drdangles

                                                     The Clouds of Descent

 ‘The Clouds of Descent’, by the esteemed author Ramos Gaucho. Kept and read in secrecy even today, the paperback novella was written in 1955. Though, not officially published until 1970, because of strange circumstances surrounding the publishing house contracted to publish the book, several unauthorized copies were circulated as early as 1962. The senior editor of Pica publishing, Jose Vasquez, was reported to have been responsible for the leak. At the time of this writing he was unavailable for comment.
 Common belief is that the later version was altered due to the mystery that had already developed around the book by the time of publishing. It is also believed that, Ramos, rather than waiting for Pica to publish the volume, had an American publishing firm publish and distribute a limited number of the book under a penname with a different title. This would explain the author’s disappearance to the U.S. during the early sixties and the changes made to Pica’s version of the book published in 1970.
 Version, circa 1970, is the only version to date that has been available for review. The early version published in the U.S. has never been identified and lies in the realm of pure speculation. ‘The Clouds of Descent’ unauthorized version is so coveted that no one owning a copy has ever made it available for review, until now.
 I am extremely excited to say that a copy was made available for me. I should hardly have to explain the excitement that came over me when I arrived at the personal library of a dear friend, containing an original version. Friends that let you sit in their study for a weekend with a highly collectable extremely rare book are great friends indeed. Also, they are hard to come by, so when it was requested that I not use his name in this review I omitted it gladly.
 The version made available for my analysis and pleasure was absolutely authentic, bearing the signature of the senior editor with a stamp showing the date of receipt from the author and the date of final editing. As I sat comparing the old and new volumes it was immediately apparent that the official version had been altered extensively. Taking this into account along with the fact that the unauthorized original has never been reviewed, I chose to focus mainly on the original and its author.
 Ramos Gaucho was born in 1912 in the small city of Coban. He was the third of five sons. Ramos’s father was a mason and lived his entire life in the city of Coban. Ramos enjoyed traveling; from the time he was able to walk he made trips with his father to get supplies from neighboring towns and districts. As an adult he spent much of his time in Europe and Costa Rica attending school. He was a graduate of Cambridge at the age of twenty-five with a degree in Physics.
 At the age of thirty he decided to become a writer. Most of his earlier writing was limited to short stories and poems. It wasn’t until the age of thirty-five that he began work on ‘The Clouds of Descent’. His later works, ‘The Beaming Sun’ and ‘Internities, Us’, would set him apart as a world-class writer. He died not twenty miles from his birthplace, in the hills of Coban, Guatemala, in 1992.
 ‘The Clouds of Descent’ was a pivotal chapter in his career as a writer. It marked Ramos’s transition from poems and short stories to the Novella format. It contains many of the elements of a short story, I.E. a concise and deliberate delivery that whispers to the reader for deeper interpretation and understanding. Yet, covers a much broader scope than anything he had written previous. For a first time writer with a degree in Physics, Ramos eloquently and skillfully crafted his characters out of the deepest parts of the imagination. His ability to conjure places and things into sharp existence in the minds eye is amazing, making ‘The clouds of decent’ come to vivid, engrossing life. His poetic style shines vibrantly throughout. An example being this excerpt from the books second chapter:

“Spherical windows peer into void.
Endless gleaming views are gleaned and we lean forward for more.
Falling petals softly float to dry fall earth where cold winters veins and fingers slowly choke.
Among us walks time, not marching as before.

 Passage is taken in vein among the weary; their lives have out grown them.
The beauty in their lives is that they continue to struggle without living.
Their pity is earned, their living smuggles joy to a place outside the spherical window.”
 

