sibkron
Active member
This is a large-scale encyclopedic modernist novel about everything: about life, about sex, about literature, about readers, about post-war intellectuals who were disillusioned with Marxism.
Best reads of 2023
- Thread starter Daniel del Real
- Start date
I look with fondness and remorse at Sadegh Hedayat's book. I purchased it from an antique book shop with the stamp of the Romanian Parish Library. Because the local library was an important part of my adolescence, I tend to return it. I can't ?, now I'm trying to find a newer edition. The translation was incredible, Gheorghe Iorga wrote 15 variants, until he found a form close to the original, suitable for the Romanian language and the potential Romanian reader. Through a curious literary empathy he had the feeling that he wrote the book himself. He started to translate it in 1978, I have the 1996 edition whose preface written by the translator ended with "Thank heaven for freeing me". Regarding the book I was drawn to the tormented spirit of the character and author's fascination with madness and death.
Phil D
Well-known member
That's exactly what I was afraid of ?
alik-vit
Reader
Сan you share your thoughts about "Theodoros", please?
Theodoros is a book with real and fantastic stories set in different geographical spaces and historical eras. I loved how he managed to bring these stories together. Cărtărescu was extremely attentive to the language, he mainly used the Romanian language from the 19th century. When I was moving to another chapter I could quite easily identify the time or place, but although I have an attraction to old books I needed a dictionary for some of the archaisms. I checked his attention to details including to the characters that were mentioned very briefly, although I could not verify the veracity I found references to certain archives. I needed a lot of documentation because I struggled with his irony for a part of the book. In his stories with real characters combined with a number of jokes sprinkled throughout the text I perceived his irony in some places as a mockery. Ultimately, nothing in this story should be taken too seriously. Most of Theodoros' story is told in the second person. There are stories, such as that of King Solomon, which are told from a classical narrative perspective and chapters told in the third person. There is the first person narration of the letters sent by Theodoros to his mother. Although I consider it a difficult book, it is not as dense as Solenoid. For a reader who enjoys the beauty of stories without wanting to get lost in the details, is accessible and it can be a literary delight.
alik-vit
Reader
Thanks very much! It seems, it is interesting, but not groundbreaking novel.
He said that he did not write literature to publish books, but to live in them. He definitely felt good in Theodoros. I consider it a very good novel, although I have a bad habit when I talk about a book of not highlighting only what I like. I read last month that it is being translated by Bruno Mazzoni and will be published in Italy in 2024. The article mentioned that it will also be translated into German, French and Spanish and in 2025 or 2026 into Swedish and English. From my point of view, those who will translate the novel deserve a statue, I consider it difficult to translate due to the complexity of the language used and archaisms that have long since disappeared from current use.
Daniel del Real
Moderator
I think this year Melancolia will appear in Spanish translation and Theodoros in 2025. He has a very good translator to Spanish in Marian Ochoa de Eribe.
In 2022, together with Eta Hrubaru, she received the Award of the Romanian Cultural Institute for the best translation of a book from Romanian literature. The translation into Spanish of the volume "Poesía esencial" by Mircea Cărtărescu.
Ater Lividus Ruber & V
我ヲ學ブ者ハ死ス
I don't believe P.D. James wrote any such book. Perhaps you're confusing her with Rebecca Yarros?
josearcadiobuendia
New member
A bad year for me as I haven't read as much as I'd have liked. Still, here's my top 5 (all rated 8+/10)
?? Gabriela, clove and cinnamon / Jorge Amado
?? The remains of the day / Kazuo Ishiguro
?? Kusamakura / Soseki Natsume
?? Los recuerdos del porvenir / Elena Garro
?? The sad end of Policarpo Quaresma / Lima Barreto
?? Gabriela, clove and cinnamon / Jorge Amado
?? The remains of the day / Kazuo Ishiguro
?? Kusamakura / Soseki Natsume
?? Los recuerdos del porvenir / Elena Garro
?? The sad end of Policarpo Quaresma / Lima Barreto
tiganeasca
Moderator
Nice list; my only quibble is Policarpo Queresma. I suspect that the book, interesting though it was for a citizen of the US (which would be me), would resonate far more for a citizen of (or someone very familiar with) Brazil. Glad you enjoyed it so much.
