O Centauro no Jardim

by Moacyr Scliar

No interior do Rio Grande do Sul, na pacata família Tratskovsky, nasce um centauro - um ser metade homem, metade cavalo. Seu nome é Guedali, quarto filho de um casal de imigrantes judeus russos. A partir desse evento fantástico, Moacyr Scliar constrói um romance que se situa entre a fábula e o realismo, evidenciando a dualidade da vida em sociedade, em que é preciso harmonizar individualismo e coletividade. A figura do centauro também ilustra a divisão étnica e religiosa dos judeus, um povo perseguido por sua singularidade. Guedali cresce solitário, excluído da sociedade.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Brazil, Magical Realism, Literature, Portuguese Literature, Classics

413 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Moacyr Jaime Scliar (born March 23, 1937) is a Brazilian writer and physician.
Scliar is best known outside Brazil for his 1981 novel Max and the Cats (Max e os Felinos), the story of a young man who flees Berlin after he comes to the attention of the Nazis for having had an affair with a married woman. Making his way to Brazil, his ship sinks, and he finds himself alone in a dinghy with a jaguar who had been travelling in the hold.[1] The story of the jaguar and the boy was picked up by Yann Martel for his own book Life of Pi, winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize, in which Pi is trapped in a lifeboat with a tiger

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book many years ago, and this time through I thought I would surely be better able to fully grasp any symbolism, not just read for the story. I am not sure I was able to manage that, though. The memoir of a Brazilian Jewish centaur was just so fascinating, imaginative and sensual that even though at times I felt The Meaning Of It All was right under my nose, I know I still never quite 'got' it.

Our story begins at a party in a restaurant, when we meet our narrator Guedali celebrating his 38th birthday at a favorite restaurant with his family and a small group of his closest friends. He is happy for one reason because of his birthday and the fellowship of the evening, but for another because
Now there's no more galloping. Now everything's all right.

This is the first sentence of the book, and of course you wonder. Galloping? From what or to what? Why gallop? But then again, why not? Is galloping really something so terrible?

Anyway, Guedali goes on to tell us about his life, starting with the day of his birth:
I am lying on the table. A robust, pink baby, crying and moving its little hands ~~ a normal child from the waist up. From the waist down: the hair of a horse. The feet of a horse ~~hooves. A horse's tail, still soaked with amniotic fluid. From the waist down, I am a horse. I am ~~ and my father doesn't even know the word exits ~~ a centaur. A centaur.

What would the parents do? What would you do?

Each chapter details a separate phase of Guedali's life. From his earliest years at the country house to the family's move to a city to the day he ran away and stumbled into a temporary life with a circus. He tells of meeting Tita, and their eventual journey to Morocco, and everything that happened afterwards, eventually bringing us back to the party.

The author brilliantly imagined life as a centaur, not merely the physical but the emotional, the thoughts that might have been in such a creature's mind. Guedali the centaur became so real to me that I still sense him lurking about, ready to gallop away with my thoughts and answer all my questions.

Who do you represent, Guedali? Man in general? Men of a certain age? Jewish men or the Jewish people as a whole? Anyone of either sex who does not feel as at home in this world as others do? Any person yearning for something that once was or something that could have been?

Whoever you are supposed to be, thank you for your story.

I hope to find more titles by Moacyr Scliar someday. And I hope they will be as magical as this one was.

[It'sMeMiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

english/portuguese
Eng.
It was really good at the beginning, but then it started getting weird and I think it all went really downhill when the male characters started treating female characters like objects and not people. Maybe men (even the feminists) won't really notice it because it's not completely 100% obvious, but I THINK all woman will. Maybe the author didn't mean for it to turn like this (I hope not) but that's just how I thought it did.

Pt.
Foi muito bom no inicio, mas depois começou a ficar estranho e acho que começou a ficar mau quando as personagens masculinas começaram a tratar as personagens femininas como objetos e não pessoas. Talvez os homens (até os feministas) não reparem muito nisso porque não é 100% obvio, mas ACHO que todas as mulheres se vão aperceber. Talvez o autor não tenha pertendido para que ficasse assim (espero que não) mas isto é simplesmente como eu acho que tenha ficado.

[Jersy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm kind of torn on this one.
On one hand, I think it's a pretty interesting and intelligent book, on the other I didn't like some of the decisions made writing it and wonder what the author wants to express with this book.

I like that being a centaur isn't a crude analogy for x group of people but more a general form of otherness, how it explores how that otherness affects the protagonist and the people around him and how even if a "cure" is possible, that doesn't mean that there arent both remenant physical and mental issues. The insights into Jewish life were also fascinating, as was the passing of historical events in the background. The first half of the book was insanely captivating and fun to read.

