For those of you who may have already unplugged for the summer, the rest of the globe is in the throes of World Cup mania. Every four years, the fùtbol-loving public gets nationalistic and tunes in to watch match after match at all hours of the day. The host country always gets its fair share of attention as the media produces human interest stories to provide some context. This year, the world’s attention is on Brazil, and even if you’re not a sports fan, it’s an opportunity to delve into the culture, politics, and art of this BRICS emerging nation.
Fortunately, we have the Clásicos/Clássicos Latin American Masterpieces in English series. This series of translations is rich with diverse Brazilian landscapes and colorful characters and many are classics (hence the name...) of Latin American literature. So maybe when your eyes are glazed over from watching too many matches, pick up one of these books and get to know the real Brasil.
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| The full Clásicos/Clássicos series laid out in a grid! |
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“Colored by an intense feeling for her own people,
by an omnipresent social consciousness”
The Three Marias
By Rachel de Queiroz
The Three Marias will be, for many non-Brazilians, an introduction to this nationally known South American author whose books have been widely praised for their artistic merits.
“an exciting novel with an unexpected plot”
Senhora
Profile of a Woman
By José de Alencar
In this Brazilian novel, originally published in 1875, the heroine uses newly inherited wealth to "buy back" and exact revenge on the fiancé who had left her for a woman with a more enticing dowry.
Read an excerpt here >>
Barren Lives
By Graciliano Ramos
A vivid novel about the solitary life of a peasant family in a harsh and unforgiving land, austerely told by a classic Brazilian writer.
“The author has a keen visual sense, and the reader becomes one with the part of the earth where Fabiano's life unfolds.... Barren Lives is a moving novel, one to ponder on."—Library Journal
The Devil's Church and Other Stories
By Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
Translated by Jack Schmitt and Lorie Ishimatsu
The modem Brazilian short story begins with the mature work of Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), acclaimed almost unanimously as Brazil's greatest writer. In his technical mastery of the short story, Machado was decades ahead of his contemporaries and can still be considered more modern than most of the modernists themselves. That his stories elicit such strong and diverse reactions today is a tribute to their richness, complexity, and significance.
By José de Alencar
In this Brazilian novel, originally published in 1875, the heroine uses newly inherited wealth to "buy back" and exact revenge on the fiancé who had left her for a woman with a more enticing dowry.
Read an excerpt here >>
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| More info |
“A classic in contemporary Brazilian literature”
Barren Lives
By Graciliano Ramos
A vivid novel about the solitary life of a peasant family in a harsh and unforgiving land, austerely told by a classic Brazilian writer.
“The author has a keen visual sense, and the reader becomes one with the part of the earth where Fabiano's life unfolds.... Barren Lives is a moving novel, one to ponder on."—Library Journal
“Social satire and experimentation in psychological realism”
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| More info |
The Devil's Church and Other Stories
By Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
Translated by Jack Schmitt and Lorie Ishimatsu
The modem Brazilian short story begins with the mature work of Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), acclaimed almost unanimously as Brazil's greatest writer. In his technical mastery of the short story, Machado was decades ahead of his contemporaries and can still be considered more modern than most of the modernists themselves. That his stories elicit such strong and diverse reactions today is a tribute to their richness, complexity, and significance.