Leseratte
Well-known member
Two important Brazilian titles and a reader that knows Elena Garro is rather unusual.
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Leseratte
Well-known member
And to the somewhat tormented spirit of the translator too, it seems Rodica.
Incidentally, I've started reading this yesterday. The relatively new translation ( 2014 ) of Francis Johnson.
tiganeasca
Moderator
Fascinating that such a relatively obscure title would be translated into English again so soon. My version (a "Penguin Classic") was translated by Mark Carlyon in 2011!
Leseratte
Well-known member
I knew there existed a translation by Gregory Rabassa, so I checked what translations in English of Lima´s Barreto novel were available. To my astonishment there is quite a number of them. The titles differ, sometimes slightly. I´m listing them here so you can have a better idea which one you are reading. In Brazil it is considered one of the most important novels of the 20C, an obligatory presence on lists of exams and contests in Brazilian Literature:
The Borzoi Anthology of Latin American Literature. Org. Emir Rodríguez Monegal e Thomas Colchie. Contains “The sad end of Policarpo Quaresma”. Translation: Gregory Rabassa. New York: Knopf, 1977.
The Patriot [Triste fim de Policarpo Quaresma]. Translation: Robert Scott Buccleuch. London: Collings, 1978.
The sad end of Policarpo Quaresma. Tradução Mark Carlyon. Coleção Rio de Janeiro. Bilingual edition. Rio de Janeiro: Cidade Viva, 2011. [Reed. London: Penguin, 2014.]
The tragic death of Policarpo Quaresma. Tradução Luciano Beck. IBooksFromBrazil, e-book, 2012
The decline and fall of Policarpo Quaresma. Tradução Francis K. Johnson. Coleção Brazilian Classics. Kindle edition, 2014.
Information extracted from:
This dissertation also contains the translation of works by Lima Barreto into several other languages beside English.
The Borzoi Anthology of Latin American Literature. Org. Emir Rodríguez Monegal e Thomas Colchie. Contains “The sad end of Policarpo Quaresma”. Translation: Gregory Rabassa. New York: Knopf, 1977.
The Patriot [Triste fim de Policarpo Quaresma]. Translation: Robert Scott Buccleuch. London: Collings, 1978.
The sad end of Policarpo Quaresma. Tradução Mark Carlyon. Coleção Rio de Janeiro. Bilingual edition. Rio de Janeiro: Cidade Viva, 2011. [Reed. London: Penguin, 2014.]
The tragic death of Policarpo Quaresma. Tradução Luciano Beck. IBooksFromBrazil, e-book, 2012
The decline and fall of Policarpo Quaresma. Tradução Francis K. Johnson. Coleção Brazilian Classics. Kindle edition, 2014.
Information extracted from:
This dissertation also contains the translation of works by Lima Barreto into several other languages beside English.
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tiganeasca
Moderator
Thanks for this; I'm intrigued that Rabassa, whose work I have generally admired, translated the book. Even more so that Penguin published one by Carlyon (who, I will admit, I have never heard of). That said, I thought Carlyon's translation was very good. I will also say that the notes were essential; I found the book somewhat difficult to appreciate because it was so deeply embedded in its Brazilian context and depended heavily on things that a non-native would not be likely to know.
Leseratte
Well-known member
It is considered a major work in Brazil almost akin to the main novels by Machado de Assis. Lima Barreto had a difficult life. He lost his mother very early, his father had to give up a secure job and work in the madhouse of Rio de Janeiro. When he became himself a victim to drink and mental illness himself, Lima Barreto had to abandon the engineering university to support his family.
He himself took to drinking too. Maybe the unevenness of his oeuvre is partly a a result of this difficult life, but I think The Sad Life of Policarpo Quaresma and some of his tales are among the best things written in Brazilian Literature. As he was also a journalist and lived in poverty most of his life he was even more conscious than Machado about social discrimination and social problems.
The recently republican Brazilian context of that time as shown in literature is indeed a peculiar one: there is hardly any substance in it, appearances are all. It is not so easy to stomach that when one is not used to it. I myself are to much steeped in it to be able to evaluate if much has changed.
I get the exact feeling. Will have to see if there are any study guide to this. The translation I am reading, except for a detailed introduction, does not have any other helping notes.