• Monstros Da Montanha

Novos Contos da Montanha - Miguel Torga.pdf.

Miguel Torga, a Portuguese author twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, gives fair warning that he is setting a grim table for us with these tales of rural Portugal of the early 1900's. In his preface he tells us we will meet the 'dismally weathered sadness contained among these cliffs' and warns us of 'so much dirt and misery.' The area is the poor, rural Tras-os-Montes region of northern Portugal (literally 'behind the mountains'). If you persist, you will encounter twenty-two shor Miguel Torga, a Portuguese author twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, gives fair warning that he is setting a grim table for us with these tales of rural Portugal of the early 1900's. In his preface he tells us we will meet the 'dismally weathered sadness contained among these cliffs' and warns us of 'so much dirt and misery.'

The area is the poor, rural Tras-os-Montes region of northern Portugal (literally 'behind the mountains'). If you persist, you will encounter twenty-two short tales; an average of six pages each. In one tale, a man discovers he is a leper and is banished from his village; in another a thief robs a church and discovers the priest did his dirty work before him; a woman is killed by the work of a voodoo doll. In other stories a prostitute gets so little assistance from men that she comes to believe her children have no fathers; a young boy gets his first Christmas present along with the news of his father's death; an elderly gravedigger prepares his own grave with the thought 'This is the end of my bad luck.' But there is a harsh beauty in these stories too: a lame shepherd wins fame by beating a wolf to death; a priest steps out of his role and delivers a baby; two men set out hunting knowing one will not return, but they set aside their differences. Like the landscape they are set in, these are harsh, sparse stories.

And, just as there is a beauty in that un-giving and unforgiving landscape, there is a simple, elemental beauty in these stories. Yet I'm still glad my grandmother left this region at about the time of the setting of these stories and came to the United States - all by herself at age 16! What courage! Top photo from tourism-culture-society.blogspot.com middle photo of Montesinho Village from portugalgreenwalks.com photo of the author from leme.pt.

Miguel Torga tells us all about rural Portugal with passion and humour. Stories that show you that rural Portugal is not devoid of love, hope, charity, passion, things that make up a human being. The stories are small in length, but so full, which goes to show that only an excellent writer like Torga could encapsulate so much is so little!

In 'Maria Lionsa' we are shown the fortitude of a woman who lives life with great dignity and respect even after losing her husband and her only son, in whom s Miguel Torga tells us all about rural Portugal with passion and humour. Stories that show you that rural Portugal is not devoid of love, hope, charity, passion, things that make up a human being. The stories are small in length, but so full, which goes to show that only an excellent writer like Torga could encapsulate so much is so little!

In 'Maria Lionsa' we are shown the fortitude of a woman who lives life with great dignity and respect even after losing her husband and her only son, in whom she had placed all her hopes. 'Um Roubo'(A theft)tells the story of a wretched small time thief, who tries to rob a small chapel only to find it already robbed. As he is caught in a thunderstorm, contracts pneumonia.

On his deathbed he accuses the priest of robbing the chapel. We do not know! In 'Amor' (Love), Lidia, so beautiful but so naive, gets everyone so inflamed that there is a murder of one of her suitors. She in her innocence, cannot believe why it all happened. Firmo, in 'Homens de Vilarinho, just cannot live at home, needs to experience the world, comes home periodically, impregnates his wife and then leaves.

Even the trap set by the priest does not help him to stay at home. 'O Cavaquinho', the story of a little boy whose family is so poor. Julio, waits for the much promised gift when his father goes to the local fair. Sadly he does get a little guitar, 'cavaquinho', but his father dies in a brawl that erupts in the market. 'Um filho'(The Son)a story filled with such love and hope, a father, a shepherd, who is so wonderfully happy when he gets a son.

I feel that this story tells about the birth of Jesus Christ, in very poor surroundings. 'A Promessa'(The Promise) a vow to the Blessed Virgin that does not go as well as desired.

'Maio Mosso', an orphan who gets nothing but beatings and terrible treatment, until he kills a wolf who was taking a lamb from his herd. A really joyous transformation when everyone now thinks of him as a person and not just another mouth to feed. 'O Bruxedo', how does a witch attack a person, by piercing a doll with pins!

What happens when the local Don Juan, deflowers countless lovely, girls. Refuses to marry them. The brothers of a pretty girl emasculate him, that's 'A paga' (the payment) for you. Two very good friends fight over the same boy. Enemies for life.

Until one saves the other's tiny baby by feeding him, surreptitiously with her own milk.The description of the tiny baby guzzling milk, makes you laugh and cry at the same time. Why does a man's best friend tell him that his wife is commiting adultery. All that it does is enrage the husband who slices her open. On his return to village after being in jail for twenty years, cannot go on with his lonelines and commits suicide.' Solidao' Yes, there are many more, every one of these very short stories so touching, so lovely, showing us different sides of a human being. Some good, some very bad but all very human all very touching.

