The Book Thread - What You're Reading & Everything Book Related

[Montuno]

"The Spider Rock Treasure - A Texas Mystery of Lost Spanish Gold" by Steve Wilson...Amazon.com may have a few copies left...serious adult treasure hunting for the largest treasure in the US, speculated to have been buried in the 1600's or so.. still out there....

I find it very implausible... I have looked for a sypnosis, and it speaks of a fabulous treasure that the Spaniards would bury in Texas in Hispanic times, after extracting them from rich Texas mines?

I don't know of any reference to these supposed mines. It seems pure fantasy.

Mining in Imperial Spain was under strict government control and would be a well-known fact. And if it had existed, Texas would not be one of the poorest and most depopulated areas of the entire Empire...

 

[Montuno]

I have just finished



Brutal Journey: Cabeza de Vaca and the Epic First Traverse of North America
by Paul Schneider

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945
by Max Hastings

R.Fortune

How about reading Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca himself?

The book is called "Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America" I copy paste this from wikipedia:

La Relación, of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, is the account of his experiences with the Narvaez expedition and after being wrecked on Galveston Island in November 1528. Cabeza de Vaca and his last three men struggled to survive.[13] They wandered along the Texas coast as prisoners of the Han and Capoque American Indians for two years, while Cabeza de Vaca observed the people, picking up their ways of life and customs.[14] They traveled through the American Southwest and ultimately reached Mexico City, nearly eight years after being wrecked on the island.

In 1537, Cabeza de Vaca returned to Spain, where he wrote his narratives of the Narvaez expedition. These narratives were collected and published in 1542 in Spain. They are now known as The Relation of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. The narrative of Cabeza de Vaca is the “first European book devoted completely to North America.”[15] His detailed account describes the lives of numerous tribes of American Indians of the time. Cabeza de Vaca showed compassion and respect for native peoples, which, together with the great detail he recorded, distinguishes his narrative from others of the period.

Vaca, the conqueror who did not conquer anything​

The story of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca began like so many others of his time, with an expedition to the New World. That was only the beginning. During his adventures he would travel through the territories of the current states of Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Texas, the Gulf of California and New Mexico, as well as becoming the first European to explore the course of the Paraguay River and the first white man to contemplate the Iguazu Falls.​

22 de junio de 2021 | Cristina Jiménez Fuentes

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.

The history of the conquest and colonization of America has a large number of surprising events and unique characters, among which the name of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca should appear. However, it represents the paradigm of those who risk everything following a dream , and at the end of their days, they can only count the disappointments and disappointments of life.

The ancestors of Cabeza de Vaca were famous in the annals of Spanish history, and his surname dates back to 1212 [1] , when the Christian troops were surrounded in the Sierra Morena by the Almohads and found no escape, until a man known as Martín Alhaja knew how to find a passage and marked it by sticking the skull of a bovid into the ground, so that the Castilians could flee, surround the enemy and begin to win the battle. This is how that character earned the nickname "Cabeza de Vaca", and such surname was inherited by his descendants until reaching the figure of Doña Teresa Cabeza de Vaca [2] , married to Francisco de Vera, son of Pedro de Vera, relevant in the conquest of the Canary Islands and Granada [3]. As a result of their union, our protagonist, Álvar Núñez, was born in Jerez de la Frontera, on an uncertain date between 1488 and 1495. In 1512, he enlisted in the army to participate in the battle of Ravenna, and was appointed lieutenant near Naples. After his return to Spain, he became chief waiter of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, he faced the revolt of the comuneros in 1520, and two years later he fought against the French in Puente la Reina, Navarra [4] .

Cabeza de Vaca departs for the New World​

In 1527 a strong desire awoke in him to go into some transoceanic expedition , after listening on numerous occasions to the stories of those who returned from the Indies. He managed to establish contact with Pánfilo de Narváez, who was sent to the New World to curb the aspirations of Hernán Cortés . Despite his failure, Carlos V appointed him in advance of the territories that he managed to explore in Florida , and managed to obtain a fleet of five ships made up of six hundred men. Among them was Cabeza de Vaca, whose recommendation by the Duke of Medina Sidonia was enough to make him treasurer and chief bailiff on board [5]. They left Sanlúcar de Barrameda at the end of May 1527, and once in America, the first place where they landed was Santo Domingo [6] . From there they went to Cuba to spend the winter, after having lost two ships and sixty companions during a strong storm in the port of Trinidad. In April 1528 they arrived at Tampa Bay without knowing where they were or where they should go, since Narváez had made a mistake in his calculations. Therefore, they decided to dock in the peninsula of Florida on the first day of May. The captain was eager to find the gold that the Appalachians supposedly hid, but what he actually found was food shortages, hostility from the natives, and complete disorientation. after fifteen daysdiscontent spread among their ranks and Cabeza de Vaca emerged as Pánfilo's main opponent .

Given this situation, the group decided to build five boats to leave the area by sea [7] .
. For a month and a half they were at the mercy of the Atlantic, carrying out a difficult cabotage navigation. The water in their skins rotted and they became so thirsty that some were forced to drink from the sea, which caused their death. When everyone thought they would perish, they sighted the delta of a river unknown to them: the Mississippi, perhaps in what is now Louisiana or Texas, and they met a tribe that supplied them, but, fearing that the same thing would happen to them as before, they decided to leave the area as soon as possible. However, a storm arose that sank the boat and dragged several people to the bottom [8] . Those who managed to save themselves and reach the coast were received by the same indigenous group, and in their village they met some of the compatriots lost after the ambush. Despite the fear of being sacrificed, they preferred to die of that cause rather than perish slowly from hunger, cold and thirst. However, many began to get sick and die [9], and the same thing happened with the natives, who saw their number reduced by half. Faced with this situation, they initially blamed foreigners and tried to end his life, until they realized that the Spanish had no reason to cause harm among their own comrades. They concluded that the survivors must have some special power, and forced them to cure those affected. Cabeza de Vaca crossed them and they all healed, which helped him to receive good treatment for a certain time [10] , until he was enslaved and had to escape to the territory of the Charrucos, where he began to carry out the task of acquiring products that the Indians requested him in exchange for food [11] .

