José Lezama Lima

[Daniel del Real]

While currently reading Carlos Fuentes' essay The Great Latin American novel, where he takes a chronological view of its influences and protagonists, I realized there are many great writers that I haven't explored as I should or read nothing at all. One of the later cases is the one of Cuban writer José Lezama Lima, a writer who Fuentes seems to admire a lot, judging by the chapter he speaks about him, one of the longest in his book.
Lezama Lima is described as a very baroque writer, who created harmony listing things and situations, blending them together with very poetic language and perspective. His masterwork, Paradiso, is hailed as one of the most important baroque creations of Spanish language. He was also a poet and an essayist. I'm not very fan of baroque novels, sometimes they can be really tedious, going nowhere in many cases.
Has anyone read him? Impressions, feelings?

[Eric]

Has he been translated much into English, I wonder? Not all of us here can read enough Spanish to read him in the original, not least because as you mentioned, Daniel, he appears to go in for the Baroque, having been influenced by Góngora, so I read. The translator whose book I'm reading, Suzanne Jill Levine, mentions him quite often in passing in "The Subversive Scribe - Translating Latin American Fiction", but she doesn't devote any longer text to him. Nevertheless, he is mentioned in the same breath as Borges and Cortázar, so you get the feeling he is an important writer. The Dalkey Archive Press has one translation: "Paradiso", translated by Gregory Rabassa, published in 1999:

http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/book/?GCOI=15647100685640

[Caodang]

I've just ordered "Paradiso", am curious how I will find it

[Daniel del Real]

Well Eric, he is an author he is praised very much by the critics and writers but poorly spread between readers. I don't think there are many translation into English besides Paradiso; probably other languages have more availability of his works. Even with Spanish readers he is completely forgotten compared to the very popular Boom sensations like MVLL, GGM or Carlos Fuentes. I might give him a chance with his novel Paradiso, though I have to admit it's a little bit daunting and intimidatory. Good luck with that Caodang, let us know how it works for you.