It has been said—by Pessoa?—that the artist must use all the means at his disposal to give light to his own work. Otherwise, the difficulties will not be overcome and, probably, the work will not come out. It is necessary for the artist to build a favorable environment, to mold his life around the central objective; to have a daily schedule reserved for his work, a schedule that represents the core of his routine and to which he arrives every day in his best disposition. This for years, for as long as he lives—always aware, as Pessoa himself was, of inhabiting the present while belonging fully to the future.
Category: Notes
The Realization of the Fragility of Life
The human brain, a machine programmed to seek and identify patterns—even where there are none—only under duress admits the conclusions that come from the realization of the fragility of life. It seems unnatural to have as determinant and presumable that which, in an instant, abruptly transforms the reality. The false slowness of time deceives it, the slow change of states seems to lead to a non-existent end—and the machine thus gives birth to erroneous judgments about existence. The unpredictable dynamics of life seem to want to force it to accept that not everything is about cause and effect; but for it, to do so is to confess its weakness and succumb to the irrational.
Nelson Rodrigues Is One of the Rare Brazilian Authors…
Nelson Rodrigues is one of the rare Brazilian authors whose literature has universal value. This is simply because Nelson does not play at creating stories, he does not just say how bright the sun has risen or how sad a character is. Nelson judges, the world and the man, and exposes a personal interpretation of existence. Here lies the distinctive feature that most Brazilian authors seem to lack. In other words, one could say: Nelson’s literature contains a particular philosophy.
More About Dostoevsky’s Style…
Let’s return to Dostoevsky’s style. For many, prolix, defective—and so they conclude that his work lacks technique. Children… The inaccuracy of this verdict derives from its superficiality: it only considers external aspects. What can be perceived in Dostoevsky is that, structurally, his narratives contain dramatic arcs very well prepared—and for this reason, but quoting another, Nabokov said that Dostoevsky would have been a great playwright. Going deeper into his narratives, that is, analyzing his characters individually, we notice that they, too, have arcs and transform themselves throughout the story, following the chain of events that will lead to the ending and give meaning to the work. The violence with which feelings are experienced and the impression of continuous aggravation that we get when we go through Dostoevsky’s pages would never occur if Dostoevsky did not conduct the narrative intelligently, fulfilling a methodical structural planning conceived precisely to enhance and dramatize the elements of the story. To say that Dostoevsky lacks technique is to assert, not fearing ridicule, that several of the most moving works of universal literature have come out of luck.