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Dom Casmurro
Dom Casmurro é a alcunha de Bento Santiago, que, velho e só, desvela as suas memórias. Uma promessa da mãe, traça-lhe o destino como padre, mas Bento Santiago apaixonado, abandona o seminário. Estuda Direito e casa-se com o seu grande amor, mas o ciúme e a desconfiança adensam-se. Suspeita que não é o pai biológico do filho do casal, Ezequiel, mas sim o seu grande amigo Escobar.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1899
About the author
Machado de Assis
965 books2,173 followersJoaquim Maria Machado de Assis, often known as Machado de Assis, Machado, or Bruxo do Cosme Velho, (June 21, 1839, Rio de Janeiro—September 29, 1908, Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer. He is widely regarded as the most important writer of Brazilian literature. However, he did not gain widespread popularity outside Brazil in his own lifetime.
Machado's works had a great influence on Brazilian literary schools of the late 19th century and 20th century. José Saramago, Carlos Fuentes, Susan Sontag and Harold Bloom are among his admirers and Bloom calls him "the supreme black literary artist to date."
Machado's works had a great influence on Brazilian literary schools of the late 19th century and 20th century. José Saramago, Carlos Fuentes, Susan Sontag and Harold Bloom are among his admirers and Bloom calls him "the supreme black literary artist to date."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,831 reviews
April 10, 2024
Dom Casmurro is full of amateurish theatricality and it is laden with the grotesque pathos of comic opera…
The narration is simple-hearted and simple-minded – the greater part of the narrator’s recollections belongs to the time when he was an adolescent boy… He sees all the persons surrounding him be as artless and guileless as himself… His naïve adolescent love is precious… He grows up, completes his education and plucks the flower he’s been dreaming about during all his youth…
Family hearth and happy family life… The boy is born and the father is full of gladness… But gradually suspicions start creeping in…
As a result Dom Casmurro is left all alone… Is he a victim of his wife’s unfaithfulness or is he a victim of his own jealousy?
“Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, lest she shew in thy regard the malice of a wicked lesson.” Sirach 9
“Everything is music, my friend. In the beginning was do, then from do came re, etc. This glass – as he filled it once more – this glass is a tiny refrain. You can’t hear it? Neither do you hear sticks or stones, but they all have their part in the opera…”
The narration is simple-hearted and simple-minded – the greater part of the narrator’s recollections belongs to the time when he was an adolescent boy… He sees all the persons surrounding him be as artless and guileless as himself… His naïve adolescent love is precious… He grows up, completes his education and plucks the flower he’s been dreaming about during all his youth…
One day, he compared us to birds brought up under the eaves of neighboring houses. Imagine the rest, the chicks getting their wings and flying up into the sky, and the sky itself wider so as to make room for them. Neither of us laughed: both of us were moved and convinced, forgetting everything…
Family hearth and happy family life… The boy is born and the father is full of gladness… But gradually suspicions start creeping in…
All things come to an end, reader; it’s an old truism, to which we may add that not everything that lasts, lasts for very long. This second part does not readily find believers; on the contrary, the idea that a castle in the air lasts any longer than the air of which it is built is difficult to get out of anyone’s head, and it’s as well that this is so, so that the habit of constructing these near-eternal structures is not lost.
As a result Dom Casmurro is left all alone… Is he a victim of his wife’s unfaithfulness or is he a victim of his own jealousy?
“Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, lest she shew in thy regard the malice of a wicked lesson.” Sirach 9
February 19, 2022
[Edited for typos, spoilers hidden, 2/18/22]
Translated from the Portuguese (Brazilian) the title means ‘Lord Curmudgeon’ or maybe “Sir Grumpy,’ a name his buddies gave him in his old age. He liked the nickname. The introduction tells us that at the time the author was writing the word also meant obstinate, stubborn or wrong-headed.
The main theme is about a man who has a wonderful marriage, a child and a great friendship with another couple, including a man who had been his best friend all of his life. He often has bouts of jealously about his beautiful wife, but he overcomes those and has a great marriage. That is, until his best friend drowns while swimming in the ocean. He ruins his married life, ending up old, disillusioned and … well a lonely old curmudgeon.
The first third of the book revolves around a dilemma. Before the main character was born, his mother gave birth to a still-born boy. She made a vow to God that if he sent her another son she would make him become a priest. The boy and his future wife were neighbors in love at an early age – he was 15, she was 14. So this part of the story centers on how he got his mother to give up her vow so he could leave the seminary and marry his beloved.
Dom Casmurro was published in 1899 and reflects literary styles of that era: almost 150 short chapters with descriptive titles such as ‘Visit from Escobar,’ ‘Between Dusk and Dark,’ or ‘On the Veranda.’ The author frequently addresses the reader in saying things like ‘I could have told this story in a later chapter…’
The introduction tells us that Machado's works had a great influence on other Brazilian writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1941, the Brazilian Academy of Letters founded in his honor the Machado de Assis Award, still the most prestigious literary award in Brazil. Machado lived from 1839-1908.
I enjoyed the story and I liked the writing. The novel moved along and it kept my interest all the way through.
Photo of Rio de Janeiro in the early 1900's from monovisions.com
Brazilian postage stamp honoring the author from romanianstudies.org
Translated from the Portuguese (Brazilian) the title means ‘Lord Curmudgeon’ or maybe “Sir Grumpy,’ a name his buddies gave him in his old age. He liked the nickname. The introduction tells us that at the time the author was writing the word also meant obstinate, stubborn or wrong-headed.
The main theme is about a man who has a wonderful marriage, a child and a great friendship with another couple, including a man who had been his best friend all of his life. He often has bouts of jealously about his beautiful wife, but he overcomes those and has a great marriage. That is, until his best friend drowns while swimming in the ocean. He ruins his married life, ending up old, disillusioned and … well a lonely old curmudgeon.
