Someone really needs to publish all his Escolios in English. Will take me a long time to work through translating them myself, but if noone has by time I'm done, maybe I shall.
I've never read Dávila, I appreciate the tip. I've taught both El Cid and Don Quixote in my Spanish lit classes, they need to be held in higher esteem by anglophones.
As far as recommendations, you've been talking to the wrong people! (Although Neruda does delight me.) You want Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Octavio Paz. Especially Borges, if you love Tolkien.
Borges collected poetry is fantastic, Penguin has great bilingual editions of his poems and another of his short stories. He's known for his short stories. I like Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, and The Library of Babel. For Mario Vargas Llosa, Conversation in the Cathedral. For Paz, Libertad bajo palabra.
You're welcome. By the way, Borges was a scholar of anglo-saxon. He has much to say about Tolkien, anglo-saxon, and English. Audio too, you can find some on YouTube.
Had not heard about Davila, but now I'm curious; some of those aphorisms have a ring of Chesterton (at least to my ears).
I can't say much for Marquez's worldview (his atheism - communism is disappointing and does not surprise me) but what an imagination. There's a world-class, almost athletic strangeness to '100 Years of Solitude.' Maybe it's an acquired taste, but the bold, clear detail and recurring character-story arcs make it hard to put down.
Wow, thank you for the recommendation. I used to love Neruda, but reading this I am realizing that I haven’t revisited him since my conversion a few years ago. Perhaps the taste would be different to me now.
Absolutely, I think I saw a few aphorisms in Davila about fashion and beauty that would be in line with your work. Yeah, I’ll have to check Neruda out more intentionally at some point.
One more note: Perhaps the greatest benefit of Davila’s scholia is their power to provoke deeper thought and reflection. And they are actual glosses on his own reading of other provocative reactionary thinkers. Thus, any time one can review an index of writers and books he refers to, the deeper one can go in reflecting on his subjects. So, it pays to follow “the footnote trail” when reading his works. In other words, to discover and read the books and thinkers Davila was reading.
The included scholia are brief but there are many of his actual aphorisms in twelve subject areas. Also, Elani’s commentary is insightful and often excellent on the aphorisms. He has a real grasp of Davila’s thought. Finally, Elani’s short article at the beginning of the book (“Nicolas Gomez Davila: A Concentric Soul in Search of Divine Wisdom”) is very helpful in understanding Davila’s background and thought.
You’re in for a great intellectual ride with Davila!! Check out “The Authentic Reactionary: Selected Scholia of Nicolas Gomez Davila,” translated with commentary by Ramon Elani.
If you’re truly interested in South American Catholic writers, you should definitely read and listen to these Brazilian authors:
- Olavo de Carvalho;
- Father Paulo Ricardo;
- Guilherme Freire;
You might not know this, but Brazil is currently considered the new center of traditionalist Catholicism in the WORLD. Many people are referring to this phenomenon as the "Brazilian Catholic Renaissance."
Thank you for bringing this to my attention; I really enjoyed these aphorisms. I am excited to learn more about the man.
Someone really needs to publish all his Escolios in English. Will take me a long time to work through translating them myself, but if noone has by time I'm done, maybe I shall.
I've never read Dávila, I appreciate the tip. I've taught both El Cid and Don Quixote in my Spanish lit classes, they need to be held in higher esteem by anglophones.
As far as recommendations, you've been talking to the wrong people! (Although Neruda does delight me.) You want Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Octavio Paz. Especially Borges, if you love Tolkien.
Thank you!
Borges collected poetry is fantastic, Penguin has great bilingual editions of his poems and another of his short stories. He's known for his short stories. I like Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, and The Library of Babel. For Mario Vargas Llosa, Conversation in the Cathedral. For Paz, Libertad bajo palabra.
Thank you, you've given me much to read.
You're welcome. By the way, Borges was a scholar of anglo-saxon. He has much to say about Tolkien, anglo-saxon, and English. Audio too, you can find some on YouTube.
Nice, I have actually seen a quote by him about what he liked about the English language.
Do you have any specific works from those authors that you could point me at?
Great post!
Had not heard about Davila, but now I'm curious; some of those aphorisms have a ring of Chesterton (at least to my ears).
I can't say much for Marquez's worldview (his atheism - communism is disappointing and does not surprise me) but what an imagination. There's a world-class, almost athletic strangeness to '100 Years of Solitude.' Maybe it's an acquired taste, but the bold, clear detail and recurring character-story arcs make it hard to put down.
Wow, thank you for the recommendation. I used to love Neruda, but reading this I am realizing that I haven’t revisited him since my conversion a few years ago. Perhaps the taste would be different to me now.
Absolutely, I think I saw a few aphorisms in Davila about fashion and beauty that would be in line with your work. Yeah, I’ll have to check Neruda out more intentionally at some point.
Neruda's love poems are very beautiful. I don't read him for his philosophy. That being the case, thanks for introducing me to Davila.
Any specific ones you’d recommend?
"Here I love you" and "Tonight I can write the saddest lines" are my favorite.
Thank you for the recommendations, I’ll have to check them out
I agree, such beautiful poems
The Ascent of Mount Carmel is an ambitious climb.
Haha ya I’m reading the translation, the 500 year old Spanish may be a later endeavor
These snippets are wonderful, thank you for sharing them!
Glad you liked them, I have read a few hundred pages of them now in the original Spanish, and I keep finding gems.
One more note: Perhaps the greatest benefit of Davila’s scholia is their power to provoke deeper thought and reflection. And they are actual glosses on his own reading of other provocative reactionary thinkers. Thus, any time one can review an index of writers and books he refers to, the deeper one can go in reflecting on his subjects. So, it pays to follow “the footnote trail” when reading his works. In other words, to discover and read the books and thinkers Davila was reading.
The included scholia are brief but there are many of his actual aphorisms in twelve subject areas. Also, Elani’s commentary is insightful and often excellent on the aphorisms. He has a real grasp of Davila’s thought. Finally, Elani’s short article at the beginning of the book (“Nicolas Gomez Davila: A Concentric Soul in Search of Divine Wisdom”) is very helpful in understanding Davila’s background and thought.
You’re in for a great intellectual ride with Davila!! Check out “The Authentic Reactionary: Selected Scholia of Nicolas Gomez Davila,” translated with commentary by Ramon Elani.
Thanks, I saw that book but It looked like it didn’t have too many of his actual quotes and was more of a book about him, is that right?
Hernando de Soto, "The Other Path"
Peru, economics and freedom ✔️⚖️🌎
A knew thing,
Thanx Amigo! 🌐🕯️☦️⛪⏳📿
Grace🔥 and peace🕊️ to you. 😌
The Librarian sent me.
Hey!
If you’re truly interested in South American Catholic writers, you should definitely read and listen to these Brazilian authors:
- Olavo de Carvalho;
- Father Paulo Ricardo;
- Guilherme Freire;
You might not know this, but Brazil is currently considered the new center of traditionalist Catholicism in the WORLD. Many people are referring to this phenomenon as the "Brazilian Catholic Renaissance."
I am glad you enjoyed it. I manually added that email, you should receive a welcome email. Please let me know if you do not. Happy Thanksgiving.