointing reading.


4* Girl With a Pearl Earring
2* The Lady and the Unicorn
1* The Virgin Blue
2* Falling Angels

Pensei que estar com outra mulher traria Kitty de volta, que o ciúme a faria abrir-me de novo a porta do seu quarto. Contudo, duas semanas depois não me deixava lá entrar mais vezes do que antes.
Não gosto de pensar que sou um homem desesperado, mas não percebo porque é a minha mulher tão difícil. Dei-lhe uma vida boa, mas continua infeliz, embora não possa, ou não queira, dizer porquê.
É o suficiente para levar um homem a trocar de mulher, ainda que seja por uma noite.

É do domínio de um bom escritor transformar a história em estória sem ferir a sensibilidade estética do leitor, e eu, pelo menos, não me senti nada ofendida com esta interpretação (simbólica) de Chevalier daquele que é o fim da era vitoriana e o início de um novo século repleto de possibilidades (ou não) para todas aquelas mulheres que aspiravam a ter um lugar numa sociedade desenhada em função do homem e dominada pelo homem.

Entremeado de eventos verídicos ou, no mínimo, plausíveis, Quando os Anjos Caem é um romance muito bem conseguido sobre, é certo, a amizade de várias crianças, sobre as dores do crescimento e da perda, sobre o momento em que a realidade atinge cada um de nós e nos arranca dos nossos alicerces, mas cujo núcleo duro reside na força com que transmite uma mensagem que, desde que pela primeira vez foi passada, ainda não perdeu o seu valor: a defesa da igualdade de género.

- Uma menina precisa de aprender estas coisas. Como vai a costura dela?
-Não muito bem - respondeu francamente a mãe. - Herdou de mim a falta de jeito. Mas lê muito bem. Está a ler Sensibilidade e Bom Senso, não estás, Maude?
Acenei afirmativamente.
- E também Alice do Outro Lado do Espelho. O pai e eu recriámos o jogo de xadrez a partir dele.
- A ler! - A avó empertigou-se- Isso não leva a rapariga a lado nenhum. Só lhe mete ideias na cabeça. Sobretudo lixo, como o daqueles livros da Alice.
A mãe endireitou-se. Ela está sempre a ler.
-Que mal há em que as mulheres tenham ideias, mãe?
-Nada as satisfaz. Como a ti.(...)Queres sempre mais alguma coisa, embora nem tu saibas o quê.

Não será por isso de estranhar que, embora as relações entre as famílias Waterhouse (tradicionalista) e Coleman (mais progressista, ou talvez nem tanto assim) sejam um dos focos da narrativa, e a relação entre as filhas de ambas as famílias sirva de fio condutor da história, seja, na realidade, a transição de Kitty Coleman, de mulher de família a arreigada sufragista o evento que suscita maior interesse e perspetivas de análise em todo o livro.

Ligando a morte da rainha Vitória com o surgimento de um novo século, Chevalier faz despertar na sua anti-heroína desejos de uma vida de maior liberdade intelectual, física e espiritual. Para Kitty, a morte da rainha representa a morte de uma era em que a mulher está subordinada ao papel de mãe e esposa e essa rutura, sentida profundamente, irá ditar o seu comportamento futuro.

Não me atrevo a dizer a ninguém, senão sou acusada de traição, mas fiquei tremendamente animada quando soube que rainha tinha morrido. (...)A viragem do século foi uma simples alteração de números, mas agora vamos ter uma verdadeira mudança de chefia e não posso deixar de pensar que Eduardo é mais representativo de todos nós do que a sua mãe.

Kitty, como se verá, está disposta a pagar o seu preço pelo legado que terá a possibilidade de deixar, mas também pela missão, pelo sentimento de completude e propósito que a iniciativa lhe traz, uma mudança de comportamento que é tudo menos inofensiva, com ou sem morte da rainha.

Esse retrato do que era a mulher que sai de uma era de repressão está muito bem desenhado pela autora que recorre a figuras e eventos míticos da luta pela igualdade de género e pelo direito ao sufrágio, sobretudo porque não se fica por aí e vai mais longe procurando traçar as motivações pessoais, os desafios familiares, as pressões sociais e de classe e o embaraço institucional que cerceia a vida destas mulheres e de um movimento que era tudo menos pacífico para o sistema político, social e familiar estabelecido.

