Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
is laid on with a trowel, but Amado's blend of the erotic and
exotic has him laughing all the way to the bank.
Mário de Andrade Macunaíma (Quartet Books). First
published in 1928, Macunaíma is considered one of the
greatest works of Brazilian literature. In this comic tale of
the adventures of a popular hero, Macunaíma, a figure
from the jungle interior, Andrade presents his typical
wealth of exotic images, myths and legends.
Moacyr Scliar The Collected Stories of Moacyr Scliar (New
Mexico UP). Scliar, who hails from Porto Alegre, is Brazil's
most distinguished Jewish writer. This anthology includes
haunting, comic and bleak stories that proclaim Scliar as a
master of the short story.
Márcio Souza Mad Maria (Avon, o/p). A comic drama set
against the backdrop of the absurdity of rail construction in
nineteenth-century Amazônia. Souza's excellent The
Emperor of the Amazon (Abacus, o/p; Avon, o/p) is another
humorous and powerful description of the decadence that
characterized late nineteenth-century Amazonian society.
Antônio Torres The Land (Readers International). Set in a
decaying town in the parched interior of the Northeast, this
is a grim tale of people trapped and people trying to get
away. In Blues for a Lost Childhood (Readers International),
Torres continues with the same theme, but this time
focusing on a journalist who makes it to Rio but finds life
there to be a living nightmare.
Machado de Assis Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
(Oxford UP). The most important work by the finest novelist
Brazil has yet produced. Told by one of the most remarkable
characters in fiction, this is an often-hilarious tale of absurd
schemes to cure the world of melancholy and half-hearted
political ambitions unleashed from beyond the grave. For
good translations of Machado's great short stories, The
Devil's Church and Other Stories (Texas UP, US, o/p) and
Helena (California UP) are worth going to some trouble to
get hold of. His cool, ferociously ironic style veers between
black comedy and sardonic analysis of the human condition.
Paolo Coelho The Alchemist (Harper Collins). Love him or
hate him, Coelho is the most successful Brazilian writer by a
huge margin, with an oeuvre of simple, pseudo-New Age
fables that began in 1988 with this modest tale of a young
shepherd on a spiritual journey.
Milton Hatoum The Brothers (Bloomsbury). Set in late
nineteenth-century Manaus, this is a family saga based on
Lebanese twin brothers and their relationship with their
mother. Filled with local colour, this is one of the best
Brazilian novels in translation to emerge in recent years.
Paulo Lins City of God (Bloomsbury; Grove Press). The
author, who went on to become a photojournalist, was
brought up in Rio's Cidade de Deus housing project and uses
his knowledge of drug tra cking and gang warfare as the
basis of this remarkable novel, the topic behind the
internationally acclaimed film.
Graciliano Ramos Barren Lives (Texas UP). Masterpiece of
the Northeastern novelist who introduced social realism into
modern Brazilian fiction. The heavy use of regional
Northeastern Portuguese in the original makes it fiendishly
di cult to translate, but it gives you a sense of his great talent.
João Ubaldo Ribeiro An Invincible Memory (Faber;
HarperCollins, o/p). A family saga spanning a four-hundred-
year period from the arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil to the
present day, featuring anecdotes, history and myths narrated
through the experiences of two Bahian families, one
aristocratic, the other enslaved. The topic was wildly popular
when published in Brazil and is considered a national epic.
WORKS SET IN BRAZIL
Mario Vargas Llosa The War of the End of the World
(Faber; Penguin). Goes well with da Cunha (see p.671). The
Peruvian writer produced this haunting novel, based on the
events of Canudos, in the 1970s. The translation is good and
the topic is easy to obtain.
Jean-Christophe Rufin Brazil Red (Picador; W.W.
Norton). The winner of France's prestigious Goncourt
literary award, this action-packed historical novel is set
against France's ill-fated attempt to conquer Brazil in the
sixteenth century as well as questions about the nature of
civilization and culture, religion and freedom.
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Josua Doder Grk and the Pelotti Gang (Andersen Press).
Along with his dog Grk, Tim, a brave (and foolhardy) British
child, finds himself in the mean streets of Rio in search of
the notorious Pelotti gang. Fast-paced and funny and with
lots of local colour, Tim and Grk survive being kidnapped
and being held in a Rio favela as well as jungle adventures.
Suitable for 8- to 12-year-olds.
Eva Ibbotson Journey to the River Sea (Macmillan;
Pu in Set at the turn of the twentieth century in Manaus
amid the Amazon rubber boom, this old-fashioned
adventure story unfolds in an environment that its host of
amusing characters either cherishes or feels nothing but
contempt for. A great book to give kids to read.
 
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