Casual

Casual

by José Luis García Martín

Book 217 of Calle del aire --

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"En la poesía, como en la vida, hay un tiempo para aprender y otro para desaprender, para olvidar lo aprendido. Casual es el libro de un autor que ha leído todos los libros, al menos todos los libros de poesía española del último medio siglo, pero que escribe su propia poesía después de haberlos olvidado. Escribe, o más bien transcribe o, incluso, traduce, fábulas donde las cosas son lo que parecen y a la vez símbolo y alegoría, sueños sin onirismos que brotan quizás menos del inconsciente personal que del jungiano inconsciente colectivo. Algún homenaje, algún eco de la tradición, sirve a manera de descanso en este desconcertante viaje de exploración por la terra incognita del vivir y por el de la poesía, a menudo no menos misteriosa. A.L." -- "In poetry, as in life, there is a time to learn and another to unlearn, to forget what has been learned. Casual is the book of an author who has read all the books, at least all the Spanish poetry books of the last half century, but who writes his own poetry after having forgotten them. He writes, or rather transcribes or even translates, fables where things are what they seem and at the same time symbol and allegory, dreams without oneirisms that spring perhaps less from the personal unconscious than from the Jungian collective unconscious. Some homage, some echo of tradition, serves as a way of resting in this disconcerting journey of exploration through the terra incognita of living and through poetry, often no less mysterious. A.L." --

Discussion questions for Casual

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  1. 1

    How does the concept of "unlearning" and forgetting what has been taught manifest in the poems of Casual, and what does this process suggest about artistic maturity?

  2. 2

    In what ways do the poems in this collection bridge the gap between everyday, ordinary objects and deeper symbolic or allegorical meanings?

  3. 3

    The description suggests that García Martín writes as someone who has read everything yet writes as if he has forgotten it all; how is this paradoxical approach reflected in the tone and simplicity of the verse?

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