The first third of the book revolves around a dilemma. Before the main character was born, his mother gave birth to a still-born boy. She made a vow to God that if he sent her another son she would make him become a priest. The boy and his future wife were neighbors in love at an early age – he was 15, she was 14. So this part of the story centers on how he got his mother to give up her vow so he could leave the seminary and marry his beloved.
Dom Casmurro was published in 1899 and reflects literary styles of that era: almost 150 short chapters with descriptive titles such as ‘Visit from Escobar,’ ‘Between Dusk and Dark,’ or ‘On the Veranda.’ The author frequently addresses the reader in saying things like ‘I could have told this story in a later chapter…’
The introduction tells us that Machado's works had a great influence on other Brazilian writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1941, the Brazilian Academy of Letters founded in his honor the Machado de Assis Award, still the most prestigious literary award in Brazil. Machado lived from 1839-1908.
I enjoyed the story and I liked the writing. The novel moved along and it kept my interest all the way through.
Photo of Rio de Janeiro in the early 1900's from monovisions.com
Brazilian postage stamp honoring the author from romanianstudies.org
January 10, 2022
Dom Casmurro (Realistic trilogy #3), Machado de Assis
Dom Casmurro is an 1899 novel, written by Brazilian author Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. Like The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas and Quincas Borba, both by Machado de Assis, it is widely regarded as a masterpiece of realist literature.
It is written as a fictional memoir by a distrusting, jealous husband, the narrator, however, is not a reliable conveyor of the story as it is a dark comedy.
Dom Casmurro is considered by critic Afranio Coutinho "a true Brazilian masterpiece, and maybe Brazil's greatest representative piece of writing" and "one of the best books ever written in the Portuguese language, if not the best one to date."
The author is considered a master of Latin American literature with a unique style of realism.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوازدهم ماه نوامبر سال2011میلادی
عنوان: دن کاسمورو؛ نویسنده: ماشادو د آسیس؛ مترجم: عبدالله کوثری؛ تهران، نشر نی، سال1389، در347ص؛ شابک9789641851219؛ کتاب از متن انگلیسی برگردان شده؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان برزیل - سده19م
دن کاسمورو؛ رمانی نوشته ی «ماشادو د آسیس»؛ نویسنده ی «برزیلی» است، که برخی آنرا برترین رمان در ادبیات «برزیل» به شمار میآورند؛ این کتاب، در کنار دو کتاب «خاطرات پس از مرگ براس کوباس»؛ و «کینکاس بوربا»؛ از مهمترین کارهای این نویسنده، به شمار میآیند؛ «ماشادو د آسیس» این رمان را، نخستین بار در سال1899میلادی، در «برزیل» به چاپ رساندند؛
یادمانهای خودنگاشته ای از «بنتینیو سانتیاگو»، نامدار به «دن کاسمورو» هستند؛ راوی در این رمان، شرح زندگی خود از دوران کودکی، تا زمان حال آنروزگار را، برای خوانشگر بازگشایی میکنند؛ بیشتر رخدادهای رمان، در سالهای میانی سده ی نوزدهم میلادی بوده اند؛ که شرح کودکانگی و نوجوانی «دن کاسمورو»، و عشق ایشان به «کاپیتو»، و رویدادهای آن دو را، در بر میگیرد؛ در فصلهای پایانی این کتاب، که از یکصد و چهل و هشت فصل کوتاه گرد هم آمده؛ نیز، شرح بزرگسالی، و ازدواج «بنتینو سانتیاگو»، تا سالهای پایانی سده ی نوزده میلادی، بازگو میشود
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 22/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 19/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Dom Casmurro is an 1899 novel, written by Brazilian author Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. Like The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas and Quincas Borba, both by Machado de Assis, it is widely regarded as a masterpiece of realist literature.
It is written as a fictional memoir by a distrusting, jealous husband, the narrator, however, is not a reliable conveyor of the story as it is a dark comedy.
Dom Casmurro is considered by critic Afranio Coutinho "a true Brazilian masterpiece, and maybe Brazil's greatest representative piece of writing" and "one of the best books ever written in the Portuguese language, if not the best one to date."
The author is considered a master of Latin American literature with a unique style of realism.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوازدهم ماه نوامبر سال2011میلادی
عنوان: دن کاسمورو؛ نویسنده: ماشادو د آسیس؛ مترجم: عبدالله کوثری؛ تهران، نشر نی، سال1389، در347ص؛ شابک9789641851219؛ کتاب از متن انگلیسی برگردان شده؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان برزیل - سده19م
دن کاسمورو؛ رمانی نوشته ی «ماشادو د آسیس»؛ نویسنده ی «برزیلی» است، که برخی آنرا برترین رمان در ادبیات «برزیل» به شمار میآورند؛ این کتاب، در کنار دو کتاب «خاطرات پس از مرگ براس کوباس»؛ و «کینکاس بوربا»؛ از مهمترین کارهای این نویسنده، به شمار میآیند؛ «ماشادو د آسیس» این رمان را، نخستین بار در سال1899میلادی، در «برزیل» به چاپ رساندند؛
یادمانهای خودنگاشته ای از «بنتینیو سانتیاگو»، نامدار به «دن کاسمورو» هستند؛ راوی در این رمان، شرح زندگی خود از دوران کودکی، تا زمان حال آنروزگار را، برای خوانشگر بازگشایی میکنند؛ بیشتر رخدادهای رمان، در سالهای میانی سده ی نوزدهم میلادی بوده اند؛ که شرح کودکانگی و نوجوانی «دن کاسمورو»، و عشق ایشان به «کاپیتو»، و رویدادهای آن دو را، در بر میگیرد؛ در فصلهای پایانی این کتاب، که از یکصد و چهل و هشت فصل کوتاه گرد هم آمده؛ نیز، شرح بزرگسالی، و ازدواج «بنتینو سانتیاگو»، تا سالهای پایانی سده ی نوزده میلادی، بازگو میشود
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 22/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 19/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
January 24, 2021
“...one of the roles of man is to shut his eyes and keep them shut to see if he can continue into the night of his old age the dream curtailed in the night of his youth.”
