Carlos Monsivais

[lolaraincoat]

I haven't been posting much - a torn rotator cuff is keeping me away from the keyboard for a while longer, as it has for months. But I had to note the passing of Carlos Monsivais, the greatest Mexican intellectual of his generation, the scholar in whose footsteps I have been bumbling along since I began working as a historian, a writer of such wit and deep erudition as to be untranslatable, a political thinker of such humanity and compassion that he made the messiest realities of Mexican governance not only comprehensible but funny, a great force for democratic change, justice, tolerance and hilarity, and the biggest fanboy imaginable.

I was in such awe of him that I had to be dragged - literally, pulled by the wrist - to go meet him for tea, by a mutual friend, the one time I did meet him. He had read my first book, in English, and he was willing to help get it published in Mexico. He pronounced it "divertido" and that was that. After that we chatted about Marx Brothers movies for a bit. I should have told him ... I wish I had been brave enough to tell him how much his work mattered to me - how every time I thought of a good topic, I could tell that it would be good because he had already gotten to it; how his newspaper column (front page of La Jornada every Thursday morning for years and years) had been my education in the way that gossip, rumor, and political history intertwine in Mexico; how his writing had taught me how to love Mexico City, Mexican literature and Mexican cinema in a completely new way.

We were lucky to have him with us for as long as we did, and losing him now - he was only 72! - is a sadness I can't put properly into words.

Comments

[fjbryan]

An inspiration like that is hard to lose. Is there a collection or anthology of his best columns published anywhere? Perhaps, if not, you could push a project like that into being.

And I hope you liked the card you got from R,N and me in London.

[lolaraincoat]

He wrote - oh, I don't know - a couple of dozen books. I think the collection of his newspaper columns isn't in print any longer, but most of his stuff is. It just isn't in English, or not much of it anyway - he really was impossible to translate because so full of references to Mexican art, culture, history ...

And yes! I think I said something about the beautiful card on Facebook but probably not here, but I was so delighted to get it and to imagine the three of you hanging out! and thank you! And next time you have to let me tag along.

[psyfic]

*ow,ow,ow* *wince of remembered sympathy*

Just an fyi that when the inflammation goes down and you are able to start PT or exercising it, that I found resistance band work to be most effective in returning my range of motion. My shoulder got back to normal fairly quickly and aside from initial stiffness & very slight pain increase on the first couple days, the resistance training swiftly grew easier and the muscles regained strength and tone. On plus side, it also toned the muscles quite nicely.

[lolaraincoat]

Thanks for the sympathy and so sorry that this happened to you too! I'm already doing PT plus acupuncture, massage, and working with a trainer - mostly right now just letting the torn tendons heal, but there's associated problems with the AC and GH joints that can be worked on ...

Ugh! don't shoulders stink? I would never have guessed that this relatively minor series of injuries could be so long-lasting and painful!

[psyfic]

Yeah, I had to look it up but it was early last year. If you're curious:

http://odogoddess.livejournal.com/2009/01/06/
http://odogoddess.livejournal.com/2009/01/14/
and I was still complaining here:
http://odogoddess.livejournal.com/2009/03/06/

so it went on a bit before it healed. I do remember it took about four months before I got full use. That was a rough time! My FIL died in February and I was very ill just before we headed up to help MIL and was seriously ill by the time we returned. So I didn't really need shoulder problems. (who does?)

*sends you healing vibes*