In 1533, during one of his searches, he recognized three former companions who were subjugated by a tribe, helping them to escape. In September 1534, they entered the area controlled by the Avavars, who were aware of the healing powers attributed to those whites. Also, different groups requested their services, such as the susolas, who needed help with an apparently dead man. Álvar Núñez knelt down next to him, made the sign of the cross, and blew on him, and after a while, the patient got up healthy. After this fact, he achieved such fame that he and his companions were considered "Children of the Sun". Thus, they toured present-day Texas, always being well received. However, a certain fear towards his person also arose, since one day, Cabeza de Vaca got angry with a group that was hosting them and retired to sleep outside the camp. During the night, many inhabitants began to feel unwell and several died, so the next morning they all came crying and asking for forgiveness [12] .

Over time, the Spanish ended up exploring Arizona and California . In this last place they found an Indian with a buckle around his neck, who assured them that it belonged to bearded men who had come from heaven on horseback [13] . That fact told them that there would be some Spaniard nearby, and shortly they managed to meet several men. They were taken to San Miguel de Culiacán, and from there they left in mid-May 1536 for Compostela, the capital of Nueva Galicia [14] . Two weeks later they met with Hernán Cortés, who by then had received the title of Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca [15]. In the summer of 1537, Cabeza de Vaca decided to return to Spain and began his journey from Havana. At the height of the Azores, some French corsairs tried to seize her boat, until several Portuguese ships helped and escorted her, reaching Lisbon on August 9, 1537 [16] . After his return to Spain, he considered his deeds worthy of a prize from the king. Encouraged by such conviction, interested in exculpating himself from the failure of the mission, and intending to clarify Narváez's responsibility, he decided to write a report on the matter, which from the 18th century was entitled Shipwrecks.At the same time that he was writing his work between 1537 and 1540, the Jerez native became a figure with whom it was convenient to talk if one wanted to know the New World or obtain information about El Dorado , since the rumor was that he had information about that mythical city [17] .

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, advance, governor and captain​

Meanwhile, Carlos V considered the possibility of sending an expedition to Río de la Plata, where Pedro de Mendoza had founded Buenos Aires.in 1536. On the way to Spain he died, so he could not inform the emperor. Since 1539 there was also no news about Mendoza's lieutenant who had remained in command, Juan de Ayolas. Given this, Cabeza de Vaca convinced the monarch to organize a trip in November 1540, and if Ayolas had died, he would be given the position of advance, governor and captain general. As soon as they arrived, they learned that the lieutenant had perished and was replaced by Domingo Martínez de Irala, who had taken power from the seat of government in Asunción. Álvar Núñez decided to go there, but instead of following a sea route, he undertook a journey by land and traveled two thousand kilometers through jungles, rivers and ravines.. In February 1542 he sailed down the Iguazú, encountering its impressive waterfalls, and on March 11, 1542 they arrived in Asunción, where he showed his governor's credentials and appointed Martínez de Irala as his lieutenant. Taking advantage of his new position, he organized an exploration so that, following the course of the Paraguay River, Irala and several people in charge of him could locate a communication route with Peru. The governor was eager to find the precious metals and the golden cities that filled the collective imagination, but he could not join the group, since he had to face the uprising of a Guarani leader who was trying to convince his people to collaborate with the Spanish It brought them no benefit. After capturing him, trying him and ordering his execution, suspicions arose among the Indians, and the occasion was taken advantage of by the Spaniards opposed to his person, calling him an abuser. Several officials and religious even tried to flee to the metropolis to inform the emperor about the negative management of the Jerez native[18] .

Iguazu Falls, seen by Cabeza de Vaca in 1542. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Enaldo Valadares

Martínez de Irala returned to Asunción after a short time, and claimed to have found a route, so that Cabeza de Vaca gathered a large contingent of Spaniards and indigenous people who left in September 1543. During the journey they suffered bites from poisonous species and they were left without provisions, which led to the death of one hundred soldiers and two hundred natives. The discontent was increasing, and after seven months of travel they had to abandon their company and return to the city, where the governor secluded himself in his palace. On April 25 there was an insurrection, the rebels arrested him, and named Martínez de Irala captain [19]. After ten months of captivity, Álvar Núñez was sent as a prisoner to Spain, and arrived in August 1545. The Council of the Indies initiated a process against him in February 1546 and lost all his charges and privileges. Furthermore, he was under house arrest until 1552, when the trial concluded [20] . From this moment on, little is known about him, except that in 1555 he was residing in Seville and the idea of making a third trip to America was raised, but he was aware that he had no chance [21] . Ruined and with a great feeling of failure, he died between 1559 and 1564 in Seville or Valladolid , depending on the author consulted [22] . For Inca Garcilaso de la Vega perished in Valladolid [23], while Ruy Díaz de Guzmán affirms that it was in Seville [24] . Be that as it may, and taking stock of his life, we must bear in mind that he became a benchmark when embarking for America, and was the first European to explore the course of the Paraguay River and the first white man to contemplate the Iguazu Falls. During his adventures, he traveled through Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Texas, the Gulf of California and New Mexico, territories that were annexed to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, thus expanding the Empire. But Cabeza de Vaca does not occupy a place next to great conquerors like Hernán Cortés or Francisco Pizarro, and when he perished, he was already a forgotten character.

