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Aphorisms
Spain, tr Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, bilingual
- GenresHispanic
214 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Ramón Gómez de la Serna
286 books59 followersRamón Gómez de la Serna y Puig (July 3, 1888, Madrid - January 13, 1963, Buenos Aires) was a Spanish writer, dramatist and avant-garde agitator. He was especially known for "Greguerías" - a short form of poetry that roughly corresponds to the one-liner in comedy. The Gregueria is especially able to grant a new and often humorous perspective.He strongly influenced surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel.
He was a partner of Carmen de Burgos
Gómez de la Serna published over 90 works in all literary genres. In 1933, he was invited to Buenos Aires. He stayed there during the Spanish Civil War and the following Franco regime and died there.
He was a partner of Carmen de Burgos
Gómez de la Serna published over 90 works in all literary genres. In 1933, he was invited to Buenos Aires. He stayed there during the Spanish Civil War and the following Franco regime and died there.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 19, 2014
No hay forestas vírgenes, porque precisamente por las forestas vírgene es por donde más corren los sátiros.
There are no virgin forests because it is precisely in virgin forests that satyrs are most likely to be found.
These are delightful aphorisms by the Spaniard Ramon Gomez de la Serna, one of the Generation of 1914. The translator claims these writers got lost, in the States’ perception, between the generations of 1898 and 1927. He cites Gomez de la Serna and Benjamin Jarnes in particular as deserving more attention. This edition is bilingual, with a good introduction, a bibliography, and an index of aphorisms by subject.
The introduction provides background on the broad genre that encompasses epigrams, proverbs, maxims, aphorisms, etc. Gomez de la Serna himself coined the term ‘greguerias’ for his aphorisms; he defined them as “metaphor + humor = gregueria. His metaphor may be simile, straight metaphor, definition using a colon, or various other technical forms, but the humor is almost always there. There is often a tension, or slight melancholy as well. Gomez de la Serna said he invented greguerias when he was looking out a window and suddenly realized that each bank of the Arno wanted to be where the other one was [but never could be].
I could quote dozens of these greguerias that I marked in my copy. They bring a smile or the ‘Oh!’ of a sudden new way to see something. He looked at everyday animals, letters, implements, weather, etc and endowed these items with emotions, purpose, or an alternative self-awareness no one else had perceived. There is a great physicality to his observations.
The translator, Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, obviously knows Spanish and I barely hobble, but two of his choices I found very aggravating. For one, he changes Gomez de la Serna’s almost universal use of the singular subject to the plural. Thus El cocodrilo es una maleta que viaja por su cuenta. becomes Crocodiles are suitcases that travel on their own. I think the singular subject in a definition conveys the flavor of the Spanish and even more, keeps it in the realm of the genre, a bit quaint. The plural becomes pedestrian and is the specific case of the more general, second, aggravation, underestimating the reader. Gonzalez-Gerth uses way to many words to over-explain the concise challenge of the original: in Spanish you have to think about some of the definitions before you get them, but sometimes the English version has taken a mallet to the beefsteak and beat it into submission. Finally, in too many cases he changes Gomez de la Serna’s colon-formed grequerias into straight statements, so Esponjas: calaveras de las olas. becomes Sponges are the skulls of the waves of the sea. Perhaps his editor made him do it, but one of them took the life out of a number of the English versions.
Still, you have 500 amusing aphorisms that are unlike most you have seen in English. Working through the Spanish is a good exercise in learning its figures of speech as well; I enjoyed trying the left page before I turned to the right for help.
A few of the best:
A train whistle’s only purpose is to sow the fields with melancholy.
Lettuce is all skirts.
And an example of a translation that keeps the wit, conciseness, and delayed ‘Ah' of the original:
In all famous restaurants there comes a time when the man who opens the oysters quits and goes into the jewelry business.
And my favorite:
Lo bueno sería que al final se descubriese que los molinos no son molinos, sino gigantes.
It would be great if, when all is said and done, it turned out that windmills are not windmills but giants.
There are no virgin forests because it is precisely in virgin forests that satyrs are most likely to be found.
These are delightful aphorisms by the Spaniard Ramon Gomez de la Serna, one of the Generation of 1914. The translator claims these writers got lost, in the States’ perception, between the generations of 1898 and 1927. He cites Gomez de la Serna and Benjamin Jarnes in particular as deserving more attention. This edition is bilingual, with a good introduction, a bibliography, and an index of aphorisms by subject.
The introduction provides background on the broad genre that encompasses epigrams, proverbs, maxims, aphorisms, etc. Gomez de la Serna himself coined the term ‘greguerias’ for his aphorisms; he defined them as “metaphor + humor = gregueria. His metaphor may be simile, straight metaphor, definition using a colon, or various other technical forms, but the humor is almost always there. There is often a tension, or slight melancholy as well. Gomez de la Serna said he invented greguerias when he was looking out a window and suddenly realized that each bank of the Arno wanted to be where the other one was [but never could be].
I could quote dozens of these greguerias that I marked in my copy. They bring a smile or the ‘Oh!’ of a sudden new way to see something. He looked at everyday animals, letters, implements, weather, etc and endowed these items with emotions, purpose, or an alternative self-awareness no one else had perceived. There is a great physicality to his observations.
The translator, Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, obviously knows Spanish and I barely hobble, but two of his choices I found very aggravating. For one, he changes Gomez de la Serna’s almost universal use of the singular subject to the plural. Thus El cocodrilo es una maleta que viaja por su cuenta. becomes Crocodiles are suitcases that travel on their own. I think the singular subject in a definition conveys the flavor of the Spanish and even more, keeps it in the realm of the genre, a bit quaint. The plural becomes pedestrian and is the specific case of the more general, second, aggravation, underestimating the reader. Gonzalez-Gerth uses way to many words to over-explain the concise challenge of the original: in Spanish you have to think about some of the definitions before you get them, but sometimes the English version has taken a mallet to the beefsteak and beat it into submission. Finally, in too many cases he changes Gomez de la Serna’s colon-formed grequerias into straight statements, so Esponjas: calaveras de las olas. becomes Sponges are the skulls of the waves of the sea. Perhaps his editor made him do it, but one of them took the life out of a number of the English versions.
Still, you have 500 amusing aphorisms that are unlike most you have seen in English. Working through the Spanish is a good exercise in learning its figures of speech as well; I enjoyed trying the left page before I turned to the right for help.
A few of the best:
A train whistle’s only purpose is to sow the fields with melancholy.
Lettuce is all skirts.
And an example of a translation that keeps the wit, conciseness, and delayed ‘Ah' of the original:
In all famous restaurants there comes a time when the man who opens the oysters quits and goes into the jewelry business.
And my favorite:
Lo bueno sería que al final se descubriese que los molinos no son molinos, sino gigantes.
It would be great if, when all is said and done, it turned out that windmills are not windmills but giants.
January 21, 2021
This is a rare book that can earn 4 stars in 4 seconds.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews