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A review by jmiae
An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter by César Aira
4.0
This novella deserves to be read with more care and precision than I was prepared to this go around. I preferred to be swept along by the story first, and to enjoy the curious blend of historical narrative and fiction that it encompasses. From what I can make out from Johann Rugendas' Wikipedia page, his travels in Chile and Argentina were not quite as dramatic as Aira's depiction suggests, but it is just Wikipedia and I did not attempt to delve any further into his letters or other historical sources.
The takeaway for me here is primarily the gorgeous translation of what I can only imagine was an even more beautiful original text. The descriptions of everything - the people, the places - in Chile and Argentina in the 1800s are astounding and rendered so distinctly and uniquely without losing their sense of historicity. Honestly, it's a triumph. And only 88 pages. It demands a closer second reading, and hopefully, given its inviting length, I can pay my due again before too long and while the memory of this first read is still relatively fresh.
The takeaway for me here is primarily the gorgeous translation of what I can only imagine was an even more beautiful original text. The descriptions of everything - the people, the places - in Chile and Argentina in the 1800s are astounding and rendered so distinctly and uniquely without losing their sense of historicity. Honestly, it's a triumph. And only 88 pages. It demands a closer second reading, and hopefully, given its inviting length, I can pay my due again before too long and while the memory of this first read is still relatively fresh.