Bibliography​

• Bishop, M. (1971): The Odyssey of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca . Connecticut: The Century Co.
• Díaz de Guzmán Irala, R. (1986): La Argentina, Enrique de Gandía edition . Madrid: History 16.
• Garcilaso de la Vega, I. (1986): La Florida del Inca, Silvia Hilton edition. Madrid: History 16.
• Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Excessive Spaniards. Cabeza de Vaca, the 1st Duke of Lerma, Balmis, Sor Patrocinio, the 12th Duke of Osuna, Aurora Rodríguez and Millán Astray . Madrid: Editorial Edaf SL
• Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, A. (2009): Shipwrecks and comments, edition by Roberto Ferrando Pérez. Madrid: Dastin SL
• Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, A. (2012): Shipwrecks, Trinidad Barrera edition . Madrid: Publishing Alliance.
• Rodríguez Carrión, J. (1985): Notes for a biography of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca from Jerez, the first white man in North America. Jerez de la Frontera: CSIC-CECEL.
• Sancho De Sopranis, H. (1947): "Data for the study of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca", in AA.: Revista de Indias, no. 27. Madrid: CSIC.

Grades​

[1] Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, A. (2012): Shipwrecks, Trinidad Barrera edition . Madrid: Publishing Alliance, p. 12.

[2] Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Excessive Spaniards. Cabeza de Vaca, the 1st Duke of Lerma, Balmis, Sor Patrocinio, the 12th Duke of Osuna, Aurora Rodríguez and Millán Astray . Madrid: Editorial Edaf SL, p. 18.

[3] Sancho De Sopranis, H. (1947): “Data for the study of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca”, in VV.AA.: Revista de Indias, no. 27. Madrid: CSIC, p. 7.

[4] Bishop, M. (1971): The Odyssey of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca . Connecticut: The Century Co., pp. 8 - 10.

[5] Ibid ., pp. 27 – 28.

[6] Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, A. (2012): Shipwrecks… op. cit., p. 67.

[7] Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Excessive Spaniards. Cow's Head… op. cit ., p. 31 – 34.

[8] Rodríguez Carrión, J. (1985): Notes for a Biography of Sherryman Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Cabe, the first white man in North America. Jerez of the Border: CSIC – CECEL, pp. 52 – 55 .

[9] Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Excessive Spaniards. Cow's Head… op. cit ., p. 36 – 37.

[10] Rodriguez Carrion, J. (1985): Notes for a Biography... op. cit., pp. 100-1 56 – 58 .

[11] Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Excessive Spaniards. Cow's Head… op. cit ., p. 39.

[12] Rodriguez Carrion, J. (1985): Notes for a Biography... op. cit. , pp. 101-1 59 – 64 .

[13] Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Excessive Spaniards. Cow's Head… op. cit . p. 47.

[14] Rodríguez Carrión, J. (1985): Notes for a Biography... op. cit., p. 65.

[15] Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, A. (2009): Shipwrecks and Commentaries, edited by Roberto Ferrando Perez. Madrid: Dustin SL, p. 15.

[16] Rodríguez Carrión, J. (1985): Notes for a Biography... op. cit. , p. 65.

[17] Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Excessive Spaniards. Cow's Head… op. cit ., p. 49 – 50.

[18] Ibid ., pp. 51 – 59.

[19] Ibid ., pp. 60 – 62.

[20] Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, A. (2012): Naufragios… op. cit., pág. membrillo.

[21] Moreiro Prieto, J. (2008): Españoles en exceso. Cabeza de vaca… op. cit ., pág. 66.

[22] Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, A. (2012): Naufragios… op. cit., pág. dieciséis.

[23] Garcilaso de la Vega, I. (1986): La Florida del Inca, edición de Silvia Hilton. Madrid: Historia 16, pág. 17

[24] Díaz de Guzmán Irala, R. (1986): La Argentina, edición Enrique de Gandía . Madrid: Historia 16, pág. 56.

Este artículo forma parte del III Concurso de Microensayos Históricos Desperta Ferro . La documentación, veracidad y originalidad del artículo son responsabilidad exclusiva de su autor.​

Cabeza de Vaca, el conquistador que no conquistó nada - Desperta Ferro

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca se embarcó en una expedición al Nuevo Mundo que le llevó de California y Florida hasta los ríos Paraguay e Iguazú

www.despertaferro-ediciones.com

 

[D. B. Doober]

Pretty awesome @Montuno !!! My kind of book. Check out "A Journey into Mohawk Territory 1634: The Journal of Van Den Bogaerts" and "Island at the Center of the World"
Was just looking at Michael Coe's Deciphering the Maya Code...took Mayan and Aztec classes in college...languages too.

 

[Montuno]

Pretty awesome @Montuno !!! My kind of book. Check out "A Journey into Mohawk Territory 1634: The Journal of Van Den Bogaerts" and "Island at the Center of the World"
Was just looking at Michael Coe's Deciphering the Maya Code...took Mayan and Aztec classes in college...languages too.

Great, Yuri Knózorov.

Did you study "Aztec language"? You mean Nauhalt... I don't understand if you or Michael Coe?

