Scribd Logo
Fazer o upload

Bem-vindo(a) ao Scribd!

  • Agee

    Enviado por

    Pablo Calvi
    27 visualizações8 páginas
    James Agee

    Direitos autorais

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Formatos disponíveis

    PDF ou leia online no Scribd

    Você considera este documento útil?

    Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

    Denunciar este documento
    James Agee

    Direitos autorais:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Baixe no formato PDF ou leia online no Scribd
    Sinalizar o conteúdo como inadequado
    27 visualizações8 páginas

    Agee

    Enviado por

    Pablo Calvi
    James Agee

    Direitos autorais:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Baixe no formato PDF ou leia online no Scribd
    Sinalizar o conteúdo como inadequado
    de 8
    (On the Porch: 2 Wotrensres penmrnstnspsicnaed na mat uneven length, pinned down by tweny-penny nals A light roof stuck ‘outits tongue above us dark and squarely, sustained at its outward edge ty the slippery trunks of four young, ees from which the bark had ‘been pected. There were four steps down, oak «wo-by-awelves the fourth, when stepped on, touched the ground. These steps were at che ile of the pore. They le, across the pore, toa roofed dooress hullay, about si fet wide, which ran straight through the hoose and clove it in hal: Thre was 8 Noor to this hallway, of wide unplaned hoards Laid across beams too wide spar they sagged beneath 2 heavy foot. For ten fet toward the rea end dey were only an inch rom the round. At che end they ly fash on ie ‘We lay onthe front porch tothe left ofthe hall as you enter One ‘of ws lay on the rear seat ofa chevrolet sedan the ether ons poe of ‘hin cortomfilled quilting taken from the sat ofa divin made f withes We exchanged these night by night. The problem wit the ate seat was its eight on one side and lowness on the ater, ks shortness and x ‘texture. By letting the enter of your weight fl fa enoagh onthe high side ie wan possible to eect compromise by which you had the ben- fic of fir amount ofthe width ofthe seat and yet were notroled off it Lying with the head on the seat, he lower end gave out abruptly a few inches above the knees yu slept es on the back of ed the side Sleeping on the bel, you made sustaining springs of feet and this was slighty and invariably reminisce of sexual course. A handLerehiet ot towel under the cheek was hep we lasted but generally managed wali nose while you slept so hat, ing, your cheek was red and burnt with che fon of warmed pl Before long of cour it occured ous to level up the seat by ing books under the low side. That wa beter but even xa the were ong and large om one side and small and weak on the ur bodies leaned to adjust dbemselves wo holding tenon of ce while they were conscious. Beyond « not unretsonable phobia that it contained bedbugs lee or both dere was no dinky about th pli. ew hin, hard boards and der nidges printed themcves onthe es ‘though it Iwas son, but beng thin allered no iecosrenie the lng of leghone: les texte was sft and esy. Here agai ‘spa a handkerchief or shirt or towel or your bea: and again it. liable to getaway from you. Waking feck om your fe the sly softness of loose cotton ln and of age mach whe, tor ‘on dod} and immedistely remembering your fear of the vera ‘ght be harboring your Kt reactions wer flight gt and for your face, whch was ellen and damp with sleep and it lin, fle fooled, secre and dirlybiten and drawn of bh Inve, Tis always wore of within afew moments, bat abeays frst waking you had fll strength, We pr exchanging not because one was preferable othe but because there was no way of making up ov ads that cider preferable | perhaps very lighly prefered de pale. prt ike the finality and immediacy of Hoos and too because he were leping on pala. The ant sex Eke vray everything bout os wa not s0 near the norm of what we were Urn i a8 smght have wished. But the feeling and sound of dhe yielding the always sly comic pests of your dacommoded legs sad the texture of ps ikea night ona daycoach, under dhe ps and eh made it aacine under che body, and brovght wih i into atime of calbue, a pleasing. ovale deft of memory ad imagination. ven ricking the Sponsmanle way ia which thn could be misread, and which despise, nether of them asa all bad bed. "The dead oak and ping, the ground, the de, the ti, the whole realm of what our bodies lyin nd ovr minds in lene wandered, valed n,swam in watched upon, was deity fragrant a parade, and, ike all that i bes was loose, Hight sso tually uel There vas, by our minds. our memeries. our thoughts aod feelings, some Combination some generliing re a, and cence, but nome ofthe toserkneed priggshness of science, and