Adoro Guimarães Rosa!!

Guimarães Rosa is an outstanding Brazilian writer whose works have had a profound impact on the literary world. His unique writing style and rich imagination make his novels and short stories truly captivating.

His language is vivid and colorful, painting a vivid picture of the Brazilian countryside and its people. The characters in his works are complex and multi-faceted, full of life and vitality.

Guimarães Rosa's works not only explore the human condition but also reflect on the social and cultural issues of his time. His writing is a celebration of life, love, and nature, and it continues to inspire readers around the world.

I am truly in awe of Guimarães Rosa and his literary achievements. His works are a treasure trove of wisdom and beauty, and I highly recommend them to anyone who loves great literature.

I got excited in all the stories. I cried with some of them. I gave a nickname to Guimarães Rosa. Now, for me, he is Guigo. Naturally, I fell in love with this man who loves commas.

Guimarães Rosa's works have a unique charm that deeply touches my heart. Each story is like a precious gem, shining with its own brilliance. Some of them are so touching that they bring tears to my eyes. And his love for commas is truly endearing. It shows his attention to detail and his pursuit of perfection in writing.

As I read his stories, I feel as if I am being drawn into a different world, a world full of emotions, dreams, and desires. I can't help but be influenced by his words and ideas. Guigo has become an important figure in my literary life, and I will always cherish his works and the emotions they evoke in me.

João Guimarães Rosa, renowned for his vivid描绘 of the backlands in the Sertão region of Minas Gerais, is widely regarded as one of Brazil's preeminent writers of the 20th century. His collection The Third Bank of the River and Other Stories consists of 21 short stories that beautifully capture the essence of a place in flux.

The stories in this collection are not about grand events but rather snippets of memory that the protagonist attempts to reconcile with the present and the potential future. Many of them have a meditative quality, accompanied by a sense of wonder or sudden understanding, which is often ambiguous and short-lived. This gives the reader a different sensibility, an awakening to the possibilities that life presents.

For example, in "The Third Bank of the River," a family patriarch constructs a canoe and promptly takes to the river, never to return. His son laments the situation but eventually accepts it. The ending, where the son volunteers to take his father's place, is truly remarkable. In "Tantarum, My Boss," a cowboy follows his aging boss on a final ride, and other riders are drawn to the unlikely gang. The boss, who shouts, "I'll bring the world to an end!" is a complex character, both a leader of eccentrics and a warrior king.

Overall, this collection offers a unique and captivating look at the lives and experiences of the people in the Sertão region. It makes the reader reflect on the transitory nature of life and the importance of finding meaning in the present moment.

COMENTÁRIO

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Primeiras Estórias"

João Guimarães Rosa

"Primeiras Estórias" is a collection of short stories by João Guimarães Rosa, and it's the first book by this Brazilian author that I've read. I intend to briefly read "Grande Sertão Veredas" and before that, I decided to read this volume and another one with a short novel.

Regarding this volume, and not being an attentive reader of short stories myself, it served as a perfect introduction to Guimarães Rosa's mastery in using language as a charm for the reader. These short stories, many of which are around 5 pages long, often use the model of the fable, the legend, and the popular saying. This charm in language and form is enhanced by the use of a poetic experience in presenting real or imaginary situations, always marked by the rural territoriality of the Brazilian interior.

One of the fundamental elements of my reading, and the pleasure of it, is related to the creation and description of this mythical territory and its social and cultural practices. Guimarães Rosa is one of the most interesting cultivators of the construction of a literary spatiality that presents us with a forgotten side of Brazil.

Favorite stories:

"Famigerado"

"A terceira margem do rio"

"Fatalidade"

"O espelho"

"Partida do audaz navegante"

"A benfazeja"

Read in Black Water 1 Anthology with The Short Story club.

I vividly recall that I had a certain degree of fondness for it when I was reading. However, to my dismay, I find myself completely unable to remember anything about the plot. It's truly a pity that such an initially interesting piece failed to leave a lasting impression on my mind.

