Paulo Leminski: the return of Catatau

Rio de Janeiro - I have written elsewhere about this book by Paulo Leminski, which had two earlier editions in 1975 and 1989. Travessa dos Editores in Curitiba published a third critical and annotated edition in 2004, under the supervision of Décio Pignatari. In hard covers with white paper, the book provides the text of the so-called novel (pp. 1-269), and from there to page 425 a respectable package of supplementary material: iconography, name index, analysis of neologisms, general plan of the work, biographical abstract, and critical thought about the author. This is the good side of academic culture, which I so frequently excoriate. But, as Leminski himself says on page 26 of the first edition: "Buy an anteater, get an anteater expert to explain how it works".

The good thing about Leminski is his mix of erudition and colloquialism, hippie irreverence and Zen abstraction, and a penchant for puns enough to confound Lacanians: "Isso é presente que se apresente a um legítimo representante do daqui-pra-frente em nome do tudo-vai-diferente?" (p. 97) "Catatau" is not a novel, at least from my point of view. It is a polyglot monologue, an Ur-text, a primeval verbal plasma, from before genres and labels froze out of the Big Bang. "Out, Father of Asses, there is a carnaval which you neither foresaw nor forestalled!" (p. 193)

A book full of difficulties and delights, a book for a few select but happy readers, and which has as its prerequisite that the reader be in love with the art of words. As Pignatari says on the jacket, "difficult and intriguing works, in cultures which are progressive and not simply ongoing, always end by scrutinizing minds, which call into question the current standards for evaluation ". Or, more precisely: "Very common, to throw a ring into the ocean, and find it within a fish fished the day before !" (p. 169). It is a book for those who already know Leminski the lyricist, Leminski the poet of "Caprichos & Relaxos" and other books, and who can dive into the lines of "Catatau" aware that that Amazonian jungle was all planted by one man. "What use is it to do things well if no one is watching?" (p. 39)

Leminski died at 44 em 1989. He drank like hell, smoked pot, played guitar, was a entertaining walking tumult, though he carried embedded in his life a knot of tragedy. His biography, written by Ademir Assunção, is called "The bandit who knew Latin". He did judo, was a TV scriptwriter, rock and roller, translator, concretista, ad man. "Another life, because this one is wearing out!" (p. 82)

Travessa dos Editores can be found at Rua Des. Hugo Simas, 107, Bom Retiro, Curitiba, PR, 80520-250, telephone (41) 338-9994. I don't know how much the book costs, but at any price it is a bargain.

"Does such a rich question need to hang around begging for answers ?" (p. 127)

Translated from the original Portuguese by Tom Moore. Tom is a classical musician and translator who lives in Rio de Janeiro. His most recent CD of trio sonatas by Boismortier is available from A Casa Estúdio.

BrazilMax Pledge Drive - Did you like this article? Consider making a contribution to BrazilMax.