ncne ofthe formalin and scaining and iyi of an. All he ent of the Body and alts pars and fonetons were paripaing apd were being relzed and ‘eared, inseparable fom the mind, dential with: and all every= ‘hing ha he mind vouched was ataly,and all everything thatthe ‘mind tovched tured izmeditely, yo without in the Ten losing the ‘qualiy of es cot individual, into jo and rth, orator, revealed, ‘otis eu, whih in its very rare was jy which must be dhe cod of at of investigation, and ofall anyhow human existence ‘This stution i possible at any jonction of time, space and con sionsness and jos a (atleast so fra we an know a can be cone ‘cemed) irs ou conciousness ala, inthe end, dhat we ave to thank for js. too i our eoncionsnes alone tat i defotive when we fall shore of 1 eno, and unfortunate that we fd his ck 99 rarely that eo lot purely a mater of ehancs yt tat 6 mater te becomes inextricably part of the whole vxtare ofthe plane at sch time we have knowledge that we are wisn taking pat boing a phenomenon anlogoos to cat shrewd complex ofthe equ ‘ions of infinite chance which became, on thi eat eat, out of lesmesy, if, No doubt we overalc te dfeence between hie and lifeless, but there is a ein diflerenee. jst asi the station we te speaking of a diference s remarhable: the eifleence between onjnction of ting, plce and wncomicious conscounaes and con junction of time, place and conscious consciousness 0 fara we concerned the dere nceheeween joy and trth andthe ack of. ‘rth Uns wonder is nothing in, tony a moon which glows only in the mere ofa sense of wander and unless the seme of ders pecaliar consciousness and is moreover an exotion which it marures, consciousness wil leam the java of and discard, ‘ly gratefully refed ioe under the power ofa ander the power sleep andthe healing vito dream, an allthis sem a ile ey than oot the materi which people ay inerecion of ee place are at allies marvelous regardless of eonsousbes: and titer or any ase we may do well o question whether theres 25 THe tha in the tat of eing of tone, the Brailes energy of sta the dose existence of space Cerny if is valuable ind tablet all ovr peronalcalculons, the very spine of them: bat should reaie tht ie and consciousness ae nly the special ofthe living and the conscious and that in seting a8 we doo igh. ‘ale by them we ae ina certain degre making a vise oft are bing proving are pleading a local cause: Hk that sll tour whose pride, beease i is its ciel disemible exclusive tinction is a miner spring whose water, asd by sl and ‘axes remarkably ie chicken soup. “This lacky station of jo: hia leat lesion of personal es of inte. eanevereame one sudeenly by any ane of any Der of unpredictable chancex-the Faure of sunlight on the fae crf ofa set: che leaving up of chimneysoke: the ich ing pork of terra oh on oer ran cali rece res hand ute ie eal lathe sig sand pump brn: he ok a Chk sacri wht owe tse le So rateug lacy ks wagon mieten tie mp of sorbed hllbands: the exon of hand he eso «koe, the modulation ina thigh a omeone gets ow of «cai the bending of aspeeding er round a graded eave: the sll blemished fein ‘of the mow and the feat and thicknes of edor ofan uname power walingeeples in high industrial daybreak and noting co fee the taste of cheap gin mixed with cheap ginger ale without much jee the mse of trip greens ofa ond seed drawn fom between the teeth: af ye whiskey in the ree celllid gl of a hoe baroom the breath that comes oat of « medon-picure theater: the memory ‘ofthe piccolo notes which ide and ans Beethoven's pasion son the odor ofa tesly printed newspaper, the stench of ferme app in the ho sunlight of «bay window; the tate of « tourtain sunmer nightthe saying and suing beneath the body of benighed in, ‘he med and branny earth beneath the fet in fll « memory af linsong oF ofthe firs half hoor after receiving a eildhood ably ‘ion: the sudden r-tealston of aligh-year in era ysl teas or of the shimmering dance and difwsenss ofa mass of gait aside from such den ataks fom unforeseen direction, gilts which rule areas preasions and tanscnt asthe retims and iasons of lone fora gl one no longer loves, there ae few way it can give ill you. Wandering alone: i shes; on eran or bane inthe course of ' bad hangover in any rare tuaon which breaks down o lower out habitual impatience, supetcalvialy, overages o cinch conc sons and lariess We were at chs tine, and in ll the dine waround- 1 tn sch a situation: nor could we fora itn have escaped ven if we hd wished to. Anes exhausted by we dd wish to and Aid ey but even when our minds were most exhausted and most deaf ‘ned sch breath as we got. and subssed on. no mater what ange of consinence and edor (andi now somewhat flely seem ‘0 me tha thin change occured with evry bath drawn) was the broth ofthese continous excitement a excitement whose ate ‘ems tome not ony finaly bu essentially beyond the power af are to convey. ‘We iy on our hacks about evo fr apart insence, cu ee ope Titening, The land that was wader ue ay down all sound and cominaance was enormous as if we were chip of matches Hote, holding their own by dei very mintenes, at a great distance out ‘pon the surfce of tenderly Iaboring sea. The sky ws even lage ‘Offaly. 