What is most intriguing about Machado de Assis's Dom Casmurro is the way the narrator invites you into his world and the intimate parts of his life, the episodes that he has judged formed who he was later to become. Even as he is relating some of his struggles growing up or providing background on important family members, the tone is one of quiet acceptance, philosophical detachment and even humor. When the reader gets to the last 40 or 50 pages, and realizes everything up to that point has been written as a set up for the conclusion, Dom Casmurro becomes both remarkable and tragic. This is a gripping novel. I plan to read more of this Brazilian author's work. 4.25 stars
What is most intriguing about Machado de Assis's Dom Casmurro is the way the narrator invites you into his world and the intimate parts of his life, the episodes that he has judged formed who he was later to become. Even as he is relating some of his struggles growing up or providing background on important family members, the tone is one of quiet acceptance, philosophical detachment and even humor. When the reader gets to the last 40 or 50 pages, and realizes everything up to that point has been written as a set up for the conclusion, Dom Casmurro becomes both remarkable and tragic. This is a gripping novel. I plan to read more of this Brazilian author's work. 4.25 stars
August 31, 2023
The great mystery of the novel Dom Casmurro, published in 1899, spans the 20th century and continues to generate debates about the posture of its characters. The cultural moment experienced by Brazil at the time of the novel's publication was Realism, an art school founded in opposition to Romanticism. Therefore, it sought to be 'faithful' to the existing reality and criticize it through an objective and undistorted vision. Instead of heroes, ordinary people appear, full of problems and limitations. Inspired by this literary movement, Machado published 'Dom Casmurro.' But, let's see that the novel does not just fit into the posture of the proposed academic school but also creates a deep feeling of ambiguity in the reader who doubts Capitu's adultery and the narration constructed by Bentinho. This narration is one of the characteristics of the brilliant Brazilian writer Machado de Assis, who, in his mastery, does not confirm Capitu's infidelity, leaving the reader to judge for himself. He had created a feeling of skepticism in the reader's soul about the reported adultery. Machado cunningly introduces Shakespeare's character, 'Othello,' universally known for the heightened jealousy that caused him to kill his wife, Desdemona, over a handkerchief.
On the other hand, Bentinho's jealousy may have to be justified, and he is not a madman, as is supposed. Capitu's crying at Escobar's death and the constant intimacy between them may show that she felt for him more than a feeling of friendship. Furthermore, The fact that the couple's son bears an extraordinary physical resemblance to his friend Escobar, as described by Bentinho, leaves the reader confused, thinking that Capitu and Escobar had an affair. When reading the novel ' Dom Casmurro,' many ideas are awakened because, far beyond the realistic theme of adultery, the dilemma regarding the work's characters remains open. It is up to each one to give this novel their interpretations.
On the other hand, Bentinho's jealousy may have to be justified, and he is not a madman, as is supposed. Capitu's crying at Escobar's death and the constant intimacy between them may show that she felt for him more than a feeling of friendship. Furthermore, The fact that the couple's son bears an extraordinary physical resemblance to his friend Escobar, as described by Bentinho, leaves the reader confused, thinking that Capitu and Escobar had an affair. When reading the novel ' Dom Casmurro,' many ideas are awakened because, far beyond the realistic theme of adultery, the dilemma regarding the work's characters remains open. It is up to each one to give this novel their interpretations.
December 20, 2017
I read Machado de Assis's Dom Casmurro so many years back that if it was not for its splendor I might have forgotten it, but a brief revist was enough to remind me why I fell perilously in love with it. One of Brazil's literature masterpieces without doubt.
Love, jealousy and betrayal are the central themes of Dom Casmurro. If it reminds you of Othello or Madame Bovary, you are not too far off the mark. But, at the same time, it could not be more different. The novel is a memoir told in the first person by Bento or Bentinho, aka Dom Casmurro, his story of enduring love affair with Capitu. The title character tells us of his younger self, his love, courtship, and marriage to a memorable and colorful Capitu.
As you have guessed, we get only his point of view, and the reader may well ask ‘Did Capitu in fact betray Betinho?’ or ‘How would she defend herself if she was here?’ However, we never hear her story, but only Bentinho’s reminiscences. Bentinho love and suspicious nature fuels much of his story, but above all, the mystery is the essence of this masterpiece. Whether Bentinho actually was betrayed is pretty much beside the point. We get all his thoughts as they spew out on the page, as near and familiar as a stream of consciousness as we could imagine for a novel published in 1899. Indeed, Dom Casmurro could have been written yesterday.
The narrator goes ahead with his story and retraces himself, forgets his thoughts, lies both to us and himself, and generally confuses everything up in a series of short chapters (such as: ‘The soul is full of mysteries’; ‘Idea without legs and idea without arms ;’ 'Hangover Eyes' and ‘Shake your head, reader’). And the result is magnificent. Yes, Bentinho appears wicked, funny and loves to withhold his secrets just to reveal them when you least expect. Regardless, he leaves you breathless and almost yelling at him 'Come on, Bentinho, what did Capitu do to you? Please, tell us!'
Despite the supposed betrayal, throughout the novel there is no doubt regarding their love,
How can a book published in 1899 seem so contemporary in style and content? That is one of Machado de Assis’s merits. He is revealed here as a master novelist, as he shapes, manipulates, unites, betrays and ultimately disbands his small collection of characters with bold ease. At no point does he go too far or explain too much, leaving the reader to hesitate, question and argue with himself, and, in the end, the reader cannot help but feel compassionate towards Bentinho despite his lies or any truths.
Highly recommended!
--------
Note: Read in Portuguese, although there is an English translation; quotes from Goodreads.
