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The Chase
Fiction Introduction by Timothy Brennan Three works of fiction by the inventor of magic realism-now back in print! "In a nameless, Havana-like city, an anonymous man flees a team of shadowy, relentless political assassins, and ultimately takes refuge in a symphony auditorium during a performance of Beethoven's Eroica. . . . This nightmarish novel does not so much tell a story as map the secret political infrastructure of cities, governments, churches, music, and bodies." The Independent "Carpentier was one of the early giants of modern Latin American literature, a man whose writing helped shape and define the period of 'magic realism.' . . . [The Chase is] a masterpiece." New York Times Book Review "A taut tale of political violence and psychological suspense." San Francisco Chronicle "One of the few perfect novellas in Spanish." G. Cabrera Infante Perhaps Cuba's most important intellectual figure of the twentieth century, Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980) was a novelist, a classically trained pianist and musicologist, a producer of avant-garde radio programming, and an influential theorist of politics and literature. Best known for his novels, Carpentier also collaborated with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille, and Antonin Artaud. Born in Havana, he lived for many years in France and Venezuela but returned to Cuba after the 1959 revolution.
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
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About the author
Alejo Carpentier
203 books527 followersWritings of Cuban author, musicologist, and diplomat Alejo Carpentier influenced the development of magical realism; his novels include
El siglo de las luces!
(1962) and
The Kingdom of This World
(1949).
Alejo Carpentier Blagoobrasoff, an essayist, greatly influenced Latin American literature during its "boom" period.
Perhaps most important intellectual figure of the 20th century, this classically trained pianist and theorist of politics and literature produced avant-garde radio programming. Best known Carpentier also collaborated with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille, and Antonin Artaud. With Havana, he strongly self-identified throughout his life. People jailed and exiled him, who lived for many years in France and Venezuela but after the revolution of 1959 returned. He died in Paris, but survivors buried his body in Havana.
Alejo Carpentier Blagoobrasoff, an essayist, greatly influenced Latin American literature during its "boom" period.
Perhaps most important intellectual figure of the 20th century, this classically trained pianist and theorist of politics and literature produced avant-garde radio programming. Best known Carpentier also collaborated with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille, and Antonin Artaud. With Havana, he strongly self-identified throughout his life. People jailed and exiled him, who lived for many years in France and Venezuela but after the revolution of 1959 returned. He died in Paris, but survivors buried his body in Havana.
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November 2, 2025
Everything starts in the Concert Hall… The Eroica Symphony, Symphony No. 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven is being performed…
A down and out fugitive, running from his pursuers, is hiding in the hall… He is a former revolutionary who betrayed his comrades… Listening to the music he is recalling his past…
Traitors are doomed to run right to a finish line which is death.
…and then the flute, and then those drumbeats, so strong, as if everything had stopped just so that it could start up again. “How beautiful this funeral march is!” says the woman with the stole to the man on the other side.
A down and out fugitive, running from his pursuers, is hiding in the hall… He is a former revolutionary who betrayed his comrades… Listening to the music he is recalling his past…
Everything had been just, heroic, and sublime in the beginning: the houses they’d blown up during the night; the dignitaries shot down in the streets; the automobiles that disappeared as if swallowed by the earth…
Traitors are doomed to run right to a finish line which is death.
March 9, 2025
"تعقیب" برای من شبیه ی کویر بی آب و علفی بود که در مرکزش ی دشت پر از گل آفتابگردون پرورش دادن که صبح ها سرشون رو به سوی ماه بلند میکنن و با ریتم فالش و غمگین، با حرکاتی موزون و شاد، با کلماتی آشنا و جملاتی نمادین، شعر مبهمی رو میخونن که هرچقدر به انتهای این شعر نزدیک تر میشن، محتوای اون واضح تر و قابل درک تر میشه، تا بی عدالتی و جنایاتی رو به تصویر بکشه که برگرفته از جریاناتی سیاسی و اعتراضیه...
تعقیب، همین قدر مبهم و سخت و بی ربط، اما قابل درکه!
" دوران حکم های اعدامی بود که از دور قرائت می شد، دوران شجاعت فروتنانه، دوران بازی مرگ و زندگی. دوران اعدام حیرت انگیز بود که ماموری به لبخندی سنگدلانه تدارکش می دید و حکم، به باز کردن کتابی یا دریافت هدیه ای در عید پاک، در لفافه ی کاغذ کاغذرنگی مزین به نقش دارواش و ناقوس، جاری می شد. دوران محاکمه بود...."
"اجرا کنندگان حکم سلاح هاشان را می آورند و اندکی بعد صدای شلیک از پای تنومندترین درخت بلند می شود. اکنون در برابر کسی که فروافتاده است، سادگی از بین بردن هستی غرقه ی حیرتم می کند. همه چیز طبیعی می نماید: آن که حرکت می کرد دیگر هرگز نخواهد جنبید؛ صدایش در دهانی پرخون خاموش شد که اکنون همین خون همچون تکه ای میناکاری فشرده چانه ی اصلاح نشده اش را می پوشاند؛ هر احساس ممکن محسوس شد و سکون یگانه چرخه ی تکرار را شکسته است. همه میگویند " لازم بود"، وجدانشان به سخن آمده است، خودشان را در تاریخ می جویند. همه در شب پراکنده می شوند و دیگر لازم نیست پنهان شوند، لازم نیست به سایه ها مظنون باشند چون دوران عوض شده است، هربار به صدای بلندتر تکرار می کنند این کار لازم بود تا ورودشان به دوران، که عوض شده است، خالص تر باشد...."
چه قصه ی آشنایی....!
تعقیب، همین قدر مبهم و سخت و بی ربط، اما قابل درکه!
" دوران حکم های اعدامی بود که از دور قرائت می شد، دوران شجاعت فروتنانه، دوران بازی مرگ و زندگی. دوران اعدام حیرت انگیز بود که ماموری به لبخندی سنگدلانه تدارکش می دید و حکم، به باز کردن کتابی یا دریافت هدیه ای در عید پاک، در لفافه ی کاغذ کاغذرنگی مزین به نقش دارواش و ناقوس، جاری می شد. دوران محاکمه بود...."
"اجرا کنندگان حکم سلاح هاشان را می آورند و اندکی بعد صدای شلیک از پای تنومندترین درخت بلند می شود. اکنون در برابر کسی که فروافتاده است، سادگی از بین بردن هستی غرقه ی حیرتم می کند. همه چیز طبیعی می نماید: آن که حرکت می کرد دیگر هرگز نخواهد جنبید؛ صدایش در دهانی پرخون خاموش شد که اکنون همین خون همچون تکه ای میناکاری فشرده چانه ی اصلاح نشده اش را می پوشاند؛ هر احساس ممکن محسوس شد و سکون یگانه چرخه ی تکرار را شکسته است. همه میگویند " لازم بود"، وجدانشان به سخن آمده است، خودشان را در تاریخ می جویند. همه در شب پراکنده می شوند و دیگر لازم نیست پنهان شوند، لازم نیست به سایه ها مظنون باشند چون دوران عوض شده است، هربار به صدای بلندتر تکرار می کنند این کار لازم بود تا ورودشان به دوران، که عوض شده است، خالص تر باشد...."
چه قصه ی آشنایی....!
