quarta-feira, 21 de agosto de 2013

Estilo, Orwell, Eclesiastes e o acaso

Finalmente estou lendo o clássico Elements of Style. Essa passagem é de lá, e vale pelo insight, pelo Orwell e pela bela passagem da Bíblia sobre o acaso (no livro estava em duas colunas, então o que aparece lá como "left" aqui é o primeiro trecho):

To show what happens when strong writing is deprived of its vigor, George Orwell once took a passage from the Bible and drained it of its blood. On the left, below, is Orwell's translation; on the right, the verse from Ecclesiastes (King James version). 
Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity; but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitably be taken into account. 
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Um comentário:

Arthur disse...

Engraçado como, pra mim, o Orwell representa o primeiro tipo de texto rs.