What I liked less is how the author writes characters, which became especially apperent in the second half of the book. At first, I thought I didn't like how the women were written, since I took issue especially with how some things around the wife, Tita, were portrayed, but everyone seems to be written with that subtle judgement, focussing on their negative sides. In general, I was way more interested in the first half of the book than the second, mostly because in letting Guedali have a normal life and develope more of a character, he made him a person I didn't like to read about. There was also a, sometimes justified, sometimes forced, focus on sex that I didn't need to that extend.

I think readers that are more into literary fiction than I am and love analysing and picking apart literature will enjoy this much more than me.

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Som nesmierne vďačná, že na Slovensku máme Portugalský inštitút, vďaka ktorému sú slovenskému čitateľovi priblížený autori ako Moscyr Scliar. Moacyr Scliar bol významným brazílskym autorom, ktorý nie len v knihách, ale aj sám v sebe, riešil postavenie migrujúcich židov v Brazílii.

Tento román je skvelým obrazom hľadania vlastnej identity v pulzujúcej vzdialenej Brazílii. Ako čerešničkou na torte sú postavy s dotykmi magického realizmu podobnému brazílskej literatúre.

Kniha má výborný preklad ešte lepšej Lenky Cinkovej. Vrelo odporúčam!

[Viera Némethová · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vynikajúce mnohovstvové dielo, ktoré v sebe nesie podstatu židovského naturelu, juhoamerickej vášne a horkokrvnosti, magickosť iného pohľadu na skutočnosť, hravosť, slobodu aj závislosť a pripútanosť.

Židia v Európe na začiatku 20 stor. prechádzajú výrazným spoločenským prerodom, z dôvodu ostrakizáciie a nenávisti. Predzvesť pogromu na konci 30 rokov privádza ruskú židovskú rodinu do vzdialenej Brazílie, kde majú plniť mytologický a ťažko uskutočniteľný sen finančníka, bankára, mecenáša a tak trocha fantastu baróna Maurica de Hirscha, skutočnej historickej postavy. Barón bol filantropom, ktorý podporoval židovské presídlovacie a vzdelávacie projekty na celom svete. Zaujímavosťou je, že zomrel v roku 1896 v dnešnom Hurbanove a nie je osobnosťou, o ktorej by sa hovorilo.

Rodina židovských prisťahovalcov v Brazílii žije pomerne ťažkým životom osadníkov, ktorý sa zmení, keď sa do rodiny narodí zvláštny chlapec. Celý príbeh je akýmsi snovým zastieraním si skutočnosti, ktorá nie je ani zďaleka magická, ani polorozprávková.

Kniha vyšla v krásnom slovenskom vydaní a s kvalitným prekladom Lenky Cinkovej. Knihu v slovenskom preklade skvele dopĺňa rozhovor s autorovou manželkou.

[Kristian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a book! Impressed by Max And The Cats A Novel, I decided to read another, a little more substantial novel by this author. And this is really a great book - about a Jewish centaur and a centauress, yet realistic as few other books. I guess that's why they call it magical realism. Written from the Guedali's (the centaur's) perspective, this is a very touching book and one gets to go through his moods and emotions with him, but also turns angry towards some of the things he does. But in the end, the centaur is probably more human than most other people with all his faults and talents.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book--inventive, unique, poignant. But most distinctive is the first-person narrative voice. Pulled me right in, always warm and believable, the political/social/religious themes lightly inserted into the narrative. Must read more by Scliar.

And very interested to learn of the controversy with Martel's LIfe of Pi! How do writers get their ideas? Well, sometimes from each other. But if they do, they damn well should give full and flowing credit as well!!

[K's Bognoter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moacyr Scliars roman om den jødisk-brasilianske kentaur Guedali Tartakovsky – halvt menneske, halvt hest – er en underholdende fabel om at være splittet mellem forskellige identiteter, om at være anderledes og længes efter at blive som de andre – og om længslen efter det, man tabte, når det endelig lykkes at blive “normal.”
Læs hele min anmeldelse på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/?p=18654&prev...

[introventurer · Rating 1 out of 5]

The racism ruined it for me.
“The soft light reflected by the taut skin of that belly invaded me, tranquilized me. And if I noticed any movement—no doubt produced by the brusque gesture of a little arm or a tiny head—I would be suddenly moved to feeling, like Schiller, that I could embrace millions. Millions, including at least a few dozen blacks, Indians, Palestinian terrorists, diverse deformed beings.”

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading "The Centaur in the Garden," I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at times. The story's conflicting emotional effect was unsettling but it's also, in part, what made this a brilliant and thought-provoking work. This tale of a Jewish boy born a centaur on his family's farm in Brazil was the archetypal story of the hero's journey a la Campbell's monomyth, but that in no way made it predictable. Quite the contrary, I was surprised every step of the way, never knowing what to expect next (a clear strength). But this book was also so very odd, even though I am no stranger to Magic Realism. It is a story about being born different but learning self-acceptance, about what it means to be human vs. what it means to be "civilized," about recreating oneself, and about the desire to sometimes "renounce the human condition" (in the words of the character of the Moroccan doctor) in spite of the vast efforts we make to fit into the social network, to belong. Because there is indeed a little bit of the wild, lusty, primal force of the centaur in all of us, and it needs the freedom and space to gallop every once in a while.

