Alberto Ruy Sánchez and books to worship cats

Alberto Ruy Sánchez The mysteries that inhabit in The cat’s silencehis poems dedicated to those enigmatic beings who have conquered both ancient altars and literary pages. The Mexican writer explores the sacred stillness of felines, his impenetrable gaze, his exclusive language for humans and his silent presence that, paradoxically, says everything. Besides, Recommend books to worship cats.

Video envista with Alberto Ruy Sánchez

Cats: Company and Mystery

Alberto Ruy Sánchez is one of the most original and sensitive voices of contemporary Mexican literature. Poetry, fiction and essay flood His work, which is characterized by a lyrical and sensual prose that explores in depth the mysteries of desire, identity and the relationship between human being and nature.

Books like Air names And his series about Mogador have redefined the possibilities of the poetic novel in Spanish, while his fascination with topics such as cats, jacarandas or hummingbirds reveals a look that transforms the everyday in literary experience. Beyond its artistic creation, His work as an arts editor of Mexico has been fundamental to spread the cultural wealth of his country.

Alberto, how did the idea of ​​writing arise The cat’s silence?

The sustained attention towards my cat and the cats in general became a book for love of them, but also as part of a broader look. Form a cycle with my books Colibrí light y The jacarandas say: Everyone explores the idea that we are part of nature, which animals and vegetables are in the world living with humans and, at the same time, represent not only company but an immense challenge of understanding. Sometimes we don’t know exactly what this proximity implies.

Verónica Murguía points out something very important in the back cover of the book: “Those we love know that we do not possess what we love.” From that principle, the idea of ​​worrying about nature and the beloved person, knowing that you do not possess it.

This necessary humility must be the starting point of any reflexive or poetic construction on animals and nature. The cat is one of those animals that has an immense bibliography. There are thousands of books on cats for a long time. In France there is a 18th -century classic that collects to know about cats, and of course the Greeks talked about them. The history of concern for cats is very long. There is a relationship that is at the same time of admiration and playful.

You even explore the ritual dimension of cats.

when reading and writing about cats, I was impressed that the texts that study them do not pay attention to what I call the ritual dimension. There are many books about feline psychology, but not about how they enter trance like shamans when they snore: they are not awake or sleeping, they are in an intermediate state. The same do when drinking water or in certain attitudes when scratching or caressing. It is a difficult state to understand for humans, with multiple meanings about their link with us and their nature. It also implies an idea of ​​transcendence: people enter ecstasy to overcome, and cats do it constantly. They are unpredictable and playful, but they don’t let you decide how to get closer.

All this is in the book. I made annotations for a long time, then I organized it as always: removing the repetitive, putting together a composition where each poem has its technique and ideas. I included videopoames: I filmed the cat, I put sound, they are one minute pieces. There is a QR in the end with access to 10 videopee, plus one from the previous book about the jacarandas where a cat “intoxicates” with its aroma.

How was your life as a writer with your cat Thor?

Thor arrived by my daughter, who rescued him from a dump. When she left Mexico, she left it. It was a “youth criminal”, a completely wild Viking redhead. He had a crisis when eating cardboard: we thought he just got rid of it, but he ate it. The veterinarians suggested sleeping, but we insisted on saving it. That feline tenacity – as a writer says: “It is not that cats have nine lives, but that each life should have nine cats” – it united us more.

In the poems I tell how sometimes it looks like a dog, almost bark. What awareness of being a cat beyond your instinct? It transforms and faces what we are as humans. When my granddaughter does not want to greet, I say “you behave like cat” and understand it perfect. The cat is a mirror of who we are and we are not, an invitation to reflect with humility.

Their coexistence implies routines other than those of a dog: they are self -sufficient cleaning, but they have secret territories where they disappear. There is a spectacular beauty in your movements, a sensuality that invites you to listen to your rhythm. When Thor Ronronea in my chest, supporting a leg on my heart, he reminds me that dance is not following steps, but synchronizing beats. In love, as you know, the heart is fundamental. That connection also feels with cats.

Between astonishment and recognition

We ask Alberto what amazes him today, in addition to cats. Reply: “I have negative amazes, such as genocides in Ukraine and Gaza, which generate impotence. And positive, such as the recent splendor of the Jacarandas in the city. I am wonderful to see the city from casual viewpoints, such as the Estanquillo Museum, or discover exhibitions such as that of Siamese artists. The restoration of Mount of Piedad, with its Red Vicente stained glass and samples of contemporary art, is another finding.

What are you currently working on?

I have a novel on the door that is not exactly the continuation of my novel about Anna Ajmatova, but chronologically yes, because he speaks of the period in which she related to many other artists of her time. It is the era of Soviet terror, when he wrote a poem called Requiema classic of Russian and world literature.

I also write a book of poems that is an exploration of an archaeological site that has always fascinated me, Khajuraho, the site of India where all temples are sculptures of Kama Sutra. I am interested in the concept of love so different, because making love is something transcendent, and there it is not only as in the Arab manuals, where it is about giving pleasure to the sheikh; It is another completely integral thing.

I also have another book on ambulances, which I wrote during the pandemic; I live surrounded by four hospitals. It is a little sad book, because during the pandemic my mother died. I talk about the mismanagement in the pandemic in the people who were responsible for taking care of us.

Finally, I have a book on the trip called Traveling is to fall in love slowlythat are chronicles of travel that I have done for a long time. In addition, I have material to make two or three trial books.

What awards have recently received?

I received the Filey award at the International Yucatan Reading Fair, awarded by an association of Mexican literature scholars founded 25 years ago in California, by Sara Poot. Then, many of the scholars made presentations about my books and that.

As an extra gift, the person who introduced me to the award was Verónica Murguía, who is a writer that I admire and I want very much.

​