tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post8579905535093441488..comments2023-12-24T17:41:42.989-08:00Comments on seraillon: An Infinite Book? Grande Sertão: Veredas seraillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-45953634946962818242017-02-11T15:23:39.715-08:002017-02-11T15:23:39.715-08:00Scott, thanks for this classy and insightful revie...Scott, thanks for this classy and insightful review of a great overlooked novel. Dex Quirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06460141401009787503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-45191895063319576902013-07-27T09:40:18.367-07:002013-07-27T09:40:18.367-07:00Guy - I managed to read this one as my library had...Guy - I managed to read this one as my library had a copy. I obtained another rare work by JGR via inter-library loan, which is an invaluable service when it comes to being able read out-of-print books that have become completely unaffordable. And thanks - I'll head back over to Goodreads. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-13693531131354107552013-07-27T08:22:10.047-07:002013-07-27T08:22:10.047-07:00I've bought a few S. American titles recently ...I've bought a few S. American titles recently with the goal in mind to start filling in those blanks. I asked about Goodreads as, like you, I think it's a good source for info. <br /><br />Thanks<br /><br />I read a blogger's review of a book recently that sounded good, and it was the same scenario--outrageously expensive, so to quote John O'Hara NO SALE Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-30567705961640733402013-07-24T19:14:51.427-07:002013-07-24T19:14:51.427-07:00Guy - Not surprising that you haven't heard of...Guy - Not surprising that you haven't heard of this - it's years out of print (and outrageously expensive for used copies) and barely touched upon in the Anglophone world, apart from a very, very few critical studies (also out of print or outrageously expensive). It's also reputed to be untranslatable, but I was happy at least to have a glimpse of it via the translations that exist. Certainly no other work from South American that I've read has given me more of a sense of my vast ignorance about the literature of this region...<br /><br />I signed up for goodreads long ago, but have not been active on it. I do refer to it on occasion, though, so I should probably contribute more. It's a very good resource. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-43625533960304994012013-07-24T11:14:54.043-07:002013-07-24T11:14:54.043-07:00I'm another one who hadn't heard of this b...I'm another one who hadn't heard of this book. There's a huge gap in my reading when it comes to S. American lit, but I hope to alter that in the not-too-distant future. <br /><br />Do you belong to goodreads?Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-52815222392264393762013-06-18T07:45:07.469-07:002013-06-18T07:45:07.469-07:00Thanks for turning me on to this - I'd never h...Thanks for turning me on to this - I'd never heard of it before reading your post! Being able to share these things and make sure great books are not forgotten is one of my favourite things about blogging. Thanks for sharing.Matthew Selwynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00723650905588749638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-24857630129259416962013-06-14T07:01:53.956-07:002013-06-14T07:01:53.956-07:00Rise - I think you and Richard are right - there&#...Rise - I think you and Richard are right - there's some cajoling by Riobaldo of his visitor, some - as you put it - intentional naivety. Next time I read GS:V I want to focus more on the visitor. It shouldn't be difficult, as there's <i>so</i> little said about him, but what there is suggests quite a lot. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-23935093242173730892013-06-14T06:55:45.358-07:002013-06-14T06:55:45.358-07:00Thanks, Miguel. I wrote a little more about this i...Thanks, Miguel. I wrote a little more about this in a comment responding to Richard's post on the Spanish translation by Crespo. I'm not a translator and am in no way qualified to judge the merits of a translation, but moving from the French to the English I couldn't help noticing a shift in the tone of Riobaldo's discourse (a bit less snappy and effervescent) and a dampening of the linguistic pyrotechnics - so in other words, less of an attempt at a one-to-one correspondence for JGR's volcanic wordplay. In comparing select passages, I also found a few substantive differences, one of which made me wonder if the English might be taking some convenient short cuts. I don't know. But I appreciated the clarity of the English translation - and I was certainly grateful that there was one. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-3675188166754543062013-06-13T16:12:40.033-07:002013-06-13T16:12:40.033-07:00Scott, you've written a fine post. But I'm...Scott, you've written a fine post. But I'm curious to know more about the differences between the French and English translation.LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-20534761824511755462013-06-13T07:57:20.460-07:002013-06-13T07:57:20.460-07:00Yep, I third, truly a fine post. You've articu...Yep, I third, truly a fine post. You've articulated a lot about the relationship between Riobaldo and the putative interviewer (a savage detective-like figure) that I've wanted to express but you hammered here so well. Like Richard, I also think there are some things Riobaldo - the "Professor" in one of his ever shifting identities, after all - are saying intentionally naive-like but he's may be partly egging on the interviewer some of the time.Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-87496900079120393712013-06-13T07:51:48.171-07:002013-06-13T07:51:48.171-07:00Thanks, Richard. You're correct - Riobaldo is ...Thanks, Richard. You're correct - Riobaldo is rather a slippery narrator, and there's at least one brief section of his monologue in which he appears to be deliberately misleading (which then calls into question whether the revelation about Diadorim is, like that world-famous story about a virgin birth, an ingenious invention to mask the reality).seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-77951750554266573992013-06-13T07:46:52.088-07:002013-06-13T07:46:52.088-07:00Thanks, Brian. It's incredibly frustrating - m...Thanks, Brian. It's incredibly frustrating - mind-boggling, really - that JGR's work is so hard to find in English. In fact, aside from a few anthologized short stories, <i>none</i> of his work is easily available to readers of English. But it is well worth making the effort to obtain a copy. If you find GS:V in a used bookstore you will have found the Holy Grail of rare 20th century books; odds are very, very slim. But your librarian - and the inter-library loan system - may become your best friend in tracking down a copy to read.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-560486946400832532013-06-13T07:07:12.266-07:002013-06-13T07:07:12.266-07:00Great post, Scott. An "expansive cosmos"...Great post, Scott. An "expansive cosmos"? Definitely! The only thing I differ with you on, though, is that I think Riobaldo's partial education makes him more like a Don Quixote prototype of a character who is both a man of arms and a man of letters than the character is willing to let on in calling himself "an ignorant man." In my opinion, this makes him more of a slippery narrator figure than we might otherwise admit. Which makes his metaphysical questions more intriguing--and perhaps provocative--as well (on up to ∞).Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-65583144960668333342013-06-13T02:39:25.091-07:002013-06-13T02:39:25.091-07:00I have been enjoying all the commentary that I hav...I have been enjoying all the commentary that I have been reading on this work on various blogs. <br /><br />I actually made a moderate effort to find it but to no avail. My library system did not have the english version (they did have the untranslated version) and I checked some very good used book stores. <br /><br />It sounds as if I would really like this one. Musings on Existentialism and language intrigue me.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.com