a poem about the Hermitage:
http://academyofamericanpoets.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/y/DECD1522D2AE0C9D/F4421A50941B6C7305AF428974F65BCD
How to Build a Memory Palace:
https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Memory-Palace
https://litemind.com/memory-palace/
From your reading of Madonnas, write a response to the following questions and post on the blog in comments.
- The historical period of The Madonnas of Leningrad begins with the outbreak of war. How is war portrayed in this novel? How is this view of World War II different from or similar to other accounts you have come across?
- Even though she says of herself that she is not a "believer," in what ways is Marina spiritual? Discuss Marina's faith: how does her spirituality compare with conventional religious belief? How do religion and miracles figure in this novel? What are the miracles that occur in The Madonnas of Leningrad?
- A central mystery revolves around Andre's conception. Marina describes a remarkable incident on the roof of the Hermitage when one of the statues from the roof of the Winter Palace, "a naked god," came to life, though she later discounts this as a hallucination. In her dotage, she tells her daughter-in-law that Andre's father is Zeus. Dmitri offers other explanations: she may have been raped by a soldier or it's possible that their only coupling before he went off to the front resulted in a son. What do you think actually happened? Is it a flaw or a strength of the novel that the author doesn't resolve this question?
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ReplyDelete1. The war is portrayed in a harsher light than in most other accounts. Most look at the actual fighting, this looks at the actually citizens and the people suffering.
ReplyDelete2.She is spiritual because of the way that she worships the paintings. She may not actually say it but the pictures are her gods.
3. I believe that it is a flaw that the author didn't answer the question because it leaves you with something that you really want conclusions to.
-Aryonna & Pia
1. The war is portrayed kind of harsh. Starving people, they are being treated in poor conditions. They are suffering, and in my eyes, it's similar to the accounts that I have seen in different accounts. Bombing and having things being lost, not being treated kind.
ReplyDelete2. She treats the pictures as if they are gods, in a sense. She treats them as if the is protecting them, and treats them as if they are better than her as a whole. It is like a symbol for a religion, like an icon, in my eyes.
3. I think it is a strength that the novel does not resolve the question. It keeps you thinking about the book. In my eyes, I am pretty sure that it was just only a hallucination, something she keeps thinking about because it was off to her.
- Simone & Andrew
Looks like you copied from the previous answer. NO CREDIT!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you copied from the previous answers. NO CREDIT!
ReplyDelete1. In this book war is displayed as it really should be viewed when one is on the brink of it. It is displayed as an irrational, childish fight, that always involves an immense amount of suffering, especially for normal citizens. I'm not saying no war ever was justified or necessary, i'm just saying that this book really connects with the people effected by the war. It talks about the normal citizen, not the soldier. In this way, it is one of a few of it's kind that I have read. American War also dealt with the consequences of war, but even there the perspective is a military one. Sarat is a soldier. In this case, Marina is just a normal person, with a normal job, in a very trying time. In that way, this brings me a new perspective on war, and especially World War II.
ReplyDelete2. We start hearing about Marina's beliefs when Anya, says a prayer in front of a Madonna Painting (or it's empty frame). Although Marina is not a believer, after a while she begins to do the same. She explains to us that he uncle's scientific rationing will not save them. Luck will. Well not luck, but a Madonna. And if they make it thorough this, and if I were to be one of the one's who by chance made it though the hunger, then maybe I would believe in miracles, for it certainly would be one.
3. The question does not need resolving. It is a traumatizing memory made into something else by Marina's brain later on if anything. It helps us understand Marina's condition, and it helps us grasp how little Dmitri and Marina told Helen and Andrei.