In most cases, maturity comes out of necessity: circumstances force a change in attitude, a departure from past habits and preferences, and adaptation to the current context. Therefore, necessity is often positive. In cases where it does not act, or is not so pronounced, that is, in cases where maturity depends on voluntary action, it often does not occur. There are those who cannot overcome internal resistance and spend their lives clinging to a past that is gone. It is sad, however, to note the result: one is left with the impression that, due to the inability to break a few old ties, an unnatural imbalance has been created.
Category: Notes
Miracle in the Andes, by Nando Parrado
Reading this story brings to mind Poe’s novel and its scenes whose horror seems somewhat excessively absurd and impossible. Appearances can be deceiving: extreme horror is possible and real. Everything about this accident in the Andes is extraordinary, from the plane crash to the rescue of the survivors more than two months later. The impression is that what could not happen keeps happening. Expectations are methodically crushed, for better or for worse, and the resulting feeling is one of absolute powerlessness. However, the survivors take action from the start and continue to do so even when overwhelmed by the brutality of the colossal mountains. When they no longer expect anything, when they have endured an unbelievable amount of suffering and misery, when they see themselves as corpses temporarily alive, they decide on one last attempt. And then, the impossible happens once again. It is all too impressive, and strong enough to permanently change one’s notion of what it means to live.
Every Country Depends on a Handful…
Every country depends on a handful of men of vast culture who, in their old age, disseminate the discoveries of their studies and the insights of their intellectual life. They are the ones who introduce unknown authors, put new terms into circulation, recommend works to be translated, guide publishers, and so on. They are the ones who can be designated as the intellectual elite. In the long run, only their influence is noticeable. And if they do not define it alone, alone they change the horizon of ideas and authors discussed throughout a country.
Fundamentally, Literature Is Intended to Narrate…
It can be said that, fundamentally, literature is intended to narrate, and therefore preserve, what has happened. Without it, there would be no history, and there would be no culture. At some point, however, it was realized that it could do more, that it could also narrate what did not happen, but could have happened or could happen. It may be impossible to say when this discovery dates from. Since then, however, this has been the basis of great literature: the factual or the plausible, or both at the same time. What stands out is that no matter how much time passes, literature cannot stray from this guiding principle. The writer, therefore, must necessarily keep reality in mind while writing; otherwise, he will not be able to produce a work of value. Give the imagination full freedom, use allegories, do whatever he wants, but his work will always, always be confronted with reality.