Some more quotes, for those who read Portuguese:
* “Mas a saudade é isto mesmo; é o passar e repassar das memórias antigas”
* “Não podia tirar os olhos daquela criatura de quatorze anos, alta, forte e cheia, apertada em um vestido de chita, meio desbotado. Os cabelos grossos, feitos em duas tranças, com as pontas atadas uma à outra, à moda do tempo, desciam-lhe pelas costas. Morena, olhos claros e grandes, nariz reto e comprido, tinha a boca fina e o queixo largo. As mãos, a despeito de alguns ofícios rudes, eram curadas com amor, não cheiravam a sabões finos nem águas de toucador, mas com água do poço e sabão comum trazia-as sem mácula. Calçava sapatos de duraque, rasos e velhos, a que ela mesma dera alguns pontos.”
* “Tinha então pouco mais de dezessete... Aqui devia ser o meio do livro, mas a inexperiência fez-me ir atrás da pena, e chego quase ao fim do papel, com o melhor da narração por dizer. Agora não há mais que levá-la a grandes pernadas, capítulo sobre capítulo, pouca emenda, pouca reflexão, tudo em resumo. Já esta página vale por meses, outras valerão por anos, e assim chegaremos ao fim. Um dos sacrifícios que faço a esta dura necessidade é a análise das minhas emoções dos dezessete anos. Não sei se alguma vez tiveste dezessete anos. Se sim, deves saber que é a idade em que a metade do homem e a metade do menino formam um só curioso. Eu era um curiosíssimo, diria o meu agregado José Dias, e não diria mal. O que essa qualidade superlativa me rendeu não poderia nunca dizê-lo aqui, sem cair no erro que acabo de condenar; a análise das minhas emoções daquele tempo é que entrava no meu plano. Posto que filho do seminário e de minha mãe, sentia já, debaixo do recolhimento casto, uns assomos de petulância e de atrevimento; eram do sangue, mas eram também das moças que na rua ou da janela não me deixavam viver sossegado. Achavam-me lindo, e diziam-mo; algumas queriam mirar de mais perto a minha beleza, e a vaidade é um princípio de corrupção.”
* “Nem eu, nem tu, nem ela, nem qualquer outra pessoa dessa história poderia responder mais, tão certo é que o destino, como todos os dramaturgos, não anuncia as peripécias nem o desfecho. Eles chegam a seu tempo, até que o pano cai, apagam-se as luzes, e os espectadores vão dormir. Nesse gênero há porventura alguma coisa que reformar, e eu proporia, como ensaio, que as peças começassem pelo fim. Otelo mataria a si e a Desdêmona no primeiro ato, os três seguintes seriam dados à ação lenta e decrescente do ciúme, e o último ficaria só com cenas iniciais da ameaça aos turcos, as explicações de Otelo e Desdêmona, e o bom conselho do fino lago: "Mete dinheiro na bolsa". Desta maneira, o espectador, por um lado, acharia no teatro a charada habitual que os periódicos lhe dão, porque os últimos atos explicam o desfecho do primeiro, espécie de conceito, e, por outro lado, ia para a cama com uma boa impressão de ternura e de amor:
Ela amou o que me afligira,
Eu amei a piedade dela.”
Love, jealousy and betrayal are the central themes of Dom Casmurro. If it reminds you of Othello or Madame Bovary, you are not too far off the mark. But, at the same time, it could not be more different. The novel is a memoir told in the first person by Bento or Bentinho, aka Dom Casmurro, his story of enduring love affair with Capitu. The title character tells us of his younger self, his love, courtship, and marriage to a memorable and colorful Capitu.
“Lovers' language, give me an exact and poetic comparison to say what those eyes of Capitu were like. No image comes to mind that doesn't offend against the rules of good style, to say what they were and what they did to me. Undertow eyes? Why not? Undertow. That's the notion that the new expression put in my head. They held some kind of mysterious, active fluid, a force that dragged one in, like the undertow of a wave retreating from the shore on stormy days. So as not to be dragged in, I held onto anything around them, her ears, her arms, her hair spread about her shoulders; but as soon as I returned to the pupils of her eyes again, the wave emerging from them grew towards me, deep and dark, threatening to envelop me, draw me in and swallow me up.”
As you have guessed, we get only his point of view, and the reader may well ask ‘Did Capitu in fact betray Betinho?’ or ‘How would she defend herself if she was here?’ However, we never hear her story, but only Bentinho’s reminiscences. Bentinho love and suspicious nature fuels much of his story, but above all, the mystery is the essence of this masterpiece. Whether Bentinho actually was betrayed is pretty much beside the point. We get all his thoughts as they spew out on the page, as near and familiar as a stream of consciousness as we could imagine for a novel published in 1899. Indeed, Dom Casmurro could have been written yesterday.
The narrator goes ahead with his story and retraces himself, forgets his thoughts, lies both to us and himself, and generally confuses everything up in a series of short chapters (such as: ‘The soul is full of mysteries’; ‘Idea without legs and idea without arms ;’ 'Hangover Eyes' and ‘Shake your head, reader’). And the result is magnificent. Yes, Bentinho appears wicked, funny and loves to withhold his secrets just to reveal them when you least expect. Regardless, he leaves you breathless and almost yelling at him 'Come on, Bentinho, what did Capitu do to you? Please, tell us!'
Despite the supposed betrayal, throughout the novel there is no doubt regarding their love,
"We stood there with heaven in us. Our hands united our nerves, and made of two creatures one-and that one a seraph. Our eyes continued to say infinite things, only the words in our mouths did not attempt to pass our lips; they returned to the heart, silently as they came...."