Consequently, I can only award it 3 stars. This rating is mainly due to its lack of memorability. Despite the initial allure, the story simply didn't have that special something to make it stand out in my memory.

Perhaps with a more engaging and unique plot, it could have received a higher rating and made a more significant impact on me as a reader.

The third bank of the river is an outstanding 5-star story that undoubtedly ranks among my top 3 favorites of all time.

I read this remarkable story several years ago. However, as time passed, I unfortunately forgot its name. But yesterday, by a stroke of luck, I rediscovered the title through some old documents. It was truly a moment of pleasant surprise.

This story had a profound impact on me and was a real game-changer. It made me think deeply about various aspects of life and human nature.

Although I haven't read the rest of the book yet, I am seriously considering picking it up sometime in the future. I am curious to explore more of the author's thoughts and ideas and see what other wonderful stories lie within those pages.

I believe that it will be a rewarding experience and will further enrich my literary journey.

I found myself sitting in the living room of my grandparents' countryside house, listening to their stories.

Don't get me wrong: it's not an easy read, but the poetry within it and the meanings are so powerful and well-structured that it flows and you fall in love.

My favorite tales were "The Margins of Joy", "The Girl from There", "The Third Margin of the River", "The Mirror", "The Faults".

I won't forget the editor's placement in his notes before the work: "All the rivers in Guimarães Rosa's world have three margins."

This simple yet profound statement added an extra layer of mystery and depth to the already enchanting stories. It made me wonder about the significance of those three margins and how they related to the characters and their experiences.

As I listened to my grandparents, I could picture the rivers with their three margins, the characters walking along them, and the stories unfolding in front of my eyes.

It was a magical experience that I will always cherish.

Guimarães is one of the writers I like the most and the one I have the greatest pleasure in rereading. "Primeiras Estórias" is a book of short stories about various subjects and under different genre umbrellas - fantasy, autobiographical, comic, tragic, psychological, surrealistic, etc. The language and style are easily recognizable, with all its inventiveness, deconstruction, and orality. Here, perhaps a little more aggressive than in previous books, it forces the peaceful coexistence between neologisms and erudition in the same environment.

Of all the stories, probably the one I like the most is "A terceira margem do rio". It tells the story of a father who decides to abandon his family and live in a canoe on the river near the house. The son, feeling sorry for his father, starts bringing him food every day, so that the father, always under his old hat, rows to the shore, takes the food and leaves without talking to anyone. Time passes... The daughter gets married, leaves with her husband, gives birth to children; the mother goes to live with her, and the son continues there bringing food to the father. Until one day, the father, already old, looking at the shore where the son is from a distance, stops, gets up from the canoe and waves his arm at him. The story ends like this:

"For fear, with my hair standing on end, I ran, I fled, I got out of there, in a
senseless procedure. Because he seemed to me to be coming from the other
side.
And I'm asking, asking, asking for forgiveness.
I suffered the severe cold of fear, I fell ill. I know that no one knew anything
more about him. Am I a man, after this failure? I am what was not, what will
remain silent. I know that now it's too late, and I'm afraid to shorten my life, in
the plains of the world. But then, at least, let them take me, in the article of
death, and deposit me also in a little canoe of nothing, in this water that does
not stop, with long banks: and I, downstream, outside the river, inside the
river - the river."

The book is not on the same level as "Grande Sertão: Veredas", which would be asking too much, but it still remains at the highest level of literature. In this work, the author continues to have an extremely extensive vocabulary, just like in "Sagarana", giving the impression that he challenged himself to use all the words in the dictionary. However, contrary to what happens in "Sagarana" and to a lesser extent in "Grande Sertão: Veredas", here he makes very frequent use of words with meanings that are not those found in the dictionary. The words acquire a unique meaning that only exists in that context, in that sentence.