 

[D. B. Doober]

Few semesters of Aztec culture/Nahuatl language. Mayan glyphs and culture as well..."Chorti"
Have lots of my books, haven't read anything in like 10 years. Maybe more Mayan tomorrow or maybe the Iroquois/Northeast woodland period

 

[Montuno]

Few semesters of Aztec culture/Nahuatl language. Mayan glyphs and culture as well..."Chorti"
Have lots of my books, haven't read anything in like 10 years. Maybe more Mayan tomorrow or maybe the Iroquois/Northeast woodland period

"La Tinta Negra y Roja; antología de poesía nahuatl", compiled by Miguel León-Portilla and beautifully illustrated by Vicente Rojo, and awarded at the time as the best and most beautifully edited book in Spain. In Nahuatl and Spanish.

 

[Montuno]

 

[D. B. Doober]

Hey that's awesome! I took German in college ...mostly self-taught with reading Spanish. Could probably follow it though. I will have to check this out @Montuno !!!
Have you read "Broken Spears: indigenous Account of the Conquest of Mexico"? I'll check out my books today if I get a chance and post some pictures. Have a good day man!

 

[D. B. Doober]

 

[Montuno]

Hey that's awesome! I took German in college ...mostly self-taught with reading Spanish. Could probably follow it though. I will have to check this out @Montuno !!!
Have you read "Broken Spears: indigenous Account of the Conquest of Mexico"? I'll check out my books today if I get a chance and post some pictures. Have a good day man!

What you call "Broken Spears: Indigenous Account of the Conquest of Mexico", It could be a selection of the aforementioned "Vision of the Vanquished" directed by the same author of the previous "The Red and Black Ink: Anthology of Nahualt Poetry". Some texts of the latter, surely appear in your "Broken Spears", like one that I photographed: "La Matanza del Templo Mayor", "Se ha perdido el Pueblo mexica" y "La Ciudad Vencida"...

They are totally different:
Bernal Díaz del Castillo is a humble conquistador reliving his part in the Conquest. I would recommend confronting/completing his "History of the Conquest of New Spain", with the "Letters to the Emperor", by Hernán Cortés himself, and the chronicles of the Mexica and their allies of the Triple Alliance, collected in Nahualt and Spanish by Miguel León-Portilla in "The Vision of the Conquered".

Hugh Thomas is a contemporary historian, Hispanist and researcher, who uses Bernal Díaz del Castillo as one more of his sources.

 

[D. B. Doober]

I had read Bernal Diaz' "Conquest" but that was 15 years ago. I no longer have a copy. Check out "Religions of Mesoamerica" by Carassco. He was one of my professors at Harvard, I think. Maybe not. He teaches at the Divinity School though. Good read. Talks a lot about "sacred spaces" like the Templo Mayor.
Time to get high.
Nezahual Xocoyotzin was the coolest hue hue tlatoani. I think I remember their names correctly?
Glad you are into the same stuff @Montuno !!!

 

[Montuno]

Mexica people have been lost

The crying spreads, the tears drip there in Tlatelolco.

The Mexicans left for water;
they look like women; the escape is general

Where are we going, oh friends! Then was it true?
They are already leaving Mexico City:
the smoke is rising; the mist is spreading...

With tears they greet the Huiznahuácatl Motelhuihtzin.
the Tlailotlácatl Tlacotzin,
the Tlacatecuhtli Oquihtzin. . .
Cry, my friends,
understand that with these events
we have lost the Mexica nation.
The water has turned sour, the food has soured!
This is what the Giver of Life has done in Tlatelolco.

Without modesty, Motelhuihtzin and Tlacotzin are taken away.
With songs they encouraged each other in Acachinanco,
oh, when they went to be put to the test there in Coyoacan...

(The English translation is not exact and some sentences are missing)

 

[Montuno]

Hey that's awesome! I took German in college ...mostly self-taught with reading Spanish. Could probably follow it though. I will have to check this out @Montuno !!!
Have you read "Broken Spears: indigenous Account of the Conquest of Mexico"? I'll check out my books today if I get a chance and post some pictures. Have a good day man!

The last days of the siege of Tenochtitlan

And all this happened to us.
We saw it,
we admire it.
With this regrettable and sad luck
we were distressed.

Broken darts lie on the paths,
hairs are scattered.
Roofless are the houses,
reddened are their walls.

Worms swarm the streets and squares,
and brains are splattered on the walls.
The waters are red, they are dyed,
and when we drink them,
it is as if we were drinking salt water.

Meanwhile, we hit the adobe walls,
and a network of holes was our legacy.
With the shields he was his shelter, but
not even with shields can his loneliness be sustained.

We have eaten bunting sticks,
we have chewed salty grass,
adobe stones, lizards,
mice, powdered earth, worms...
We barely ate the meat,
it was on the fire.
When the meat was cooked,
they snatched it from there,
in the fire itself, they ate it.

We were priced.
Price of the young man, the priest,
the child and the maiden.

Enough: for a poor man the price was
only two handfuls of corn,
only ten mosquito cakes;
only twenty cakes of salt grass were our price.

Gold, jades, rich blankets,
quetzal feathers,
all that is precious,
was not appreciated at all...


The ruin of tenochcas and tlatelolcas

Get busy, fight, oh Tlacaltéccatl Temilotzin!:
the men of Castile and those of the chinampas are already leaving their ships.

Tenochca is surrounded by war;
Tlatelolca is surrounded by war!

The gunsmith Coyohuehuetzin is coming to block the way;
The Acolhua has already left the great path of Tepeyac.

Tenochca is surrounded by war;
Tlatelolca is surrounded by war!