How can a book published in 1899 seem so contemporary in style and content? That is one of Machado de Assis’s merits. He is revealed here as a master novelist, as he shapes, manipulates, unites, betrays and ultimately disbands his small collection of characters with bold ease. At no point does he go too far or explain too much, leaving the reader to hesitate, question and argue with himself, and, in the end, the reader cannot help but feel compassionate towards Bentinho despite his lies or any truths.
Highly recommended!
--------
Note: Read in Portuguese, although there is an English translation; quotes from Goodreads.
Some more quotes, for those who read Portuguese:
* “Mas a saudade é isto mesmo; é o passar e repassar das memórias antigas”
* “Não podia tirar os olhos daquela criatura de quatorze anos, alta, forte e cheia, apertada em um vestido de chita, meio desbotado. Os cabelos grossos, feitos em duas tranças, com as pontas atadas uma à outra, à moda do tempo, desciam-lhe pelas costas. Morena, olhos claros e grandes, nariz reto e comprido, tinha a boca fina e o queixo largo. As mãos, a despeito de alguns ofícios rudes, eram curadas com amor, não cheiravam a sabões finos nem águas de toucador, mas com água do poço e sabão comum trazia-as sem mácula. Calçava sapatos de duraque, rasos e velhos, a que ela mesma dera alguns pontos.”
* “Tinha então pouco mais de dezessete... Aqui devia ser o meio do livro, mas a inexperiência fez-me ir atrás da pena, e chego quase ao fim do papel, com o melhor da narração por dizer. Agora não há mais que levá-la a grandes pernadas, capítulo sobre capítulo, pouca emenda, pouca reflexão, tudo em resumo. Já esta página vale por meses, outras valerão por anos, e assim chegaremos ao fim. Um dos sacrifícios que faço a esta dura necessidade é a análise das minhas emoções dos dezessete anos. Não sei se alguma vez tiveste dezessete anos. Se sim, deves saber que é a idade em que a metade do homem e a metade do menino formam um só curioso. Eu era um curiosíssimo, diria o meu agregado José Dias, e não diria mal. O que essa qualidade superlativa me rendeu não poderia nunca dizê-lo aqui, sem cair no erro que acabo de condenar; a análise das minhas emoções daquele tempo é que entrava no meu plano. Posto que filho do seminário e de minha mãe, sentia já, debaixo do recolhimento casto, uns assomos de petulância e de atrevimento; eram do sangue, mas eram também das moças que na rua ou da janela não me deixavam viver sossegado. Achavam-me lindo, e diziam-mo; algumas queriam mirar de mais perto a minha beleza, e a vaidade é um princípio de corrupção.”
* “Nem eu, nem tu, nem ela, nem qualquer outra pessoa dessa história poderia responder mais, tão certo é que o destino, como todos os dramaturgos, não anuncia as peripécias nem o desfecho. Eles chegam a seu tempo, até que o pano cai, apagam-se as luzes, e os espectadores vão dormir. Nesse gênero há porventura alguma coisa que reformar, e eu proporia, como ensaio, que as peças começassem pelo fim. Otelo mataria a si e a Desdêmona no primeiro ato, os três seguintes seriam dados à ação lenta e decrescente do ciúme, e o último ficaria só com cenas iniciais da ameaça aos turcos, as explicações de Otelo e Desdêmona, e o bom conselho do fino lago: "Mete dinheiro na bolsa". Desta maneira, o espectador, por um lado, acharia no teatro a charada habitual que os periódicos lhe dão, porque os últimos atos explicam o desfecho do primeiro, espécie de conceito, e, por outro lado, ia para a cama com uma boa impressão de ternura e de amor:
Ela amou o que me afligira,
Eu amei a piedade dela.”
May 15, 2010
Oh, Google you have failed me. I wanted to find a nice list of books written in 1900, or at least in 1899. I failed though.
In 1899 though Nabokov, Hemingway and EB White were all born.
Henry James was somewhere between Turn of the Screw and Wings of the Dove in these years. Mark Twain was still kicking around. The Way of All Flesh was about this time, so was The Awakening by Chopin... I was hoping this list would sound better. But this list will do.
Nothing against any of these authors or their books, but Machado de Assis' Dom Casmurro doesn't feel like any of them. None of those books could be read and be mistaken for anything written in the past 50 years, they are firmly entrenched, like most novels are, in the time they were written. Books of different eras feel different, the language is different, their are formally different. Except for a few anachronisms there is little in Dom Casmurro that feels 'old', to steal what Elizabeth Hardwick writes in her introduction to the book (which I would ignore reading until after you've read the book, really, it's one big fucking spoiler), at a hundred years old this book feels like it could have been written yesterday.
Why he isn't one of the Modernist masters is beyond me, well it's not actually, that is a figure of speech. It's because Modernism in literature is still a decade away from beginning to manifest itself. It is because big fucking capital EM Modernist writing is too fucking big and important for it to originate in some literary back water like Rio de Janeiro. It's because one person writing wonderfully beautiful and groundbreaking literature but without others following suit yet doesn't make a decisive break in the history of literature.
Other reviews probably deal with the injustice of his obscurity better than I am doing here.
The book itself.
This is the simple story of a boy who's mom made a promise to god. Let me have a child that lives, and if it's a boy he'll become a priest. Growing up the boy is immersed in all things Catholic, and even plays at performing mass, all until at one point he realizes his best friend, the girl next door, is in love with him and that the feelings are mutual.
Told in a 148 chapters in 263 pages the novel is something of a Cubist picture told from the perspective of the boy, now a reclusive old man living in a simulacrum of the house he grew up in. It's like super-condensed, Campbell Soup (but without any Warhol connotations) style Proust, with all of the minutia packed into single words and simple phrases but as affecting as pages of luscious prose.
There was this great line that I marked at the moment when the narrator realized that the girl next door had the same feelings for him that he had for her, maybe it was just because it reminded me of Leonard Cohen lyrics, but I liked it:
"I, future padre, thus stood before her as before an altar, and one side of her face was the Epistle and the other the Gospel. It only remained to say the new Mass, in a Latin that no one learns, and that is the catholic language of all men."