All the short stories are very remarkable and could each be a novel, given the strength of the story. The short format leaves a longing for more, especially if the reader comes from "Grande Sertão: Veredas". This may seem like a negative point initially, but it actually turns out to be another type of pleasure, that pleasure of leaving the restaurant light, without the feeling of having overeaten, already with the desire to return. It is this desire that one has when finishing the book, to go back to Guimarães Rosa.

Uma luta pra terminar essa leitura.

Many times I thought about giving up. But I had already passed the halfway point, so I made the effort to go until the end. However, it cost me a great deal!!

Some of the short stories are very good, but for the majority, I simply didn't absorb anything from the reading :((

It was a real struggle to get through this reading. At several moments, the idea of quitting crossed my mind. But since I had already reached the middle, I decided to push myself and finish it. Nevertheless, it was extremely difficult for me.

While there were a few really excellent short stories, unfortunately, for most of them, I just couldn't seem to understand or retain anything from the reading. It was quite frustrating.

I hope that in the future, I can find a better way to approach reading and be able to fully appreciate and understand the content.

The book Primeiras Estórias was not the first published by the author but the sixth. It originated from the idea of telling stories based on undocumented facts, yet inspired by oral tradition. Although fictional, they follow the common custom in rural areas of mixing real cases with superstition and the supernatural.

Guimarães Rosa uses the sertaneja reality as a stage to tell ordinary daily episodes that don't always have an outcome, despite seemingly leading us towards a climax. He simply presents common events, feelings, and angsts shared by all humanity, leaving it to the reader to form the questions and find the answers. It can be frustrating, it can be a challenge, and it's surely not for those who like to have things neatly wrapped up.

I liked all the short stories, and deeply loved some. Children, crazy people, all those misfits who don't conform to standardized behaviors and who allow themselves to flee from common sense, all impressed me in some way.

The language is a puzzle that we get used to. Besides the excessive regionalism we're not accustomed to, we have the astonishing ability of Guimarães Rosa to invent terms, agglutinate words, and form new vocabulary that could be in any dictionary. I would read a sentence and be left looking in amazement, but if I didn't know the individual meaning, it could be guessed from the context and the reading was mostly very enjoyable, especially because there is a rhythmic sonority within the prose that makes it poetic and pleasant to read.

Very, very briefly, to help understand the man and the writer:

He was born in 1908 and started to study French on his own as a child. He came to know more than 20 languages and mastered eight.

He trained in medicine and practiced in the interior of Minas Gerais.

He published his first book in 1929.

In 1934, he abandoned medicine to dedicate himself to diplomacy, was consul in Hamburg and during World War II helped Jews escape from the Nazis. (In 1985, Israel posthumously honored him.)

He returned to Brazil in 1951 and took a long excursion through the interior of Mato Grosso in the company of cowboys.

He always carried a notebook where he noted down all the curiosities he heard.

In 1963, he was appointed to the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He didn't take office because he believed that after a significant event in his life, he would die.

He took office in 1967.

He died three days later.

”As pessoas não morrem, elas ficam encantadas.”

Guimarães Rosa

Vilket språkgeni!

Some of the stories I really liked, while others I didn't like at all. They were just tiresome to read... not for me, simply put. I had expected something completely different. A Brazilian Cortázar, for example. Where I got that from, I don't know.

Overall, it gets an average grade.

The author's use of language is indeed remarkable in some of the stories. There are beautiful descriptions and engaging narratives that draw the reader in. However, in other stories, the writing seems to lack focus or fails to capture the reader's interest.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I had hoped for a more consistent collection. Nevertheless, there are still some gems in this book that are worth reading.

It's a shame that not all of the stories lived up to my expectations, but that's the nature of anthologies. You can't always expect every story to be a masterpiece.

Despite its flaws, I would still recommend this book to those who enjoy reading short stories and are interested in exploring different voices and styles.