[Joanne Leddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

While imaginative and a quick read, this book will not find a spot on my library shelf. As the title suggests, this is a story about a centaur born into a family in Brazil. As the book progresses, the reader is brought along through the stages of his life. From the moment he’s born, the author mentions how “endowed” he is (duh, he’s a horse). From then on, this seems to be a constant theme. Through his life (covered in 216 pages) he “beds” multiple women ... even when married. And of course they think he’s wonderful. Some of these “conquests” (insert eye roll here) are also mythical creatures. While some reviewers comment on the symbolism in this story, I didn’t find it. This author objectifies women, believes we are only interested in one thing, and are superficial. That’s where this book is imaginative because we aren’t any of those things. Enough said.

[Le Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,4*

[Paulo Sousa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livro 2°/Out//49°/2016

Título: O centauro no jardim
Primeira edição: 1980 (Nova Fronteira)
Autor: Moacyr Scliar (Brasil)
Editora: Cia das Letras
Páginas: 240
Minha classificação: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

__________________________________________________
Este pequeno livro pode ser chamado o livro da dualidade e da volta às origens.
É nesse dilema existencial e nessa trajetória rumo ao redescobrir-se de Guedali, personagem principal dessa narrativa: nascido centauro se vê desde cedo obrigado a viver ocultado dos olhos das pessoas.
Nesse tempo na pequena fazenda de seus pais experimenta a descoberta dos livros, do amor e da liberdade, que o levam a fugir de casa e cavalgar pelas coxilhas sul-rio-grandenses.
Tendo várias experiências na tentativa de inserir-se na sociedade, Guedali conhece e se apaixona por Tita, uma centaura que vivia numa fazenda próxima à sua, ambos tomam a decisão de viajar até o Marrocos em busca de um cirurgião que conseguirá lhes dar o que sempre quiseram: duas pernas, ao invés de quatro patas de cavalo.
Com o sucesso da cirurgia e já de volta ao Brasil Guedali e Tita começam a fazer amizades em São Paulo, onde constroem sua família.
Nesse ínterim a narrativa dada em primeira voz por Guedali, levam o leitor para o lado de dentro, uma narrativa além de intensa, profunda, ensejando numa alucinada busca pela verdade de quem Guedali (e o leitor) é de fato.
A dualidade vivida por ele (ser homem ou centauro?, eis a questão), bem como estabelecer o limite da sua auto existência o fazem por vezes buscar novamente o velho cirurgião e pede-lhe que o faça voltar a ser centauro.
Narrativa leve, dinâmica, constada no #1001livros para ler antes de morrer, é um convite para uma leitura cativante, cuja figura mitológica é o canal perfeito para explanar temas como imigração e vida em dupla identidade dos judeus.

[Marne Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's long been my contention that Brazilian fiction is about 40 years ahead of American fiction, and this book seems to prove it. First published in Brazil in 1980, it feels like it could be published in the U.S. right now. This is the story of Guedali, a boy born on the plains of southern Brazil with a centaur's body, and how he makes his way in the world. It's not really about being a centaur, of course, but about being ashamed of the body you were born with and wishing you could change yourself into something better (or at least more normal). Guedali eventually has his wish granted and becomes something resembling a regular human, but as often happens in real life when people go on extreme diets or have plastic surgery, he ends up no happier than he was before and starts to wish he could change back again.

As translated by Margaret A. Neves, Scliar's prose is simple yet serviceable. The focus here is not on beautiful language, but on accurately rendering Guedali's stream of consciousness and all the subtle gradations of his emotions.

If you've never tried any Brazilian fiction but have enjoyed books like The Snow Child or The Book of Speculation, you might want to add this to your list. (It's not even hard to find! Used copies of this edition are plentiful and available on Amazon for about $3.) Try it. You just might like it.