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July 30, 2016Those who first saw it, in 1804, the musicians who first played it, saw the name BUONAPARTE at the top of the title page and LUIGI VAN BEETHOVEN at the very bottom. By October, 1806, however, when Beethoven published his Third Symphony, Napoleon's name was gone. Instead, the dedication began:
Sinfonia Eroica, composta per festeggiare il souvvenire di un grand Uomo . . .
The Great Man is not named, but it's still Napoleon, or at least the 'memory' of Napoleon, still alive in 1806, so, rather, what Beethoven had wished Napoleon to be. The controversy over when Beethoven soured on Napoleon is unimportant for our purposes, but someone erased the Emperor's name on a copyist's score so fiercely a hole was worn in the paper.
But why talk about the Eroica in a review about an odd novella set in 1950s Cuba? Well, duh. But I'll get back to duh.
'The Chase' opens with that 1806 dedication in italics. The action begins in a concert hall, which is about to perform the Eroica. A student ticket seller is reading a biography of Beethoven, waiting for the music to begin. A fugitive runs in, throws a large banknote at the teller and runs into the theater, pursued by two men.
The student and the fugitive will be intertwined through that banknote (is it counterfeit?) and through their nocturnal visits to the prostitute Estrella. It was she who was visited, almost never visiting anyone herself.
The fugitive hides, flees, hides again, from his pursuers and his past, when torture tested his loyalty. Is he running from the police or his one-time comrades?
But the music pursues him, too. The notes are everywhere: in the concert hall, in the prostitute's room, in a garden, in a conversation. Carpentier, a musicologist as well as a revered Latin American novelist, does this as well an anyone I've read: weaving plot and music lines together.*
Which brings me back to duh. Carpentier published this in 1956. Batista was still in control in Cuba but Castro was beginning his guerilla war. Surely Carpentier had some grand Uomo in mind. Whose name was Carpentier scratching out? But we can choose too. Who was the Great Man? Sixty years later, we have memory to let us choose.
The fugitive runs from tree to tree, hiding in each shadow:
Before him the avenue, where various Presidents, with thick bronze frock coats, standing on granite pedestals, were sculpted in heroic size above the ice-cream vendors, who were ringing their viaticum bells, descended to the sea covered by clouds palpitating with distant flashes of lightning.
A cautionary tale, then, that is not confined to an island.
___________________
* The Lost Steps haunts me still.
Sinfonia Eroica, composta per festeggiare il souvvenire di un grand Uomo . . .
The Great Man is not named, but it's still Napoleon, or at least the 'memory' of Napoleon, still alive in 1806, so, rather, what Beethoven had wished Napoleon to be. The controversy over when Beethoven soured on Napoleon is unimportant for our purposes, but someone erased the Emperor's name on a copyist's score so fiercely a hole was worn in the paper.
But why talk about the Eroica in a review about an odd novella set in 1950s Cuba? Well, duh. But I'll get back to duh.
'The Chase' opens with that 1806 dedication in italics. The action begins in a concert hall, which is about to perform the Eroica. A student ticket seller is reading a biography of Beethoven, waiting for the music to begin. A fugitive runs in, throws a large banknote at the teller and runs into the theater, pursued by two men.
The student and the fugitive will be intertwined through that banknote (is it counterfeit?) and through their nocturnal visits to the prostitute Estrella. It was she who was visited, almost never visiting anyone herself.
The fugitive hides, flees, hides again, from his pursuers and his past, when torture tested his loyalty. Is he running from the police or his one-time comrades?
But the music pursues him, too. The notes are everywhere: in the concert hall, in the prostitute's room, in a garden, in a conversation. Carpentier, a musicologist as well as a revered Latin American novelist, does this as well an anyone I've read: weaving plot and music lines together.*
Which brings me back to duh. Carpentier published this in 1956. Batista was still in control in Cuba but Castro was beginning his guerilla war. Surely Carpentier had some grand Uomo in mind. Whose name was Carpentier scratching out? But we can choose too. Who was the Great Man? Sixty years later, we have memory to let us choose.
The fugitive runs from tree to tree, hiding in each shadow:
Before him the avenue, where various Presidents, with thick bronze frock coats, standing on granite pedestals, were sculpted in heroic size above the ice-cream vendors, who were ringing their viaticum bells, descended to the sea covered by clouds palpitating with distant flashes of lightning.
A cautionary tale, then, that is not confined to an island.
___________________
* The Lost Steps haunts me still.
October 4, 2016
Have you ever been at a wine tasting where everyone can taste the hint of blackberries except for you? Only you don’t want to look like an uncultured simpleton, so you either say nothing or agree with the group?
That’s where I’m at with The Chase. I’d read all of this stuff about the novel’s historic importance, how it’s a twentieth-century classic, how, reading it, you could feel the rise and swell of the music … and all I got from it is that it’s a book that overuses pronouns.
Set to Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony and considered part of Latin America’s magical realism movement (although not featuring any magical realism, The Chase was written during a period of Carpentier’s career where he was redefining the genre), The Chase takes place over one evening in a Havana-esque city. The plot has some interesting twists and I liked the point of the story, but mostly I feel like I just drank grape juice while everyone else sipped a killer Cab. Quasi-recommended.
That’s where I’m at with The Chase. I’d read all of this stuff about the novel’s historic importance, how it’s a twentieth-century classic, how, reading it, you could feel the rise and swell of the music … and all I got from it is that it’s a book that overuses pronouns.
Set to Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony and considered part of Latin America’s magical realism movement (although not featuring any magical realism, The Chase was written during a period of Carpentier’s career where he was redefining the genre), The Chase takes place over one evening in a Havana-esque city. The plot has some interesting twists and I liked the point of the story, but mostly I feel like I just drank grape juice while everyone else sipped a killer Cab. Quasi-recommended.
December 24, 2020
| دوران حکمهای اعدامی بود که از دور قرائت میشد، دوران شجاعت فروتنانه، دوران بازی مرگ و زندگی. |
برخلاف حجم کمش کلی ازم انرژی گرفت. همونطور که گفته میشه اثر انگار که سینماییه و میبینیمش.
برای من به نوعی سیال بودنش قشنگ بود. از اون کتابهاییه که صحنههاش توی ذهنم ترسیم شدن و میمونن.
برخلاف حجم کمش کلی ازم انرژی گرفت. همونطور که گفته میشه اثر انگار که سینماییه و میبینیمش.
برای من به نوعی سیال بودنش قشنگ بود. از اون کتابهاییه که صحنههاش توی ذهنم ترسیم شدن و میمونن.
January 5, 2025
Titulo: El acoso
Autor: Alejo Carpenter
Motivo de lectura: #RetoPremios2024
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Fisico / Electronico: Electronico
Mi edicion: -
Puntuacion: 2.5/5
Es la primera vez que leo al autor y aún no puedo decidirme si fue una experiencia satisfactoria o no.
Es una lectura descriptiva, muy sensorial, la estructura la encontre un poco febril.
Creo que mi mayor problema es que nunca logré empatizar con el personaje, siento que ni siquiera lo llegué a conocer porque la forma en que Alejo Carpentier relata la historia es como si en realidad hablara de cosas como si ya conociéramos todo, cuando en realidad falta contexto de prácticamente todo.
La prosa es muy buena lamentablemente me dejó un sabor a poco, ojalá hubiera ahondado más en la construcción del personaje, en el desarrollo de la historia.
Igualmente le daría una segunda oportunidad al autor.
