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Israel Em Abril
No último dos quatro livros de viagem que escreveu, publicado em 1969 - os outros foram Gato preto em campo de neve, de 1941, sobre os Estados Unidos, A volta do gato preto, de 1946, também sobre os Estados Unidos, e México, de 1957 -, Erico mantém o procedimento literário dos anteriores e escreve um saboroso diário de bordo enriquecido com entrevistas e informações históricas. O roteiro da viagem, na companhia da esposa Mafalda, inclui visitas a diversas cidades e vilarejos, kibbutzim, personalidades, amigos, universidades e museus. Refletindo constantemente sobre o que vê, Verissimo antecipa uma das questões centrais do semitismo pós-Israel: será que agora o judaísmo deixará de ser uma cultura para virar uma civilização - destinada, como toda civilização, a um período do inverno, da velhice e da morte? Será que uma eventual decadência da civilização do novo Estado sionista [...] vai matar a cultura judaica? Erico aposta que não, convencido de que a diáspora judaica nunca deixará de existir.
322 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
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About the author
Erico Verissimo
106 books390 followersErico Verissimo (December 17, 1905 - November 28, 1975) is an important Brazilian writer, who was born in Rio Grande do Sul. His father, Sebastião Veríssimo da Fonseca, heir of a rich family in Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, met financial ruin during his son's youth. Veríssimo worked in a pharmacy before obtaining a job at Editora Globo, a book publisher, where he translated and released works of writers like Aldous Huxley. During the Second World War, he went to the United States. This period of his life was recorded in some of his books, including: Gato Preto em Campo de Neve ("Black Cat in a Snow Field"), A Volta do Gato Preto ("The Return of the Black Cat"), and História da Literatura Brasileira ("History of Brazilian Literature"), which contains some of his lectures at UCLA. His epic O Tempo e o Vento ("The Time and the Wind'") became one of the great masterpieces of the Brazilian novel, alongside Os Sertões by Euclides da Cunha, and Grande Sertão: Veredas by Guimarães Rosa.
Four of Veríssimo's works, Time and the Wind, Night, Mexico, and His Excellency, the Ambassador, were translated into the English language by Linton Lomas Barrett.
He was the father of another famous writer of Rio Grande do Sul, Luis Fernando Veríssimo.
Four of Veríssimo's works, Time and the Wind, Night, Mexico, and His Excellency, the Ambassador, were translated into the English language by Linton Lomas Barrett.
He was the father of another famous writer of Rio Grande do Sul, Luis Fernando Veríssimo.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 15, 2019
Adoro literatura de viagem. Este livro é o relato da viagem que Erico Veríssimo fez a Israel em Abril de 1966. Escolhi-o porque queria saber um pouco mais sobre Israel e os judeus. Ofereceu-me um conjunto interessante de aspectos históricos e principalmente humanos do território e das suas geografias. Um relato objetivo e por vezes com subtilezas poéticas fantásticas! Mas foi uma leitura de difícil progressão! Não chegava a casa cheia de vontade de o abrir e continuar a viagem!
January 10, 2022
Li-o em português. Um livro em forma de diário que me levou a conhecer Israel nas primeiras décadas após a criação desse Estado. Interessantíssimo principalmente para quem, como eu, tem amigos que viveram esse período; cria um sentimento de reconhecimento.
January 2, 2023
This is the first of Verissimo’s “travel diaries” that I read fully. Previously, I had read excerpts from Gato Preto em Campo de Neve. Overall, I prefer those excerpts. Israel em Abril is a great work that truly paints the country Verissimo visited, but often fails to paint the people he met and the situations he encountered on the same level.
Érico says several times he considers himself a “painter”. Here, he paints a lot. The subject itself is very plastic and visual. The scenery of Israel (the Neguev, the Galilea sea, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv) is so vast and naturally beautiful, and I thought that the author managed to convey a very imaginative image with his sensitivity prose. The choices of objects to describe reveal the writers values: art and bookshelves inside politicians offices were always noted, for example. These descriptions were some of the best aspects of a very aesthetic book.