The fire is already blackened;
burning bursts the shot,
the mist has already spread:

They have apprehended Cuauhtémoc!
An armful of Mexican princes extends!
Tenochca
is surrounded by war, Tlatelolca is surrounded by war!



Cuauhtemoc Prison

Tenochca is surrounded by war;
Tlatelolca is surrounded by war!

The fire is already blackened, burning the shot bursts:
already the mist has spread:

They already learned Cuauhtemoctzin:
an armful of Mexican princes extends!

Tenochca is surrounded by war;
Tlatelolca is surrounded by war!

After nine days they are taken in a riot to Coyohuacan

Cuauhtemoctzin, Coanacoch, Tetlepanquetzaltzin:
prisoners are the kings.

Tlacotzin comforted them and told them:
"Oh my nephews, have courage: tied with gold chains,
prisoners are the kings."

King Cuauhtemoctzin answers:
"Oh my nephew, you are a prisoner, you are loaded with iron.

"Who are you, that you sit next to the Captain General?
"Ah, it's Doña Isabel, my little niece!
"Ah, that's right, prisoners are the kings!

"By the way you will be a slave, you will be someone else's person:
"the necklace will be forged, the quetzal will be woven, in Coyohuacan.
"Who are you, that you sit next to the Captain General?
"Ah, it's Dona Isabel, my little niece!
Ah, it's true, prisoners are the kings!"

 

[Montuno]

I had read Bernal Diaz' "Conquest" but that was 15 years ago. I no longer have a copy. Check out "Religions of Mesoamerica" by Carassco. He was one of my professors at Harvard, I think. Maybe not. He teaches at the Divinity School though. Good read. Talks a lot about "sacred spaces" like the Templo Mayor.
Time to get high.
Nezahual Xocoyotzin was the coolest hue hue tlatoani. I think I remember their names correctly?
Glad you are into the same stuff @Montuno !!!

Quizá confundes al Huey Tlatoani mexica ("El Más Alto Portavoz" aka "Emperador de la Triple Alianza") y Rey de Tenochtitlán Moctezuma II "Xocoyotzin" con el Rey de Texcoco chichimeca (parte de La Triple Alianza) Nezahualcóyotl ?
Broma:
Supongo que sobre eso mejor que opinen los mexicanos descendientes de mexicas y sus aliados... Yo sólo soy un "Castilla Toniatuh" o "gachupino güero", y aliado de los "traidores" del Pueblo toronaca y la República de Tlaxcala...

Maybe you confuse the Mexica Huey Tlatoani ("The Highest Spokesman" aka "Emperor of the Triple Alliance") and King of Tenochtitlan Moctezuma II "Xocoyotzin" with the Chichimeca King of Texcoco (part of The Triple Alliance) Nezahualcóyotl ?
Joke:
I guess about that better let the Mexicans descendants of Mexica People and their allies give their opinion... I am only a "Castilla Toniatuh" aka "gachupino güero", and ally of the "traitors" of the Totonaca People and of the Republic of Tlaxcala...

(PS: If you are going for the literary, no doubt you are referring to the King of Texcoco).

Do we come to sprout on earth, to live on earth, in vain? Let's at least leave flowers. Let's leave at least songs (poems).

 

[D. B. Doober]

Yes. It's been 15 years...Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. It's been a while since I recited the Mexica rulers. Acomapichtli! I'll do some reading today. Time to get high again

 

[Montuno]

I have been tearing up the classic novels in my library lately. "Wuthering Heights", "crime & punishment", "don quixote", "catch-22" & "love in the time of cholera"

Been reading "Anna karenina". My first Tolstoy and it is excellent.

I have stumbled across a list of the 100 best books of all time on Wikipedia, and have made it my mission to go through all of them.


let me just say that don Quixote is a different work all together. Many say it's the best book of all time; I disagree. However it is very good and pretty dang funny, which shocks me that something that old could still translate today. I guess naked backflips are timeless lol

Most of the other authors cited would disagree.
Don Quixote predates it by hundreds of years, and is considered both the birth of the novel ("El Lazarillo de Tormes" would be an "earlier experiment", but indispensable as well) and the pinnacle of the novel.
It contains many layers of overlapping readings (some annotated editions include a third volume "even" thicker than the original two) and I fear the quality of the translation may turn gold into goat droppings...
Believe me, it happened to me with Kafka translated into Spanish: in a "treacherous" translation I was forced to read his writing just to understand his story/argument/message; in a good one, I was able to enjoy his technique, his beauty, his writing, regardless of the plot.

Try a simpler and easier to translate Spanish language, and with much more explicit adventures, misadventures and miseries (racism, delinquency, sex and prostitution, hypocrisy and moral degeneration) like previous "El Lazarillo de Tormes".
If, taking into account its date of writing, you enjoy it as much as or more than other more modern or contemporary works, think that Don Quixote extends the project of "El Lazarillo" to all areas of life and society.
Before them, the narrative was not adjusted to the "reality of the world", and was either loaded with fantasy, or always characterized the different characters as the same "type character" according to their sex, ethnicity, religion, social-economic class...

 

[Montuno]

Los Tratos De La Noche by Mariano Picon Salas (the treatments of the night)

Good luck finding a copy though, or if there is even an english translation?

Amazing book, by one of the great one, I'd rate him above Garcia Marquez for sure.

I haven't read anything of his yet; thanks for the recommendation.
Arturo Uslar Pietri and Salvador Garmendia are much better known here: the "Memories of Altagracia" by the latter, I find delicious...

