artofsaudade

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don’t distract them, they’re on a date

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🐍

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all of us summoning taylor back onto this app

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"It's been a long time coming, but"

Hello, tumblr! Long time no see!

I was wondering if there was anyone around here since the competition field between social media is getting tougher these days and I am really happy to find out that we are still mingling around this wonderful bubble that tumblr is.

The thing is: I’ve had a lot of time to think and read (the perks of being unemployed) and suddenly, I felt really inspired by two people in my universe, which, until now, I didn't recognize their similarities: João Guimarães Rosa and Taylor Swift.

I think we can dispense further introductions towards miss americana, Taylor Swift, innit? Even because this text is for you, swiftie and we already have a long relationship (the best she ever had - not my words, hers) with young miss Alison.

The person who I would like to introduce is Mr João Guimarães Rosa and try to convince you to give the splendid work of this Brazilian writer a chance, because, in my opinion, if you admire Taylor Swift's work as a lyricist, you’ll LOVE  Guimarães (or Guima, as I like to affectionately call him) because like miss Swift,  he is a word person.

João Guimarães Rosa was a Brazilian writer, poet,diplomat, novelist and physician (does this remind you of someone who is a singer, songwriter, doctor, producer, actress, screenwriter, and director? Oh well), who is widely regarded as the most important Brazilian author of the twentieth century and one of the greatest of all time. His work is known for its unique linguistic style as well as for its exploration of themes such as identity, memory, the human condition and, my favourite one: love.

In his most famous novel “Grande Sertão: veredas” (The Devil to Pay in the Backlands), we know the story of Riobaldo, a bandit who lives several dilemmas related to morals, the nature of existence, his identity, the constant doubt about the realization of a pact with the devil (THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL! IYKYK) and his love for his colleague Diadorim. Being that last subject written in such a poetic way that I'm sure it would become the bedside book for all of you.

One of the great characteristics of Guimarães Rosa is the way he uses language. Every phrase is so well written because in its simplicity he can build complex sentence structures that hold so much meaning. I keep catching myself losing my breath everytime I read his work because every single time a side of it that I didn’t get the last time reveals itself to me and I’m blown away all over again. 

Guimarães Rosa employs a distinctive style that combines regional dialects, neologisms (yes, guys, the man could invent WORDS!) and archaic Portuguese to create a unique voice that captures the richness and diversity of Brazilian culture, and in this book, helps to build all the complexity of the feelings of a man who finds himself questioning his nature, his identity while going through the unsettling feeling of being in love with another man in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Although regionalism is a constant feature in this book, by dealing with themes such as good and evil, love, hate, God and the devil, betrayal, among others of a philosophical nature, the writer manages to make this narrative universal, so that everyone can recognize themselves within it (I, myself, have the feeling that he reads what is inside my soul… oh wait, can you think about someone that have the same delicacy with the human soul and  that can express the nuances through words that are utterly relatable?).

With that in mind, I cannot help but imagine that being a fan of one of the greatest composers of all time, who manages to be a great storyteller and add poetry to her narrative, you will not like the universe created by Guimarães Rosa and his words.

I want to be clear that I'm not comparing the two because I think Mr. Rosa is incomparable just like Taylor is incomparable, what I'm saying is that god/the universe/whatever you believe has given these two people a precious gift, which is to reach parts of our hearts that we didn't realise were calling out to us.

It breaks my heart that not many people get to witness this man's writing in his mother tongue, Portuguese, as much of his poetry is inextricably linked to the way our language presents itself to the world and much of it is lost in translation. However, I'm sure that regardless of the translation you have access to, Guimarães will make you fall in love with the way the world is seen through his eyes.

All in all, I want to share with you some of my favourite quotes by Guima and I hope that, in a while, you will have favourites of your own.

"

hy in relating something, mention everything, every little detail? That meeting of ours was out-of-the-ordinary, melodramatic, the kind you read of only in newspapers and books. It was not until afterwards that I could put together even what I am telling you now and really understand it -for, when something like this is happening, what you feel mostly is what pertains to the body: the thudding heart.

"Those are one’s hours. The others, those of any time, are everybody hours (...) It is as though life’s trivialities were a pool of water in which we find ourselves submerged, a pool that covers and deadens everything - but once in a rare while we manage to raise our heads out of it, in a sort of miracle: like a little fish begging! Why? I am going to tell you something that is not generally known: always when we begin to love someone, in the normal run of things, love takes root and grows, because, in a way, that is what we want to happen, and so we seek it and help it along in our mind; but when it is predestined, allembrancing, we love completely and fatefully, we have to love, and we come upon one surprise after another. A love of this sort grows first and bursts later."

 “Love inspires love. I tell you it’s so. I think of Diadorim too - but Diadorim is a soft haze.”

“And suddenly I found myself loving him beyond all reason, loving him even more than before. With my heart at his feet, to be trampled upon. I had been loving him the whole time.”

“I never left Diadorim’s side. I felt an urge to eat and drink his leftovers; I wanted to touch whatever he had touched.”

“In my happiness I saw stars.”