viernes, 26 de octubre de 2007

Kalopides

http://kalopides.blogspot.com

For now, there are three posts on this blog. The last one is quite serious (a little review of "A russian doll" from Alfredo Bioy Casares), so it's not very important for now. But the other two posts are so freak!

The first one is called "Critic to the dialectical materialism and the frogs" (curiously, it's in Spanish). It doesn't have any sense, but it's interesting for his style, a little annoying, I must say (practically all the phrases begin with "And..."). It's a little story splashed with phrases from Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci.

The second one is called "Saddam and I in Gaminides". It's a sci-fi story, about the main character and Saddam Hussein going to Gaminides (a little satelite in the orbit of Jupiter), the dangerous adventure in the road and then in the satelite (splashed with thoughts about Irak), where they were looking for unexpected regularities that they could call "life". After four hours, they sat in a crater, and then Saddam looked at the main character with a threatening face, and then... it finish! Promising that the story will continue.

It's recommended for the people who like to read freak things. And also for the ones who want to know what did Saddam to the main character!

viernes, 19 de octubre de 2007

"December 19th, 1971"

It's an amazing story from the Argentinian writer Roberto Fontanarrosa, recently dead.


Canallas Leprosos


Context:
In his birth town, Rosario, there are two rival soccer teams, Rosario Central and Newell's Old Boys. Their fans, "canallas" and "leprosos", hate the other ones. In 1971 both teams went to the Final of the Argentinian tournament and Rosario Central (Fontanarrosa's favorite team) won 1-0.

Story (summary):
The story begins like this: "Yes, I know that we were such a fools about the thing that we made with the old Casale", and the tale (it's in first person) is a way to justify that. What did the character and his friends (Central's fans) do?

In the previous week to the match, they were desperated. If they lose the match, the shame will be so terrible for them, and their children, and the children of their children. So, they were thinking about the possible "cabbalas" for the "classical match".

In that situation, they remembered the old Casale, the father of the "bighead" Casale, an old friend that had left Rosario two years ago. That man told them once that he had never seen Central losing with Newell's on his entire life, never. He was a very commited Central's fan, but sometimes he couldn't go to the stadium in a couple of classical matches (because he was sick, in a business travel, an other reasons). But always, when he was on the stadium in a match with Newell's, Central was the winner.

So, they had to be sure that the old Casale was going to watch the match on the stadium. But there was a problem: they hadn't seen that man from two years ago. And when they went to talk with him, the old Casale told them something terrible: one year ago, he had a heart-attack, and the doctor prohibited him practically everything that could shake him emotionally... like going to the stadium.

The friends were desperated. That was a sign that Central was going to lose. So, they made a decision: the day of the match they were going to kidnap the old man. The situation is very funny, but, as a summary, when the old Casale noticed that he had no other chance, he was happy: he was singing with the friends for the streets to the stadium, happy and nervous for the match.

Finally, Central won the Final in an incredibly tough match. And just by the final of the match, the old Casale died.

Why I like it:
Told like this it sounds terrible. But the way of telling it is amazing, how Fontanarrosa shows the terrible desperation of the group, and the importance of the match... the reader ends the story feeling that it was OK!. In fact, that's the conclusion of the main character: "Why could he wanted to keep living like this? 2 or 3 years? humilliated by his wife and his daughter? It's better like this: he died happy, very happy, with the joy of punishing the "lepras" for the rest of the Centuries! That's how a "canalla" must die! If I could choose how I'm going to die, I'll choose this one. I'll choose this one."

And that's the power of a writer to make that the reader feels identified by the characters and his situations.