Reading books is an integral part of one's holidays. As we escape our daily routines in a physical way, thanks to books we can also escape spiritually. One of the best ways is reading works by local authors. That way, couleur local mingles with the story, creating value that elavates both the book itself, as much as the holiday. So, for all of you who plan to go to Brazil during the World Cup, or at any other moment of course, here's my selection of recommended, favorite Brazilian books.
1. An Invincible Memory (1984) by: João Ubaldo Ribeiro. Originally published as Viva o Povo Brasileiro, or: Hail the Brazilian people, this is an amazing narative that follows two family lines, one of rich oligarchs, the other of slaves, during Brazilian history from 1500 onwards, and how their lives are intertwined. Along the way treasures, symbolic artefacts are assembled in a mysterious treasure box. At the end, a dramatic event releases the genie out of the bottle... The (anti) climax tells you a lot, if not all, of the main underlying currents of how Brazil has become the way it is today.
2. Braziliaanse brieven (1985) by: August Willemsen. This would be my number 1, personally, but since the book hasn't been translated to English, yet, I thought it woudn't be fair for the English natives among you. August is my favorite literator and translater from the Portuguese language into Dutch. August discovered his love for the portugese language at a relative late age, after studying piano at the conservatory. At the end of the sixties he visited Brazil for the first time, with various long stays after that. This book is a collection of letters he wrote his publisher during these stays, each time picking a bud of the Brazilian flower: she loves me, she loves me not. Funny, frustrating, loveable, always inspiring: Willemsen describes what it feels like being stranger in Brazil, getting close at being Brazilian, but never one of them.
3. Futebol, the Brazilian Way of Life (2002), by: Alex Bellos. As we are heading towards the World Cup football 2014, I should at least include one book on the Brazilian favorite sport. There have been a lot on this subsject, for exampe the highly recommendable Goddelijke Kanarie written by August Willemsen, but hey, I could fill a top 5 on his work alone (and I will some day!), and the problem is that it hasn't been translated into English as far as I know. So, second best for me would be Alex Bellos' many folded account on how in many ways football is metaphorically emblematic of Brazilian life. From the incredible amount of players scattered around the world in the most exotic competitions, the way Brazil lost the 1950 final in their own Maracanã stadium, or how the game is played in the Amazon rain forest; the book tells it all without pretending to be complete. Bellos has got a great feeling for good stories, and a very nice way of telling them for anyone intereted not just in football, but, as he rightfully claims: the Brazilian way of life.
4. Home is the Sailor (1961) by Jorge Amado. Amado, author from Bahia in the Northeast of Brazil, was one of the best known authors form Brazil, internationally recognized, for example, by the 40 languages in which his work was translated. For me, this particular book stands for a lot of the Brazilian humor, and story telling traditions. It tells the story of a Captain, who isn't a captain, but who got his decorations the Brazilian way. Hard to explain, but that means something like pull the right strings, at the right time and in the right way, then you can get anything you're looking for. As his friends all 'decide' to be a doctor, or lawyer, the main character chooses the proffesion of captain, with out ever having been on a ship. Nobody actually knows he isn't a captain, but after a dramatic event at sea, he has to act as captain. He manages to get the ship in the harbour, just in time before a terrible storm hits the land. His actions raise many eyebrows and he is laughed at at first. But, a furious storm hits the land and through an amazing amount of luck, the captain manages to save the ship and become the hero of the story. An example of how things sometimes go in Brazil, and told in a fantastically funny mode.
5. O Amor Natural (1992) by Carlos Drummond de Andrade. Okay, let's finish of with poetry. Drummond de Andrade was one of Brazils most beloved poets, who published numerous collections. He was hailed for his language, modernistically mixing styles, rhytms and rhymes, especially making up words, using sounds to creat the right effect. After he died in 1987, his realtives found a collection of poems that hadn't been published, nor had anyone ever seen them. Drummond de Andrade was ashamed of them. The reason for this? They were about sex and eroticism. So, as I wanted to include a work of his in this top 5, I choose this one because it tells more about Brazil then just the joy of language. What I mean is that it shows how Brazil on the one hand is very openly sexual, but on the other hand can be timid and not wanting to show it all, being ashamed in certain ways. Hard to get a grip on this, as with many things in the country, but this book helps certainly. Also there is great documentairy from 1996, in which elderly carioca's (inhabitants of Rio) read the poems out loud.
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