Thursday, March 8, 2012

La infeliz Caracas



Tal vez porque hace un par de días fue su cumpleaños he visto varias veces posteado en Internet este relato de Gabriel García Márquez que hace unos instantes me decidí a leer.

Dicen de la literatura, y de las artes en general, que mientras más personal sea el acercamiento que el autor haga, será más universal su obra, porque en esencia, todos los hombres tenemos muchas cosas en común; amores, miedos, ilusiones y todas esas otras cosas que nos hacen perder el sueño. Tal vez por eso las palabras del Gabo describen perfectamente muchas de las cosas que siento acerca de Caracas, esa ciudad infeliz a la que he extrañado tanto estos días.

La primera vez que la oí nombrar fue en una frase de Simón Bolívar: La infeliz Caracas. Desde entonces, pocas veces la he vuelto a oír nombrada sin que vaya precedida de ese antiguo prestigio de infelicidad. Al parecer, su destino es igual al de muchos seres humanos de gran estirpe, que no pueden ser amados sino por quienes sean capaces de padecerlos.

El resto del relato lo pueden leer aqui.

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Caracas, the unhappy city

A couple a days ago was Gabriel García Marquez's birthday. I guess for that reason there was a text of him being posted and twittered all over the Internet usual sites. A moment ago I decide to read that text.

People often say about literature that for your words to be universal and be able to resonate with everyone, or at least deeply with someone, they need to come from a really personal and intimate place. That is because regardless of our specific circumstances, we all have certain things in common: loves, fears, illusions... all those things that keeps us wide awake in the middle of the night. Maybe that's why García Marquez's words describe perfectly a lot of the feelings I often have about Caracas, that unhappy city that I've been missing a lot these days.

The first time I had heard of her was in a Simón Bolívar's phrase: Caracas, the unhappy. Since then, not often I have heard people talking about Caracas without her name being accompanied by that old unfortunate fate. Apparently, her destiny is the same of some great lineage human beings; they cannot be loved but by those who are capable to bear them.

The rest of the text, if you speak Spanish, you can read it here.

4 comments:

Ama* said...

Me encantó. Será infeliz Caracas, pero ahí pasé muchos años felices : )

Ana said...

Totalmente. Nos hizo felices hasta que decidimos dejar de padecerla... y si volvemos estoy segura de que lo volverá a hacer. Es nuestra infeliz Caracas :)

Hila said...

I wish I could speak Spanish, I think something is lost in the translation. But thank you for sharing this quote.

Ana said...

Hila! I know! It is really complicated translate a great and particular writer as García Márquez without missing something on the way. Specially if you are not perfectly bilingual... and that's my case! Still I wanted to share it, because definitely the essence still there somewhere. If I find that text in English I'll post it!