Women's Classic Literature Enthusiasts discussion
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The Ship of Fools
The Ship of Fools
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Charlene
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Sep 02, 2017 11:34AM
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I am so not sure about this book. I know it isn't in a chronological order but I still haven't figure what is previous and what is later. Also how everything fits together. Hoping reading more will help.
Charlene wrote: "I read up to page 84 (out of 204).I am so not sure about this book. I know it isn't in a chronological order but I still haven't figure what is previous and what is later. Also how everything fit..."
Is there anything in terms of flags or a chart that you recommend I try to keep or would that either impede the reading experience or not be helpful? I can get very hung up on needing to pin these things down. The other option is not to worry about it and see if it's important later. Advice?
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I am so not sure about this book. I know it isn't in a chronological order but I still haven't figure what is previous and what is later. Also h..."
To be honest, I don't know. I am hoping reading further will help.
The general appearance description of the characters are fairly basic. Something like graying hair or winkles would have helped.
As I don't have my book with me, I will call him V. V was in a "concentration" camp near a concrete plant. V is described as yellowing with the ash. But times that I think are after this, doesn't continue with descriptions.
hmmm. That's interesting. Thanks!
I had been wondering about Vercingetorix, both the name and the character. Here's a Wiki article that I found to be quite interesting, especially for anyone who remembers their Latin IV and V instruction on the Gallic wars. (I do not, lol).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verci...
I'm not certain whether the key takeaway is that he led a successful, in the short term, revolt, or that he was honorable and tried to save as many of his men as possible, is a folk hero today in Auvergne, his native region, or something else. In any event, this was a wonderful rabbit hole to go down.
If anyone knows more about Vercingetorix, the historical person, or has a perspective on the character and his relationship with Ecks (it took me until page 50 to say Ecks aloud and decide that it means X or anonymous), please share. I'm enjoying Ship of Fools immensely but wishing I had an expert in my living room providing a little context and guidance to add to my understanding.
In this section we have several references to the Tapestry of Creation. Worth looking at. http://www.catedraldegirona.org/visit...
I think visual art is essential to this book. The description of the "aging cherub" on page 75 reads like a painting. She is definitely a goddess figure.
For me, this is the story of the quest of a refugee, a person in exile, trying to feel at home, to find a connection. Maybe X is the exiled. He finds connections within art and literature while he wanders from city to city. With all the abstractions and reference to artworks, I am reminded of Open City by Teju Cole. Another wanderer, a foreigner, an exile, searching for connections.
Exile in Spanish is exilio.
Ginny wrote: "In this section we have several references to the Tapestry of Creation. Worth looking at. http://www.catedraldegirona.org/visit...
I think visual art is essential to th..."
Perhaps, yes. Because we don't have any back story for Ecks, and he expresses relatively emotion or yearning, I have had more of a sense that Ecks' travels are voluntary. He seems not to have any real-world concerns about resources, needing a job to support himself or the like. He travels because that's what he does, either on an epic odyssey or for another purpose. There's not a sense of being either lost or prevented from returning to his homeland. I could be forgetting, of course.
Going back to page 2: "A stranger. Ecks. Estranged. Expelled from the womb of the earth. Eviscerated". And page 28: "After nine years of never-ending travel (it was more in the nature of a flight than a journey"
I think Ecks and Vercingetorix are refugees from a brutal dictatorship (The Journey, IX: The Cement Factory) as was Peri Rossi herself.
Maybe the tapestry is the structure. Maybe the novel is structured like the tapestry--non-linear, almost a medicine wheel. When viewing the tapestry the eye goes to the centre--the creator. Then different viewers would go to different sections. Or back up and look at it as a whole. All the little stories that make up the whole.
Ginny wrote: "Maybe the tapestry is the structure. Maybe the novel is structured like the tapestry--non-linear, almost a medicine wheel. When viewing the tapestry the eye goes to the centre--the creator. Then di..."I like this concept. Yes.
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Didn't it say something like that in the first part of the book?
Or maybe I read that in a Goodreads review.