Autor: Alejo Carpenter
Motivo de lectura: #RetoPremios2024
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Fisico / Electronico: Electronico
Mi edicion: -
Puntuacion: 2.5/5
Es la primera vez que leo al autor y aún no puedo decidirme si fue una experiencia satisfactoria o no.
Es una lectura descriptiva, muy sensorial, la estructura la encontre un poco febril.
Creo que mi mayor problema es que nunca logré empatizar con el personaje, siento que ni siquiera lo llegué a conocer porque la forma en que Alejo Carpentier relata la historia es como si en realidad hablara de cosas como si ya conociéramos todo, cuando en realidad falta contexto de prácticamente todo.
La prosa es muy buena lamentablemente me dejó un sabor a poco, ojalá hubiera ahondado más en la construcción del personaje, en el desarrollo de la historia.
Igualmente le daría una segunda oportunidad al autor.
August 30, 2018
یکی از سینماییترین رمانهایی که خواندهام. تلفیق شورانگیزی از تصاویر سینمایی شخصیتها، هاوانای قدیم و موسیقی؛ گویی رمان طرحیست برای فیلم. سمفونی شماره ۳ بتهوون معروف به اروئیکا-به معنای حماسی- نقش کلیدی در رمان ایفا میکند. داستان مبارزی انقلابی است که پس از تحمل سختیهای فراوان در زندان به دوستانش خیانت کرده، آنها را لو میدهد و در نهایت نیز توسط رفقای سابقش به قتل میرسد. وجه تراژیک داستان این است که قهرمان پس از ترک آرمان و انگیزهی نخستیناش پیش از پیروزی میمیرد. جالب آن که معنای دیگر اروئیکا، آرزوی برآورده نشده، بدیل شگفتانگیزی است برای ناکامی قهرمان/ضد قهرمان داستان. لازم به ذکر است که بتهوون ابتدا سمفونی را به ناپلئون تقدیم میکند اما پس آنکه ناپلئون به اتریش حمله میکند تقدیمنامه را پاره میکند.
February 8, 2024
Múltiplas narrativas, múltiplas confusões, múltiplas mortes, tudo isso ao som de Eroica de Beethoven em um teatro cubano sob o governo terrível de Fulgêncio Batista.
Narrando interruptamente os dias de um revolucionário e terrorista que não suportando as torturas expõe seus companheiros, Carpentier conta sob o fluxo de consciência de seu protagonista as situações que o levaram até a fatídico dia do teatro que abre a obra; utilizando de flashbacks que não se entrelaçam e estão sobretudo em fora de ordem, infelizmente a obra se faz tão caótica na sua estrutura e na linguagem que eu só pude entende-la após ler mais acerca dela, ocasionando uma leitura que não foi boa, embora aborde questões sérias. Todavia, os demais leitores podem ter uma percepção diferente.
Narrando interruptamente os dias de um revolucionário e terrorista que não suportando as torturas expõe seus companheiros, Carpentier conta sob o fluxo de consciência de seu protagonista as situações que o levaram até a fatídico dia do teatro que abre a obra; utilizando de flashbacks que não se entrelaçam e estão sobretudo em fora de ordem, infelizmente a obra se faz tão caótica na sua estrutura e na linguagem que eu só pude entende-la após ler mais acerca dela, ocasionando uma leitura que não foi boa, embora aborde questões sérias. Todavia, os demais leitores podem ter uma percepção diferente.
August 10, 2011
a slim work from cuban writer alejo carpentier, the chase (el acoso) is set in havana during the oppressive reign of fulgencio batista. often cited as a progenitor of magical realism, carpentier and his novels also influenced the latin american boom. the chase, though rich in descriptive language and possessed by a circuitous narrative, is not magical realism, per se. as an acclaimed musicologist, it is evident that carpentier's lush, lyrical prose was influenced by his musical background. as one of the main characters attempts to elude his politically-motivated pursuers, the chase wends a course through the streets of the revolutionary capital city. though perhaps not as haunting or salient a story as similarly-charged political works (benedetti, dorfman, antunes), the chase is, nonetheless, a gorgeously-crafted novella.
everything had been just, heroic, and sublime in the beginning: the houses they'd blown up during the night; the dignitaries shot down in the streets; the automobiles that disappeared as if swallowed by the earth; the explosives that were stored at home, among clothes perfumed with bunches of sweet basil- next to pamphlets carried in bakery baskets or in cases of beer whose bottles had been cut so that only the necks remained. it was a time when death sentences were passed from afar, a time for modest valor, a time for putting your life on the line. it was a time for dazzling executions carried out by an emissary wearing an implacable smile, executions that took place when the guilty party opened a book or a christmas present wrapped in paper decorated with mistletoe and bells. it was the time of the tribunal...
September 11, 2020
نوشتن نقد براي اين كتاب شايد كار بسيار سختي باشه. كتابي با روايت جريان سيال ذهن و بسيار سخت خوان كه اگر تجربه خوانش كتابهايي با اين مدل روايت رو نداشته باشيد لذت چنداني نخواهيد برد.
اين كتاب تلفيق زيبايي است از تصاوير سينمايي شخصيت ها، شهر هاوانا قديم و موسيقي. سمفوني شماره ٣ بتهوون معروف به "اروئيكا" نقش اساسي در رمان ايفا ميكند.
يكي از معاني "اروئيكا" آرزوي برآورده نشده است كه گوياي شخصيت اصلي داستان هست، فردي انقلابي كه پس از تحمل سختي هاي فراوان در زندان به دوستانش خيانت كرده و آنها را لو ميدهد و در نهايت هم توسط همان رفقاي سابقش به قتل ميرسد.
نكته جالب در ارتباط با سمفوني ٣ بتهوون اينست كه آن را به ناپلئون تقديم ميكند ولي بعد از حمله ناپلئون به اتريش، تقديم نامه را پاره ميكند.
اين اولين كتابي بود كه من از الخاندرو كارپانتيه نويسنده صاحب نام آمريكاي لاتين ميخوندم و اينكه تنها سه ستاره به آن دادم ناشي از اينست كه هنوز با نثر اين نويسنده انس نگرفته ام. قطعأ از كتاب بعدي اين نويسنده كه جزء بهترين آثارش هم محسوب ميشود يعني "رد گم" لذت بيشتري خواهم برد.
اين كتاب تلفيق زيبايي است از تصاوير سينمايي شخصيت ها، شهر هاوانا قديم و موسيقي. سمفوني شماره ٣ بتهوون معروف به "اروئيكا" نقش اساسي در رمان ايفا ميكند.
يكي از معاني "اروئيكا" آرزوي برآورده نشده است كه گوياي شخصيت اصلي داستان هست، فردي انقلابي كه پس از تحمل سختي هاي فراوان در زندان به دوستانش خيانت كرده و آنها را لو ميدهد و در نهايت هم توسط همان رفقاي سابقش به قتل ميرسد.
نكته جالب در ارتباط با سمفوني ٣ بتهوون اينست كه آن را به ناپلئون تقديم ميكند ولي بعد از حمله ناپلئون به اتريش، تقديم نامه را پاره ميكند.
اين اولين كتابي بود كه من از الخاندرو كارپانتيه نويسنده صاحب نام آمريكاي لاتين ميخوندم و اينكه تنها سه ستاره به آن دادم ناشي از اينست كه هنوز با نثر اين نويسنده انس نگرفته ام. قطعأ از كتاب بعدي اين نويسنده كه جزء بهترين آثارش هم محسوب ميشود يعني "رد گم" لذت بيشتري خواهم برد.