- Aprendeste a lição? - perguntou o pai.
A mãe franziu a testa.
- Que queres dizer com «lição»>?
- Basta. Quando saires podemos voltar à vida normal.
- Depende muito daquilo a que chamas normals.
O pai não respondeu.
- Estás a sugerir que desista da luta?
- Com certeza que não vais continuar.
- Pelo contrário, Richard, acho que a prisão foi a minha realização. É estranho, mas a tristeza transformou-me numa vara de ferro, «o que não me derrota torna-me mais forte»... Uma frase de Nietzsche, sabes?
- Leste demasiado. - disse o pai.
A mãe sorriu.
- Não pensavas assim quando me conheceste. Aliás, quando sair, vou ter muito mais que fazer e ler.
- Discutiremos isso quando voltares para casa. (...) Aqui não podes pensar convenientemente
-Não há nada a discutir. Já tomei a minha decisão. Não tens de te intrometer.
- Claro que tenho... Sou o teu marido!

A luta pelo direito ao sufrágio está assim vinculada à liberdade de pensamento, à liberdade sexual, à liberdade ideológica e de ação, e dela não se liberta nem pode libertar pois é neste emaranhado que se alicerça a missão destas mulheres que, como a fictícia Kitty, ofereceram a sua vida como penhor de tempos mais justos.

- Sinto-me importante - respondeu a mãe - porque talvez pela primeira vez na minha vida tenho uma tarefa, Richard. Estou a trabalhar! Posso não ser optimista como a
Caroline e Mrs. Pankhurst quanto a ver o sufrágio votado ainda durante a minha vida. Mas o nosso trabalho a isso conduzirá. A Maude beneficiará dos resultados, mesmo que eu não os veja.

Devastating by the end. Just made me feel so heartbroken. And in some ways this is a historical novel where not a lot happens, there's no big historical thing to experience and the way it is written makes it feel very light. It's all written in the first person and jumps around a lot of different characters, all with short chapters. I'm not always the biggest fan of first person narration and with so many in here I was a bit uncertain, but in the end I really liked the style.

Set in London at the turn of the century, Queen Victoria has just died and two local families, the Colemans and the Waterhouses, meet whilst visiting their own graves. Because yes, the obsession with death is there and families not only purchase the grave plot but also the grave monument well in advance of death. Hence why two girls can sit on their own graves and have a chat.

I don't know if the cemetry was supposed to be Highgate or somewhere else, I don't know London all that well. There's a gravedigger's son, Simon, who befriends the girls and is their guide into the cemetry world and all the complications of moarning, gravedigging, and the grim realities of life.

The families represent two different phases of society. The Waterhouses are old school, with the mother content to have children, keep house and be mother. The eldest daughter, Lavinia, is self absorbed and brattish at time, and very involved in social rules and all the pomp that goes with Victorian moarning. The Colemans on the other hand are more progressive, or at least the mother is. Kitty is restricted by the traditional wife role and wants something more out of her existence. Joining the suffragetes gets her out of a depression after a backstreet abortion, but she gets so obsessed with it that she forgets about everything else. Seeing the utter disintergration of mother-daughter relationship between Kitty and Maude is so sad. Kitty isn't there at all for Maude at all the coming of age moments, and really isn't bothered that she missed it either. I don't know whether this is trying to say something about the suffragettes, but in the midst of the rally, women's rights, in the form of the girls are utterly trampled upon and yet no one seems to care. Kitty abandons Maude, Lavinia and Lavinia's little sister Ivy-May and they keep getting passed from suffragette to suffragete, no one being too fussed to look after them. Lavinia is molested in the crowds listening to the speeches, then they lose Ivy May. Who tragically is found dead, strangled, and the inference with the creepy man loitering in the shadows is that she was abused. It's just awful - and these are all massively awful infringements on women's rights, and yet... it happened and it never feels like a big deal.

I don't know. It is a light and entertaining read, although utterly devastating at the end. I can't even say whether she is actually trying to say something about the period or just telling a good yarn. But it feels like in trying to become free and themselves, eligible to vote and to live, something gets lost in the mix for the women and they let down the next coming generation of women.

