The Time of the Doves (La Plaza del Diamante)
by Merce Rodoreda
List Price:
Our Price: $8.28
You Save: $5.72 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Merce RodoredaEdition: Paperback
Published: 1986-10-01
ISBN: 0915308754
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Book Reviews of The Time of the Doves (La Plaza del Diamante)
Book Review: Tour-de-force
Summary: 5 Stars
What a terrific story. Set during the turbulent years of the Spanish Civil War and dictatorship, of the 1930's and 40's, the novel traces the mediocre and often turbulent life of Natalia, nicknamed "Colometa", through difficult years of famine and depression, as a young mother and unskilled laborer in Catalonia.
We're not talking about an overtly political novel here: this is a story of the human condition, the suffering that any one of us endures at some point in our individual lives. The author scarcely mencions political struggle, nor does she take sides; the dominant theme here is the perpetual plight of a passive yet resiliant female who fights for survival in a brutal and depressed urban environment.
The first person narration creates a wonderful tone. The narrator is soulful, spontaneous, and often gutwrenching. Her language is extremely natural and authentic. The prose reads as if it were a transcription of someone's internal thought process: unpredictable yet familiar. The reader forms an intense emotional bond with the narrative voice that leads to an abundance of tear-jerking moments.
This is the kind of novel that you become attatched to, whether you are a casual reader or a literature scholar. I picked it up an couldn't put it down.
Lastly this novel represents a keen example of true minority struggle under the harsh conditions of a dictatorship. Its original language of publication, Catalan, was prohibited in 1939 by the Spanish government, and therefore, its mere existance is an act of rebellion.
Don't confuse this female story of survival with the sappy victimist writers of the Gloria Anzaldua type - "Colometa" is a real survivor, whose struggle inspires compassion and reflection.
Summary of The Time of the Doves (La Plaza del Diamante)
The Time of the Doves, the powerfully written story of a na?ve shop-tender during the Spanish Civil War and beyond, is a rare and moving portrait of a simple soul confronting and surviving a convulsive period in history. The book has been widely translated, and was made into a film.
General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in The Fourth Age (Chaotic) of Harold Bloom's Canon (Part 2)
The Art of Poetry (Bollingen Series XLV, Vol. 7)by Paul Valery
Princeton University Press; Published: 1989-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops:
Selected Writings of Guillaume Apollinaire (New Directions Book)by Guillaume Apollinaire
New Directions Publishing Corporation; Published: 1971-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.90
Price in other shops:
The Infernal Machine, and Other Plays.by Jean Cocteau
New Directions Publishing Corporation; Published: 1964-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.88
Price in other shops:
Selected Works of Alfred Jarryby Alfred Jarry
Grove Pr; Published: 1980-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
The Balconyby Jean Genet
Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
The Thief's Journalby Jean Genet
Olympia Press; Published: 2008-06-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.23
Price in other shops:
Our Lady of the Flowersby Jean Genet
Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Mount Analogueby Ren? Daumal, Carol Cosman
Overlook TP; Published: 2004-03-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.66
Price in other shops:
Journey to the End of the Night (New Directions Paperbook)by Louis-Ferdinand Celine
New Directions; Published: 2006-05-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Blue of Noonby Georges Bataille
Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd; Published: 2002-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.70
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
A Broken Mirror (European Women Writers)by Merce Rodoreda
Bison Books; Published: 2006-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.30
Price in other shops:
For Whom the Bell Tollsby Ernest Hemingway
Scribner; Published: 1995-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.96
Price in other shops:
Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Pastby Giles Tremlett
Walker & Company; Published: 2008-03-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.46
Price in other shops:
LA PLAZA DEL DIAMANTEby Merce Rodoreda
Edhasa; Published: 2007-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.03
Price in other shops:
Nada: A Novel (Modern Library Classics)by Carmen Laforet
Modern Library; Published: 2008-02-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Homage to Cataloniaby George Orwell
Harvest Books; Published: 1980-10-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.36
Price in other shops:
The Family of Pascual Duarte (Spanish Literature Series)by Camilo Jose Cela Conde, Anthony Kerrigan
Dalkey Archive Press; Published: 2004-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Spain: The Root and the Flower: An Interpretation of Spain and the Spanish Peopleby John A. Crow
University of California Press; Published: 2005-05-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.44
Price in other shops:
The Back Roomby Carmen Martin Gaite, Helen Lane
City Lights Publishers; Published: 2000-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops:
The Spanish Civil Warby Frances Lannon
Osprey Publishing; Published: 2002-10-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: