"Memoirs From Beyond The Grave," Two New Translations Of A Brazilian Classic By Antonio Machado De Assis, "O Bruxo do Cosme Velho"

“Rue Droite à Rio Janeiro” (1835). | The New York Public Library

"Memoirs From Beyond The Grave"

Two new translations of a Brazilian classic.

https://thebaffler.com/latest/memoirs-from-beyond-the-grave-scott-fox

I love the conclusion of this passage: "As to which of these new translations best honors the masterwork, I am inclined to think you need both. Jull Costa and Patterson offer the superior read; Thomson-DeVeaux is more faithful to the original, at the risk of sometimes being too literal. For the already-quoted Chapter CXXXVI, “Inutilidade,” she opts for the title “Uselessness”: not wrong, but not as right as “Pointlessness.”" "Not wrong, but not as right as..."

I will also link to Baudelaire's "Let's Beat Up The Poor," referenced by Lorna Scott Fox's "Memoirs From Beyond The Grave." http://baudelairepoems.blogspot.com/ Reflecting on Baudelaire's poem, a short article in the London Review Of Books begins with a striking - and pertinent - image: "The Oxford Student recently ran – and later retracted – a story about a Bullingdon Club initiation ceremony which allegedly included burning a £50 note in front of a tramp. Whether or not the story’s true, it pales beside Baudelaire’s narrative prose poem ‘Let’s Beat Up the Poor."

Baudelaire's poem - and Machado himself - recall Chesterton's observation (in his wonderful biography of Irish populist "William Cobbett") that we should be both amazed and grateful that the poor are tolerant of our abuse, for if they weren't, we would find ourselves continual targets of a relentless reign of retributive terror, whacking us daily with what we deserve.

Perhaps BLM embodies a kindred uprising.

Here is a PDF of Chesterton's "Cobbett": http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks09/0900441.txt

In Wikipedia's entry on Machado de Assis I learned that this very complex mulatto (can there be a mulatto who is not complex?!?) was not a Republican in his own political orientation but a "liberal Monarchist," perhaps confirming (and presaging) Latin America's fondness for autocratic leaders, not excluding -- and perhaps best exemplified -- by Fidel Castro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machado_de_Assis Wikipedia also notes that Machado de Assis is "widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature."

Do you have longstanding interest in Brazil's "greatest writer" or is "The Baffler" review, "Beyond The Grave," your introduction?