Er ad a5 stella quasi fino alla fine, ma poi una serie di tragedie, non tutte giustificate, mi hanno rovinato la lettura

Interesting style with several of the characters telling the story sometimes saying only a few sentences but mostly a few pages. It’s about 2 middle class families in the early years of the 20th century, it has one or two very surprising moments which stopped me in my tracks. The story about the suffragettes is interesting but just ends, I read about it on the 100th anniversary of votes for women 6th Feb 2018.

The second book of Tracy Chevalier I read in a short time and what I can say is that it offered me another special reading experience. I can't explain it exactly based on logic but this quiet way writing and these simple but special stories that are written with attention to detail create an effect that is particularly enjoyable to me. Of course in the case of this book I confess that in the beginning I struggled a bit, this strange structure with the very small chapters and the continuously alternating POV so I believed that the final impression would be rather mediocre. As, however, got used in this structure and could follow better story that was unfolding in front Ι started to like the book more and more and until I got to the end I was really enchanted.

To get things right from the start, the author takes us to the day of the death of Queen Victoria, in 1901 in a typical British cemetery of the era. There, under the gaze of a stone Angel, two young girls become friends and then we follow their common path within the next 10 years, a course that largely revolves around this cemetery. This decade marks a transitional era, of course, is the end of the Victorian era, the beginning of a new century that was supposed to bring massive changes in all sectors. In these years the two girlfriends live through sorrows and joys, growing up and maturing, watching puzzled the social changes of the era and all aspects of life of adults who show the same puzzlement, that in some reaches the point of great turmoil. The writer giving us the perspective of many people creates a fairly comprehensive picture of how people were facing this new era. Others faced it with disbelief, others with indifference, others were trying to become part of this wave of change.

in short we have a touching story of friendship, a record of the life of the people of the era, of their hopes and their concerns against a backdrop of social changes and the Victorian obsession with death and mourning etiquette. The last is that it gives a romantic tone throughout the book, and as it is the subject of extensive study by the author makes it stand out, at least in my own eyes. A book that moved me, made me reflect, somewhere brought tears to my eyes and in the end left me with a bitter smile by realising that it is not a story about death but about life that always finds a way to continue, with the ceremonial rites of death and mourning to play an important role. A really wonderful book.

Δεύτερο βιβλίο της Tracy Chevalier που διαβάζω σε σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα και αυτό και αυτό που μπορώ να πω είναι ότι μου πρόσφερε άλλη μία ιδιαίτερη αναγνωστική εμπειρία. Δεν μπορώ να το εξηγήσω ακριβώς με βάση τη λογική αλλά αυτός ο ήσυχος τρόπος γραφής και αυτές οι απλές αλλά ξεχωριστές ιστορίες που είναι γραμμένες με προσοχή στη λεπτομέρεια δημιουργούν ένα αποτέλεσμα που μου είναι ιδιαίτερα απολαυστικό. Βέβαια στην περίπτωση αυτού του βιβλίου ομολογώ πως στην αρχή λίγο δυσκολεύτηκα, αυτή η περίεργη δομή του με τα πολύ μικρά κεφάλαια και της συνεχώς εναλλασσόμενης οπτικής γωνίας με μπέρδευε αρκετά και έτσι πίστεψα ότι η τελική εντύπωση θα είναι μάλλον μέτρια. Καθώς, όμως, συνήθιζα σε αυτή την δομή και μπορούσα να παρακολουθήσω καλύτερα την ιστορία που εκτυλισσόταν μπροστά μου το βιβλίο άρχισε να μου αρέσει όλο και περισσότερο και μέχρι να φτάσω στο τέλος είχα πραγματικά μαγευτεί.