April 25, 2020
چیزی که باعث میشود ادبیات آمریکای لاتین شگفتانگیز باشد ، شیوهی به کار بردن کلمات هست ؛ نثرِ این ادبیات خودْ کلاس درسی هست برای سایر ادبیات .
تعقیب داستانِ کوتاهی هست که سرنوشت دو شخصیت اصلی را به موازات هم پیش میبرد . داستان شامل تکگویی هایی نیز میباشد که در نوع خود شاهکار هست ...
کتاب شامل سه بخش هست که بخش سوم ، ادامهی بخش اول هست و بخش دوم که صفحات زیادی را در برمیگیرد ، شروع به واکاویِ سرنوشتِ دو شخصیت اصلی میکند .
تعقیب داستانِ کوتاهی هست که سرنوشت دو شخصیت اصلی را به موازات هم پیش میبرد . داستان شامل تکگویی هایی نیز میباشد که در نوع خود شاهکار هست ...
کتاب شامل سه بخش هست که بخش سوم ، ادامهی بخش اول هست و بخش دوم که صفحات زیادی را در برمیگیرد ، شروع به واکاویِ سرنوشتِ دو شخصیت اصلی میکند .
April 30, 2025
Confuso y pomposo, muy lejos de la maravilla que me pareció El Reino de este Mundo. A su favor la propia historia y la estructura de la novela.
May 31, 2022
نوع روایت در من کششی ایجاد نمی کرد و توصیفات زیادی از معماری بود که با موضوع و فضا برای من هم خوانی نداشت و مطالعه ی این توصیفات بعضی جاها برایم زننده می شد
تنها نقطه قوت کتاب برای من توصیف بعضی از احساسات و گرفتاری های انسانی بود که حالتی شاعرانه داشت.
تنها نقطه قوت کتاب برای من توصیف بعضی از احساسات و گرفتاری های انسانی بود که حالتی شاعرانه داشت.
October 23, 2024
Me duele en el alma reseñar una obra de Carpentier con baja calificación pero realmente me costó mucho encontrar al autor en esa novela. Si bien tiene un lindo vocabulario y es breve, sinceramente me costó mucho seguir la historia.
Tenemos un personaje principal: el acosado, el perseguido, el torturado, el liberado como lo va nombrando según las circunstancias. Que huye de sus perseguidores y se esconde durante días en los trasfondos de un teatro. El hambre y la desesperación lo hacen reflexionar, recordar y delirar por momentos. Llamado a la solidaridad: si alguien lo entendió y disfrutó por favor iluminenme💖 pero lo que sí; sin duda, no lo recomiendo para comenzar con el autor ya que tiene obras majestuosas.
Tenemos un personaje principal: el acosado, el perseguido, el torturado, el liberado como lo va nombrando según las circunstancias. Que huye de sus perseguidores y se esconde durante días en los trasfondos de un teatro. El hambre y la desesperación lo hacen reflexionar, recordar y delirar por momentos. Llamado a la solidaridad: si alguien lo entendió y disfrutó por favor iluminenme💖 pero lo que sí; sin duda, no lo recomiendo para comenzar con el autor ya que tiene obras majestuosas.
December 17, 2018
Violenta y difícil, "El acoso" es la segunda novela que leo de Alejo Carpentier. En ella, la temática musical permite que múltiples narraciones se entrelacen; en especial, la del taquillero y el acosado, estudiante de arquitectura que huye de la persecución departe de las fuerzas militares del dictador Machado. En este sentido, ambas historias se articulan a partir de la "Eroica" de Beethoven, pieza que sirve de eje a ambos narradores (los dos se encuentran en el teatro) y, asimismo, marca el tiempo total en el que se desprende un relato desperdigado, a múltiples voces, en los que la consciencia se cuestiona a sí misma hasta llegar a preguntarse, incluso, por el propio Dios.
Capaz lo único que hizo apartarme de la novela fue su escritura; tal vez muy pomposa y barroca para mi gusto. Eso sí, Carpentier es alguien que debo leerse con calma...con la certeza de que, como los vinos, su literatura tiende a mejorar con el paso del tiempo y la reflexión tranquila.
Capaz lo único que hizo apartarme de la novela fue su escritura; tal vez muy pomposa y barroca para mi gusto. Eso sí, Carpentier es alguien que debo leerse con calma...con la certeza de que, como los vinos, su literatura tiende a mejorar con el paso del tiempo y la reflexión tranquila.
February 23, 2008
A novella in the form of a sonata, with three main "themes" or narratives that interweave and imagery that overlaps and repeats, centered on a man who's being hunted for political reasons. All the action takes place within the forty-six minutes it takes to perform Beethoven's third symphony, Eroica. The author says he walked out the plot in Havana just to make sure it was possible. I love shit like that.
March 21, 2011
If James Joyce rewrote Crime & Punishment, ran it through a paper shredder, reassembled half the shreds, and set it in Cuba, the result would be El Acoso. Politically-charged, experimental, borderline unintelligible -- this will be either your most or least favorite Carpentier book. I lean toward the latter.
February 20, 2022
One of Carpentier's less well-known novels, and I can understand why: in addition to being (according to the Prologue of this edition) his only book not to have any "marvelous" aspect, it is simply very difficult to understand; what follows is my best guess as to what is happening. The novel is in stream-of-consciousness and is structured like a sonata. The setting is Havana in the late forties. It begins with the consciousness of a poor music student who is working as the cashier in a concert hall, and reading a biography of Beethoven which is quoted from time to time as he reads it, and we see from the outside the person who will be essentially the main character, a former architecture student and political activist, who is the one being "pursued" (the title is Spanish for "chase" or "pursuit"). These are the theme and countertheme. The action of this chapter takes place in the concert hall, during intermission, where a performance is about to be given of the Eroica as the second half of the program. The "pursued" rushes in and throws a large bill on the counter, grabs a ticket and hurries in without waiting for change, followed by two other men who run in without paying. The cashier cashes out, keeping the large bill -- the Eroica is the end of the night -- and rushes off to a local prostitute, Estrella, who refuses the bill as probably counterfeit and throws him out. He returns to the hall and offers to close up. We then without any notice get stream-of-consciousness of the main character -- it takes a while to realize that the person has changed, and we assume incorrectly that it follows the first section in time -- who is hiding in the tower of a house next door to the music student, from which he can hear the music student practicing and playing the Eroica on a cheap gramophone.
The second chapter, which takes up most of the book, is the "development" section, almost entirely in the consciousness of the main character, and goes back to the previous one or two days, although it takes a while to realize this, with flashbacks to the past several months, explaining in bits and pieces out of order how he got to the point at which he enters the concert hall. The chronology is so confused that at the beginning I had no idea what was going on, but by the end of the chapter I had it largely figured out, having had to occasionally go back and re-read former parts in the light of the later events, which were in some cases prior in time. We find out that the main character had been a member of an ultrleft terrorist group which degenerated into a criminal band. He is now on the run from both the police and his former comrades. He has also gotten religion very heavily, although largely expressed in formula prayers and quotations from the Mass.
A short third chapter is the "recapitulation" which repeats the events of the first chapter now largely through the consciousness of the major character. He rushes into the theater to hide. We then get the final event.
In addition to the difficulty of the structure, the language is also difficult: because of the main character's architecture background, he describes everything around him constantly in technical architectural terms which I didn't know even after looking up the English equivalents, and in other respects the vocabulary is very lush and "baroque" and the syntax is very complex (which was true of the two previous novels as well).
