Desengane-se quem achar que este é um livro "fofinho" que fala de um velho que só lê romances de amor, esta pequena novela, é como um estalada à civilização que se intromete e destrói aquilo que deveria preservar e adorar.

Opinião completa aqui: http://baudatanocas.blogs.sapo.pt/o-v...

Luis Sepúlveda, (October 4, 1949 – April 16, 2020)

Luis Sepúlveda, a sensitive man, a beautiful man, a writer and journalist from Chile who died of COVID-19 this spring.

The Old Man Who Read Love Stories is one of Luis Sepúlveda's most beloved books, a timeless classic that speaks powerfully to all of us in our worldwide community.

Similar to Hermann Hesse's Sidhartha and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, Luis Sepúlveda's short tale possesses a deeply moving, universal, mythic quality that will touch a reader's heart. I know, I know, sounds like cliché but in this case it's true.

Turning to the novella itself, we read how old Antonio José Bolívar Proaño would like nothing more than to be left alone in his hut, standing at his high table, reading his love stories. But, alas, life has a way of intruding.

One day when the old man is among the townspeople, Shuar Indians bring along a dead fair-haired gringo. The fat major immediately claims the Shuar killed him, sliced the white man's neck with a machete. But Antonio José Bolívar Proaño knows otherwise - he points out the telling details, the scent of piss, the claw marks of a female ocelot.

Ah, a killer on the loose!

Thus begins the tale. But not a word more about the unfolding journey into the jungle. Rather, I'll switch to one of the most charming parts of Luis Sepúlveda's delightful tale:

We read the way in which Antonio José Bolívar Proaño came to read love stories, pouring over books hour after hour, day after day, assisted by a magnifying glass. And then the old man hit on one novel where he found what he was really after, a love story containing love everywhere, where the characters "suffered and mingled love and pain so beautifully that his magnifying glass was awash with tears." Antonio José Bolívar Proaño read and reread the novel hundreds of times.

You may ask: What's the title of that very special novel? Answer: The Rosary by the British author Florence Louisa Barclay, 1862-1921. The Rosary is available via Project Gutenberg. Link: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3659/3...

I purposely kept my review brief. You will have to experience the magic of The Old Man Who Read Love Stories for yourself.

I start with an apology. I had never heard of Luis Sepúlveda, a Chilean writer living in Spain until I read in El País that in died this year of coronavirus. He was 71. How truly sad for his family. How sad that I did not know of him.

The El País article noted this book was his most well known and after a little delay, as his books had sold out, I finally received a copy.

First, let us start with the beautiful and enchanting cover. Painted by Wolfgang Rieder it seduces one into wanting to read this book.

Second, the title, The old man who read romance novels, along with the cover image easily makes one think of Garcia Garcia Marquez. I am happy to report that other than being set in the Amazon rainforest, it bears little resemblance. There is no magical realism although their is a sense of “wonder” at nature itself. And nature is hardly magical in the rainforest. Case in point, when a colonist died, by the next day, the ants and other insects stripped the body down to its bones. Nope not magical.

Now the only similarity I would strike is the “magical” names. The book is set in the idyllic place of El Idilio, which is hardly a magical place. The shabby huts lined with beer cases and mud is constantly rained upon. The old man is named Antonio José Bolivar Proaño and his wife is Dolores Encarnación del Santísimo Sacramento Estupiñán Otavalo. That should win an award for the most beautiful name ever.

Third, is the size of the book. It is only 137 pages long so it falls in as a novela. A far cry from 100 Years of Solitude running in at over 600 pages.

And yet, this was a very enjoyable read. Twice a year a dentist would come to see the people of the the Amazonian outpost. Enter the old man who makes a fool of the mayor when a body is brought in by natives. The mayor claims the natives robbed and killed the colonist. The old man points out a tigrillo or leopard killed him. After clearing up the murder, the old man gets what he came for - romance novels that the dentist brings him.

We get the background on the old man, his love of romance novels, and his more acute ties to the shuar natives. Shades of the environmental and politics like Mario Vargas Llosa but this book stands on its own. And of course, after a visit from some gringos from North America, the mayor wants the tigrillo caught. A hunt is on. There is a lot thrown into a short book.

For me there was something magical, enjoyable or just caught me at the right time. It is very sad that I had not known about this author before but it demands attention. Sadly for the wrong reasons.