The visual would then tie into a commentary on culture or society. The beautiful views of the Galilea Sea, for example, had to be intertwined with a questioning about the roots and dogmas of Christianity. Sometimes, these parts were a bit boring to me. Perhaps it’s the theme that begs historical context: it’s hard to discuss Israel without discussing Judaism and centuries of History. But I thought that, whereas Gato Preto em Campo de Neve cheered me with its short yet sharp anecdotal vignettes, Israel em Abril would out of nowhere open into an essay about the statelessness of the Jewish people and it’s anthropological significance. I liked the discussion, but I wasn’t expecting it necessarily on certain parts of the book—and I think Érico would’ve been better off writing or commenting about more of his actual trip than citing scholars he later on researched.
Beyond the description of natural beauties, the narrations of meetings with Israeli personalities were top tier. The irony with which the writer addresses the countries president, who dismisses Brazil and a “writer who expresses himself in Portuguese”, reminds us that Érico was after all a modernist writer trying to make the Brazilian literary identity coherent and strong. And the scenes describing interactions with members of a kibbutzim (agrarian commune) conveyed the skeptical optimism with which the writer seems to view socialism. These latter scenes actually show instances where the description turns into a political commentary that is very welcome in the book, and enriched it.
I need to reread Gato Preto em Campo de Neve fully, but, because Israel was the last of Ericos four travel books, I expected a bulletproof structure. I think this is a good yet very very dense read, but that requires a very different mindset page after page—which may be tough if you are reading through the book.
Érico says several times he considers himself a “painter”. Here, he paints a lot. The subject itself is very plastic and visual. The scenery of Israel (the Neguev, the Galilea sea, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv) is so vast and naturally beautiful, and I thought that the author managed to convey a very imaginative image with his sensitivity prose. The choices of objects to describe reveal the writers values: art and bookshelves inside politicians offices were always noted, for example. These descriptions were some of the best aspects of a very aesthetic book.
The visual would then tie into a commentary on culture or society. The beautiful views of the Galilea Sea, for example, had to be intertwined with a questioning about the roots and dogmas of Christianity. Sometimes, these parts were a bit boring to me. Perhaps it’s the theme that begs historical context: it’s hard to discuss Israel without discussing Judaism and centuries of History. But I thought that, whereas Gato Preto em Campo de Neve cheered me with its short yet sharp anecdotal vignettes, Israel em Abril would out of nowhere open into an essay about the statelessness of the Jewish people and it’s anthropological significance. I liked the discussion, but I wasn’t expecting it necessarily on certain parts of the book—and I think Érico would’ve been better off writing or commenting about more of his actual trip than citing scholars he later on researched.
Beyond the description of natural beauties, the narrations of meetings with Israeli personalities were top tier. The irony with which the writer addresses the countries president, who dismisses Brazil and a “writer who expresses himself in Portuguese”, reminds us that Érico was after all a modernist writer trying to make the Brazilian literary identity coherent and strong. And the scenes describing interactions with members of a kibbutzim (agrarian commune) conveyed the skeptical optimism with which the writer seems to view socialism. These latter scenes actually show instances where the description turns into a political commentary that is very welcome in the book, and enriched it.
I need to reread Gato Preto em Campo de Neve fully, but, because Israel was the last of Ericos four travel books, I expected a bulletproof structure. I think this is a good yet very very dense read, but that requires a very different mindset page after page—which may be tough if you are reading through the book.
August 16, 2023
Esse livro encontrou seu público ideal: eu.
Tantas frases marcadas, tantas abas dobradas. Algumas passagens eu não acreditava que eu estava lendo, pareciam ter saído diretamente dos meus pensamentos: os pensamentos de uma brasileira não-judia morando em Israel por um ano.
Lia e olhava para o lado para comentar com alguém, mas não havia ninguém. Tirava fotos das passagens para compartilhar, mas não havia ninguém para manda-las.
Gosto de pensar que eu e Erico seríamos grandes amigos.
Tantas frases marcadas, tantas abas dobradas. Algumas passagens eu não acreditava que eu estava lendo, pareciam ter saído diretamente dos meus pensamentos: os pensamentos de uma brasileira não-judia morando em Israel por um ano.
Lia e olhava para o lado para comentar com alguém, mas não havia ninguém. Tirava fotos das passagens para compartilhar, mas não havia ninguém para manda-las.
Gosto de pensar que eu e Erico seríamos grandes amigos.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews