Good Bye Gabo: In memorial to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Yesterday one of the most important latinoamerican writers died, to the age of eighty seven years, he put our region in the literature map af

Carlos

Good Bye Gabo: In memorial to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Yesterday one of the most important latinoamerican writers died, to the age of eighty seven years, he put our region in the literature map after get several awards between them, the novel prize for literature. I allow me to remember him by citing an extract that shows all its geniality: "If for a while God forgets that I am a cloth puppet and he gives me a piece of life, I would use this time as much as I can. Possibly I wouldn´t say all that I think, but definitively I would think all that I say. I would give value to the things, not for its worth but for their meanings. I would sleep little, and I would dream more, because for every minutes that we close our eyes, we lost sixty minutes of light. I would walk while others stop and I would wake up when others sleeps. If God gifts, me a piece of life, I would dress simply. I would throw me headlong to the sun, not just for exposing my body but my soul. I would prove to men, What wrong they are to thinking in that we stop to felt in love, when we become older. We begin to become older, when we stop to felt in love. To a child I would give wings, but I would let him learn how to flight by himself. To an old I would teach that death do not come with the old age, it comes with the forgetfulness. A lot of things I´ve learned from you, I have learned that everybody wants to live in top of the mountain, without knowing that the true happinnees is in the way to climb up the slope. I have learned that when a newborn tightened, with its little fist ,for first time the finger of his father, he is trapped forever. I have learned that a man just have the right to look at to another man down , when he has to help him to stand up." I did my best to capture all the magic of his words.

Apr 19, 2014 12:26 AM

Corrections · 3

Good Bye Gabo: In memorial to Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Yesterday one of the most important Latin American writers died, at the age of eighty seven years, he gave our region literary fame after receiving several awards including the novel prize for literature. Not bad! Watch out for 'at the age of' and note that we don't say latinoamerican in English, either 'Latin American' or 'South American'

I shall remember him by citing an extract that shows all his genius:
Geniality = friendliness - this is a very formal word that we don't use very often, perhaps like 'cordialidad' in Spanish.

"If for a while God forgets that I am a cloth puppet and he gives me a piece of life, I would use this time as much as I can. Perhaps I wouldn´t say all that I think, but I would definitely think all that I say. Good!

I would give value to the things not for their worth but for their meanings. Good! Remember 'their' has to agree to the plural noun 'things'

I would sleep little, and I would dream more, because for every minutes that we close our eyes, we lose sixty minutes of light.

Good! Look out for tense on 'lose' - present should be used here for speaking in general terms.

I would walk while others stop and I would wake up when others sleeps. Good! 'Others' is a plural noun and so conjugates with 'sleep' not 'sleeps'

If God gifts me a piece of life, I would dress simply. I would throw myself headlong to the sun, not just to expose my body but also my soul. Remember reflexives in English use 'myself' not just 'me'

I would prove to men, how wrong they are to think that we stop feeling love when we grow older. We begin to grow old when we stop falling in love.

To a child I would give wings, but I would let him learn how to fly by himself.

To the elderly I would teach that death do not come with the old age, it comes with the forgetfulness. 'An old' doesn't make sense in English, you can say 'an old person' but I think 'the elderly' sounds a bit more sophisticated here.

I have learnt a lot of things from you, I have learned that everybody wants to live at the top of the mountain, without knowing that the true happinnees is in the way to climb up the slope. I changed the word order in the first sentence to make it sound a little more natural.

I have learned that when a newborn grasps for the first time, with its little fist , the finger of his father, he is trapped forever.

I have learned that a man just have the right to look at to another man down , when he has to help him to stand up." Can you try writing this again? I'm not sure what this means.

I did my best to capture all the magic of his words. Perfect!

Great post, Marquez was an inspiration and incredible writer and you wrote a good translation! :)

April 19, 2014

Ah I see! I think it's better to avoid saying 'right' and say something like "You should only look down on someone to help them stand up." instead :)

April 20, 2014

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I have learned that a man just have the right to look at to another man down , when he has to help him to stand up. In spanish... "un hombre sólo tiene el derecho de mirar a otro hombre hacia abajo, cuando ha de ayudarle a levantarse". Por lo que mirar hacia abajo a otra persona es visto como un desprecio por creerse superior al otro. La respuesta de Gabo es que la única manera de mirar a otro hacia abajo es para ayudarlo a levantarse. Then look at down it´s a way to understimate to another person. Then you only can look at another man down for help him to stand up. It is what I am trying to say (well Gabo). Really appreciate your help.

April 19, 2014

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