Να τα πάρω όμως τα πράγματα από την αρχή συγγραφέας μας μεταφέρει στην ημέρα του θανάτου της βασίλισσας Βικτορίας, στο 1901 σε ένα τυπικό βρετανικό νεκροταφείο της εποχής. Εκεί, κάτω από το βλέμμα ενός πέτρινου αγγέλου, δύο μικρά κορίτσια γίνονται φίλες και στη συνέχεια παρακολουθούμε την κοινή πορεία τους μέσα στα επόμενα 10 χρόνια, μία πορεία που σε μεγάλο βαθμό περιστρέφεται γύρω από αυτό το νεκροταφείο. Αυτή η δεκαετία φυσικά σηματοδοτεί μία μεταβατική εποχή, είναι το τέλος της περίφημης βικτωριανής εποχής, η αρχή ενός νέου αιώνα που επρόκειτο να φέρει τεράστιες αλλαγές σε όλους τους τομείς. Σε αυτά τα χρόνια οι δύο φίλες γνωρίζουν λύπες και χαρές, μεγαλώνουν και ωριμάζουν παρακολουθώντας αμήχανα τις κοινωνικές αλλαγές της εποχής και όλες τις πτυχές της ζωής των ενηλίκων, οι οποίοι δείχνουν την ίδια αμηχανία, που σε ορισμένους φτάνει στο σημείο της μεγάλης αναταραχής. Η συγγραφέας δίνοντας μας την οπτική γωνία πολλών ανθρώπων δημιουργεί μία αρκετά ολοκληρωμένη εικόνα του τρόπου που αντιμετώπιζαν αυτή τη νέα εποχή. Άλλοι την αντιμετώπιζαν με δυσπιστία, άλλοι με αδιαφορία, άλλοι προσπαθούσαν να γίνουν μέρος αυτού του σαρωτικού κύματος αλλαγής.

Με λίγα λόγια έχουμε μία συγκινητική ιστορία φιλίας, μία καταγραφή της ζωής των ανθρώπων της εποχής, των ελπίδων τους και των προβληματισμών τους με φόντο τις κοινωνικές αλλαγές και την βικτωριανή εμμονή με το θάνατο και την εθιμοτυπία του πένθους. Το τελευταίο είναι που δίνει και έναν ρομαντικό τόνο σε όλο το βιβλίο και καθώς είναι αντικείμενο εκτεταμένης μελέτης από τη συγγραφέα το κάνει να ξεχωρίζει, τουλάχιστον στα δικά μου τα μάτια. Ένα βιβλίο που με συγκίνησε, με έκανε να προβληματιστώ, κάπου μου έφερε δάκρυα στα μάτια και στο τέλος με άφησε με ένα πικρό χαμόγελο με τη συνειδητοποίηση ότι δεν είναι μία ιστορία για τον θάνατο αλλά για τη ζωή που πάντα βρίσκει τρόπο να συνεχίζεται, με τα τελετουργικά έθιμα του θανάτου και του πένθους να παίζουν έναν σημαντικό ρόλο. Ένα πραγματικά υπέροχο βιβλίο.

تریسی شوالیه استاد نوشتن رمان‌های تاریخی است به طوری که در انتهای کتاب خواننده مطمئن نیست که آیا روایتی از یکی از مهم‌ترین اتفاقات تاریخی را خوانده یا رمانی عاشقانه، درام و تماماً زاییده‌ی خیال نویسنده.
از آنجایی که همیشه دوست دارم کتاب را بی‌هیچ پیش زمینه‌ای بخوانم تا نیمه‌ی «سقوط فرشتگان» اصلا نمی‌دانستم چه چیزی در انتظارم است. خواندن نیمه‌ی اول کتاب که مصادف شده بود با دیدن سریال Downton Abbey توصیف یک زندگی اشرافی بریتانیایی بود که برایشان در زندگی هیچ چیز مهم‌تر ازرعایت رسم و رسوم نیست.
اما از نیمه‌ی کتاب به بعد همه چیز تغییر کرد.. اصل قضییه را فهمیدم و به صورت همزمان در سریال هم همین اتفاق را دیدم.
اتفاق مهمی که بعد از آن تمام اروپا و دنیا را تحت تاثیر قرار داد: جنبش حق رای زنان در بریتانیا که پس از ۵۰ سال تلاش جامعه‌ی زنان بالاخره در ۱۹۱۸ به تصویب رسید.
البته نیوزلند اولین کشوری است که حق رأی زنان را به رسمیت شناخت و بعد از آن بریتانیا، آمریکا، ایتالیا و... نیز حق رای زنان را به رسمیت شناختند. چیزی که برایم عجیب است همین نابرابر‌ی‌های اجتماعی است. حق رای ، حق طلاق، حق پوشش، حق کار و تحصیل، حق... همین حق‌هایی که از ابتدای پیدایش انسان از نیمی از جامعه گرفته شده است و هنوز هم این ظلم ادامه دارد. در حالی که در قرن ۲۱ هستیم، زندگی‌مان مدرن شده اما تفکرات قرون وسطایی‌مان همچنان به قوت خود باقی هستند.

