Paradiso is a novel by Cuban writer José Lezama Lima, the only one completed and published during his lifetime. Written in an elaborately baroque style, the narrative follows the childhood and youth of José Cemí, and depicts many scenes which resonate with Lezama's own life as a young poet in Havana. Many of the characters reappear in Lezama's posthumous novel Oppiano Licario, which was published in Mexico in 1977.
The novel was originally published in Cuba in an edition regarded by the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar as being highly unsatisfactory, in part because of Lezama's poor punctuation and stylistic errors. With Lezama's blessing, Cortázar personally edited the text for a subsequent Mexican edition, correcting "thousands of errors and ambiguities."[1]
Despite having written one of the most accomplished novels in Cuba's history, Lezama said he never considered himself a novelist, but rather a poet who wrote a poem that became a novel. Paradiso can thus be considered a kind of long poem, just as well as a neo-baroque novel.
Plotedit
The novel relates Cemí's struggles with a mysterious childhood illness, describes the death of his father, and explores his homosexuality and literary sensibilities. He lives in the world of pre-Castro Havana, and the Cuban Revolution only appears as a secondary plot. Some of the later chapters incorporate narrative experiments in which several alternating stories, set during widely divergent eras and having no immediately apparent connection with José Cemí, are interwoven and eventually merged. (In a letter to Julio Cortázar, Lezama explained that these chapters represent Cemí's dreams after the death of his father.[2])
Controversyedit
Because of the graphic homosexual scenes and the novel's ambivalence towards the political situation of the day, Paradiso encountered controversy and publication problems. Today it is widely read in the Spanish-speaking world but has not achieved the same fame in English-speaking countries despite a translation by the American translator Gregory Rabassa.
paradiso, novel, paradiso, novel, cuban, writer, josé, lezama, lima, only, completed, published, during, lifetime, written, elaborately, baroque, style, narrative, follows, childhood, youth, josé, cemí, depicts, many, scenes, which, resonate, with, lezama, lif. Paradiso is a novel by Cuban writer Jose Lezama Lima the only one completed and published during his lifetime Written in an elaborately baroque style the narrative follows the childhood and youth of Jose Cemi and depicts many scenes which resonate with Lezama s own life as a young poet in Havana Many of the characters reappear in Lezama s posthumous novel Oppiano Licario which was published in Mexico in 1977 Paradiso1968 edition printed in Argentina AuthorJose Lezama LimaCountryCubaLanguageSpanishPublication date1966 Contents 1 Background 2 Plot 3 Controversy 4 ReferencesBackground editThe novel was originally published in Cuba in an edition regarded by the Argentine writer Julio Cortazar as being highly unsatisfactory in part because of Lezama s poor punctuation and stylistic errors With Lezama s blessing Cortazar personally edited the text for a subsequent Mexican edition correcting thousands of errors and ambiguities 1 Despite having written one of the most accomplished novels in Cuba s history Lezama said he never considered himself a novelist but rather a poet who wrote a poem that became a novel Paradiso can thus be considered a kind of long poem just as well as a neo baroque novel Plot editThe novel relates Cemi s struggles with a mysterious childhood illness describes the death of his father and explores his homosexuality and literary sensibilities He lives in the world of pre Castro Havana and the Cuban Revolution only appears as a secondary plot Some of the later chapters incorporate narrative experiments in which several alternating stories set during widely divergent eras and having no immediately apparent connection with Jose Cemi are interwoven and eventually merged In a letter to Julio Cortazar Lezama explained that these chapters represent Cemi s dreams after the death of his father 2 Controversy editBecause of the graphic homosexual scenes and the novel s ambivalence towards the political situation of the day Paradiso encountered controversy and publication problems Today it is widely read in the Spanish speaking world but has not achieved the same fame in English speaking countries despite a translation by the American translator Gregory Rabassa References edit Cortazar Julio Cartas Tomo 4 Alfaguara 2013 p 79 Letter dated October 21 1966 reproduced in Aurora Bernardez et al Cortazar de la A a la Z Alfaguara 2014 Interrogando a Lezama Lima Recopilacion de textos sobre Jose Lezama Lima Ed Pedro Simon Martinez La Habana Ediciones Casa de las Americas 1970 nbsp This article about a novel of the 1960s with a lesbian gay bisexual or transgender theme is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte nbsp This article about a philosophical novel of the 1960s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Paradiso novel amp oldid 1219375082, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
