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THE STRESS OF STORMS Introduction |
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THE STRESS OF STORMS Introduction |
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THE STRESS OF STORMS
I dedicate this to mediocrity’s executioners and to their undying creations.
Without them these stories would have never been imagined.
INTRODUCTION
Our lives will be constantly enriched by the new orders of worlds, men, women, beasts and gods that emerge from the stress of storms. This stress is the fertile and immeasurable imagination of the creators’ of all times which crystallizes within ourselves like a reality: a truth no less than that of stars and insects.
A memory of my youth strikes my mind ….
I was in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as an exchange student living in the home of a beautiful family of Hindu tradition. One night my hosts, very excited, invited me to go with them to their Ashram (a meditation center).
“The great Master will visit us today!” said the head of the family cheerfully,
“This will probably be his only visit to the island. How lucky you are! You will meet a truly enlightened one!” he concluded and patted me on my back.
“I am sorry, Don Pedro, but… it will be impossible for me to go with you,” I answered shyly.
“Whaaat!” cried the whole family in a chorus.
“Also tonight, at the San Juan University one of the great Colombian writers will
give just one lecture and….”
“You are turning down this opportunity for a… Colombian!” said Don Pedro, very upset, while the rest stared at me waiting for an intelligent answer.
“I am not questioning the abilities of your Guru,” I answered. “But this…Colombian guy…has created, with just the power of his imagination, an entire town with its houses, love affairs, folks, hills, miseries, rainfall, joys, rivers and a lot of Buendia generations. And, even though I will never forgive him for the way he murdered Mauricio Babilonia, I would not miss his lecture for anything in the world.” I realized then that I was speaking too loud and that the whole family was leaving the dining room, so I ran early to the university to make sure I would get a seat on the first row.
A few days later, I was forced to return to my country sooner than expected since the family would not stop staring at me as if I had chosen a bowl of beans before holiness.
However, today I still believe that we cannot deny Macondo’s reality, or that of a sorry old horse called Rocinante or that of the demon Mephistopheles. Who can deny the impact, in our lives, of a roach called Gregor Samsa or of those little beasts known as Mancuspias? Many of us have been rescued from time’s vortex by a brave little girl called Momo or by a Little Prince.
Our perception of the universe is undoubtedly enriched by this noble breed of creators, whether they are poets, physicists, sculptors, philosophers, painters, magicians or novelists.
Such creations do not allow us to conceive the world without dragons, without Don Quixote, without a Mona Lisa, without Garcia-Lorca’s Gypsy Ballads or without Poe’s extraordinary tales. And what about Borges’ fictions and Cortazar’s stories and the poetry and the singing of all times….?
For my part, I have tried to steal an instant, just a small glimpse of the life of some of these creators. I have taken from them a bit of their biography and their works, and allowed my own wicked imagination to tamper with them.
And so I will leave this collection of stories in your hands.
Alberto Sibaja
San Jose, Costa Rica
June 12, 1998
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| ANTERIOR | ÍNDICE | SIGUIENTE |
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© Alberto Sibaja Álvarez. San José, Costa Rica
® The Stress of Storms
