Being able to see the present moment in perspective requires a level of awareness so rare that it perhaps deserves to be described as a gift. Doing so allows one to integrate correctly into time, acting as appropriate, that is, giving due justification to the past and ensuring that, in the future, there will be something to celebrate. Perhaps this alone does not justify the label of genius, but those who achieve it, even once, will forever remember this moment of rare enlightenment.
Category: Notes
Some Memories, When They Shed Light…
Some memories, when they shed light on aspects of the past that went almost unnoticed, give us food for thought. It seems incredible that they evoke feelings that were not experienced when the circumstances in question were actually lived through, or at least not given their due value. Now, it is time to be moved by nostalgia. When we delve into these memories, it seems that the set of situations experienced at a certain moment, even if apparently unhappy, even if they leave an unpleasant mark in some way, also hold something else that is truly special. And it is this, after all, that we may not have known how to take advantage of, and that we cannot do so now, because the moment has passed.
The Ease With Which an Author Approaches…
The ease with which an author approaches his favorite themes hides how dangerous it can be to imitate him. Reading him, everything seems very simple. But it is simple because the approach stems from an authentic inclination, and this cannot be imitated. To discover it, however, sometimes it is necessary to experiment. And even the best cannot escape this. A fine example is Machado de Assis’ Americanas. Certainly, to a friend who could see inside him, see his future works and creative potential, half a dozen verses would suffice for the jocular recommendation: “Come on, my good Joaquim! Drop this Anhangá and tacape stuff! You don’t even know what that is.” And, certainly, there would be no better advice: the author of those verses was not Machado de Assis. The hard part is that, in practice, it is only possible to say this because Machado, alone, walked the path of failure to discover himself and reveal himself to us.
An Author’s Influence Can Be Measured…
An author’s influence can be measured by how much others imitate his eccentricities. Except for Gonçalves Dias, probably no Brazilian writer ever saw a real Indian. Even so, Indianist literature became fashionable, spawning dozens of idle, almost unreadable works, because they were obviously false. All these names of plants, animals, and tribes only harmonize with Portuguese vernacular tradition when such harmony represents nothing more than the author’s inner essence. Obviously, this is an eccentricity, which suits Gonçalves Dias well because it could, itself, be called Gonçalves Dias. How many, however, did not notice this! And so, with a view of the beautiful Guanabara Bay, they spent their leisure time talking about Indians they had never seen! Fortunately, the best learned from their failed attempts, and an angel convinced them that, to make good art, it is enough to take as raw material what the eyes can see.