0 far as aman beings were concered: aud i mach ofthis great snface and pac of land bad allen subject 0 insenments and rival actions of human geed. Mech oft was eal ‘ated for immediate vubxitence o for somebody's profit e was fered with hows, most of them more ike than unite de house ‘whotefroae porch we lay thnk seater with house: mach ‘inky with owas: ery rerotely with tes ‘man being, eth the asizance of mules, worked this Ind that they might ive. The sphere of power ofa single human fay ‘mul small nid win dhe nits of ach ofthese smal phere ‘ese man ily, dhe imately moral wound whichis ving the indignacnsrength nce to pers a erected apn its howe ‘oumings hi sea this shelter fora family and ts ania vo dha he fel the housen the towns the is, expresed themselves upon the | _gieved membrane ofthe sar is te symmetry of a disease the Hite fal ammety ofthe Bera disase of which they wer iealy 50 e¥ “The prime generic iexcspable stage of this diseases being A ype= cil complication i if. Amaigant aint of this complication i com ‘ciousness The most complex aed lignant form oft known tous thuman corcinsness. Een in ts spe frm this sore assis sab all substance i this sab: the seb and ce sre are one Taking shape tnd complesity precisely in proprio othe shape and complexity of the dee enc with in fc hi identical wound and sab ills ‘ut nO meey all substance ad all proces and contivance of eub+ ance bat the mt intangible reaches of hong deduction and image ination; the exactitude of ke expresion may be sen in the kl shat sea bri inte diy the race has erected to shied rom che hor ‘or of he evens, in the presen wall oF a small exturant where Some of the Greck diease persists dough the persistence of a FRemainsnce divas: in every thing within and probably in anh ‘ovteide human conception: and in every combination and mutation of thw dings andi eran imperant sense let be remembered that in hese vermin terms tit 1 sy ofthe manifestations of being. taken at rach, which ar always sect and pefect,noching canbe held ‘intrue. A falsehood & entity tre to those derangements which pro- (doced ic ad which made mpowible that should emerge i rah ‘da examination oft may reveal more of de rue th than any snore diet tempt open ther tse "few word lo on syne (n perfec regular land of perfectly regular ual, under pre foal regular weather or rhythm of weather. his symintry would have dhe simple abroteness whic in tic approaches in pars of the rile west of dis county, just as by ether roads, under exer pres ‘ores ic apprcaches simple absoltenes under the posed Hgors of a ‘iy, a company town, a teres of machines, ater poverty a Hower strongly organized reign, 3 sonata, ora beehive. But ite asymmetry enstve to shape and quay of lad, wo imegulates and hanoes of ‘rete, the chance strength or weaknet and produc ofthe Tntvdaa! man oF mul, tthe chance or lock or lcay or relative obsalesceneof machinery, to metorcgal geologic hkorie i= ‘eal log, mental chance: to ether mates which Tack she imag ‘ato her to consider Ye of these iors of omplex equations ‘which are prbably never repented, nevials inlily take thet ‘shape Symmetry awe ase it hore then neds a He Fuher exami ‘ation, Bose ii ytmety see toto many syeopatons of ‘chance (ll of which have poctaded incre out of chances which ‘were inertabl) itis in fact aymmerica ike Oriental art. * Bo ay Tecate i is pan, oexqiitely obedient before the innit rege slain of che che the mice eh by she dt loom hgh pln oma pan ny cet more compen tore cp, bur of ue ore numer ob crcearan of xen This ame now seam ft end tnlfne weg ere fhe ie anes fem and of ein, to thn we canto longer with ny cred pr ous a caret complied fry and convolved dowd fence ‘Sind betwen tw ings “his hing a ing complex msicin every fe ad in cme very eet rd he eo wich hr et ile pa aor ad th moet enone pico tha ten al ee fater mae ive ther, bese the single epee of ot a oad ae preset eee eel ne ieee al ‘pew pute ere Om ce kgs snobs a a {ey anal dee yet an bt ten reach of capable trea andy cher and we le antr ep ail dover when we Fal nthe yey al deme iden di al be "rl degre thw are aay here. That ne on ee tot rr oe wh roe ated sermon hh nl {han been angry ged for own sate oul ho be ‘dof probe an hare and oer nara haman ed ‘eal pele are eed i ver patfermane oor rth