 

[Montuno]

"Biography of a Runaway", i think that's the title in english. A magnificent and very entertaining essay, interviewing a very old guy in an old people's home who was a runaway slave in Cuba.
https://books.google.es/books/about/Biografía_de_un_cimarrón.html?id=qkQ7AQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y

He would then be one of the nearly 30,000 slaves still remaining in Cuba when the Congress of Deputies in Madrid banned/abolished him in 1880 ( in European and African Spain, in 1817)
Very interesting.

 

[Montuno]

I need to stop getting books...

How I got rid of five hundred books.​

Poet: don't give away your book, destroy it yourself . (Edward Towers).

«Several years ago I read an essay by I don't remember which English author in which he recounted the difficulties he encountered in getting rid of a bundle of books that he didn't want to keep in his library for any reason. Now, in the course of my existence I have been able to observe that among intellectuals it is common to hear the complaint that books end up taking them out of their homes. Some even justify the size of their stately mansions with the excuse that the books no longer let them take a step in their old apartments. I have not been, and probably never will be, in this last extreme; but I could never have imagined that one day I would find myself in that of the English essayist, and that I would have to fight to get rid of 500 volumes.

I will try to tell my experience. I will say in passing that this story is likely to irritate many. No matter. The truth is that at a certain point in your life you either know too many people (writers), or you know too many people (writers), or you realize that you have had to live in a time when too many books are published. There comes a time when your writer friends give you so many books (apart from those that they generously give you to read that are still unpublished) that you would need to dedicate every day of the year to finding out about their interpretations of the world and of life. As if this were not enough, the fact is that for twenty years my love of reading has been contaminated by the habit of buying books, a habit that in many cases sadly ends up being confused with the first. Around that time, I was foolish enough to visit second-hand bookstores. On the first page ofMoby Dick Ishmael observes that when Cato grew weary of living he committed suicide by throwing himself on his sword, and that when he became weary he simply took a ship. I, on the other hand, for years took the path of second-hand bookstores. As soon as one begins to feel the attraction of these establishments full of dust and spiritual penury, the pleasure that books provide has begun to degenerate into the mania of buying them, and this in turn into the vanity of acquiring some rare ones to astonish others. friends or simple acquaintances.

How does this process take place? One day you are quietly reading at his house when a friend arrives and says: How many books do you have! That sounds to one as if the friend told him: How intelligent you are!, and the damage is done. The rest is already known. One begins to count the books by the hundreds, then by the thousands, and to feel more and more intelligent. Because as the years go by (unless you're a truly lousy idealist) you've become more financially viable, you've been to more bookstores, and of course you've become a writer, you own so many books you're just smart, deep down you're a genius. Such is the vanity of having many books.

In such a situation, the other day I plucked up the courage and decided to keep only those books that really interested me, I had read, or was really going to read. While consuming his quota of life, how many truths does the human being elude? Among these, is not his cowardice one of the most constant? How many sophistry do you resort to daily to hide from yourself that you are a coward? I am a coward. Of the several thousand books that I have by inertia, I hardly dared to eliminate about five hundred, and that with pain, not because of what they represented spiritually for me, but because of the lower prestige coefficient that the ten meters less of full shelves would go to to mean. Day and night my eyes traveled again and again (as the classics said) the vast rows, discriminating until exhaustion (as we moderns say). What an incredible amount of poetry, what an amount of novels, how many sociological solutions to the world's ills! Poetry is supposed to be written to enrich the spirit; that novels have been conceived, at least, for entertainment; and even, with optimism, that the sociological solutions are directed to solve something. Looking at it calmly, I realized that for the most part the first, that is, poetry, was capable of impoverishing the richest spirit, the second of boring the most cheerful, and the third of confusing the most lucid. And yet, what considerations did I make to discard any volume, however insignificant it seemed. If a that novels have been conceived, at least, for entertainment; and even, with optimism, that the sociological solutions are directed to solve something. Looking at it calmly, I realized that for the most part the first, that is, poetry, was capable of impoverishing the richest spirit, the second of boring the most cheerful, and the third of confusing the most lucid. And yet, what considerations did I make to discard any volume, however insignificant it seemed. If a that novels have been conceived, at least, for entertainment; and even, with optimism, that the sociological solutions are directed to solve something. Looking at it calmly, I realized that for the most part the first, that is, poetry, was capable of impoverishing the richest spirit, the second of boring the most cheerful, and the third of confusing the most lucid. And yet, what considerations did I make to discard any volume, however insignificant it seemed. If a what considerations I made to discard any volume, however insignificant it seemed. If a what considerations I made to discard any volume, however insignificant it seemed. If aA priest and a barber would have helped me without my knowing it, would they have left more than a hundred on their shelves? When I visited Pablo Neruda at his home in Santiago in 1955, I was surprised to see that he barely owned thirty or forty books, between police novels and translations of his own works into various languages. He had just donated to the University an enormous quantity of veritable bibliographical treasures. The poet gave himself that pleasure in life; only state, seeing it well, in which one can give it to him.

I will not here make a census of the books that I was willing to part with; but among them there was everything, more or less like this: politics (in the bad sense of the word, since he has no other), about 50; sociology and economics, around 49; general geography and general history, 2; national geography and history, 48; world literature, 14; Latin American literature, 86; North American studies on Latin American literature, 37; astronomy, 1/2; rhythm theories (so that the lady does not get pregnant), 6; methods to discover springs, 1; biographies of opera singers, 1; indefinite genders (type I chose freedom), 14; eroticism, 1/2 (I kept the illustrations of the only one I had); methods to lose weight, 1; methods to stop drinking, 19; psychology and psychoanalysis, 27; grammars, 5; methods to speak English in ten days, 1; methods to speak French in ten days, 1; methods to speak Italian in ten days, 1; film studies, 8; etc.