In 1899 though Nabokov, Hemingway and EB White were all born.
Henry James was somewhere between Turn of the Screw and Wings of the Dove in these years. Mark Twain was still kicking around. The Way of All Flesh was about this time, so was The Awakening by Chopin... I was hoping this list would sound better. But this list will do.
Nothing against any of these authors or their books, but Machado de Assis' Dom Casmurro doesn't feel like any of them. None of those books could be read and be mistaken for anything written in the past 50 years, they are firmly entrenched, like most novels are, in the time they were written. Books of different eras feel different, the language is different, their are formally different. Except for a few anachronisms there is little in Dom Casmurro that feels 'old', to steal what Elizabeth Hardwick writes in her introduction to the book (which I would ignore reading until after you've read the book, really, it's one big fucking spoiler), at a hundred years old this book feels like it could have been written yesterday.
Why he isn't one of the Modernist masters is beyond me, well it's not actually, that is a figure of speech. It's because Modernism in literature is still a decade away from beginning to manifest itself. It is because big fucking capital EM Modernist writing is too fucking big and important for it to originate in some literary back water like Rio de Janeiro. It's because one person writing wonderfully beautiful and groundbreaking literature but without others following suit yet doesn't make a decisive break in the history of literature.
Other reviews probably deal with the injustice of his obscurity better than I am doing here.
The book itself.
This is the simple story of a boy who's mom made a promise to god. Let me have a child that lives, and if it's a boy he'll become a priest. Growing up the boy is immersed in all things Catholic, and even plays at performing mass, all until at one point he realizes his best friend, the girl next door, is in love with him and that the feelings are mutual.
Told in a 148 chapters in 263 pages the novel is something of a Cubist picture told from the perspective of the boy, now a reclusive old man living in a simulacrum of the house he grew up in. It's like super-condensed, Campbell Soup (but without any Warhol connotations) style Proust, with all of the minutia packed into single words and simple phrases but as affecting as pages of luscious prose.
There was this great line that I marked at the moment when the narrator realized that the girl next door had the same feelings for him that he had for her, maybe it was just because it reminded me of Leonard Cohen lyrics, but I liked it:
"I, future padre, thus stood before her as before an altar, and one side of her face was the Epistle and the other the Gospel. It only remained to say the new Mass, in a Latin that no one learns, and that is the catholic language of all men."
September 30, 2013
Why you should read this novel?
Reasons are not listed in order of importance.
1. This novel is written by Señor Machado de Assis, one of the most-loved Brazilian writers (I can understand why!).
2. The narrator is unreliable, and we as readers know how interesting they could be. Saying Bentinho is interesting would be an understatement.
3. Each chapter starts with a cool title. To name a few: "Idea without legs and idea without arms", "Shake your head, reader", "In which is explained the explained", "Let us enter the chapter" and "The soul is full of mysteries".
4. Brilliant prose. For example:
"We stood there with heaven in us. Our hands united our nerves, and made of two creatures one-and that one a seraph. Our eyes continued to say infinite things, only the words in our mouths did not attempt to pass our lips; they returned to the heart, silently as they came...."
"Lovers' language, give me an exact and poetic comparison to say what those eyes of Capitu were like. No image comes to mind that doesn't offend against the rules of good style, to say what they were and what they did to me. Undertow eyes? Why not? Undertow. That's the notion that the new expression put in my head. They held some kind of mysterious, active fluid, a force that dragged one in, like the undertow of a wave retreating from the shore on stormy days. So as not to be dragged in, I held onto anything around them, her ears, her arms, her hair spread about her shoulders; but as soon as I returned to the pupils of her eyes again, the wave emerging from them grew towards me, deep and dark, threatening to envelop me, draw me in and swallow me up."
5. There is a chapter called "The opera" where an old Italian tenor explains his theory called "Life is an opera" to Bentinho. This is one my favorite chapters and hence, it gets added to my list.
6. Though the subject of this book might seem scandalous (jealousy,adultery,etc.), Assis's humor shines through out the novel. And I like smart-funny novels. Hence, on my list too!
7. Interesting characters. To name a few:
Jose Dias, a lover of superlatives and a dependent of Bentinho's family
Dona Gloria, a god fearing woman and mother of Bentinho
Uncle Cosme, who is just Uncle Cosme
Escobar, Bentinho's best friend
Capitu, a girl with tide-like eyes, with arms better than any woman ever lived or will live, Bentinho's first love and wife, the might-be-might-not-be mother of his child (Now you know why Bentinho is unreliable; the dude is confused and confuses the reader too. But, nonetheless, we as readers turn out to be smarter than him.)
Bentinho, the narrator and one of the most weird, emotional, funny, vulnerable and memorable protagonists I ever came across
8. The narrator constantly voices out to the reader as "dear reader" or "lovely reader", which I find very amusing. To know that there is atleast one person (better if he/she is fictional)in this world who needs your attention is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Bentinho is quite good at making his reader feel important.
So, read it for Bentinho. Listen to the poor guy, you won't be sorry.
Reasons are not listed in order of importance.
1. This novel is written by Señor Machado de Assis, one of the most-loved Brazilian writers (I can understand why!).
2. The narrator is unreliable, and we as readers know how interesting they could be. Saying Bentinho is interesting would be an understatement.
3. Each chapter starts with a cool title. To name a few: "Idea without legs and idea without arms", "Shake your head, reader", "In which is explained the explained", "Let us enter the chapter" and "The soul is full of mysteries".
4. Brilliant prose. For example:
"We stood there with heaven in us. Our hands united our nerves, and made of two creatures one-and that one a seraph. Our eyes continued to say infinite things, only the words in our mouths did not attempt to pass our lips; they returned to the heart, silently as they came...."
