el gato

This novella by Juan Garcia Ponce is so...weird, to say the least, but I also think it's one of the more heartbreaking literary things I've read in a while.

The story focuses in on the romantic relationship between Andres and Alma, which is just a tad bit (read: a lot) weirder than your average relationship just because there's a lot of emphasis on the theme of voyeurism/the gaze (people watching them mad PDA-ing/being unwise, the cat - el gato - watching them mad PDA-ing/being unwise). What is so sad (and it really reminds me of 500 Days of Summer sometimes haha) is that Andres is so adamant about having a "utopian" relationship, where there is no such thing as past or future for the relationship - only the present, where there is a constant presence of Alma, always there, always willing to do what he says, always being his spectacle. But obviously, Alma isn't content with this, and though she tries to resist him, her heart can't help but continue loving him (at first, i.e. I don't know how the novel will end.)

Interesting questions the story raises:

1) Do you really love someone if you don't miss him/her when he/she is not with you? Isn't missing someone a part of loving someone?

2) Is it really possible to have an exclusive but undefined relationship with someone? Will one person inevitably be more invested than the other and want to define it?

3) What does it mean for a person to be called "mine"?

It's a very strange (and rather...er...erotic) story we've had to read, but there's something quintessentially heartbreaking about it - at least for this first part! We'll see where things go...

(I do have more to write about life these days in general, but I should get back to work...so I shall blog a different day!)