4.5 rating

Ένα βιβλίο που καταφέρνει μέσα σε λίγες σελίδες να σε ταξιδέψει στο μακρινό Αμαζόνιο και την ομορφιά της άγριας φύσης. Ο συγγραφέας έχοντας ζήσει ο ίδιος στον Αμαζόνιο με τους Ινδιάνους Σουάρ καταφέρνει να αποκαλύψει πτυχές του τρόπου ζωής τους με ένα τρόπο που κινεί το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη. Οι περιγραφές της φύσης και των ζώων του Αμαζονίου μου άρεσαν πάρα πολύ. Ο πρωταγωνιστής του βιβλίου είναι ένας γέρος που διάβαζε ιστορίες αγάπης. Ένας άνθρωπος όχι μορφωμένος αλλά με μεγάλη αγάπη για το διάβασμα. Αυτό όμως που αξίζει σε αυτό το βιβλίο είναι η αφύπνιση του αναγνώστη που πετυχαίνει ο συγγραφέας ως προς την οικολογική καταστροφή της παρθένας φύσης από τους ανθρώπους, τη βαρβαρότητα και την ασέβεια που δείχνει ο άνθρωπος απέναντι στα ζωντανά πλάσματα και τα δάση. Πολύ όμορφο βιβλίο!! Ένα οικολογικό μυθιστόρημα που αξίζει να διαβάσει κανείς.

Uma história interessante. Dura.

Mais em breve no meu canal de Booktube.

bazı kitaplar da hayvanlar gibi kalbinizi çalıverir.. "aşk romanları okuyan ihtiyar" da tam o kitaplardan..

kitabın dili, yalınlığı güzel; doğaya ayak uydurmayı öğrenen orman ve hayvanlara saygı duyan, insanların barbarlıklarından aşk romanları okuyarak kendine ayrı bi' dünya yaratan ana karakteri daha güzel..
yazar aşk romanları okuyan ihtiyarın hayatına dahil olmamızı sağlayıp doğal yaşama uyum ile ilgili bilgiler verirken, kitabın sonundaki ihtiyar ve jaguar arasındaki düello ile aslında savaştığımızın dışarıdaki dünyadan çok içimizdeki ikilem, çatışma ve korku olduğunu fark ettiriyor. bi' kere daha insanın kendisiyle çarpışmasından yara almadan çıkamayacağını gösteriyor..

وكان ذلك هو الحب الصافي ، من غير ما غاية سوى الحب للحب . من غير امتلاك ولا غيرة . .

ما من أحد يستطيع الاستحواذ على الصاعقة في السماء ، وما من أحد يستطيع امتلاك سعادة الأخر في لحظة الهيام .

Should be a bestseller. Could easily have been overpowered by sentimentality but it wasn’t. A kind of murder mystery where a big cat’s the killer and the mystery’s solved as soon as it’s introduced, but then they’ve gotta go hunt the cat. And it’s sad – it’ll stick in your throat. When the old man threw down his rifle and wept for shame I wept right along with him. Maybe not an ‘important’ work as far as the development of literature goes, but for spreading a message of conservation and respect for other species and tribes and customs without new age soppiness, it’s a winner. It helped that I read it in a rainforest – a temperate one as tame as a garden compared to this desolate corner of Ecuador, but enough to help set the scene. Oh, and it won’t depress you, just remind you of what’s right. An old-fashioned morality tale and easy to read.

اعتقدت دومًا أن الكتاب العرب وحدهم متأثرون بالأدب العالمي، إلى أن قرأت هذه الرواية.
"العجوز الذي كان يقرأ الروايات الغرامية" هي مزيج متأثر بهمنغواي وبماركيز على حد سواء. الكاتب التشيلي لم يبتعد كثيرا عن قارّته الأميركية، بقي مُلتزمًا بأسلوب أدبائها حاصدي جائزة نوبل للآداب.
ما افتقرته هذه الرواية هو "الابتكار"، الابتكار بالأسلوب وبإحداث عمق يحفر في النفس. لا شك أن الرواية فيها رسالة، والرسالة التي التمستها هي الحفاظ على غابات "الأمازون" رغم وحشية وشراسة طبيعتها، إضافة لأهمية القراءة.
"أنطونيو خوسيه بوليفار" هو البطل قارئ الروايات الغرامية. ليعيش عالمًا من الأحلام يعوّضه عن بؤسه لا سيما بعد وفاة زوجته توجه أنطونيو خوسيه بوليفار إلى قراءة الروايات، وليس أي روايات، الغرامية تحديدًا. الجميل أنه يجيد القراءة لكنه لا يُجيد الكتابة، وهذه ظاهرة واقعية لدى كثيرين ممن لم يحظوا بفرصة جدية في التعلم، ولم تتعد دراستهم فك الحرف وإعادة وصله.
سبولفيدا لم يسخُ على الحبكة، والتي المفروض أن يكون محورها "قراءة الروايات"، توقعت أن يتحول اندماجه القرائي إلى أظهار رومنسية متجذرة تظهر ملامحها في أسلوب حياته وتعاملاته، لأن القراءة هي فعل اكتساب وجودي. لكن الكاتب ركز على وجبة أسنان أنطونيو التي كان ينزعها ويعيدها باستمرار. رواية تفتقد إلى العمق، في محاولة لإظهار صورة نمطية عما راج من أساليب وأنماط أدبية في مرحلة كتابتها، وعلى كل حال هذا النمط لا يزال رائجًا لدى من اتخذوا من "التقليد الأدبي" وسيلة للكتابة.
الرواية سلسة وخفيفة وصداها أكبر من صوتها.

