O Jardim das Aflições

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O Jardim das Aflições
Cover of the 3rd edition of the book
AuthorOlavo de Carvalho
LanguagePortuguese
SubjectPhilosophy, History, and Social Sciences
Genrenon-fiction
PublisherVide Editorial
Publication date
1995
Pages464
ISBN9788567394510

O Jardim das Aflições – De Epicuro à ressurreição de César: ensaio sobre o Materialismo e a Religião Civil (The Garden of Afflictions – From Epicurus to the Resurrection of Caesar: An Essay on Materialism and Civil Religion) is a book by Brazilian writer Olavo de Carvalho, published in 1995.[1][2]

O Jardim das Aflições along with the other works, A Nova Era e a Revolução Cultural (1994) and O Imbecil Coletivo (1996), make up a trilogy of what the author considers "combat works." On Amazon.com, it is listed among the top 100 bestsellers in the Politics and Social Sciences category, being the second most commercially significant book by the author on the platform.[1][3][4]

The book inspired a film of the same name, O Jardim das Aflições, released in 2017.

Synopsis[edit]

The book is an essay whose fundamental thesis is that the history of the West is marked by the idea of Empire. The expansion of the Empire's domains to the limits of the visible world is a permanent objective through successive attempts at restructuring, even under different guises. It is an original and disturbing book that, starting from the analysis of an apparently minor event, uses it as an occasion to show the connections between the small and the great, the everyday and the eternal, the mundane and the erudite, among other dichotomies, expanding in concentric circles to encompass, in a complex philosophy of history, the entire horizon of Western culture.[1][5][6][7][8]

Critical reception[edit]

The book's reading has been pointed out as challenging due to its winding language and dense text. Some critics considered the work to be a keen analysis of various movements that marked modernity and their reflections in today's world,[9] in a text that provokes deeper reflection and observation of the reality of the contemporary world in the reader. While others considered the work a daring analysis of historical elements with a sensationalist appeal when invoking conspiracy theories.[10][11][12][13] The book was included in the List of 100 books of the program "Expedições pelo mundo da cultura," by Prof. José Monir Nasser, ranked 12th, between The Red and the Black (Stendhal) and The Man without Qualities (Robert Musil), being one of the two Brazilian works listed (the other: Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas, by Machado de Assis).[14][15]

Bruno Tolentino, in his preface, considered the work a rigorous and intriguing investigation of afflictions. For him, "(...) Olavo de Carvalho once again tells us loudly and clearly: enough of napping in the shadow of utopia and mental lethargy, it is more than time to wake up and spit... and think! As for me, where I left a country, thirty years later I found a depressing coupling of pedantry and show business, the joyful feast at the funeral ends—once more!—with this admirable book, our frightening portrait, O Jardim das Aflições. Let the dead bury their dead: make way, reader...". The Rio de Janeiro poet, upon receiving a copy of O Jardim das Aflições, is also said to have mentioned that the book's structure reminded him of the symphonies of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.[1][non-primary source needed] Olavo stated that it was at Tolentino's insistence that he published the work in a larger print run by a professional publishing house, as at the time he only published his books for a small circle of students and friends.

Rodrigo Constantino disagreed with some points in the book, for example, he did not consider Epicurus' Garden to be the "Garden of Afflictions" and said he did not see any sense "(...) in the accusation that the Epicurean seeks the pleasures of the body in an uncontrolled manner".[16] According to Joel Pinheiro da Fonseca, O jardim das aflições "(...) is a book without unity, which goes from a distressing attempt to refute Epicurus, denigrated as a "hypnotist" (an accusation that would make more sense if directed at Olavo himself) to the dangers of Neuro-linguistic Programming, a pseudoscience already discredited when the book was published. It also discusses Freemasonry, communism, esoteric currents, millenarianism. Supposedly, the central theme is the concept of empire in the West, but in practice, it is little more than the sensationalist application of conspiracy theories."[12] Another disagreement is about the supposed refutation of Cantor's theorem that the philosopher made in the work, where critics considered it unsuccessful and pretentious, as the philosopher would not have understood the argument and even exceeded its scope.[17][self-published source?][13]