[Vu Thien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Một cuốn sách mang đến cho mình quá nhiều bất ngờ và thú vị. Những cực cảm mà đã lâu rồi mình mới gặp lại ở các tác phẩm kinh điển. Truyền thống hiện thực kì ảo đã phát triển quá rực rỡ và lâu đời trong nền văn học mỹ la tinh, nếu bạn yêu thích những tác phẩm như Trăm năm cô đơn, hay đơn giản là từng để ý đến một bức tranh nào đó của Frida Kalho đi chăng nữa, thì mình chắc chắn bạn sẽ mê mệt cuốn sách này. Một ẩn dụ phong phú về hành trình lập thân của người Do Thái những năm 50,60 thế kỉ trước. Nhưng cái hay là tác giả lại sử dụng hình ảnh “nhân mã” - một thứ thuộc về văn hoá phương tây. Nửa đầu của cuốn sách là hành trình nhân vật Guedali chất vấn nguồn cội của mình, một hành trình gian nan và tất nhiên, lẻ loi. Anh ta tìm kiếm mọi lập luận để chứng minh sự tồn tại của mình trên cõi đời. Anh ta nhất nhất muốn chối bỏ lớp ngựa, như nàng tiên cá bất chấp mất đi tiếng nói để có thể được trở thành con người. Nửa sau, cuộc sống con người xô đẩy khiến anh ta ngộ ra, nhớ nhung, và thèm khát những lần phi nước đại trên thảo nguyên. Guedali lại muốn quay trở lại làm nhân mã. Trong cả câu chuyện luôn là những giằng xé như vậy, việc sinh ra là nhân mã có chăng chỉ là vỏ bọc cho những cá tính độc bản mà mỗi chúng ta sở hữu khi ra đời. Và phải mất cả đời để đấu tranh với mong muốn được hoà hợp.
P/s: Nếu bạn đã đọc và thích cuốn sách này, mình gợi ý cho các bạn một vài đầu phim hay hay để thưởng thức nè (cũng vibe hiện thực kì ảo mỹ la tinh)
- Border
- Tigers are not afraid

[Lúcio Humberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the very first novels, and books, that I ever read, back in my youth.
Somehow it helped to bring to life the reader I was going to be.
Scliar's one of the greatest Brazilian writers of the past (and present) century.
Thank you.

[Ursula Collischonn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Embora a construção da narrativa seja envolvente este livro tem alguns problemas com racismos e machismos. Seguimos.

[sue rr · Rating 4 out of 5]

O fluxo da leitura é ótimo e para além do fato de Guedali ser um centauro, tudo é posto em dúvida ao final da história.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moacyr Scliar’s novel, The Centaur in the Garden, ends much as it begins, with a restless Guedali Tartakovsky wishing for freedom. Guedali’s perception of freedom takes shape in the form of a centaur. The centaur is a mythical being with the upper body of a human, and the lower body of a horse. In its form, the centaur is a mix between man and beast. A centaur possesses a man’s capacity for intellect and reason, as well as the animal’s instinct and physicality. In the centaur, Guedali sees his ideal form of being, and the means to achieve his own personal freedom. Guedali is not enslaved literally, but his physical desires for women other than his wife, and his identification with a mythical being, coupled with his desire to “gallop across the pampas” (216) suggests that Guedali feels confined and suppressed. Guedali’s human reasoning and feelings of obligation on moral and religious terms lead him to understand that he loves his wife and his children, and that he is happy with his life as a family man, and a successful businessman. In spite of this Guedali has a desire for other women, and feels urges to gallop across vast fields. Guedali’s conflicted and doubled mental state resembles the physical state of a centaur and in that sense even as a biped, Guedali is a centaur, a breed between the mental and the physical. As a man, Guedali attempts to retain a sense of intimacy between himself and Tita, build a better life for himself, and stay true to his Jewish identity and obligation. As a horse, Guedali seeks to run across vast expanses and copulate with the opposite sex at every opportunity. Sex is a major preoccupation in the novel, and Scliar uses Guedali’s sexuality, as a tool to not only illustrate the proximity between man and beast in physical desire, but also to show that beast and man are not so far apart.

Guedali’s physical state as a centaur, helps Scliar to demonstrate not only the merging of the two conflicted states of being (man, animal), but also the levels of self-control of each state. “On the eve of Guedali’s twelfth birthday” (32) he reaches puberty, and experiences uncontrollable sexual desire. As a regular teenager, Guedali would experience certain awkwardness, and would begin to be curious about his sexual urges, but as a horse he “will rub against trees, dive into the river… gallop aimlessly” (32). Scliar embellishes Guedali’s puberty through his actions, but the scene reminds us, and gives us a strong idea of what puberty is like for someone emerging into their coming-of age. Guedali’s first sexual experience is with a mare, and as most first sexual experiences it leaves him ashamed and embarrassed. After the fast satisfaction of his urges, Guedali “run[s] to the river and take[s] a purifying bath” (33). The word choice of “purifying” suggests that Guedali feels that he has committed a dirty act, something that needs to be washed away. After the bath Guedali “sneak[s] into his room as silently as a thief” (33), and his stealth reveals that he wants his transgression to be hidden and secret. The word choice of thief implies that Guedali has gotten away with something. The satisfaction of Guedali’s urges is fast and beastly, and not necessarily common to teenagers who for the most part would suppress their urges, as opposed to satisfying them from the onset of their adolescence. Guedali’s feelings of shame and embarrassment after the act are, however, very similar to the feelings teenagers have about either their thoughts or actions. Guedali is therefore in a subtle symbiosis between man and beast. Scliar inserts an interesting dissonance into our common assumptions with what follows.