 Alas, the story itself is thought provoking, teetering into the realm of philosophy. Taking place in the Mayan civilization during the later part of the Pre-classic period, a time of polytheistic worship, strange laws and corrupt provisional governments. The Mayans were almost supernaturally advanced for their time. The calendar in use at the time of the story, 10 B.C., is thought to be more accurate than the Julian and Gregorian calendars used today. Their astronomy, medicine, architecture, and math were similarly ahead of their time. All of this is prevalent in the story’s detailed descriptions of daily Mayan living.
 In the village of Coban two young lovers Rias and Enna, struggle with meager lives and the sad silence of longing for each other. Enna’s fathers’ unfounded hatred for Rias and his twin brother Jaya keep Rias and Enna from Marrying. Though, Rias and Enna eventually find happiness together, it is not without sacrifice.
 Rias's brother Jaya becomes embroiled in a complex trial early in the book. Parallel to this Enna’s father has died; Enna and Rias marry. Jaya is suspected of murder and acts against the provisional government. It becomes clear that he murdered the village Ajaw (provisional ruler), for an unknown reason. Jaya is imprisoned in a tomb fashioned out of a sheer mountain’s rock face. He must spend the rest of eternity there. Rias, as Jaya’s only living relative is responsible for tending to his brothers needs during the duration of the sentence. However, Enna becomes very upset with the circumstances and returns home to live with her mother. This slowly destroys Rias mentally and emotionally.
 Jaya later reveals to Rias that the Ajaw was asked by Ennas dying father to stop Enna and Rias relationship at any cost. As a favor to Enna's dying father, the Ajaw issued an order to his handmaids to follow the couple and poison Rias. One of the handmaids, Axia, is Jaya’s lover. Axia told Jaya what was being planned and then disappeared from Coban. Jaya immediately set out to kill the Ajaw and prevent any further attempts at taking Rias’s life.
 After hearing the harrowing truth about the murder, Rias breaks down in tears. He tells Jaya “Visions of clarity come at great cost. Sleep brother and forgive me. We come from one and to the one we shall return. When we return, you shall be forgiven.”  Jaya asks why he should forgive His brother. “What crime have you committed to beg forgiveness from a murderer?” To this Rias says. “I am a lone man. Enna has gone home because I am struggling to look after you. I have no time for her… When Venus resides with the moon so too shall I reside with Enna. I shall come to you no more.” Jaya says nothing and removes himself to the back of his tomb until Rias leaves.
 Axia returns thirteen days after Rias and Jaya’s conversation, just days before the celestial event Rias referred to. Upon her return she reads a book to the entombed Jaya to ease his pain. Jaya falls into a deep slumber and is never again heard from.  The name inscribed on the book: ‘The Clouds of Descent’.
 It is odd that the manuscript refers to another book by the same title. Especially, considering that this sort of thing has been done before: Don Quixote and 1001 Arabian Nights for example, both of which are self-referencing in a paradoxical way. However, the volume read by the handmaid is not identical to our “Clouds of Descent” in content, as is true with the other two examples. It is wholly different in content and style, as is obvious when the handmaid reads the first sentence.
 
“As the winter’s waters fall from the celestial continent and time passes into earth we stand motionless and poised.”
 
 This may have been done to portray a conceptual book that is beyond subject. A timeless idea portrayed with varying words and phrases bound only to a title.
 When Rias hears of Jaya’s disappearance he returns to the tomb. Once there he enters into a nearby cave to rest and morn. Inside the cave Rias finds the book that Axia read to Jaya. Rias begins to read “The Clouds of Descent”. As he gets to the end of the first chapter he finds himself inside the tomb with no escape. Jaya appears and speaks to Rias from outside the tomb. He tells him that Enna has given birth to twins. He says their names are “Hunah” and “Ixbal”. Rias awakens from a deep slumber, finding himself alone in the spot where he had begun his reading.
 He returns home with the book in hand. Enna leaves her mothers house to live with Rias again and they are extremely happy together. Later that year Enna indeed becomes pregnant and gives birth to twins. She names them Hunah and Ixbal.
 Rias returns to the tomb and speaks as if his brother could hear him from inside. He speaks of Enna and of the twins. He cannot believe what has happened. He returns to the cave and reads the second chapter of “The clouds of Descent”.
 Rias, falls asleap again. He finds himself inside Jayas tomb. This time he is alone, no one comes. He becomes sullen and finds himself fumbling around inside the dark tomb. Deep in the back wall Rias finds a passage. He enters the passage.
 Rias, still missing and thought to be dead, his twins have grown to the age of thirteen. Hunah and Ixbal have become adventurous youths, enjoying their days by playing in the fertile hills of Coban. On one of their frequent and much cherished adventures into the hills they come across a cave. In the eerily familiar cave they find a book.
 With no knowledge of what happened to their father, in the cave near the tomb they read “The Clouds of Descent”. Its ancient amate (a type of Mayan paper) pages cracking slightly in the children’s small hands. Together they succumb to the beautiful images wrought into words. They too slumber and find themselves in the tomb. They search the tomb and find many artifacts, which they manage to remove from the tomb by pushing them out through the very same hole that Rias used to pass his brother food and water years ago. After they awaken, back in the cave, they immediately run home with their souvenirs. They say nothing of their strange adventure to their mother Enna and plan on returning the next day.
 In the morning before they begin their journey to the cave Enna finds the artifacts that the twins managed to exhume from their uncles tomb. Enna doesn’t recognize their intimate relation to her family immediately. She realizes the artifacts significance later in the afternoon, after Hunah and Ixbal have already begun their secret journey. The artifacts were Jaya’s bowl and a spoon. The spoon was hand carved by Rias and bore the inscription “Jaya, may you live in peace, forever.”
 