Monstros Da Montanha

Miguel torga, portuguese novelist and poet, was born in 1907, yet it took over 80 years for any of his work to appear in english (he died in 1995). Torga, a pseudonym for adolfo correia da rocha, was thrice nominated for the nobel prize for literature. His body of published work is quite substantial and is comprised of over fifty volumes, including novels, short stories, poetry and drama. Tales from the mountain was originally published in portugal in 1941 but was promptly censored by prime mini miguel torga, portuguese novelist and poet, was born in 1907, yet it took over 80 years for any of his work to appear in english (he died in 1995). Torga, a pseudonym for adolfo correia da rocha, was thrice nominated for the nobel prize for literature. His body of published work is quite substantial and is comprised of over fifty volumes, including novels, short stories, poetry and drama. Tales from the mountain was originally published in portugal in 1941 but was promptly censored by prime minister salazar.

In the mid 1950’s and early 60’s, editions were smuggled into portugal following their publication in brazil. Torga was finally able to self-publish the book in his home country in 1969, the year before salazar died. Torga had also been earlier imprisoned without trial by salazar’s secret police (and held in solitary confinement) upon publishing a volume of an autobiographical novel. These stories, nearly two dozen in all, are brief, candid, “deceptively simple” tales of everyday life in northern portugal. Torga’s characters are exceptional in that they represent the normal man or woman faced with earthly concerns rather than the existential dramas that plague so many other literary creations.

His stories are conveyed with humor, beauty, empathy and humanity, making them seem as relevant now as when they were first conceived. From the preface: as a poet and storyteller, i can only ease my anxiety through words. But not everything can be written. As well as the poem or the story that the typewriter prints, there remains in the artist’s soul his condition as a human being. For this reason i make a promise here, which i hand on to you: i am certain that you, as a dweller of the fertile fields of the plains, will soon have understanding and pity for the hard fate of these, your fellow beings; that one day you will come to meet the dismally withered sadness contained amongst these cliffs, not as a reader of the picturesque and the exotic, but as a sensitive creature touched by the magic of art hearing the call of life’s imperatives.

I make this promise because i fell ashamed of so much dirt and misery and am embarrassed to represent the ungrateful role of chronicler of a world that is not even able to read me. I take this pledge in your name, by which i mean in the name of collective consciousness itself. As far as you are concerned, that which i write- these stories, for instance- has the purpose to entertain, possibly to affect you. But i want you to know that i dare stray from this entertainment and from this emotion to charge you with the responsibility for helping rescue the house that dazzles you, because it is burning.

Miguel Torga, a Portuguese author twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, gives fair warning that he is setting a grim table for us with these tales of rural Portugal of the early 1900's. In his preface he tells us we will meet the 'dismally weathered sadness contained among these cliffs' and warns us of 'so much dirt and misery.' The area is the poor, rural Tras-os-Montes region of northern Portugal (literally 'behind the mountains'). If you persist, you will encounter twenty-two shor Miguel Torga, a Portuguese author twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, gives fair warning that he is setting a grim table for us with these tales of rural Portugal of the early 1900's. In his preface he tells us we will meet the 'dismally weathered sadness contained among these cliffs' and warns us of 'so much dirt and misery.'

The area is the poor, rural Tras-os-Montes region of northern Portugal (literally 'behind the mountains'). If you persist, you will encounter twenty-two short tales; an average of six pages each. In one tale, a man discovers he is a leper and is banished from his village; in another a thief robs a church and discovers the priest did his dirty work before him; a woman is killed by the work of a voodoo doll. In other stories a prostitute gets so little assistance from men that she comes to believe her children have no fathers; a young boy gets his first Christmas present along with the news of his father's death; an elderly gravedigger prepares his own grave with the thought 'This is the end of my bad luck.'

But there is a harsh beauty in these stories too: a lame shepherd wins fame by beating a wolf to death; a priest steps out of his role and delivers a baby; two men set out hunting knowing one will not return, but they set aside their differences. Like the landscape they are set in, these are harsh, sparse stories.

And, just as there is a beauty in that un-giving and unforgiving landscape, there is a simple, elemental beauty in these stories. Yet I'm still glad my grandmother left this region at about the time of the setting of these stories and came to the United States - all by herself at age 16! What courage!

Top photo from tourism-culture-society.blogspot.com middle photo of Montesinho Village from portugalgreenwalks.com photo of the author from leme.pt. Miguel Torga tells us all about rural Portugal with passion and humour. Stories that show you that rural Portugal is not devoid of love, hope, charity, passion, things that make up a human being. The stories are small in length, but so full, which goes to show that only an excellent writer like Torga could encapsulate so much is so little! In 'Maria Lionsa' we are shown the fortitude of a woman who lives life with great dignity and respect even after losing her husband and her only son, in whom s Miguel Torga tells us all about rural Portugal with passion and humour. Stories that show you that rural Portugal is not devoid of love, hope, charity, passion, things that make up a human being. The stories are small in length, but so full, which goes to show that only an excellent writer like Torga could encapsulate so much is so little!