The mare Guedali copulated with, begins to “follow Guedali about” (33), and despite him throwing rocks at her, and hitting her with a broom handle, she refuses to leave him alone. Guedali, therefore, ironically first encounters the very human sensibility of a lover’s attachment from a horse, and not from a human being. It is also the mare who feels the human torrents of love and affection, and develops a dislike for her original mate, Pasha. Guedali is on the other hand callous and ashamed, and in fear ponders the consequences of a duel between himself and Pasha. The relationship between Guedali and Magnolia is therefore, bizarre, familiar, and strangely human. Guedali’s emotions resemble Magnolia’s eight years later, when Guedali falls in love with a girl he spies on with his telescope.

Guedali is infatuated with the girl in the mansion, despite the fact that he has never met her. Even though Guedali watches her sunbathing in the nude, his fantasies of her are childish and romantic. He dreams of “galloping up to the mansion… tak[ing] her in [his] arms” (51) and carrying her away to the mountains where they can live in a cavern “eating wild fruit, making clay pots, walking together” (51). These fantasies are not sexual, but rather romantic and idealistic notions of a teenager. Guedali is in love with the idea of being in love, and his dreams of intimately eating wild fruit and making clay pots is a cry for companionship and affection from someone who has not experienced the process of a significant other. Guedali’s feelings and desires are in this case entirely human, and not driven on by carnal desires. Guedali is crushed when he sees the girl of his dreams engaging in a sexual act with another unfamiliar man. Guedali falls ill, and after recovery makes up his mind to run away from home. The reasons behind Guedali’s escape have to do with his feelings of captivity and loneliness causing him unhappiness, but the impetus behind his escape is the heartbreak he experiences in having his fantasy shattered. Guedali’s failed amorous intentions have less to do with the actuality of the girl across his house, and more with the disillusionment of his idea of love and amorous desire. Guedali’s wish to escape is that of a caged animal, and he refers to himself as a “prisoner in [his] own room (55). Escaping the confines of his house, Guedali is still a prisoner in his role as a circus sideshow, as he has to hide the truth of his identity as a centaur from the people he works with. Guedali sympathizes with the caged animals at the circus and claims that he “understand[s] them well” (64). His encounter with the lion tamer (someone with the ability to control animals), is interesting as it his first sexual encounter (with a human).

Guedali’s attraction for the lion tamer is based of her attraction to him, as the initiator, and evokes a dual reaction from Guedali. Guedali ejaculates before even penetrating the lion tamer, which speaks of his excitement and inexperience. In his first sexual experience with a mare, Guedali is beastly and penetrates the mare much like a horse. In his first sexual experience with a human, Guedali fails to penetrate as a result of human overzealousness and excitement. The lion tamer’s discovery that Guedali is a “real horse” (65) sends him running again. As both man and beast, Guedali runs from danger. As a man, he has matured in his experience, and as a beast, he seeks the freedom of running and the freedom of the wild. Later in the novel, as a married man without the horse parts, Guedali will miss the galloping, or running he has done in the past, and will feel confined and trapped in his form of a simple, ordinary man.

Guedali’s relationship with Tita is happy in its first stages, and remains happy even after their operation turns them into scarred humans. Their happiness reaches a peak after they move out of the Tartakovsky family house, and move into Sao Paulo to start a life of their own. Guedali starts a business, and Tita takes charge of the domestic affairs. In the first stages of their private life, Guedali describes Tita as “happy” (99) and her “high spirits” (99) as “contagious” (99). Guedali claims that they make love a lot, “more than most people” (99) and states that the act of their lovemaking was “almost too much pleasure for [their] now almost-human bodies” (100). It is important that they are “almost-human bodies”, for this indicates that the couple still feels beastly and animalistic. Their lovemaking is free and spirited without reservation and worry, and without other human constraints. This free and loving relationship changes as Guedali and Tita, (particularly Guedali) immerse themselves more into civilized life. After their marriage, as a businessman, Guedali has more opportunity for human interaction, while Tita continues to stay at home. At one point, Guedali notices Tita pacing around the room, with her scarred legs clearly visible, and admits that he does not “like to see her that way” (107). Tita instinctively notices Guedali’s apprehension, and bitterly asks, “Have you already forgotten that we used to be centaurs? Only a little while ago, we used to gallop together” (107). Tita is the first to realize that their relationships as well as they are starting to feel confined and suppressed. Her constant life at home evokes a sense of imprisonment, and her pacing indicates her restlessness and need for liberation. Tita’s reproach of Guedali for theoretically “forgetting” or attempting to forget their past physical state is Tita’s regret for loss of freedom, and an attempt to reconnect with the freer beast galloping across the pampas. Meanwhile Guedali attempts to disassociate himself from the beastly, and instead embrace the normal, civilized life of a human being.