 The next few chapters follow the mythology set forth in the Popul Vuh (an ancient Mayan text containing the mythology of the Mayan civilization) very closely. In the Popul Vuh story “Hero twins” travel to Xiabalba (the Mayan underworld) and defeat the nine gods living there.

 “Full moon waxing, Venus close by, the night sky is alight with your majesty and the travelers soul returns to his place as always.”-Excerpt: Ch 30 page 9.

 Hunah and Ixbal return after several days. Rias is with them. They found Rias and brought him back from Xibalba.
 Rias gives no explanation for his whereabouts for the last thirteen years. However, after being immediately received by Enna, Rias only states that he “- had to see Jaya one last time.”
 There are many places in the text where the book mentions characters falling into a deep slumber while reading their version of  “The Clouds of Descent”. This theme is very repetitive through out the book and usually along with a reference to the location of Venus in relation to the Moon. Odd as it seems, there are many accounts of people falling into a deep dream state while reading the original manuscript “The Clouds of Descent”. An example is given in this letter written to me by my friend, whose graciousness led to this book review.

 “My dear friend,

                 I am gladdened by your honest curiosity and eager desire to read the volume in question. I have never actually had such inquiries and find it refreshing that you have taken such an interest in this fine book.
 I have no problem letting you borrow this book for as much time as it may take to complete your book report. However it cannot leave the premises of my library. That said I would give you as much privacy as needed while reading. I know that the book has put me to sleep every time I have read it. I will make a couch available for you if this is the case with you as well.
 
Thanks for your sincere interest.”

 I must confess that I also experienced this anomaly. However I would like to assure the reader that it was not due to anything lacking in the story. My only explanation for this lapse of consciousness is due in part to the extreme amount of mental energy expended envisioning every detail wrought into words by the author. This too is no exaggeration. It is as though the slipping into dreams is just a continuation of the beautiful story. Again, I have a letter from an unknown source expressing the same idea. 
 
“As I read this story I am carried away into dreams. It’s as though the words and phrasing produce an almost dream-like vision in me. The next thing I know I am waking up refreshed.”

 After many days spent dreaming and pondering this wonderful book I am very happy. As if calm has slipped over me. Maybe, I am just gladdened by the idea of being the first outsider to be allowed to read the original. As it stands, the only people to have read this version are the original recipients and their close friends and family.
 It is said, that the owners were actually chosen, by the editor, Jose Vasquez. Who hand delivered the manuscripts to them years after editing. Owners of the original are reclusive. If not for my close friend I would never have been initiated into the intimate group of readers. There is something significant about the book to its readers. Its owners share a sacred and sometimes secret bond that is more like a brotherhood.  
 There have been many rumors surrounding this book. I assure you that the previous statements are the only ones that are true. It is absurd to believe that this book fell from the sky or that the author copied it from ancient Mayan manuscripts. Most of the rumors are ridiculously imaginative. Unfortunate, that people like these cannot have read the volume in question. If they had they would see that this is a real book and work of art written by a real author, Ramos Gaucho.