i felini e adoro Guimaraes Rosa, dunque non potevo farmi mancare questo piccolo gioiello,
La sperimentazione linguisticoonomatopeica sulle prime lo fa sembrare un po' ostico, ma poco dopo si scopre che è il filo su cui il monologo scorre rapidissimo e spassosissimo.
Rosawas one of the acclaimed Brazilian writers of theth century, exploring the twisting frontiers between 'white man' and Indio, human and animal kind, city and backwoods life, madness and sanity, all themes that he examined with unflagging originality of throughout and language.
This title contains translations of his best pieces, "The Little Boy, in his fearfulness, found a calm in his very depression: some force within him was working to put down roots and swell his soul.
"
"A funeral is the algebraic procession of doubts, " its not bad i mean its not bad at all but i didnt quite love it though, By far the closest English translation of João Guimarães Rosa, If you want to read JGR in English, start here, Short stories by an unforgivably underread and undertranslated Brazilian writer, João Guimarães Rosa is probably the long lost great prose stylist in any language, who is now rediscovered thanks to translator David Treece, The eight stories are tightly selected and survey a range of Guimarães Rosa's stories of life journeys, from setting out to arriving, corresponding to the three parts of the collection: "Setting Out," "Lost Souls," "Final Farewells.
" As he wrote in his celebrated book, The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, "The truth is not in the setting out nor in the arriving: it comes to us in the middle of the journey.
" The middle of the journey here "Lost Souls", and the heart of the book, contains the title story, "The Jaguar" is a tour de force of descent into madness and captures the irony of existence, civilization and barbarity existing side by side in a human being.
I recently read a different translation of this long story, by Giovanni Pontiero, noted translator of José Saramago and Clarice Lispector, The readings of this story in two different registers makes for two distinctive experiences, I have to say though that Treece's version sounds more mad to me, and that's a compliment,
The "Setting Out" part contains three stories told from the point of view of children, The word inventions in these stories are exhilarating for their fresh perspectives on how children begin to view and invent the world through their observant eyes.
The final section "Final Farewells" contains another long story, "In the Name of the Grandfather" which is translated here for the first time, and two more which are widely anthologized, "The Third Bank of the River" and "Soroco, His Mother, His Daughter.
" "In the Name of the Grandfather" is yet another feat of word invention and narrative stream of consciousness, In Treece's versions, Rosa's modern language is resurrected in beautiful living idioms, alive through interpretation, It unfolds, is lived, and experienced, okay, so if machado de assis is the lawrence sterne of brazilian lit, and clarice lispector is sort of like wittgensteinrewritingnathalie sarraute, then joao guimaraes rosa is james joyce remixing edgar allen
poe, or maybe nathaniel hawthorne on mescaline these stories are all about decay and madness and the strange magic of the world, and they are written in a sparkling, swirling whirl of poetry and strange neologisms and playful inventiveness.
they are sad and beautiful and set off in the foreign wilderness, or in old, fallingdown places, broken houses with the windows painted over, . . people lost in time and space, surrounded by things they don't understand, . . this is good stuff! it must be incredible in the original, but also on top of that, it's all just so fastmoving and fun, . .
from "the audacious mariner sets sail":
Across the top of the dune, Zito and Gypsy kept silent, in the twists and turns, the unspeaking, moving moments.
Yes, now they were at peace with each other, making this experience of happiness their own for them, the walk was about feelings, Everyone was climbing down the other slope now, treading carefully on account of the muddying and the slippishness, the puddles, but also in order not to step in what Pixie called "bovine business" coils of mushroomy manure piled high.
