Excerpt from Eduardo Galeano's Book of Embraces
So, the Book of Embraces is basically a bunch of "snapshots" of Galeano's thoughts, memories, observations, history, etc. Most of them are just a paragraph or two. I figure, why not post the ones I like best? So here it is.
I'd like to dedicate this first one to Ehren Watada.
The Function of the Reader / 2
It was half a century since the death of Cesar Vallejo, and there were celebrations. In Spain, Julio Velez organized lectures, seminars, memorial publications and an exhibition offering images of the poet, his land, his time and his people.
But then Julio Valez met Jose Castanon, and all homage seemed insignificant.
Jose Manuel Castanon had been a captain in the Spanish War. Fighting for Franco, he had lost a hand and won various medals.
One night, shortly after the war, the captain accidentally came upon a banned book. He took a look, he read one line, he read another, and he could no longer tear himself away. Captain Castanon, hero of the victorious army, sat up all night, captivated, reading and rereading Cesar Vallejo, poet of the defeated. Next morning he resigned from the army and refused to take a single peseta more from the Franco government.
Later, they put him in jail, and he went into exile.
I'd like to dedicate this first one to Ehren Watada.
The Function of the Reader / 2
It was half a century since the death of Cesar Vallejo, and there were celebrations. In Spain, Julio Velez organized lectures, seminars, memorial publications and an exhibition offering images of the poet, his land, his time and his people.
But then Julio Valez met Jose Castanon, and all homage seemed insignificant.
Jose Manuel Castanon had been a captain in the Spanish War. Fighting for Franco, he had lost a hand and won various medals.
One night, shortly after the war, the captain accidentally came upon a banned book. He took a look, he read one line, he read another, and he could no longer tear himself away. Captain Castanon, hero of the victorious army, sat up all night, captivated, reading and rereading Cesar Vallejo, poet of the defeated. Next morning he resigned from the army and refused to take a single peseta more from the Franco government.
Later, they put him in jail, and he went into exile.