Despite being disguised as an adventure novel, the book deals with some very serious questions, as always with Carpentier: questions of guilt and repentance, as well as politics and music. I usually like books with a challenging style but in this case, while others may find that the theme resonates with them, for me it was not really worth the effort of decipherment.
The second chapter, which takes up most of the book, is the "development" section, almost entirely in the consciousness of the main character, and goes back to the previous one or two days, although it takes a while to realize this, with flashbacks to the past several months, explaining in bits and pieces out of order how he got to the point at which he enters the concert hall. The chronology is so confused that at the beginning I had no idea what was going on, but by the end of the chapter I had it largely figured out, having had to occasionally go back and re-read former parts in the light of the later events, which were in some cases prior in time. We find out that the main character had been a member of an ultrleft terrorist group which degenerated into a criminal band. He is now on the run from both the police and his former comrades. He has also gotten religion very heavily, although largely expressed in formula prayers and quotations from the Mass.
A short third chapter is the "recapitulation" which repeats the events of the first chapter now largely through the consciousness of the major character. He rushes into the theater to hide. We then get the final event.
In addition to the difficulty of the structure, the language is also difficult: because of the main character's architecture background, he describes everything around him constantly in technical architectural terms which I didn't know even after looking up the English equivalents, and in other respects the vocabulary is very lush and "baroque" and the syntax is very complex (which was true of the two previous novels as well).
Despite being disguised as an adventure novel, the book deals with some very serious questions, as always with Carpentier: questions of guilt and repentance, as well as politics and music. I usually like books with a challenging style but in this case, while others may find that the theme resonates with them, for me it was not really worth the effort of decipherment.
November 4, 2022
Cuba on the cusp of revolution; a cleverly convoluted novella.
The Chase features a covert armed struggle by urban student radicals, predating Che Guevara's rural uprising. The students have abandoned their initial revolutionary principles and now use violence on behalf of powerful protectors within government. Indeed, the students' latest political killing was commissioned by an "Exalted Personage", also known as "the man from the National Palace".
After the unnamed protagonist of The Chase joins the student radicals and is assigned to an assassination squad, he discovers this inherent corruption:
"... when he found out that someone had benefitted from that death, he'd been plagued by doubts, which were soon silenced by those around him who skillfully used the Words that justified everything. "The revolution", they said, "is not over yet." And step by step, dragged along by increasingly active hands, he passed into the bureaucracy of horror."
When a group of student insurgents is uncovered and broken by the police, the protagonist becomes a hunted man. The bulk of the novella traces his subsequent search for refuge within Havana. Hunting images recur through the novella, such as the description of women's furs draped across their backs like "thick festoons in a painted hunting scene" and the "hunting-horn theme" in the Beethoven symphony performed at the concert hall where the student seeks eventual refuge.
Music plays a central role in The Chase, reflecting Carpentier's strong musical training and abiding interest in the form. The novella is structured in three parts, mirroring the basic elements of a sonata, in which the musical (or novelistic) subject matter is first stated, then explored or expanded, and finally restated.
In the first part (movement), Carpentier introduces the concert hall, a ticket seller, and the hunted man's effort to seek refuge among the concert-goers. The second part provides context, gradually revealing the hunted man's crimes and reasons for flight; links are also revealed between the ticket seller and hunted man, both of whom (unwittingly) seek solace from the same prostitute and both of whom know an old lady who provides temporary protection to the hunted man. The third part returns to the concert hall for the denouement.
The novella is initially perplexing because of the temporal shifts: the 1,2,3 sequence of written parts would need to be read as 2,1,3 to restore the correct timeline of events. Perhaps given this reworking of the chronology, the storyline is not communicated as a continuous sequence of events (this happened, which led to that, which in turn...), but rather by a number of relatively self-contained set pieces that lend themselves to being pieced together like a puzzle. There is something theatrical too, perhaps, about this structure.
Carpentier unveils the story slowly: the hunted man's background is revealed only relatively late in the novella, and the identity of his hunters is not implied until the final few pages. That said, this is a quick read (122 pages), and there is something satisfying about seeing the pieces drop into place. For me, the value of the novella lies less in its lyrical qualities than in the pleasure provided by its carefully-constructed sonata-like form.
Strongly recommended for those with a tolerance for the non-linear. Well worth an eventual second read.
Biographical details
Carpentier was living in Venezuela in 1956 when her wrote The Chase. He had strong ties to Cuba, spending his first eight childhood years there, later studying at the University of Havana, and working as journalist (in the 1920s and again during 1939-45). Given his leftist leaning, he had to flee Cuba in 1927 after opposing the then dictatorship, and would have opposed the increasingly repressive Batista dictatorship of 1952-59.
The Chase features a covert armed struggle by urban student radicals, predating Che Guevara's rural uprising. The students have abandoned their initial revolutionary principles and now use violence on behalf of powerful protectors within government. Indeed, the students' latest political killing was commissioned by an "Exalted Personage", also known as "the man from the National Palace".
After the unnamed protagonist of The Chase joins the student radicals and is assigned to an assassination squad, he discovers this inherent corruption:
"... when he found out that someone had benefitted from that death, he'd been plagued by doubts, which were soon silenced by those around him who skillfully used the Words that justified everything. "The revolution", they said, "is not over yet." And step by step, dragged along by increasingly active hands, he passed into the bureaucracy of horror."
When a group of student insurgents is uncovered and broken by the police, the protagonist becomes a hunted man. The bulk of the novella traces his subsequent search for refuge within Havana. Hunting images recur through the novella, such as the description of women's furs draped across their backs like "thick festoons in a painted hunting scene" and the "hunting-horn theme" in the Beethoven symphony performed at the concert hall where the student seeks eventual refuge.
Music plays a central role in The Chase, reflecting Carpentier's strong musical training and abiding interest in the form. The novella is structured in three parts, mirroring the basic elements of a sonata, in which the musical (or novelistic) subject matter is first stated, then explored or expanded, and finally restated.
In the first part (movement), Carpentier introduces the concert hall, a ticket seller, and the hunted man's effort to seek refuge among the concert-goers. The second part provides context, gradually revealing the hunted man's crimes and reasons for flight; links are also revealed between the ticket seller and hunted man, both of whom (unwittingly) seek solace from the same prostitute and both of whom know an old lady who provides temporary protection to the hunted man. The third part returns to the concert hall for the denouement.
The novella is initially perplexing because of the temporal shifts: the 1,2,3 sequence of written parts would need to be read as 2,1,3 to restore the correct timeline of events. Perhaps given this reworking of the chronology, the storyline is not communicated as a continuous sequence of events (this happened, which led to that, which in turn...), but rather by a number of relatively self-contained set pieces that lend themselves to being pieced together like a puzzle. There is something theatrical too, perhaps, about this structure.
Carpentier unveils the story slowly: the hunted man's background is revealed only relatively late in the novella, and the identity of his hunters is not implied until the final few pages. That said, this is a quick read (122 pages), and there is something satisfying about seeing the pieces drop into place. For me, the value of the novella lies less in its lyrical qualities than in the pleasure provided by its carefully-constructed sonata-like form.
Strongly recommended for those with a tolerance for the non-linear. Well worth an eventual second read.