Cattle did indeed walk about these slopes: "the moocow's moosh" and just then, Pixie fell over, She said that Mamma had told them what they needed was: courage and common sense, But that was all fibs, So what, then: "Now that I've got dirty, I don't have to be careful any more, . . " She ran with Nurka down the lower slope, over the lush green pasture, Pelle had another go at her: "Are you going to look for an audacious mariner" But that wasn't all, For meanwhile, in the damp, in the light, in the even grass something burst into bloom: stretching on and on, it was the daisies, rudely roused, blearyeyed, encircled by eyelids.
supposedly rosa's book sitelinkThe Devil to Pay in the Backlands" is the sitelinkUlysses of brazilian lit, but there's only been one english translation, back in, and it's long out of print and the cheapest copy i can find is.
. . bummer . . might have to go to a library, shudder . João Guimarães RosaJuneNovemberwas a Brazilian novelist, considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian novelists born in theth century.
His best known work is the novel Grande Sertão: Veredas translated as The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, Some people consider this to be the Brazilian equivalent of Ulysses, Guimarães Rosa was born in Cordisburgo in the state of Minas Gerais, the first of six children of Florduardo Pinto Rosa nicknamed seu Fulô and D.
Francisca Guimarães Rosa Chiquitinha, He was self taught in many areas and from childhood studied many languages, starting with French before he was seven years old, Still a child, he moved to his grandparents house in Belo Horizonte, where he finishe João Guimarães RosaJuneNovemberwas a Brazilian novelist, considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian novelists born in theth century.
His best known work is the novel Grande Sertão: Veredas translated as The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, Some people consider this to be the Brazilian equivalent of Ulysses, Guimarães Rosa was born in Cordisburgo in the state of Minas Gerais, the first of six children of Florduardo Pinto Rosa nicknamed "seu Fulô" and D.
Francisca Guimarães Rosa "Chiquitinha", He was self taught in many areas and from childhood studied many languages, starting with French before he was seven years old, Still a child, he moved to his grandparents' house in Belo Horizonte, where he finished primary school, He began his secondary schooling at the Santo Antônio College in São João del Rei, but soon returned to Belo Horizonte, where he graduated.
In, at only, he applied for what was then called the College of Medicine of Minas Gerais University, On June,, he married Lígia Cabral Penna, a girl of only, with whom he had two daughters, Vilma and Agnes, In that same year he graduated and began his medical practice in Itaguara, then in the municipality of Itauna, in Minas Gerais, where he stayed about two years.
It is in this town that he had his first contact with elements from the sertão semi arid Brazilian outback, which would serve as reference and inspiration in many of his works.
Back in Itaguara, Guimarães Rosa served as a volunteer doctor of the Public Force Força Pública in the Constitutionalist Revolution of, heading to the so called Tunel sector in Passa Quatro, Minas Gerais, where he came into contact with the future president Juscelino Kubitschek, at that time the chief doctor of the Blood Hospital.
Later he became a civil servant through examination, In, he went to Barbacena in the position of Doctor of theth Armed Battalion Official Médico doº Batalhão de Infantaria, Most of his life was spent as a Brazilian diplomat in Europe and Latin America, Inhe served as assistant Consul im Hamburg, Germany, wher he met his future second wife, the Righteous Among the Nations Aracy de Carvalho Guimarães RosaIn, he was chosen by unanimous vote to enter the Academia Brasileira de Letras Brazilian Academy of Letters in his second candidacy.
After postponing foryears, he finally assumed his position only in: just three days before passing away in the city of Rio de Janeiro, victim of a heart attack.
His masterpiece is The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, In this novel, Riobaldo, a jagunço is torn between two loves: Diadorim, supposedly another jagunço, and Otacília, an ordinary beauty from the backlands, Following his own existential quest, he contemplates making a deal with Lucifer in order to eliminate Hermogenes, his nemesis, One could say that Sertão the backlands represents the whole Universe and the mission of Riobaldo is to pursue its travessia, or crossing, seeking answers for the metaphysical questions faced by mankind.
In this sense he is an incarnation of the classical hero in the Brazilian backlands, Guimaraes Rosa died at the summit of his diplomatic and literary career, He was. sitelink.