Japan and the wounds of beauty

For: Javier Reverte

info heading

info content

TV news, the radio news, newspapers, Internet recordings, talks in the cafes ..., everything and everyone we talk about Japan. And now, following the apocalyptic tsunami wave, eyes turn to the risk of nuclear disaster, the thousands of Japanese converted the overnight homeless citizens and the dizzying stock market crash that can be dragged to ruin one of the most powerful economies will Earth. We know that everything can be explained, the same way, paradoxically, we know that Nature is unpredictable.

But very quietly wonder if it be that the Devil, or who knows if God, or maybe the same nature, or maybe all at once, have decided to punish our arrogance. First came the crisis, sprouted after the war and now the earthquake and tsunamis undermine our security right under our feet. What's Happening?, "Sound heralds the beginning of the end suggests the world or at least our species and damn proud?

In Japan, reality is in the plausible, is the result of human imagination. And the hub around which sublime passion for pure beauty

Me, Meanwhile ominous, I can think of in Japan, Japan only. And talk about an item on which the newspapers rightly, of course, have not spoken at all in these days: the delicate beauty that holds this country.

Japan, against what is normally thought, is not only a nation dominated by materialistic desires, by the lust for wealth, but they exist in large doses, of course,, nor is it a deeply spiritual civilization itself-that there, more miss-. I think, especially, it is a country deeply fascinated by the aesthetic, an aesthetic defined by the human purpose of bringing the real to the ideal. You walk through the streets of their cities, or small villages of farmers and fishermen, and come to think that you are in a territory artificial, where nature has been transformed to the point where nothing seems real and possible real.

In Japan, reality is in the plausible, is the result of human imagination. And the hub around which sublime passion for pure beauty, is none other than the city of Kyoto, where the most important holiday - imagine!- held in honor of the cherry blossoms. There survives in its purest form this world so marginal as essential in Japanese life which is the world of geishas, by tradition called "world of willows and flowers". There are accounts “kabuki”, National Theatre, as in the days when it was invented, centuries ago. There rings “shamisen”, a kind of lute, recovering the old melodies. And there he made the most beautiful “haikus”, poems verses seventeen syllables. As this, eg: "The flower is fragile; please, regadla often. The peach flower blush like the sun that is hidden ".

From what I have read in the newspapers, Kyoto has been saved, this time, disaster. ¡Menos times! Because the stock market recover, roads and cities will be rebuilt, nuclear plants will be enhanced with new security system ...; but if the aesthetics of the costs, fields and Japanese cities had been seriously assaulted, would damage beyond repair. Because the wounds inflicted upon the beauty, like love, just never heal completely.

JAVIER REVERTE

  • Share

Comments (12)

  • home

    |

    Insurmountable!

    Answer

  • Andres

    |

    Interesting and poetic reflection sr. Reverte. The fragility of beauty is one of the curses of this crazy world.

    Answer

  • Luis Campos

    |

    Magnificent reflection, What hard to find items so today! I look forward to his new book.

    Answer

  • Cristina

    |

    «Las heridas infligidas a la belleza, like love, nunca se acaban de curar del todo». I call attention to this phrase facebook. What more can you say? Precious

    Answer

  • Eduardo De Winter

    |

    As always great, Master Reverte. What I like about his books and reports, taste is the sensation of literature, to savor the words. Thank you very much and now we have less for the 8 April. Greetings

    Answer

  • Runaway

    |

    I found this site by typing in the Google to search for information. I was directed to one of his articles. What a great and pleasant surprise discovered him here. I have read many of his books and is a pleasure to read also in items like leaving here. Thank you Master.

    Answer

  • Runaway

    |

    I have seen that is about to come out a new book of his. The last I read was The River of Light. But a couple of months ago I purchased an e-reader to read e-book format. I would like to know, please, if you are editing in digital format in order to acquire. In any case will look to see if they have it in digital libraries to download it. Thanks.

    Answer

  • Palacios

    |

    Precious. Waiting for your next book. I traveled with you all over the planet.

    Answer

  • From Macondo

    |

    «Porque las heridas infligidas a la belleza, like love, nunca se acaban de curar del todo»… Little more to add

    Answer

  • Carlos L

    |

    Very good Reverte, as always. But ya publicasteis this post on 2011.
    Greetings

    Answer

  • Javier Brandoli

    |

    Hi Carlos, maybe you did not see on Sunday when he left and when not in front like today that is no longer headband, pero este post forma parte de una nueva sección de VaP que se titula «Tres años de VaP». Therein, we have published other things, we get post that have been published at the beginning and we believe it's good to get them back because we have many new readers.
    Greetings

    Answer

Write a comment