Biographical details
Carpentier was living in Venezuela in 1956 when her wrote The Chase. He had strong ties to Cuba, spending his first eight childhood years there, later studying at the University of Havana, and working as journalist (in the 1920s and again during 1939-45). Given his leftist leaning, he had to flee Cuba in 1927 after opposing the then dictatorship, and would have opposed the increasingly repressive Batista dictatorship of 1952-59.
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June 16, 2024Cel mai frumos roman din care n-am înțeles nimic.
Acțiunea se petrece pe durata a 46 de minute în care un personaj anonim, hăituit de poliția politică, își rememorează viața, acțiunile care l-au adus până în acel punct. Pe alocuri în povestea lui se intercalează și alte voci.
În afara unor propoziții care-și acordă libertatea de a îmbina materia cu povestea după bunul plac, nu înțeleg nici de ce cartea asta aparține realismului magic. Se pare că e scrisă în perioada în care Carpentier redefinea genul.
Limbajul folosit în carte e superb. Cred că s-a făcut o treabă grozavă cu traducerea. Dacă nu avea propoziții așa de puternice și dense și nu era așa de scurtă, probabil nici nu aș fi reușit să o termin. Dar acum aș vrea să revin asupra ei mai târziu. Poate înarmat cu ceva mai multă cunoaștere despre istoria Cubei din acea perioadă și încă vreo lectură sau două din Carpentier, voi reuși să și înțeleg ceva.
Nu am înțeles nimic, dar m-a convins cu limbajul ei ales că merită să mai încerc mai târziu. Tot e ceva.
Acțiunea se petrece pe durata a 46 de minute în care un personaj anonim, hăituit de poliția politică, își rememorează viața, acțiunile care l-au adus până în acel punct. Pe alocuri în povestea lui se intercalează și alte voci.
În afara unor propoziții care-și acordă libertatea de a îmbina materia cu povestea după bunul plac, nu înțeleg nici de ce cartea asta aparține realismului magic. Se pare că e scrisă în perioada în care Carpentier redefinea genul.
Limbajul folosit în carte e superb. Cred că s-a făcut o treabă grozavă cu traducerea. Dacă nu avea propoziții așa de puternice și dense și nu era așa de scurtă, probabil nici nu aș fi reușit să o termin. Dar acum aș vrea să revin asupra ei mai târziu. Poate înarmat cu ceva mai multă cunoaștere despre istoria Cubei din acea perioadă și încă vreo lectură sau două din Carpentier, voi reuși să și înțeleg ceva.
Nu am înțeles nimic, dar m-a convins cu limbajul ei ales că merită să mai încerc mai târziu. Tot e ceva.
July 1, 2025
Densa esta historia. Me sentí un poco abrumado. Y no fue por el estilo (muy barroco aunque a mí no me incomoda), ni por el manejo del tiempo y la atmósfera (magistrales) sino por el destino de nuestro protagonista y lo vigente que se vuelve.
Mucha tensión, excelente prosa, y buena estructura. El empleo de la heroica de Beethoven y la oración dentro del marco narrativo la hacen un libro para leer varias veces y encontrarle goce. Es como ver un gol con muchas repeticiones y desde diferentes ángulos y cámaras para poder disfrutar de sus efectos. La primera vez es seguro definitiva, pero después, a lo mejor, nos da más.
Dato: tiene una frase que después saldrá en el amor en los tiempos del cólera, a saber, “el olor de las almendras amargas“. No he oído sobre eso. ¿Alguien ya sabía?
Mucha tensión, excelente prosa, y buena estructura. El empleo de la heroica de Beethoven y la oración dentro del marco narrativo la hacen un libro para leer varias veces y encontrarle goce. Es como ver un gol con muchas repeticiones y desde diferentes ángulos y cámaras para poder disfrutar de sus efectos. La primera vez es seguro definitiva, pero después, a lo mejor, nos da más.
Dato: tiene una frase que después saldrá en el amor en los tiempos del cólera, a saber, “el olor de las almendras amargas“. No he oído sobre eso. ¿Alguien ya sabía?
July 18, 2020
Aun no acabo de comprenderla muy bien, es un juego de tiempos y de personajes. Se sitúa en la problemática Cuba de los años 30´s. Es una novela densa, que te hace releer una y otra vez las páginas pasadas para hilar la trama.
Sin duda es un reto de prosa poética y de un vocabulario muy extenso. Es impresionante lo lleno que esta el libro de sensibilidad musical, por eso la confusión de los sentidos del lector. Este libro es como una banda sonora de una película que eriza la piel.
Sin duda es un reto de prosa poética y de un vocabulario muy extenso. Es impresionante lo lleno que esta el libro de sensibilidad musical, por eso la confusión de los sentidos del lector. Este libro es como una banda sonora de una película que eriza la piel.
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August 9, 2024Querido, que veranito tan malo te has montao
Barroco, rocambolesco, acosao, amatzzzzao
Barroco, rocambolesco, acosao, amatzzzzao
February 11, 2025
Leer a Alejo Carpentier siempre es para mí un disfrute y un reto. Esta obra se sitúa durante la dictadura de Machado en La Habana, Cuba. Su enfoque sociopolítico al principio me resultó complejo de seguir; sin embargo, a medida que avancé, logré adentrarme en la narrativa del autor y disfrutarla como siempre.
El hecho de que el libro esté acompañado por la Sinfonía heroica n.º 3 de Beethoven fue un toque brutal! Escuchar la sinfonía alternándola con la lectura es algo que jamás había hecho antes.
El hecho de que el libro esté acompañado por la Sinfonía heroica n.º 3 de Beethoven fue un toque brutal! Escuchar la sinfonía alternándola con la lectura es algo que jamás había hecho antes.
September 8, 2025
um triller literário. perfeito!
September 29, 2019
Libro para mí excepcionalmente difícil de leer, más aún que mi primera aterrorizadora lectura de Musil hace diez años. Se lee como una sinfonía de elementos, perspectivas, tiempos, etc tan dinámicos como las harmonías de la sinfonía que se debe tocar durante el trama. Me gusta mucho la técnica pero chucha qué complicada, frases de relativo apiladas, aposiciones que contienen historias enteras... Pero me consta desde el principio el sentido de que el autor quería que el texto se leyera como recogido por un periodista: las extrañas relaciones entre los detalles muchas veces sin protagonista nos motivan a buscar la vida en los restos, los desechos de la fecundidad de Cuba. Y eso es maravilloso, idea muy importante para el autor. Tengo reganas de leer Siglo de las luces, primer libro de Carpentier que se me recomendó, pero espero que no esté tan densa como esta.
November 25, 2011
Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier (1904-80) is often considered, alongside Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as a founder of Magical Realism, the distinctively Latin American literary school where mythology takes literal wing alongside commonplace events. In reality, Carpentier is a lucid, classical modernist in the vein of Marcel Proust or Malcolm Lowry-- a dreamlike aura enshrouds his work, but his novels are less about folkloric enchantments than a world of dense reflection rendered in pensive, oblique prose.
“The Chase” (1956) tells a simple, classically symmetrical story encrusted in dense, poetic reflection: an unnamed revolutionary in an unspecified country (eventually recognizable as Battista’s Cuba) is on the run after committing an assassination and confessing to police. But Carpentier is less interested in politics than a general atmosphere of tense, involuted self-exploration. Initial dissonance between the novel’s simple premise and opaque method finally gives way to a satisfying, logical conclusion. “The Lost Steps” remains Carpentier’s masterpiece, but “The Chase” is a unique, impressive work by one of Latin American literature’s true geniuses.