In 'Maria Lionsa' we are shown the fortitude of a woman who lives life with great dignity and respect even after losing her husband and her only son, in whom she had placed all her hopes. 'Um Roubo'(A theft)tells the story of a wretched small time thief, who tries to rob a small chapel only to find it already robbed. Declare variable in xml file.

As he is caught in a thunderstorm, contracts pneumonia. On his deathbed he accuses the priest of robbing the chapel. We do not know! In 'Amor' (Love), Lidia, so beautiful but so naive, gets everyone so inflamed that there is a murder of one of her suitors. She in her innocence, cannot believe why it all happened. Firmo, in 'Homens de Vilarinho, just cannot live at home, needs to experience the world, comes home periodically, impregnates his wife and then leaves. Even the trap set by the priest does not help him to stay at home.

'O Cavaquinho', the story of a little boy whose family is so poor. Julio, waits for the much promised gift when his father goes to the local fair. Sadly he does get a little guitar, 'cavaquinho', but his father dies in a brawl that erupts in the market. 'Um filho'(The Son)a story filled with such love and hope, a father, a shepherd, who is so wonderfully happy when he gets a son. I feel that this story tells about the birth of Jesus Christ, in very poor surroundings.

'A Promessa'(The Promise) a vow to the Blessed Virgin that does not go as well as desired. 'Maio Mosso', an orphan who gets nothing but beatings and terrible treatment, until he kills a wolf who was taking a lamb from his herd. A really joyous transformation when everyone now thinks of him as a person and not just another mouth to feed. 'O Bruxedo', how does a witch attack a person, by piercing a doll with pins! What happens when the local Don Juan, deflowers countless lovely, girls. Refuses to marry them.

The brothers of a pretty girl emasculate him, that's 'A paga' (the payment) for you. Two very good friends fight over the same boy. Enemies for life.

Until one saves the other's tiny baby by feeding him, surreptitiously with her own milk.The description of the tiny baby guzzling milk, makes you laugh and cry at the same time. Why does a man's best friend tell him that his wife is commiting adultery.

All that it does is enrage the husband who slices her open. On his return to village after being in jail for twenty years, cannot go on with his lonelines and commits suicide.' Solidao' Yes, there are many more, every one of these very short stories so touching, so lovely, showing us different sides of a human being. Some good, some very bad but all very human all very touching. Miguel torga, portuguese novelist and poet, was born in 1907, yet it took over 80 years for any of his work to appear in english (he died in 1995). Torga, a pseudonym for adolfo correia da rocha, was thrice nominated for the nobel prize for literature.

His body of published work is quite substantial and is comprised of over fifty volumes, including novels, short stories, poetry and drama. Tales from the mountain was originally published in portugal in 1941 but was promptly censored by prime mini miguel torga, portuguese novelist and poet, was born in 1907, yet it took over 80 years for any of his work to appear in english (he died in 1995). Torga, a pseudonym for adolfo correia da rocha, was thrice nominated for the nobel prize for literature. His body of published work is quite substantial and is comprised of over fifty volumes, including novels, short stories, poetry and drama. Tales from the mountain was originally published in portugal in 1941 but was promptly censored by prime minister salazar. In the mid 1950’s and early 60’s, editions were smuggled into portugal following their publication in brazil.

Torga was finally able to self-publish the book in his home country in 1969, the year before salazar died. Torga had also been earlier imprisoned without trial by salazar’s secret police (and held in solitary confinement) upon publishing a volume of an autobiographical novel. These stories, nearly two dozen in all, are brief, candid, “deceptively simple” tales of everyday life in northern portugal. Torga’s characters are exceptional in that they represent the normal man or woman faced with earthly concerns rather than the existential dramas that plague so many other literary creations. His stories are conveyed with humor, beauty, empathy and humanity, making them seem as relevant now as when they were first conceived.

From the preface: as a poet and storyteller, i can only ease my anxiety through words. But not everything can be written.

As well as the poem or the story that the typewriter prints, there remains in the artist’s soul his condition as a human being. For this reason i make a promise here, which i hand on to you: i am certain that you, as a dweller of the fertile fields of the plains, will soon have understanding and pity for the hard fate of these, your fellow beings; that one day you will come to meet the dismally withered sadness contained amongst these cliffs, not as a reader of the picturesque and the exotic, but as a sensitive creature touched by the magic of art hearing the call of life’s imperatives. I make this promise because i fell ashamed of so much dirt and misery and am embarrassed to represent the ungrateful role of chronicler of a world that is not even able to read me. I take this pledge in your name, by which i mean in the name of collective consciousness itself.

As far as you are concerned, that which i write- these stories, for instance- has the purpose to entertain, possibly to affect you. But i want you to know that i dare stray from this entertainment and from this emotion to charge you with the responsibility for helping rescue the house that dazzles you, because it is burning.