But this was only the beginning. I soon discovered that few people were willing to accept most of the books I had painstakingly purchased over the years wasting time and money. Although this reconciled me somewhat with the human race by discovering that the mere desire to accumulate was not such a generalized aberration, it caused me the consequent annoyances, because once I decided to do so, getting rid of those books became a pressing spiritual need. . A fire like the one in the Library of Alexandria, to which these memories are dedicated, is the easiest path, but it is ridiculous and even frowned upon to burn 500 books in the patio of the house (assuming that the house had one). And it is accepted that the Inquisition burned people, but the majority is outraged that it burned books. Certain people fond of these things suggested that I donate all those volumes to such and such public libraries; but such an easy solution detracted from the adventurous spirit of the matter and the idea bored me a little, besides the fact that I was convinced that in public libraries they would be as useless as at home or anywhere else. Throwing them away one by one was not worthy of me, the books, or the dumpster. The only solution was my friends. But my political friends or sociologists already had the books corresponding to their specialties, or were enemies of them in many cases; the poets did not want to contaminate themselves with anything from their contemporaries whom they knew personally; and the book on eroticism was a burden to anyone, even stripped of its French illustrations.

However, I don't want to make these memories into a story of supposedly funny false adventures. The truth is that somehow I have been finding spirits similar to mine who have agreed to take these fetishes home, to occupy a place that will take away space and oxygen for children, but that will give parents the feeling of being wiser and even the most fallacious and useless of being the repositories of a knowledge that in any case is nothing but the repeated testimony of human ignorance or ingenuity.

My optimism led me to suppose that at the end of these lines, begun a fortnight ago, in some way it would fully justify its title; if the number five hundred on it is replaced by twenty (which is starting to shorten due to the occasional mail-back), that title will be closer to the truth.'

© Augusto Monterroso.

Source: Letralia .

Cómo me deshice de quinientos libros.​

Poeta: no regales tu libro, destrúyelo tu mismo. (Eduardo Torres).

«Hace varios años leí un ensayo de no recuerdo qué autor inglés en el que éste contaba las dificultades que se le presentaron para deshacerse de un paquete de libros que por ningún motivo quería conservar en su biblioteca. Ahora bien, en el curso de mi existencia he podido observar que entre los intelectuales es corriente oír la queja de que los libros terminan por sacarlos de sus casas. Algunos hasta justifican el tamaño de sus mansiones señoriales con la excusa de que los libros ya no los dejaban dar un paso en sus antiguos departamentos. Yo no he estado, y probablemente no lo estaré jamás, en este último extremo; pero nunca hubiera podido imaginar que algún día me encontraría en el del ensayista inglés, y que tendría que luchar por desprenderme de 500 volúmenes.

Trataré de contar mi experiencia. De pasada diré que es probable que esta historia irrite a muchos. No importa. La verdad es que en determinado momento de su vida o uno conoce demasiada gente (escritores), o a uno lo conoce demasiada gente (escritores), o uno se da cuenta de que le ha tocado vivir en una época en que se editan demasiados libros. Llega el momento en que tus amigos escritores te regalan tantos libros (aparte de los que generosamente te pasan para leer aún inéditos) que necesitarías dedicar todos los días del año para enterarte de sus interpretaciones del mundo y de la vida. Como si esto fuera poco, el hecho es que desde hace veinte años mi afición por la lectura se vino contaminando con el hábito de comprar libros, hábito que en muchos casos termina por confundirse tristemente con la primera. Por ese tiempo di en la torpeza de visitar las librerías de viejo. En la primera página de Moby Dick Ismael observa que cuando Catón se hastió de vivir se suicidó arrojándose sobre su espada, y que cuando a él le sucedía hastiarse, sencillamente tomaba un barco. Yo, en cambio, durante años tomé el camino de las librerías de viejo. En cuanto uno empieza a sentir la atracción de estos establecimientos llenos de polvo y penuria espiritual, el placer que proporcionan los libros ha empezado a degenerar en la manía de comprarlos, y ésta a su vez en la vanidad de adquirir algunos raros para asombrar a los amigos o a simples conocidos.

¿Cómo tiene lugar este proceso? Un día está uno tranquilo leyendo en su casa cuando llega un amigo y le dice: ¡Cuántos libros tienes! Eso le suena a uno como si el amigo le dijera: ¡Qué inteligente eres!, y el mal está hecho. Lo demás ya se sabe. Se pone uno a contar los libros por cientos, luego por miles, y a sentirse cada vez mas inteligente. Como a medida que pasan los años (a menos que se sea un verdadero infeliz idealista) uno cuenta con más posibilidades económicas, uno ha recorrido más librerías y, naturalmente, uno se ha convertido en escritor, uno posee tal cantidad de libros que ya no sólo eres inteligente, en el fondo eres un genio. Así es la vanidad esta de poseer muchos libros.

