Brain Pain discussion

This discussion covers Page 61 – 124 and Conclusions

First line: “At dawn a heavy rain was falling over the earth.”


Jumping back and forth in time and earthly dimension, the life and death of Comala hangs in the balance of Pedro Páramo’s capricious will.

Were you basically able to follow what was going on and who was talking from section to section?

Not at first. Actually, I had to read the book twice before I felt I had a grip on what was happening at all.

Ellie wrote: "Not at first. Actually, I had to read the book twice before I felt I had a grip on what was happening at all."

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the language and imagery as well as jumping around in time and between the living and the dead - Faulknerian, really - but a part of me wanted more story, or maybe just a longer story. There's plenty in the book to chew on, but I could have eaten more...

I felt it was almost like a dream or a prose poem. I enjoyed the slightness of it-it left more for me to dream on.

Jim wrote:"Were you basically able to follow what was going on and who was talking from section to section?"

Luckily, yes. Though I must confess when the first 'Susana' interior monologue came,I thought it was Juan's musing cause if I remember correctly till then his name wasn't given & in keeping with Marquez' knack of giving the same name to all the male members of the family in One Hundred,I reckoned that Dolorita had given the same Pedro Páramo name to her son- that was a clever trick!

But soon there was a pattern- the Comala of Pedro P's time had rains & greenery now there is only the sounds of winds & human/ghostly whisperings.
The time shifts and fragmented narrative was very neatly done. Rulfo's style achieves so much in its minimalism; it was amazing.

Jim wrote:"I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the language and imagery as well as jumping around in time and between the living and the dead - Faulknerian, really - but a part of me wanted more story, or maybe just a longer story. There's plenty in the book to chew on, but I could have eaten more... "

I think given its subject matter,the story was neatly resolved- why then the need for a longer story? What else did you want from this book?
It would've been oppressive living longer among those suffering in the purgatory!
The whole book revolves around memory and desire & how the main characters are chained by it- Juan's mother can't give up the memory of Comala & her desire for revenge for her son,Susana is lost in the memory of her dead husband & suffers violently in her lustful desire for him,& then there is Pedro Páramo- obssessed with the memory of Susana & with the desire of possessing her.
None of them can get what they desire & life becomes a living hell even before they are dead.
This book did a masterful job with the characterisation of Páramo- the typical feudal lord who holds the destiny of all the people in his area of influence- Comala's rise and fall are linked with his.
A wonderful book!

Mala wrote: "why then the need for a longer story? What else did you want from this book?..."

My comment is from a whole year ago, so I don't remember specifically what else I was looking for.

Perhaps what was missing was a sense of humor? I'm just going by my own review-notes, as my memories of the book are somewhat indistinct (or maybe indistinctness is a crystal clear memory of the work). But while the book is evocative of a mood, its fragmented plot-skeleton contains some of the absurd elements of melodrama and ghostly folklore, yet the book seems unconscious of this absurdity... it never quite laughs at itself.

I don't know if that makes sense as a criticism, but it's the best I could cobble together on the spur of the moment... and a year or two late for the discussion.