mad {ernie en eine oo: Beovens ques Op 131) ele ‘al eroneer pat of an amen, wich rane canto spy. ll Sere nal cesta a of ays om he mate tothe toe deed eter tree earn prod ose How may ne nye sits evi te pric Int ofthe tral pouagr in or pte cy « so srg ay, ay wns of which we mc ee Tov nly te dn ol in hectic to en ee too ad of exten he ren works fat bt. ites eu Sookie sree poco eiees eae ie a rr of igi dem in arto dior if and even a pa ‘Withoue any quaicaion and if nocrsiry with belgesnes 1 respetand eleven even the most supped antasie works ofthe imagination Iam indeed ready to a: ese wit ir consistency 1 believe, that works ofthe imagination (hilly ecanse* ina cert ‘degre they erate something which has never existed before they add ‘o and somewhat ela the sum total ofthe state of being wer the reat ofthe minds activi is merly delve, deserpive acquisive oF contemplate) advance and ast dhe human race, and take an ‘opening in the darknes around ia wthing else an. Bu aman the imggination are capable of beg harmful and it x probably ther healthy for shew noe which is more to the pin, anywhere ear tue ‘evento the phic fas to rate dem so singly igh I seem tome there in quite as considerable value (io say nothing of Joy) in the atempe to se oF convey even sme single ting as neal as poss le a that thing i grant the danffing power in this fort ofthe ‘memory and che imagination: but they are quit a capable of maddy ing as of clearing the wate and frequen indeed so requemy thie ‘we may suspect a lw in ambush, they do both a the ame dime, dude ing in one way the thing they ae earing in another Goong: Godger sa numan being aan ot ike ay other human bing so me ashe is ke himself 1 could ingen incident spear ances, ations to his chancer backround, srrounding fare ‘which might well point up and india and ind things relevant ‘bn which in fice Xam sre are tus and imponan and which George Godger unchanged and undecorated would not indicate and perhaps ‘ould not even ages The real if Twas hk, coald be a werk of But somehow a much more porn, and digi, and toe fet. shout him than I couk consivably ment, though were an limit bly beter ari than Tam that fc that he exact, down othe Jat inch and instant, who, what, where, when and why he is He isin ‘thot terms living right now, in Ash and blood and breathing nan ‘octal part of a world in which aka quite a ielevant to imagination, = a wi pn en et mae yo ad are ving, Granted that beside eat Face 2 small hing. ‘nd granted se that ei evsenslly and Sally a hopeless on, wo Uy ‘wcrely to produce and communicate his living a: nea exaciy as possible evereles T can think of wo worther and many worse sub- joc of atempt ‘The same acems to me true of exery item in the experience of which Tam speaking nd I cou yf wid equ sneer of conve ‘ion of al human expericnce. Moreoes, and especially if you bear in tind suck structures a those of neve and symmetry Taketched out alin Heanor ace how soca pice of work coal be sli inten iy, rath! complex schoo and stature of form and ature a em pared wid a work of at. Cling for dhe moment everything excep rt Nature, I would insist dat everthing in Nace, every most casual thing his an inevitably and perfection which arta such ean only approach, and shares in fc, not ar, but asthe pre of Naar hai iso thie for inanos a comtour map is at least a considerably an image of abrolte beauty asthe counterpoits of Bach which ic hape pens to resemble {won farther inst that would do fama be- tgs inclading arts, no barn to recngize this fact, and to Bear it in mind in thee seining of experience, and to came a dosly as they snay be able to rearing and reproducing it for its own, not fr ars ake, ‘One reason Ivo deeply care forthe camera is just this. So far st oct (which i in ity own real ab absolute angow as the waeling stance of words or sound) and handled cleanly avd lieelly in ite ‘own ern a a ool, some ways ited, some ways more capable, ‘itis ike he phonograph record and ie sient instruments and lke any ober leverage of a incapable of recording anything bat bso, dey rch ‘Who. what where. when and why (or how) ete pimal i nd ‘ompinsney of journalism: but [do not wish 0 appear to speak vor a a of al more thn the sights ction f what ay ven sere 1y rll and sense i mean ond ‘word and at acon tel aves ru a rots dees Lp sy mthng of ea oad Tre th th seme dha everything saeco the wate of 1 wit Gah a, bat 30 pehapelnston of ad nae): bus that abo a far 4 eal goes. This not to acne foe ‘Ting beyond i evn compacent dean and enormous power ao ‘arab ean wii ts cn hats be Fal ison Bens ‘goo ae eof si ral Seen eas Sere : hore The dileence i and dhe reaton one can respect or anpow ‘ppt of the coe tt ew cows ean ave te dln or even the

  • Você também pode gostar