Guedali’s choice to educate Tita is his manner of linking himself closer to his human side, and he complains that Tita is a “rough peasant girl” (107). In hopes of sparing her from her beastly side, Guedali attempts to enlighten her to give her a better chance to assimilate. Despite his efforts, Tita still “d[oes] not feel happy” (108) and the intimacy between the couple wanes. Despite his attempts for normalcy, and stability, his friend Paulo’s wife, Fernanda, manages to elicit Guedali’s beastly instincts. In his brief affair in the garden, Guedali “feels a mounting urge… fe[els] [him]self losing [his]head” (128). Guedali’s moments of passion are always overwhelming, and take control of him despite his efforts to control them. In his throes of lust, Guedali loses his reasoning, and instead relies solely on carnal instinct. This act further alienates Guedali from his wife, and his act of giving way to his impulses produces the same result as him attempting to civilize and normalize himself. As the distance between the couple grows, Guedali feels increased physiological pressure from his body. His “stiffened tendons inside their boots sen[d] [him] constant messages: We’re ready to gallop Guedali, ready to gallop” (129). In a sense, Guedali feels the “call of the wild”, and it is this feeling that he hopes will pave the way for his happiness, especially after his heartbreak of catching Tita in the arms of another centaur.

In a similar way, Tita feels the same “call of the wild” and her affair with a (be it a rebellious passionate student, or rebellious passionate) centaur is an indication of her desire for escape and liberation. Her infidelity has a similar domino effect on Guedali, and he feels her longing for freedom and escape as a result of the grueling and heartbreaking situation he is in. Despised by his wife, feeling trapped in a heavily guarded community, Guedali feels that he needs to become a centaur once more to establish his feeling of freedom. Yet, Guedali felt just as trapped in his physical state of a centaur, a shape that caused him to hide and to flee as a young man. Guedali’s dilemma therefore is to find the right path towards happiness and ultimately freedom, a feeling that has eluded him for most of his life. Guedali’s inability to find a balance within himself is what causes his duality to arise. His manifestation of himself as a centaur is the symbolic representation of a dual clash. The clash is between man and beast; the civilized and the savage; the faithful and the disloyal. Guedali fits into neither of these categories, and his confusion at the end of the novel, regarding which foot caresses his leg, is a further indication of his struggle. Guedali seeks the “bosom of Abraham” (216), but does not find anything conclusive. Though “ready to jump the wall in search of freedom” (216), Guedali is nonetheless still in search of his true self. Scliar uses Guedali’s sexuality as one of the few examples of a conflicted, doubled soul. Guedali’s lovemaking is both lustful and intimate, both animal-like, and human, and in the end it is difficult to tell the horse from the man.

[Anh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Đây là một cuốn sách mình tình cờ thấy được giới thiệu trên mạng và quyết định đọc chủ yếu vì tò mò, gần như không tìm hiểu trước bất kỳ đánh giá hay nhận xét nào. Có lẽ cũng vì vậy mà kết quả là mình đã đọc trúng một cuốn sách hoàn toàn không thuộc gu.

“Con nhân mã ở trong vườn” được kể dưới hình thức hồi tưởng của nhân vật chính Guadeli – một nhân mã nam. (Mình xin dùng cách gọi “nam, nữ” để chỉ giới tính thay cho “đực, cái”, bởi dù mang hình hài nửa người nửa thú, các nhân vật trong truyện đều có ý thức, ngôn ngữ và đời sống như con người.) Guadeli kể lại cuộc đời mình từ khi sinh ra cho đến thời điểm hiện tại, khi đã bước sang tuổi 40 và đạt được những thành công nhất định cả về gia đình lẫn sự nghiệp.

Nửa đầu cuốn truyện tương đối ổn. Câu chuyện theo chân Guadeli từ lúc sinh ra, lớn lên trong vòng tay gia đình, tự mình đối diện với xã hội loài người, cho đến khi gặp nhân mã nữ Tita – người sau này trở thành vợ. Với một sinh vật vốn chỉ tồn tại trong thần thoại, việc sống giữa thế giới con người chưa bao giờ là dễ dàng. Guadeli từng được bao bọc bởi tình yêu thương, sau đó nếm trải tủi nhục, chạy trốn, bị khinh miệt, và tưởng như đã có một cái kết viên mãn khi cả hai vợ chồng cùng phẫu thuật thành công để trở thành người bình thường. Ngay cả móng guốc cũng biến mất, nhường chỗ cho đôi bàn chân người.

Tuy nhiên, từ nửa sau trở đi, câu chuyện bắt đầu bộc lộ ngày càng nhiều lỗ hổng và sự vô lý trong cách xây dựng nội dung. Nhiều chi tiết được mở ra nhưng không hề có lời giải thích hay xử lý thỏa đáng. Chẳng hạn, tại sao nhân mã lại được sinh ra từ con người bình thường (Guadeli, vợ anh, và cả nhân mã trẻ tuổi dan díu với vợ rồi bị anh bắn chết), trong khi nhân sư lại sinh ra từ sư tử? Theo lời Guadeli, ngoài ra còn rất nhiều sinh vật thần thoại khác tồn tại trong đời thực. Nhưng nguyên nhân của sự xuất hiện ấy là gì, tác giả không hề đưa ra bất kỳ gợi ý hay thông điệp mang tính biểu tượng nào, khiến các chi tiết này trở nên khó hiểu và rời rạc.