Ronaldo Castro de Lima Junior emphasized that the book, "(...) despite its rich vocabulary, classical narrative, and ideas of almost vertiginous complexity, can be understood by those with relatively basic education. That is why it is a masterpiece."[11] In a column in O Globo, Caetano Veloso made brief comments about O Jardim das Aflições, describing it as an "eloquent book against Epicurus" and writing that in it "Olavo disapproves of the pragmatists".[18] Pedro Sette-Câmara, in Folha de S. Paulo, regarding the work: "I admired the attempt—especially because such undertakings are now ill-regarded—to encompass an object as vast as the history of the West. I admired the transition from journalistic style to philosophical argumentation, the variation between a humorous and mystical tone. It was what I expected, unoriginally, from an aesthetic virtue: the text was appealing because it served the subject."[19]

Leopoldo Serran defined the book as "marvelous, a flash of light in the darkness".[20][21] Josué Montello, of the ABL, considered having read few books with the same interest and gratitude.[20] Vamireh Chacon praised the author's method and writing style, considering it concise, precise, and rigorous.[20] According to Antonio Fernando Borges, "O jardim das aflições presents us with a scathing critique of the Brazilian intelligentsia, in its irresponsible march towards egalitarianism".[22] Paulo Briguet (2017) wrote that "Reading a book like O Jardim das Aflições, published in 1995, is to find a prophetic panorama of all the tragicomedy experienced by Brazilian society in the last 20 years. The author described precisely the power project that completely undermined the cultural and spiritual basis of Brazil so that a criminal elite could reign over the country".[23] According to Fabrício de Moraes, the book "demonstrates how the Empire, not being a theory but a reality, underlies all transformations and conflicts, even the most intense and antithetical ones."[24]