“The Chase” (1956) tells a simple, classically symmetrical story encrusted in dense, poetic reflection: an unnamed revolutionary in an unspecified country (eventually recognizable as Battista’s Cuba) is on the run after committing an assassination and confessing to police. But Carpentier is less interested in politics than a general atmosphere of tense, involuted self-exploration. Initial dissonance between the novel’s simple premise and opaque method finally gives way to a satisfying, logical conclusion. “The Lost Steps” remains Carpentier’s masterpiece, but “The Chase” is a unique, impressive work by one of Latin American literature’s true geniuses.
October 17, 2016
Oh, dear. I just did not enjoy anything about his novella and I know I'm supposed to. While there are moments here and there that almost remind me of Fran's Kafka's "The Trial," "The Chase" ends up being really boring.
I forget where I heard of this title, but I do remember being attracted to the idea of the movements of Beethoven's "Eroica" being woven through the story.
While pages and pages of paragraphless prose worked in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," they do not work here. Certainly, being on the run is less than glamorous and would contain long stretches of extremely tedious and hungry times, but I don't really want to read about it. I can't know if the translation has any impact on the quality of this work when read in English.
Several reviewers compare this novella to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's work, to which I can find little comparison. This wasn't magical realism from what I e experienced of the genre.
I forget where I heard of this title, but I do remember being attracted to the idea of the movements of Beethoven's "Eroica" being woven through the story.
While pages and pages of paragraphless prose worked in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," they do not work here. Certainly, being on the run is less than glamorous and would contain long stretches of extremely tedious and hungry times, but I don't really want to read about it. I can't know if the translation has any impact on the quality of this work when read in English.
Several reviewers compare this novella to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's work, to which I can find little comparison. This wasn't magical realism from what I e experienced of the genre.
January 1, 2025
Romanul e pe cât de subţirel, pe atât de dificil de citit. Necesită o atenţie sporită, dar şi foarte multă răbdare. A trebuit să le activez pe amândouă ca să-l pot duce la bun sfârşit. Trebuie să recunosc că am avut la un moment dat intenţia de a-l abandona, dar am reuşit totuşi să trec peste această pornire. N-am regretat, pentru că la final, Carpentier închide cercul şi toată povestea capătă ceva mai mult sens. Romanul mi-a amintit mult de „Pedro Paramo” a lui Juan Rulfo şi pe alocuri de „Domnul Preşedinte” al lui Asturias, ambele cărţi au deja episoade pe canal în cazul în care nu le ştiaţi şi v-am făcut curioşi.
Critica literară susţine că romanul lui Carpentier conţine realism magic. Sincer, eu n-am reuşit să-l identific. Cu siguranţă va trebui la un moment dat să recitesc acest roman pentru că nu cred că l-am asimilat cum trebuie la prima lectură.
Dar până să vă mai împărtăşesc și alte detalii despre experienţa mea de lectură cu acest roman, haideţi să vă zic cam care e subiectul cărţii.
„Hăituit” este o poveste captivantă şi plină de suspans, care se desfăşoară în timpul interpretării Simfoniei Eroice de Beethoven. Protagonistul, un tânăr neidentificat, se refugiază într-o sală de concert pentru a scăpa de o urmărire misterioasă. În timp ce muzica lui Beethoven se revarsă în jurul său, tânărul este prins într-o introspecţie intensă, rememorând evenimente din trecutul său şi confruntându-se cu propriile temeri şi necunoscute.
Pe parcursul celor 46 de minute ale simfoniei, timpul se dilată, iar graniţa dintre realitate şi iluzie se estompează. Protagonistul este hărţuit nu doar de cei care îl urmăresc, ci şi de propriile gânduri şi amintiri. Carpentier creează o atmosferă de suspans şi angoasă, în timp ce explorează psihicul complex al personajului principal.
Romanul este o metaforă a condiţiei umane, explorând teme precum: identitatea, alienarea, puterea politică şi destinul. Prin intermediul muzicii lui Beethoven, Carpentier creează o punte între trecut şi prezent, între individ şi societate.
Perspectivele narative se schimbă de la un capitol la altul. Avem parte de o perspectivă obiectivă, de un narator omniscient care ne prezintă evenimentele, apoi intrăm în mintea şi sufletul personajului principal şi trăim împreună cu acesta evenimente din trecut şi din prezent. Faptul că personajele nu au nume concrete face şi mai dificilă lectura romanului pentru că adeseori poţi pierde firul narativ şi nu reuşeşti să îţi dai seama despre cine se povestește.
Romanul are şi un profund substrat politic pentru că Alejo Carpentier a fost un scriitor profund marcat de tumultul politic şi social al Cubei. Romanul său poate fi văzut ca o oglindă a acestei realităţi, chiar dacă acţiunea este comprimată în cele 46 de minute ale unei simfonii.
Romanul a fost scris într-o perioadă în care Carpentier a trăit evenimentele Revoluţiei Cubaneze, care a schimbat radical ţara. Entuziasmul iniţial a fost urmat de o perioadă de consolidare a puterii şi de tensiuni politice. Urmează perioada Războiului Rece, Cuba devenind un pion important în acest război, ceea ce a dus la o izolare economică şi politică. La toate acestea se mai adaugă şi influenţa URSS asupra Cubei, ideologiile comuniste modelând societatea şi cultura.
Romanul reuşeşte să surprindă cu succes atmosfera de tensiune şi suspans care caracteriza Cuba în acea perioadă, urmărirea protagonistului putând fi interpretată drept o metaforă pentru persecuţiile politice şi sociale.
Hăituitul lui Carpentier simbolizează o întreagă generaţie care se confruntă cu pierderea identităţii şi cu sentimentul de alienare într-o societate în schimbare rapidă.
Carpentier foloseşte alegoria şi simbolismul pentru a critica indirect regimurile totalitare şi manipulările politice. Sala de concert devine un microcosmos al societăţii, iar muzica lui Beethoven este o metaforă a rezistenţei spiritului uman.
Romanul e destul de dens şi apăsător, există descrieri destul de grele cu foarte multe detalii arhitectonice, scene cu personaje torturate, dar şi episoade în care personajul principal e chinuit de foame, episoade care mi-au amintit de „Foamea” lui Knut Hamsun.
La un moment dat foamea era atât de aprigă încât hăituitul nostru începe să se roage la Dumnezeu. Iată un exemplu:
��Încă nu-şi amintea decât începutul Crezului. Se ducea după cărţulia Crucii de Calatrava, lăsată pe salteaua din paie, când a observat, brusc, că-i trecuse foamea. Se gândea la peşti, şi-i închipuia respingători, cu acel ochi sticlos şi plat, care abia de mai era privire, floarea unui cuişor înfipt în duhoarea solzilor; se gândea la cărnuri şi le găsea respingătoare, informe, cu sângele lor minunat; se gândea la pâini şi-i displăceau cocoloaşele, găurile din firimiturile lor. Nu voia să îmbuce nimic. Îi oferea lui Dumnezeu vidul din pântecul său, un prim pas către purificare.”
Scenele de dragoste şi poezia în proză nu lipsesc nici ele.
Una peste alta, romanul lui Carpentier a fost pentru mine o experienţă inedită, iar ceea ce l-a salvat de la trimiterea în abisul întunecat al cărţilor abandonate a fost finalul. Finalul care este în acelaşi timp şi începutul. Faptul că romanul începe cu sfârşitul, apoi rememorează evenimentele principale din viaţa protagonistului, creează o oarecare confuzie care e posibil să te facă să abandonezi lectura.