Điều khiến mình mất thiện cảm nhiều nhất lại nằm ở chuỗi hành động phi lý của các nhân vật. Người vợ đang sống hạnh phúc bỗng ngoại tình với một nhân mã trẻ tuổi. Khi phát hiện ra, người chồng bắn chết tình địch, bỏ vợ con và nhất quyết đòi phẫu thuật để trở lại làm nhân mã. Thế nhưng trước đó, chính anh ta cũng từng ngủ với vợ của bạn mình, và trong thời gian chờ phẫu thuật, lại tiếp tục quan hệ với một con nhân sư. Tất cả những hành vi này đều được giải thích một cách hời hợt bằng cụm từ “cảm xúc trỗi dậy”, không hề có bất kỳ ràng buộc nào về đạo đức hay pháp luật. Vậy thì người chồng lấy tư cách gì để lên án vợ, hay để biện minh cho hành động giết người của mình, khi bản thân còn đáng trách hơn? Nếu ý đồ của tác giả là khắc họa bản năng thú vật vẫn tồn tại trong hình hài con người, thì cách thể hiện này quá trực diện, thiếu chiều sâu và không đủ sức thuyết phục.

Truyện còn xen kẽ một số đoạn đề cập đến bối cảnh chính trị – xã hội Brazil đương thời, nhưng các chi tiết này được đưa vào khá khô cứng, mang tính sách vở và không thực sự hòa nhập với mạch truyện.

Tóm lại, vì những vấn đề nghiêm trọng trong nội dung, đặc biệt là việc bình thường hóa các hành vi lang chạ, lăng loàn và ngoại tình – từ con người cho đến sinh vật nửa thú – mà không đặt trong bất kỳ khung đạo đức nào, mình quyết định xếp cuốn sách này vào mức đánh giá thấp nhất. Sau khi đọc xong, mình đã thử tìm hiểu thêm các bài review để xem liệu có góc nhìn nào khác thuyết phục hơn hay không, nhưng cuối cùng vẫn không thay đổi được cảm nhận ban đầu. Xin là không bao giờ động vào cuốn sách này thêm lần nào nữa, cũng như không xui xẻo đọc trúng một cuốn sách nào khác dở tương tự nữa.

[Amy Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 stars, would have been 5 if centaur boy hadn't become a jerk halfway through.

I picked this up with no clue what it was or that it was pretty old,I just thought Oooh Centaurs!
I was hooked immediately, I've never read anything that just flows along with such ease and fluidity,yet in a sort of unorganized chaos. It's like a stream of consciousness written by a 12 yr old who's scribbling down the best day of their life in their diary with no care for new paragraphs for dialogue or clarification on anything. And weirdly,it works and it's pretty brilliant!

This is such a weird, relatable, heart wrenching and funny story, it was such an experience I can't really make sense of it! I really liked that it looked so realistically at what would happen if a centaur was born to humans in the 1930s and their horror and later the boy's confusion and pain growing up differently and having a restricted life. It was really beautiful and heartfelt and vivid. The book is rather raunchy all through as he tries to tame his urges and come to terms with his monsterous body. He finds love and together he and his centauress wife get surgery to remove as much of the horse body as possible,so they still have horse legs,but only 2 instead of four,thus becoming 'normal humans.'
Things fell apart for me over halfway through, he's settled and married and then sleeps with 3 other women and it totally ruined my love for the character and his relationship with his wife, which had been so cute until he started messing around. Ugh! They get back together yet the final page is him following a teenage girl out of a restaurant, leaving his wife sitting there, to go have some 'fun' with this girl and cheat on his wife again after just regaining her trust! What a terrible ending!!

I wasn't super interested in the cultural and religious elements of the story but they did add to his plight and struggle. There were a few dry bits about business and places they moved to which I glossed over to resume the plot.

Trigger warning for themes that dance around bestiality, as well as cheating. As a centaur he does mate with a horse, attempts but fails to mate with a willing woman, and later as a human man he sleeps with a sphinx (she's half lion).

Very immersive, special, magical book but the character loses his way big time and throws everything good away,very frustrating.

