Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Tired or Hypnotized?
I'm not entirely sure if it was from not getting any sleep last night, or the books overall hypnotic powers, but as I was reading this strange and wonderful tale I slowly began to slip into a deep trance. The power of present tense make me become further and further detached from the actual world surrounding me and thus I became more entranced within the reading itself. I feel that this may have been one of Fuentes' overall goals in this novella, given the trance like state that we find Aura in and the hypnotic powers that Consuelo has over her. I'd have to say that aside from the strange, strange ending sequence, the fact that I actually began to become hypnotized was quite intriguing. I've never had a book have such a profound physical effect on me. Even as I type this blog post, I find myself slowly coming out of my stupor yet still being held in its clutches. However, I may be the only one feeling this and for all I know this could just be my overall sleep deprived mind telling me to get some rest. However, deep down, I'd like to think that Carlos Fuentes is such a persuasive and effective writer that he has a hypnotic effect on me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I know the point has been beaten into the ground, by both our discussions and blog posts, but the second person is really what serves as the driving force behind that powerful effect. What we haven't discussed as comprehensively, however, is the changes between the descriptive and commanding tones between which the novella alternates. I can find any narration in which a direct imperative is used, but there is certainly a change in tone from a passive description to an active instruction. The most obvious example of the latter that I can find is on the last page: "You love her, you too have come back... you'll embrace her again when the clouds cover the moon..." All three of those phrases are at least indicative of a command or a plea, and the last two seem almost predictive: a big change from the neutral narrative on the first page: "You're reading the advertisement..." which appears to have no other motive than to inform.
ReplyDelete