gomezzzcaro's review against another edition
dnf 31/8/23 al 39%
¿es porque está mal impreso, porque es un libro de la facu o porque es aburridisimo?
¿es porque está mal impreso, porque es un libro de la facu o porque es aburridisimo?
deimantas's review against another edition
5.0
Ši knyga – meditatyvus meno ir realybės santykio apmąstymas. Trumpasis romanas, pasakojantis apie vokiečių tapytojo Johano Morico Rugendo kelionę Argentinos kalnais ir pampomis, trokštant atrasti tašką, „kur horizontas iš visų pusių plyti vienodu atstumu“ bei naują, universalią tapybos kryptį. Keliaujantis menininkas laikosi griežtos disciplinos – ieško savyje pakankamai ryžto nuotykiams, tačiau kartu nepamiršta susitelkimo įvykių dokumentavimui. Toks nusiteikimas Rugendą atveda iki gyvenimą keičiančios patirties – nutikimo. Jis ne tik padalina dailininko gyvenimą į „prieš“ ir „po“, bet ir perskelia patį pasakojimą per pusę – antroje knygos dalyje, išraiškos lygmenyje, nebelieka Rugendo minčių, o piešiama su didesne karštlige nei iki šiol. Sunku pasakyti, ar nutikimas pakeitė protagonisto dvasią, ar formos pokytis atitolino dailininką nuo skaitytojo. Romano stilius pasižymi vizualiu, pagauliu pasakojimu, o kultūrinių pastebėjimų ir gamtinių detalių kiekis kartais primena antropologinį „tirštąjį aprašymą“.
ethorwitz's review against another edition
5.0
César Aira uses the same detached perspective that I've seen in Bolaño. This is the method that uses the tone of a nonfiction book but then, almost surreally, covers details that a biographer or a historian couldn't possibly know. So you'll have a dry account of how this painter's letters indicated that he picnicked on a field south of town one Saturday only to dive into the painter's brain and examine how the universe is a series of unfolding aesthetic revelations or something like that. The total disregard for a consistent voice is more then just jarring, it's positively liberating. What's so great about it is that it is totally apropos to the subject matter. Bolaño, for example, uses it for his psychopaths and shell-shocked individuals. Aira, a little more subtly, uses it to convey the perspective of a true artist. Rugendas cares very little for interpersonal relationships, or typical travel details, or even really his own health and safety. All that matters is his quest for the "physiognomy of nature." Therefore the narrative itself is almost dismissive of physical events, but lovingly details the philosophical musings of a master trying to perfect his craft.
I also find the understatement of the title particularly amusing. The titular "episode" is an almost mythological cataclysm that unhinges and transfigures the artist into an even more perfect vehicle for artistic interpretation. This event, far from being a disaster, enables the artist to finally reach his peak. Rugendas as a drug addled, deformed maniac is finally liberated from humanity and becomes a creature totally fearless in the pursuit of art.
I also find the understatement of the title particularly amusing. The titular "episode" is an almost mythological cataclysm that unhinges and transfigures the artist into an even more perfect vehicle for artistic interpretation. This event, far from being a disaster, enables the artist to finally reach his peak. Rugendas as a drug addled, deformed maniac is finally liberated from humanity and becomes a creature totally fearless in the pursuit of art.
senordustin's review against another edition
3.0
Barely held my interest but that scene where dude and horse got struck by lightning a couple times... masterful.
anneacker17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
aniastef86's review against another edition
3.0
Una storia che parla di natura, di cambiamenti, del significato di normalità, ma soprattutto è una storia che parla di arte. In questo romanzo breve si respira la straripante bellezza degli scenari argentini, della sua natura selvaggia e sconfinata, narrata da Aira in uno stile unico, onirico e visionario, ma al tempo stesso tremendamente reale e concreto. E come sostiene Roberto Bolaño nella prefazione del romanzo, se c’è un autore contemporaneo che sfugge alla classificazione, quello è proprio César Aira.
A mio avviso è una lettura che merita più di una chance, ma dirò di più. Essendo un romanzo breve (per l’esattezza 93 pagine) consiglio di prendervi un paio d’ore e di leggerlo tutto d’un fiato. Spezzare la lettura significa ripartire da zero nel caos emotivo della storia che, invece, svela la sua parte migliore se ci facciamo trasportare senza sosta lungo la linea degli eventi.
A mio avviso è una lettura che merita più di una chance, ma dirò di più. Essendo un romanzo breve (per l’esattezza 93 pagine) consiglio di prendervi un paio d’ore e di leggerlo tutto d’un fiato. Spezzare la lettura significa ripartire da zero nel caos emotivo della storia che, invece, svela la sua parte migliore se ci facciamo trasportare senza sosta lungo la linea degli eventi.
bhaines's review against another edition
Lot going on, fun to read anyway.
In the beginning was Repetition, and only there. It was Krause, not Rugendas, who by virtue of his health, was moving along an unbroken line, a continuum, without beginning or end
horses clattering like bronze octopuses
Near the watershed, at an altitude of two thousand meters, amid peaks disappearing into the clouds, rather than a way of getting from point A to point B, the path seemed to have become quite simply a way of departing from all points at once
"At least it will cool off," he said to himself, and those trivial words marked the end of a phase in his life; with them he formulated the last coherent thought of his youth
In the beginning was Repetition, and only there. It was Krause, not Rugendas, who by virtue of his health, was moving along an unbroken line, a continuum, without beginning or end
horses clattering like bronze octopuses
Near the watershed, at an altitude of two thousand meters, amid peaks disappearing into the clouds, rather than a way of getting from point A to point B, the path seemed to have become quite simply a way of departing from all points at once
"At least it will cool off," he said to himself, and those trivial words marked the end of a phase in his life; with them he formulated the last coherent thought of his youth
kaji's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
mbahnaf's review
4.0
“Changing the subject is one of the most difficult arts to master, the key to almost all the others.”
Johann Moritz Rugendas was a renowned German landscape painter of his time. He was particularly well-known for his work in the Americas. Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt, he sought financial support for an ambitious project of recording pictorially the life and nature of Latin America. In his word, it would be "an endeavor to truly become the illustrator of life in the New World". In 1831 he traveled first to Haiti, and then to Mexico. In Mexico, he did drawings and watercolors of Morelia, Teotihuacan, Xochimilco, and Cuernavaca. He also began to practice oil painting, with excellent results. After becoming involved in a failed coup in 1834 against Mexico's president, Anastasio Bustamante, Rugendas was incarcerated and expelled from the country.
From 1834 to 1844 he travelled to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia, and finally returned in 1845 to Rio de Janeiro. Well-accepted and feted by the court of Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, he executed portraits of several members of the royal court and participated in an artistic exposition. At the age of 44, in 1846, Rugendas departed for Europe.
His depiction of black culture in his works are widely discussed. In some images, for example the Enterro de um Negro na Bahia, Rugendas identified the dead body of a "black man with another corpse: the suffering Christ the ‘Savior’ honored by the city’s name. Catholic themes and romantic images of slavery were common themes.
An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter is a fictionalized account of an eventful trip to Latin America taken by Rugendas, in search of inspiration. A painful misfortune befalls him that gives him new perspective. At this point, the writing becomes surrealist and the scenes become eerily intense as the sheer willpower of the artist allows him to continue painting.
"It was as if he had taken another step into the world of his paintings."
What I most enjoyed about this book were the descriptions of the landscape as Rugendas travels to Argentina through Chile. A must-read if you are into Latin American lit.
bllplank's review
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5