داستان کتاب به صورت برش‌هایی از یادداشت‌های روزانه‌ی شخصیت‌های اصلی روایت می‌شود و همین هم باعث بیشتر شدن جذابیت داستان است. توصیفات دقیق از آداب و رسوم خانواده‌ی اشرافی و همچنین از روزگار مردم در دهه‌ی ابتدایی قرن بیستم آنقدر دقیق بود که برای تصور آن دوران در ذهنم همه چیز مهیا بود به حدی که دیگر سریال را ادامه ندادم تا کتاب را تمام کنم چون دوست داشتم ببینم در تخیلم چه می‌گذرد. :)

I totally enjoyed this book even though I didn't give it a 5 star. But it was a "period" book that gave a glimpse of the historical importance of cemetaries for "preambling" and for showing the wealth and position that each person held. But, even more than that, what it was like for ladies of the time to live in the parameters of the lives they were destined for. And the children who also fell into that society and what is expected of them. Fascinating stuff -- to me. Well written book and would recommend to anyone who likes historically based fiction. Second book I've read by Tracy Chevalier (Girl with the Pearl Earring), but think I'll be readying more.

رملن با سبکی جالب و خواندنی، در این دوره قرنطینه خانگی و دوران کرونایی جالب بود ارزش خوندن دارد

تو اپدیت قبلیم سپهر گفت که لااقل یه دو خط درمورد کتاب بنویس منم الان دارم تلاشمو میکنم.

داستان در مورد دو تا خونواده‌ست که دختراشون تو قبرستون باهم دوست میشن و دوستی و همسایگی اونها باهم، باعث ارتباط بین بزرگتر‌ها میشه.

نویسنده سعی داره اختلاف طبقاتی و فرهنگی و در نتیجه تفاوت تفکرات و لایف استایل خونواده‌ها رو به تصویر بکشه.

در خلال داستان هم به شروع جنبش‌های فمینیسم پرداخته شده.

فکر میکنم از اون دسته کتاباست که داستانش با اینکه خیلی چیز خاص و بولدی نداره، تو ذهن آدم می‌مونه (اینو چند ماه بعد قطعیشو میتونم بگم).
روند و ریتم داستان به هیچ عنوان کسل کننده نیست و خوندنش رو پیشنهاد می‌کنم. هرچند انتظار پایان پشم ریزون داشتم (همیشه
دارم).

I was in need of a "damn good book," one I did not want to put down, and once again, Ms. Chevalier did not disappoint. Propelling the story forward through the perspectives of vastly different characters, she explores the complex thoughts and emotions that a rapidly changing world can inspire. As I've found with many of her books, Chevalier has an innate sense for knowing both what to say, and what not to say, inherently knowing when words - even in a novel - are extraneous. In short, it's beautifully crafted historical fiction.

1/2021
Tracy Chevalier, Quando cadono gli angeli.
Una storia che dura 10 anni, racchiusi simbolicamente da due funerali, quello della regina Vittoria e quello di suo figlio Edoardo e che si svolge nel triangolo fra il Cimitero di Hampstead e le case delle due famiglie protagoniste, quella dei Coleman e dei Waterhouse, entrambe ad Hampstead Heath. E' una narrazione a più voci, frantumata in brevi capitoli in cui si alternano i punti di vista dei tanti protagonisti di un romanzo che ci parla di amicizia, di tradimenti, di ricchezza, di di povertà, di vita e di morte, comprese quelle tragiche che costituiscono il punto culminante della trama, quello in cui la tensione si spezza per stemperarsi in un ordine nuovo e diverso: attraverso le storie delle due famiglie si leggono i cambiamenti del decennio in cui alla rigida morale vittoriana si sostituisce il vento che spazza via le ipocrisie e reclama diritti, che siano quelli più generali del voto alle donne o quello, più personale, della propria felicità.
Difficile rimanere imperturbabili, difficilissimo- anzi, impossibile- abbandonare il libro una volta che lo si apre, in questo caleidoscopio di punti di vista che dipinge con vivacità e precisione le contraddizioni tragiche e sofferte di un'epoca di passaggio. Una Chevallier ai suoi livelli più alti (il romanzo è del 2001 ed è immediatamente successivo a La Ragazza con l'Orecchino di perla), forse nella sua prova migliore in assoluto.
Se dovessi valutare il 2021 dalla prima lettura, non sarei potuta partire meglio.