*أود الإشارة إلى أن ما شجعني على قراءة هذه الرواية هي ترجمة الدكتور عفيف دمشقية رحمه الله، لثقتي بإبداعه بالنقل، بأمانة وباحتراف.

"Sapeva leggere. Possedeva l’antidoto contro il terribile veleno della vecchiaia. Sapeva leggere"

Una storia semplice e tenera ma intensa e custode di messaggi profondi.
E' questa la storia del vecchio Antonio José Bolivar, che vive nella foresta amazzonica, a stretto contattato con la natura, scopre il valore universale della lettura ed è chiamato a dare la caccia al tigrillo, selvaggio animale in cerca di vendetta dopo l’uccisione dei suoi cuccioli.
Vi ho letto tanto fra le righe, ho sentito sulla pelle l’umidità della foresta equadoriana e nel cuore l’urlo selvaggio del tigrillo, e la passione di Antonio per quelle righe che parlano d’amore, e che non capisce fino in fondo, mi ha emozionata.
Qualcuno ha accostato questo romanzo a “Cent’anni di solitudine” di Marquez, ma a mio avviso, per fortuna, questo è un libro molto diverso, più semplice, più diretto, più toccante, e anche più godibile.
Luis Sepulveda è dunque un’ottima scoperta, sicuramente da approfondire.

The Amazon basin is not a particularly easy place to live, but over millennia, indigenous peoples have figured it out. The author of this book either studied a lot of their acquired wisdom or else was really good at making plausible-sounding stuff up; at any rate, the old man in the center of this story seems pretty authoritative when it comes to survival skills.

But the art of love? Not so much. Alas, his beloved bride (who, in an amusing twist, is always referred to as Dolores Encarnacion del Santisimo Sacramento Estupinan Otavalo, sometimes twice within a single sentence) accompanied him into the jungle before these skills were learned, and it did not end well. Decades later, a traveling dentist brings him romance novels a couple of times a year, which he puzzles through as well as he can -- although he understands the words, the conventions of the outer world often mystify him.

Trophy hunters, those who wish to dominate and conquer, do not respect the jungle and the jungle returns the favor. Living in harmony with one's environment teaches humility, and this book, which might take you two hours to read if you aren't in a hurry, is a nice reminder of what we have lost.

Not much love and romance in this book. Sepulveda had something else in mind.

Thanks to Andreea Visanoiu for alerting me to this one.

Just for fun, I asked Microsoft Copilot AI to write a four-paragraph review of this book. Here's what it came up with:

Luis Sepulveda's "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" is a short, yet deeply moving tale set in the remote and lush Amazon jungle. The novel follows the life of Antonio José Bolívar, an elderly man who has found a refuge in the heart of the jungle. Sepulveda weaves a compelling narrative that highlights the stark contrasts between the harsh realities of the Amazon and the tender, escapist world of romantic novels that Bolívar treasures. This contrast creates a poignant reflection on the nature of human solitude and the ways people seek comfort in stories.

Sepulveda’s writing captures the vivid essence of the Amazon, portraying its beauty and brutality with equal measure. The descriptions of the jungle are immersive, bringing to life the sounds, sights, and dangers that Bolívar navigates daily. Through the protagonist’s interactions with the indigenous Shuar people, Sepulveda also addresses themes of respect and harmony with nature, juxtaposed against the destruction brought by outsiders. This nuanced depiction underscores the delicate balance required to live in such an unforgiving environment.

Bolívar is a character rich with depth and humanity. His past experiences, marked by loss and displacement, have shaped his retreat into the jungle and his escape into love stories. Sepulveda delves into Bolívar’s inner life with sensitivity, revealing a man who, despite the isolation and hardships, finds solace and hope in the romantic tales he reads. Bolívar’s love for these stories highlights his yearning for a connection and a life less marred by the struggles he has endured.

Overall, "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" is a powerful exploration of isolation, survival, and the redemptive power of literature. Sepulveda’s eloquent prose and keen insights make this novella a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant read. It is a testament to the enduring human spirit and the ways people seek beauty and meaning even in the most challenging circumstances.

Un hermoso canto a la conservación del Amazonas, de respeto a sus habitantes y sus formas de vida.

"Hay un libro abierto siempre para todos los ojos: la naturaleza" (Rousseau)