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The third bank of the river

"every word is, in its essence, a poem"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"master is not who teaches; it's who, suddenly, learns" 

Delving deep into speech mannerisms from the hinterland region of the eastern seaboard, Guimarães Rosa started something of a semantic revolution.

 

 

He dared to present his readers with coined word combinations and syntax so unrestrained as to constitute almost a new language.

Guimarães Rosa is often compared to James Joyce in terms of innovative impact upon a national literature.

 

 "Grande Sertão - Veredas" is considered to be the Brazilian equivalent of Ulysses.

 

 

 

 

 

Photos taken in Rosa's house, in Cordisburgo, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

 

 

"The third bank of the river"

 is the title of one of Guimarães Rosa's best short stories.

 

 

 

 

Arguably the most innovative Brazilian writer of his century was João Guimarães Rosa

(l908-1967).

 

 

 A career diplomat, he first captured the attention of the public and critics alike with a volume of short stories, Sagarana, soon followed by his best known work Grande Sertão: Veredas, translated into English as

"The Devil to Pay in the Backlands".

 
COMMENTS
Eduardo.affonso said at 8:31 p.m. on Sep 24, 2008:
DISCLAIMER: The two quotes at the begining of this album were translated by myself, so if you have any suggestion to make they sound better in Ebglish (or to make sense in English...) please let me know! Thanks in advance.
Andre. said at 9:10 p.m. on Sep 24, 2008:
What can I say??? I just love your themes. Very nice.
Pkeener said at 10:00 p.m. on Sep 24, 2008:
i want to read his works! are they to be found in English? Fab tab, Edu! I am so glad you are back.
Pkeener said at 10:01 p.m. on Sep 24, 2008:
love the light you captured in the third to last.
Pkeener said at 10:02 p.m. on Sep 24, 2008:
i like the second quote very much! I love to "suddenly learn"
Liliana said at 10:09 p.m. on Sep 24, 2008:
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Estuviste en la casa de Guimaraes Rosa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! La última imagen parece de él, un sertao mínimo en una ¿casa, chacra? Pero esos huesos son "sertao mesmo", para mí. Conocía la cita del maestro. Todo es muy sutil, muy bien dosificado... Tengo mi "Grande serato..." acá, en portugués, esperándome. ¿Me animaré? Mientras, esta visita, tentadora.
¿Qué significa "bank" en este título...?
Lifequest22 said at 10:56 p.m. on Sep 24, 2008:
Eduardo-extremely captivating tabblo. Thank you for teaching me something new. Nice job on framing all these images. I understand that although the book has been translated into English, the translation doesn't do the book justice. Unfortunately, I don't read Portugese. Hopefully the short stories will be accessible in English.
Leftofcenter said at 12:17 a.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
I wish I made this tabblo. for all the right reasons.
Jigs said at 2:13 a.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
I am ashamed to admit I have not yet read the writings of João Guimarães Rosa. I will look for his works at the book store agora mesmo!
Chilla said at 3:09 a.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
A beautiful tabblo in its layout, pictures and commentary. Thanks so much for the informaation.
Caitbrowne said at 8:53 a.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
Nice light and colors!
EMA said at 10:39 a.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
Very beautiful and informative tabblo! My favorites are the two photos before last. And the second quote is also my favorite. Regards, my friend!
Ebucar said at 10:55 a.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
Bem mineiro. Bem Guimarães. Bem Eduardo. Bem a sua cara! Um tabblo sensacional com fotos incríveis. Feliz de ver que você não conseguiu ficar muito tempo longe, para a nossa sorte! Vai direto para os meus favoritos!
Ira said at 11:05 a.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
Perfect photos and compositions. You could pass mood and feelings.
21-gramm said at 4:11 p.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
Obrigado, my dear Maestro!
Gerardfotografeert said at 5:24 p.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
Very beautiful photo's and interesting tabblo, Great work.
AliDar said at 8:43 p.m. on Sep 25, 2008:
I love the quotes; that in itself has sparked my interest.
Soniacal said at 7:38 a.m. on Sep 26, 2008:
lindo, uma delícia ver nossas referencias tão bem retratadas.....senti até um cheirinho de café....
Eduardo.affonso said at 5:56 p.m. on Sep 26, 2008:
Well, it's so nice to notice you all enjoyed this attempt to share a ittle bit of Brazilian culture.