"Lovers' language, give me an exact and poetic comparison to say what those eyes of Capitu were like. No image comes to mind that doesn't offend against the rules of good style, to say what they were and what they did to me. Undertow eyes? Why not? Undertow. That's the notion that the new expression put in my head. They held some kind of mysterious, active fluid, a force that dragged one in, like the undertow of a wave retreating from the shore on stormy days. So as not to be dragged in, I held onto anything around them, her ears, her arms, her hair spread about her shoulders; but as soon as I returned to the pupils of her eyes again, the wave emerging from them grew towards me, deep and dark, threatening to envelop me, draw me in and swallow me up."
5. There is a chapter called "The opera" where an old Italian tenor explains his theory called "Life is an opera" to Bentinho. This is one my favorite chapters and hence, it gets added to my list.
6. Though the subject of this book might seem scandalous (jealousy,adultery,etc.), Assis's humor shines through out the novel. And I like smart-funny novels. Hence, on my list too!
7. Interesting characters. To name a few:
Jose Dias, a lover of superlatives and a dependent of Bentinho's family
Dona Gloria, a god fearing woman and mother of Bentinho
Uncle Cosme, who is just Uncle Cosme
Escobar, Bentinho's best friend
Capitu, a girl with tide-like eyes, with arms better than any woman ever lived or will live, Bentinho's first love and wife, the might-be-might-not-be mother of his child (Now you know why Bentinho is unreliable; the dude is confused and confuses the reader too. But, nonetheless, we as readers turn out to be smarter than him.)
Bentinho, the narrator and one of the most weird, emotional, funny, vulnerable and memorable protagonists I ever came across
8. The narrator constantly voices out to the reader as "dear reader" or "lovely reader", which I find very amusing. To know that there is atleast one person (better if he/she is fictional)in this world who needs your attention is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Bentinho is quite good at making his reader feel important.
So, read it for Bentinho. Listen to the poor guy, you won't be sorry.
June 27, 2022
مثل کتاب « خاطرات پس از مرگ براس کوباس» عالی بود. برزیل؟!! دهه ۱۸۹۰؟!! و رمانی اینگونه؟!! واقعاً شگفت انگیز است.
********************************************************************
زندگی اپراست، آن هم اپرایی عظیم.… دوست عزیز، همهچیز موسیقی است. در ابتدا دو بود و از دو، ر در وجود آمد و ایضاً و ایضاً. این جام -بار دیگر پرش کرد-اینجام یک بند ترجیع است. صداش را نمیشنوی؟ تو صدای چوب و سنگ را هم نمیشنوی، اما همه اینها نقشی در این اپرا دارند… . صفحات ۳۴ و ۳۸ کتاب
این بازی چند دقیقه طول کشید؟ تنها ساعت بهشت میتواند آن فاصله زمانی را که بینهایت و درعینحال بسیار کوتاه بود، اندازه بگیرد. ابدیت نواخت خودش را دارد؛ اینکه هرگز به پایان نمیرسد به این معنی نیست که هیچ درکی از طول زمان سعادت یا ملعنت ندارد. لذت و شادمانی رستگاران بهشتی لابد با آگاهی از میزان عذاب دشمنانشان در دوزخ، دو برابر میشود و همچنین لابد عذاب دوزخیان با علم به کم و کیف سعادت دشمنانشان در بهشت، بیشتر میشود. این شکنجه به خصوص از نگاه دانته آسمانی پنهان مانده. صفحه ۹۷ کتاب
دل ما آدمها درست مثل خانههامان است، با چند تا پنجره در هر طرف و کلی چراغ و هوای تازه و اینجور چیزها. بعضی خانهها هم بسته و تاریکند، اصلاً پنجره ندارند، یا فوق فوقش چند تا پنجرهی میلهدار، مثل صومعه یا زندان. بههمینترتیب، نمازخانه و بازار هم داریم و کلبههای محقر و کاخهای مجلل. نمیدانم دل من کدام از اینها بود. صفحه ۱۵۵ کتاب
یکی از کارکردهای آدم این است که چشمهاش را ببندد و همینطور بسته نگه دارد تا ببیند آیا میتواند در شب کهنسالی رؤیایی را ادامه بدهد که در شب جوانی نیمهکاره مانده. صفحهی ۱۷۴ کتاب
من نمیتوانستم دلی را که به آسمان تعلق نداشت و مال زمین بود، به کلیسا تقدیم کنم. صفحه ۲۰۵ کتاب
شما هم لابد از اینجور تعارضها داشتهاید و اگر آدمی مذهبی باشید، لابد گاهی اوقات بهدنبال راهی بودهاید تا آسمان و زمین را با همین تمهید یا چیزی شبیه آن، آشتی بدهید. آسمان و زمین در نهایت با هم آشتی میکنند. اینها کم و بیش دوقلو هستند، آسمان روز دوم خلقشده و زمین روز سوم. صفحه ۲۱۰ کتاب
آی پسرها! عشق. و از همه مهمتر، عشق به زیبارویان؛ اینها علاج هر دردی هستند، اینها فساد و پوسیدگی را عطر آگین میکنند، اینها زندگی را بهجای مرگ مینشانند، آی پسرها! عشق. صفحه ۲۲۱ کتاب
خاطرهی ساده یک جفت چشم کافی است تا ما را به آنجا بکشاند که در چشم دیگری که ما را به یاد آن چشمها میاندازد خیره شویم و از تجسم آن لذت ببریم. صفحه ۲۶۷ کتاب
********************************************************************
زندگی اپراست، آن هم اپرایی عظیم.… دوست عزیز، همهچیز موسیقی است. در ابتدا دو بود و از دو، ر در وجود آمد و ایضاً و ایضاً. این جام -بار دیگر پرش کرد-اینجام یک بند ترجیع است. صداش را نمیشنوی؟ تو صدای چوب و سنگ را هم نمیشنوی، اما همه اینها نقشی در این اپرا دارند… . صفحات ۳۴ و ۳۸ کتاب