[annriverbookdiary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tác phẩm của Moacyr Scliar không chỉ dừng lại một câu chuyện một con nhân mã, hơn hết tác phẩm còn là áng văn viết về cái đẹp. Cái đẹp tổn tại có thể thật hùng tráng nhưng cũng thật mong manh bởi rõ ràng bằng sự tò mò và có thể thật ích kỉ nàng nhân sư bị giam trong lồng và nàng tự nhận bản thân đơn thuần là một thú hoang (nhưng rõ ràng nàng là công trình đầy nghệ thuật). Nàng nhân sự đẹp tuyệt ấy rốt cục không kết thúc cuộc đời ở đại ngàn mà lại kết thúc tại một phòng khám, bị đày đọa và bị lãng quên. Như Guadeli rốt cục lại thành một trò cười trong rạp xiếc, và chỉ được thừa nhận khi thành một tiết mục, sống cạnh những người tủn mủn. Vậy cái đẹp thật gần mà cũng thật xa bởi nó chỉ đến thật gần thật gần với con mắt đã giảm đi định kiến mà đong đầy sự cảm thông và cái nhìn rộng mở.

Cuốn sách về chàng nhân mã Guadeli cũng là chính chúng ta, bởi chính chúng ta cũng vẫn luôn tự hỏi về mục đích chúng ta vẫn tồn tại mỗi ngày là gì. Bởi chính chúng ta cũng đang tự hỏi lối đi của chúng ta sẽ là gì, và chúng ta cũng tự hỏi về lựa chọn khác biệt hay hòa vào đám đông trước mắt. Và chính chúng ta trong cuộc sống thường nhật cũng bao lần muốn thoát ra và chạy trên những cánh đồng thảo nguyên ước mơ của chính chúng ta, mong muốn được bay trên những chân trời mới. Vậy thì “Như một con nhân mã ở trong vườn, sẵn sàng tung mình qua bức tường mà kiếm tìm tự do”.

Đọc đầy đủ tại: https://anneriver.blogspot.com/2022/1...

[Dũng Trần · Rating 4 out of 5]

Một chú nhân mã yêu đọc sách và yêu chạy bộ: Chỉ cần thế thui cũng đủ hấp dẫn mình rồi.
Chú nhân mã đó sinh ra trong một gia đình Do Thái, lớn lên trong sự chăm sóc yêu thương đặc biệt của gia đình. Cậu vẫn cảm thấy cô đơn. Cậu không giống như những người khác trong gia đình. Có ai ngờ rằng cậu cũng tìm thấy một cô nhân mã xinh đẹp. Mình nghĩ tới đây chắc là họ sống hạnh phúc tới cuối đời rồi. Không dừng ở đó, ngay sau đó, họ có quyết định táo bạo: phẫu thuật để có bề ngoài giống mọi người hơn. Rất nhiều tình tiết ly kỳ tiếp theo không ngờ đến.
Bật mí: có đến tận 3 con nhân mã và 1 con nhân sư được nhắc đến trong chuyện.
Khuyến cáo: để xa tầm tay trẻ em :D

[Ariela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eu queria bastante ter gostado desse livro. Acho a premissa divertida e interessante: uma criatura mítica, um centauro, nasce em uma família de colonos judeus no interior de Porto Alegre, em 1937.
As escolhas de estilo, porém, fazem o livro soar estranhamente adolescente, mesmo tento sido escrito por um autor já na metade da carreira. O choque da criatura ser um CENTAURO (por vezes assim, com letras maiúsculas mesmo) repete-se muitas vezes; as coincidências do enredo abundam no estilo dos romances do século XIX; os momentos que seriam de maior tensão não emocionam.
Abandonei faltando umas 30 páginas.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

We first heard of Moacyr Scliar when the NY Times published his obituary. I started with this book, and found it both a challenge and an inspiration.
At face value, it is a bizzare story. A baby is born to a couple, Jews living in South America. The baby is a centaur -- quite a challenge! Scliar is up to the challenge to the author to tell a story that is believable (given the premise) and meaningful.
So the hitch for me in the meaningful part. I'm sure this is a strange and beautiful parable! I have far to go to understanding.

[Martha Anne Toll]

This is a fascinating allegory by an author who is very well known in Brazil. He is of eastern European Jewish extraction, and combines Latin American magical realism with the shtetl culture of eastern Europe. The Centaur in the Garden covers everything, from Freud to Marx to the role of the outsider (Jew) in Latin American culture, to mythology. Should be required reading for every college literature student.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this after reading life of pi, written by yann martel but criticized for being too much like moacyr scliar's book max and the cats. regardless of the comparison, the centaur in the garden is fantastic, especially if you've ever felt different, and haven't we all?

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story surprised me, which is to say I really enjoyed it. The modern day setting of a Centaur coming of age is almost comical, however, how he and the reader come to realize his identity is innocent and very touching.

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarro (o que neste caso é um elogio, não uma crítica), envolvente, gostoso de ler. Meu primeiro e certamente não o último deste autor. Ainda bem que me emprestaram, porque eu nunca teria escolhido sozinha (oi, Leticia!).

[Carolina de Goes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma delícia ler Scliar enquanto descubro Porto Alegre.

Ótima história, personagens humanos (!) e bem desenvolvidos, situações fantásticas perfeitamente plausíveis. Foda.