Thanks you a lot, SONIA, DAR, GERARD, DEN, IRA, ELAINE, EDITE, CAIT, CELIA, JIGS, ANNELIES, LINDA, LILIANA, PAM & ANDRE (and all those who visited this page and didn't leave comments).

In spite of his importance, Guimarães Rosa is not known abroad. That's the problem when you write in a "peripheral" language like Portuguese. Great writers like José Saramago (Nobel Prize), Clarice Lispector, Carlos Drummond, Machado de Assis are simply ignored, because there aren't good translations and they are scarcely published out of Portuguese speaking countries.

The problem is even worse in this case: Rosa is not just a story teller: he created his own language. His texts are untranslatable - they must be transcreated. Another English, German or French must be created to fit his prose. Think of James Joyce, or Lewis Carroll, and tell me if you can imagine their books in another language...

Anyway, Rosa's main books are available in other languages (bad transations, as Linda pointed). Found these on Amazon.com:

- The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (from U$ 174 to U$350 !!!)
- Diadorim (U$ 123!)
- Buriti (U$ 48, more affordable)
- Gran Sertón (in Spanish, U$ 114)

Or maybe you all shoud try to learn Portuguse. Even young kids in Brazil are able to speak it, so... why wouldn't you??
Eduardo.affonso said at 7:50 p.m. on Sep 26, 2008:
LILIANA: O título original em Português é "A terceira margem do rio". Este conto inspirou uma parceria (inspiradíssima!) do Milton com o Caetano. Há um vídeo interessante no Youtube, com os dois cantando (ou tentando cantar). O link é http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=76vErfM3cZM

Visitei rapidamente a casa do Guimarães Rosa, porque estava faminto e já cansado (fomos depois de ir à gruta do Maquiné, que fica perto). Como havia outros visitantes, e aqueles irritantes guias (que ontam monocordiamente a mesma história, cheia de irrelevâncias), eu praticamente me esgueirava pelos cômodos, quando estavam vazios.

Recomendo que você perca seus receios e adentre os grandes sertões, as veredas. E descubra (se é que já não sabe) a mesma verdade que a Fernanda Montenegro contou ao Caetano (veja o vídeo...).
Liliana said at 9:39 p.m. on Sep 26, 2008:
Apenas abandoné este Tabblo, fui a Google y encontré "La tercera margen del río" (¡¡sí, en castellano!!). Ahí mismo lo devoré (creo que había alguna "cosilla" no muy feliz en la traducción, perdonable). Muy muy muy intenso y calmo a la vez. Todo parece ir fluyendo con el agua del río(¿o como el agua?: el tiempo, la costumbre. Y el final, un hachazo, antológico... tan real y duro. ¡Gracias! Tal vez me anime al "Grande sertao...", es que el mío es original. E vc...?
No sabía que "bank" era "margen", para mí era apenas banco...
Eduardo.affonso said at 9:46 p.m. on Sep 26, 2008:
Não me ocorreu procurar pelo conto em Castelhano - até porque foi difícil achar qualquer coisa do Guimarães Rosa em outro idioma (daí ter que eu mesmo fazer as sofríveis traduções das duas citações). Conseguiu ver o vídeo?
Debdog said at 10:26 p.m. on Sep 26, 2008:
i will have to check out some of this work..thanks :)
Robya said at 1:14 a.m. on Sep 27, 2008:
So Wonderful Eduardo, I love the crochet tablecloth too!~~Robbi
Liliana said at 7:53 a.m. on Sep 27, 2008:
Todavía no busqué el video, "sorry"...
Liliana said at 12:57 p.m. on Sep 27, 2008:
É sopa!!!!!!! :) Arrepiante, el video. Merece mail aparte.
Hhwind said at 10:51 a.m. on Sep 28, 2008:
Beautiful tabblo would love to read his works if any is translated
Marranei said at 5:15 p.m. on Sep 29, 2008:
Me sinto uma ignorante sem ter lido ainda as obras de Guimarães Rosa... vou ver se pego a dica e leio esse conto... lindas fotos tbm!
Moabjeeper said at 3:18 p.m. on Oct 1, 2008:
Wow what a wrath of info.
Hyhoa said at 7:26 p.m. on Oct 15, 2008:
Thanks so much Edu to introduce Guimaraes Rosa to me, I love reading but I 'm so ignorant of bresilian contemporary literratur . Will try to find G Rosa to read . You are really a book lover with an artistic eye on the world !
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