In the author's note in the second edition of the book, two years after its release, Olavo de Carvalho considered that "despite the praises from Antonio Fernando Borges, Vamireh Chacon, Roberto Campos, Josué Montello, Herberto Sales, Leopoldo Serran, and many others," the book did not receive the attention from the public that O Imbecil Coletivo, published in 1996, received. The philosopher stated in the note that "if there is a book in which the author said everything he wanted to say, it is this one. I only repeat the appeal that the reader does not read it askew and jumping, but in the order of the chapters (...)".[25][non-primary source needed] In the afterword of the third edition, he answers questions around the ideas present in the work and its relationship with the current sociopolitical scenario in the world.[26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d De Carvalho, Olavo (2015). O Jardim das Aflições - From Epicurus to Caesar's Resurrection: An Essay on Materialism and Civil Religion. 3rd ed. São Paulo: Vide Editorial. p. 464.
  2. ^ "Amazon.com.br Bestsellers: Politics and Social Sciences - the top-selling books on Amazon.com.br". www.amazon.com.br. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
  3. ^ Brasil, Felipe Moura (February 9, 2017). "Olavo de Carvalho and Record celebrate agreement for the historic edition of 'O Imbecil Coletivo'". veja.abril.com.br. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  4. ^ "After all, is Olavo de Carvalho underestimated?". Pragmatismo Político. July 11, 2017.
  5. ^ Bolsonaro, Flávio. "PROJETO DE RESOLUÇÃO Nº 536/2011. EMENTA: CONCEDE A MEDALHA TIRADENTES E O RESPECTIVO DIPLOMA AO FILÓSOFO, ESCRITOR, JORNALISTA E CONFERENCISTA OLAVO LUIZ PIMENTEL DE CARVALHO". Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  6. ^ Leber, Werner Schrör; Montibeller, Cristiana (October 9, 2015). "THE TASK OF EDUCATION AND THE ROLE OF INTELLECTUALS IN CULTURAL FORMATION: SOME PHILOSOPHICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS HAVING MARX AND GRAMSCI AS CONTRIBUTIONS". Maiêutica - Social Service. 2 (1): 17. ISSN 2318-6615. Retrieved December 3, 2018. Olavo de Carvalho (2010), in his book Jardim das Aflições, constructs a disconcerting narrative about the intellectual bankruptcy of individuals today and specifies the consolidation of a new era, in which the individual is destroyed within a new conception of empire, whose sense of the real does not rest on morality, much less on responsibility
  7. ^ Silva, Mateus Fernandes Brum da (2019). "Globalism and the Role of the Brazilian Army". Final Course Work Presented at the School of Command and Staff of the Army, as a Partial Requirement for Obtaining the Title of Specialist in Military Sciences, with an Emphasis on National Defense.: 12. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021. O Jardim das Aflições, has as its fundamental thesis the idea of Empire in the Western world and the successive attempts to create it. Ideally, the objective would be the creation of a Global Empire, in a kind of re-edition of the Roman Empire. The purpose of recreating a "global Rome" could be synthesized in the goal embodied in the term Pax Romana. This would be, adapting to the present time, World Peace, generated through the creation of an Empire that would regulate everything, just as Rome did in its time.
  8. ^ BARSANELLI, MARIA LUÍSA. "After controversy at festival, film about philosopher Olavo de Carvalho premieres - 05/06/2017 - Ilustrada". Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved June 12, 2021. (...) the title of the film is homonymous with the book released in 1995 by Carvalho, in which he theorizes that the State, regardless of its guise, always seeks to expand its domains.
  9. ^ Da Costa, Paulo Henrique Vieira (2009). "A divinização do Estado moderno e a crença na sociedade racional e perfeita: uma conseqüência do Iluminismo" (PDF). Anima: Revista Eletrônica do Curso de Direito da Opet. p. 18. Retrieved 2018-12-01. Sobre esse aspecto nefasto da intervenção absurda do Estado na vida privada, ver o excelente trabalho de Olavo de CARVALHO, O Jardim das Aflições
  10. ^ Juventude Conservadora da UFMA (December 18, 2016). "Resenha do livro Jardim das Aflições de Olavo de Carvalho". juventudeconservadoraufma.wordpress.com. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Júnior, Ronaldo Castro de Lima (May 31, 2017). "Documentário 'Jardim das Aflições' é fiel a Olavo de Carvalho e suas ideias". Gazeta do Povo. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Fonseca, Joel Pinheiro da (January 11, 2017). "Precisamos falar sobre Olavo de Carvalho". Café Colombo. cafecolombo.com.br. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  13. ^ a b "For every natural number N, there's a Cantor Crank C(n)". Good Math/Bad Math. 2012-11-11.
  14. ^ Magalhães, Bruno. "Expedições pelo mundo da cultura (prof. José Monir Nasser) – Portal Travessias" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  15. ^ Nasser, José Monir. "O Jardim das Aflições; Comentário dos Gigantes". gigantesrecomendam.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved May 29, 2021. Por entre as perfumadas flores dos jardins de Epicuro, escondem-se as sementes da erva daninha do Estado.
  16. ^ "Minha formação intelectual. Ou: Por que não devemos ter gurus | Rodrigo Constantino". Gazeta do Povo. January 19, 2016.
  17. ^ "Is Cantor's theorem based on a fallacy?". philosophy.stackexchange.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  18. ^ Veloso, Caetano (September 22, 2013). "O maluco sou eu". O Globo. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  19. ^ Sette-Câmara, Pedro (December 16, 2018). "Olavo de Carvalho redefiniu noção de intelectual público, afirma ex-aluno" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  20. ^ a b c Correa, José Guilherme (2015). Leituras Lusófonas (in Portuguese). Clube de Autores. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-105-86341-7.
  21. ^ Pinto, Almir Pazzianotto. (1997). O livro da profecia: o Brasil no terceiro milênio. Vol. 1. Brasília: Senado Federal. p. 962.
  22. ^ Borges, Antonio Fernando (January 6, 1996). "Argumentos e ressentimentos: polemista acusa intelectualidade brasileira de colocar paixões ideológicas acima do dever moral". Jornal do Brasil.
  23. ^ Briguet, Paulo (June 7, 2017). "O filme que não deveria existir". Folha de Londrina. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  24. ^ Moraes de, Fabrício (July 30, 2017). "Não te vi no jardim com ele?". Revista Amálgama. www.revistaamalgama.com.br. Archived from the original on 2017-07-06. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  25. ^ De Carvalho, Olavo (1998). O Jardim das Aflições - De Epicuro à ressurreição de César: ensaio sobre o Materialismo e a Religião Civil. 2ª ed. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks. p. 8.
  26. ^ "O Jardim das Aflições (Vide Editorial)". Vide Editorial. 2015. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
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