E fain de citit romanul de la cap la coadă, pentru că finalul îl salvează, dar dacă primele pagini ţi se par un chin, atunci n-ar strica să abordezi o altă strategie. Adică să citeşti ultimul capitol şi apoi să continui cu începutul, doar că în felul acesta se cam strică surpriza finalului.
Acum, doar tu poți decide dacă romanul acesta e pentru tine.
Dacă doriţi să vedeţi şi varianta video a acestei recenzii, vă aştept pe canalul de YouTube "Dăm o carte!?" (https://www.youtube.com/@damocarte). 😄
Critica literară susţine că romanul lui Carpentier conţine realism magic. Sincer, eu n-am reuşit să-l identific. Cu siguranţă va trebui la un moment dat să recitesc acest roman pentru că nu cred că l-am asimilat cum trebuie la prima lectură.
Dar până să vă mai împărtăşesc și alte detalii despre experienţa mea de lectură cu acest roman, haideţi să vă zic cam care e subiectul cărţii.
„Hăituit” este o poveste captivantă şi plină de suspans, care se desfăşoară în timpul interpretării Simfoniei Eroice de Beethoven. Protagonistul, un tânăr neidentificat, se refugiază într-o sală de concert pentru a scăpa de o urmărire misterioasă. În timp ce muzica lui Beethoven se revarsă în jurul său, tânărul este prins într-o introspecţie intensă, rememorând evenimente din trecutul său şi confruntându-se cu propriile temeri şi necunoscute.
Pe parcursul celor 46 de minute ale simfoniei, timpul se dilată, iar graniţa dintre realitate şi iluzie se estompează. Protagonistul este hărţuit nu doar de cei care îl urmăresc, ci şi de propriile gânduri şi amintiri. Carpentier creează o atmosferă de suspans şi angoasă, în timp ce explorează psihicul complex al personajului principal.
Romanul este o metaforă a condiţiei umane, explorând teme precum: identitatea, alienarea, puterea politică şi destinul. Prin intermediul muzicii lui Beethoven, Carpentier creează o punte între trecut şi prezent, între individ şi societate.
Perspectivele narative se schimbă de la un capitol la altul. Avem parte de o perspectivă obiectivă, de un narator omniscient care ne prezintă evenimentele, apoi intrăm în mintea şi sufletul personajului principal şi trăim împreună cu acesta evenimente din trecut şi din prezent. Faptul că personajele nu au nume concrete face şi mai dificilă lectura romanului pentru că adeseori poţi pierde firul narativ şi nu reuşeşti să îţi dai seama despre cine se povestește.
Romanul are şi un profund substrat politic pentru că Alejo Carpentier a fost un scriitor profund marcat de tumultul politic şi social al Cubei. Romanul său poate fi văzut ca o oglindă a acestei realităţi, chiar dacă acţiunea este comprimată în cele 46 de minute ale unei simfonii.
Romanul a fost scris într-o perioadă în care Carpentier a trăit evenimentele Revoluţiei Cubaneze, care a schimbat radical ţara. Entuziasmul iniţial a fost urmat de o perioadă de consolidare a puterii şi de tensiuni politice. Urmează perioada Războiului Rece, Cuba devenind un pion important în acest război, ceea ce a dus la o izolare economică şi politică. La toate acestea se mai adaugă şi influenţa URSS asupra Cubei, ideologiile comuniste modelând societatea şi cultura.
Romanul reuşeşte să surprindă cu succes atmosfera de tensiune şi suspans care caracteriza Cuba în acea perioadă, urmărirea protagonistului putând fi interpretată drept o metaforă pentru persecuţiile politice şi sociale.
Hăituitul lui Carpentier simbolizează o întreagă generaţie care se confruntă cu pierderea identităţii şi cu sentimentul de alienare într-o societate în schimbare rapidă.
Carpentier foloseşte alegoria şi simbolismul pentru a critica indirect regimurile totalitare şi manipulările politice. Sala de concert devine un microcosmos al societăţii, iar muzica lui Beethoven este o metaforă a rezistenţei spiritului uman.
Romanul e destul de dens şi apăsător, există descrieri destul de grele cu foarte multe detalii arhitectonice, scene cu personaje torturate, dar şi episoade în care personajul principal e chinuit de foame, episoade care mi-au amintit de „Foamea” lui Knut Hamsun.
La un moment dat foamea era atât de aprigă încât hăituitul nostru începe să se roage la Dumnezeu. Iată un exemplu:
��Încă nu-şi amintea decât începutul Crezului. Se ducea după cărţulia Crucii de Calatrava, lăsată pe salteaua din paie, când a observat, brusc, că-i trecuse foamea. Se gândea la peşti, şi-i închipuia respingători, cu acel ochi sticlos şi plat, care abia de mai era privire, floarea unui cuişor înfipt în duhoarea solzilor; se gândea la cărnuri şi le găsea respingătoare, informe, cu sângele lor minunat; se gândea la pâini şi-i displăceau cocoloaşele, găurile din firimiturile lor. Nu voia să îmbuce nimic. Îi oferea lui Dumnezeu vidul din pântecul său, un prim pas către purificare.”
Scenele de dragoste şi poezia în proză nu lipsesc nici ele.
Una peste alta, romanul lui Carpentier a fost pentru mine o experienţă inedită, iar ceea ce l-a salvat de la trimiterea în abisul întunecat al cărţilor abandonate a fost finalul. Finalul care este în acelaşi timp şi începutul. Faptul că romanul începe cu sfârşitul, apoi rememorează evenimentele principale din viaţa protagonistului, creează o oarecare confuzie care e posibil să te facă să abandonezi lectura.
E fain de citit romanul de la cap la coadă, pentru că finalul îl salvează, dar dacă primele pagini ţi se par un chin, atunci n-ar strica să abordezi o altă strategie. Adică să citeşti ultimul capitol şi apoi să continui cu începutul, doar că în felul acesta se cam strică surpriza finalului.
Acum, doar tu poți decide dacă romanul acesta e pentru tine.
Dacă doriţi să vedeţi şi varianta video a acestei recenzii, vă aştept pe canalul de YouTube "Dăm o carte!?" (https://www.youtube.com/@damocarte). 😄
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2021
honestamente, la técnica de narración sincronizada a una composición de Beethoven me dejará pensando.
2da lectura: Me tocó volver a leerlo para sacar el simbolismo religioso que tiene la novela, y para todos los curiosos, es la revolución cubana y su cultura y valores católicos reflejados en los eventos de la semana santa. e.g. la traición de Judas, la cuaresma, la cargada de la cruz que lleva a la crucificción, y regresa a la resucitación hacia el ciclo vicioso de la tortura. Es una novela circular, que termina donde comienza, y está minimizado a los 46 minutos que dura la sinfonía eroica de Beethoven.
2da lectura: Me tocó volver a leerlo para sacar el simbolismo religioso que tiene la novela, y para todos los curiosos, es la revolución cubana y su cultura y valores católicos reflejados en los eventos de la semana santa. e.g. la traición de Judas, la cuaresma, la cargada de la cruz que lleva a la crucificción, y regresa a la resucitación hacia el ciclo vicioso de la tortura. Es una novela circular, que termina donde comienza, y está minimizado a los 46 minutos que dura la sinfonía eroica de Beethoven.
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