En tal situación, el otro día me armé de valor y decidí quedarme únicamente con aquellos libros que de veras me interesaran, hubiera leído, o fuera realmente a leer. Mientras consume su cuota de vida, ¿cuántas verdades elude el ser humano? Entre éstas, ¿no es la de su cobardía una de las más constantes? ¿A cuántos sofismas acudes diariamente para ocultarte que eres un cobarde? Yo soy un cobarde. De los varios miles de libros que poseo por inercia, apenas me atreví a eliminar unos quinientos, y eso con dolor, no por lo que representaran espiritualmente para mi, sino por el coeficiente de menor prestigio que los diez metros menos de estanterías llenas irían a significar. Día y noche mis ojos recorrieron una y otra vez (como decían los clásicos) las vastas hileras, discriminando hasta el cansancio (como decimos los modernos). ¡Qué increíble cantidad de poesía, qué cantidad de novelas, cuántas soluciones sociológicas para los males del mundo1 Se supone que la poesía se escribe para enriquecer el espíritu; que las novelas han sido concebidas, cuando menos, para la distracción; y aun, con optimismo, que las soluciones sociológicas se encaminan a solucionar algo. Viéndolo con calma, me di cuenta de que en su mayor parte la primera, o sea la poesía, era capaz de empobrecer al espíritu más rico, las segundas de aburrir al más alegre y las terceras de embrollar al más lúcido. Y no obstante, qué de consideraciones hice para descartar cualquier volumen, por insignificante que pareciera. Si un cura y un barbero me hubieran ayudado sin yo saberlo, ¿habrían dejado en sus estantes mas de cien? Cuando en 1955 visité a Pablo Neruda en su casa de Santiago me sorprendió ver que escasamente poseía treinta o cuarenta libros, entre novelas policiales y traducciones de sus propias obras a diversos idiomas. Acababa de donar a la Universidad una cantidad enorme de verdaderos tesoros bibliográficos. El poeta se dio ese gusto en vida; único estado, viéndolo bien, en que uno se lo puede dar.

No haré aquí el censo de los libros de que estaba dispuesto a desprenderme; pero entre ellos había de todo, más o menos así: política (en el mal sentido de la palabra, toda vez que no tiene otro), unos 50; sociología y economía, alrededor de 49; geografía general e historia general, 2; geografía e historia patrias, 48; literatura mundial, 14; literatura hispanoamericana, 86; estudios norteamericanos sobre literatura latinoamericana, 37; astronomía, 1/2; teorías del ritmo (para que la señora no se embarace), 6; métodos para descubrir manantiales, 1; biografías de cantantes de ópera, 1; géneros indefinidos (tipo Yo escogí la libertad), 14; erotismo, 1/2 (conservé las ilustraciones del único que tenía); métodos para adelgazar, 1; métodos para dejar de beber, 19; psicología y psicoanálisis, 27; gramáticas, 5; métodos para hablar inglés en diez días, 1; métodos para hablar francés en diez días, 1; métodos para hablar italiano en diez días, 1; estudios sobre cine, 8; etc.

Pero esto constituía nada más el principio. Pronto descubrí que eran pocas las personas que querían aceptar la mayor parte de los libros que yo había comprado cuidadosamente a través de los años perdiendo tiempo y dinero. SÍ bien esto me reconcilió algo con el género humano al descubrir que el mero afán de acumular no era una aberración tan generalizada, me causó las molestias consiguientes, por cuanto una vez decidido a ello, deshacerme de esos libros se convirtió en una necesidad espiritual apremiante. Un incendio como el de la Biblioteca de Alejandría, al que están dedicados estos recuerdos, es el camino más llano, pero resulta ridículo y hasta mal visto quemar 500 libros en el patio de la casa (suponiendo que la casa lo tuviera). Y se acepta que la Inquisición quemara gente, pero la mayoría se indigna de que quemara libros. Ciertas personas aficionadas a estas cosas me sugirieron donar todos esos volúmenes a tales o cuales bibliotecas públicas; pero una solución tan fácil le restaba espíritu aventurero al asunto y la idea me aburría un poco, además de que estaba convencido de que en las bibliotecas públicas serían tan inútiles como en mi casa o en cualquier otro sitio. Tirarlos uno por uno a la basura no era digno de mí, de los libros, ni del basurero. La única solución eran mis amigos. Pero mis amigos politices o sociólogos poseían ya los libros correspondientes a sus especialidades, o eran enemigos de ellos en gran cantidad de casos; los poetas no querían contaminarse con nada de contemporáneos suyos a quienes conocieran personalmente; y el libro sobre erotismo era una carga para cualquiera, aun despojado de sus ilustraciones francesas.

Sin embargo, no quiero hacer de estos recuerdos una historia de falsas aventuras supuestamente divertidas. Lo cierto es que de alguna manera he ido encontrando espíritus afines al mío que han aceptado llevarse a sus casas esos fetiches, a ocupar un lugar que restará espacio y oxigeno a los niños, pero que darán a los padres la sensación de ser más sabios e incluso la más falaz e inútil de ser los depositarios de un saber que en todo caso no es sino el repetido testimonio de la ignorancia o la ingenuidad humanas.

Mi optimismo me llevó a suponer que al terminar estas líneas, comenzadas hace quince días, en alguna forma justificaría cabalmente su título; si el número de quinientos que aparece en él es sustituido por el de veinte (que empieza a acortarse debido a una que otra devolución por correo), ese título estará más apegado a la verdad».

© Augusto Monterroso.

Fuente: Letralia.

 

[Montuno]

I love to read, now I finish reading the Labyrinth of ghosts. This is the last book in the series by Safon Carlos Ruiz. I love it. I bought an e-book and my friend advises me to sell it. I found in the article information that Amazon provides the service of selling e-books. Part of the money for the sale of this book is mine, and part of the publishing house. Has anyone heard of this? I know that before the resale of the e-book was illegal, it violated the license agreement. I don't plan to re-read these books in the near future and would be happy to give me back some of the money spent on their purchase.

I am sure you are referring to Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I confess that I haven't read anything of his, and I can't give my opinion, although it seems that he has been one of the most read Spanish authors in non-Hispanic countries...