این بازی چند دقیقه طول کشید؟ تنها ساعت بهشت میتواند آن فاصله زمانی را که بینهایت و درعینحال بسیار کوتاه بود، اندازه بگیرد. ابدیت نواخت خودش را دارد؛ اینکه هرگز به پایان نمیرسد به این معنی نیست که هیچ درکی از طول زمان سعادت یا ملعنت ندارد. لذت و شادمانی رستگاران بهشتی لابد با آگاهی از میزان عذاب دشمنانشان در دوزخ، دو برابر میشود و همچنین لابد عذاب دوزخیان با علم به کم و کیف سعادت دشمنانشان در بهشت، بیشتر میشود. این شکنجه به خصوص از نگاه دانته آسمانی پنهان مانده. صفحه ۹۷ کتاب
دل ما آدمها درست مثل خانههامان است، با چند تا پنجره در هر طرف و کلی چراغ و هوای تازه و اینجور چیزها. بعضی خانهها هم بسته و تاریکند، اصلاً پنجره ندارند، یا فوق فوقش چند تا پنجرهی میلهدار، مثل صومعه یا زندان. بههمینترتیب، نمازخانه و بازار هم داریم و کلبههای محقر و کاخهای مجلل. نمیدانم دل من کدام از اینها بود. صفحه ۱۵۵ کتاب
یکی از کارکردهای آدم این است که چشمهاش را ببندد و همینطور بسته نگه دارد تا ببیند آیا میتواند در شب کهنسالی رؤیایی را ادامه بدهد که در شب جوانی نیمهکاره مانده. صفحهی ۱۷۴ کتاب
من نمیتوانستم دلی را که به آسمان تعلق نداشت و مال زمین بود، به کلیسا تقدیم کنم. صفحه ۲۰۵ کتاب
شما هم لابد از اینجور تعارضها داشتهاید و اگر آدمی مذهبی باشید، لابد گاهی اوقات بهدنبال راهی بودهاید تا آسمان و زمین را با همین تمهید یا چیزی شبیه آن، آشتی بدهید. آسمان و زمین در نهایت با هم آشتی میکنند. اینها کم و بیش دوقلو هستند، آسمان روز دوم خلقشده و زمین روز سوم. صفحه ۲۱۰ کتاب
آی پسرها! عشق. و از همه مهمتر، عشق به زیبارویان؛ اینها علاج هر دردی هستند، اینها فساد و پوسیدگی را عطر آگین میکنند، اینها زندگی را بهجای مرگ مینشانند، آی پسرها! عشق. صفحه ۲۲۱ کتاب
خاطرهی ساده یک جفت چشم کافی است تا ما را به آنجا بکشاند که در چشم دیگری که ما را به یاد آن چشمها میاندازد خیره شویم و از تجسم آن لذت ببریم. صفحه ۲۶۷ کتاب
October 1, 2017
Um livro tudo, menos óbvio. Machado de Assis orienta o leitor por caminhos que podem ser enganosos. Um único ponto de vista por parte de um narrador nada confiável que desde o início da história, ainda uma criança, ostenta características de um ser inseguro e desconfiado. Logo aqui começa a levar-nos à descrença e a encaminhar-nos no sentido de duvidarmos de todas as evidências por si apontadas. Não havendo provas nem outros pontos de vista, a dúvida dele é a nossa certeza, e Bentinho diagnosticado como lunático.
Mas, e se esta história labiríntica foi criada com o propósito de brincar com o leitor?
E se Machado de Assis, propositadamente, nos guiou pelo caminho da ilusão mais fácil?
E se, à vista do que parecem ser as evidências de um alucinado, estiver a colocar-nos, precisamente, perante a verdade?
Seria um golpe de génio, ou não?
Nunca saberemos.
Mas, e se esta história labiríntica foi criada com o propósito de brincar com o leitor?
E se Machado de Assis, propositadamente, nos guiou pelo caminho da ilusão mais fácil?
E se, à vista do que parecem ser as evidências de um alucinado, estiver a colocar-nos, precisamente, perante a verdade?
Seria um golpe de génio, ou não?
Nunca saberemos.
December 13, 2019
Considerações finais:
1. Bentinho é doido
Capitu nunca trairia ele, e se traísse seria bem feito, até porque ele queria a Sancha.
2. Bentinho é psicopata
Não interessa se é filho biológico dele ou não, é uma criança pura e carinhosa que ama ele, e o desgraçado queria matar a criança porque ele achava que era filho do melhor amigo que ele dizia amar.
3. Bentinho é egocêntrico
O filho que o amava morre e ele diz que teria pago o triplo para nunca mais ter que ver Ezequiel.
4. Bentinho é podre
Desde o início, quando tinha que ir para o seminário, ele nem pensou no peso que seria para a mãe quebrar a promessa, ele só pensava na paixonite em Capitu (que ele dizia amar, mas no final mandou pra Europa e nem respondia direito as cartas).
5. Bentinho precisa de terapia e acompanhamento psiquiátrico
Não é normal haver essa falta de afeto quanto a pessoas que nunca te fizeram mal.
Adorei o livro, superou minhas expectativas.
1. Bentinho é doido
Capitu nunca trairia ele, e se traísse seria bem feito, até porque ele queria a Sancha.
2. Bentinho é psicopata
Não interessa se é filho biológico dele ou não, é uma criança pura e carinhosa que ama ele, e o desgraçado queria matar a criança porque ele achava que era filho do melhor amigo que ele dizia amar.
3. Bentinho é egocêntrico
O filho que o amava morre e ele diz que teria pago o triplo para nunca mais ter que ver Ezequiel.
4. Bentinho é podre
Desde o início, quando tinha que ir para o seminário, ele nem pensou no peso que seria para a mãe quebrar a promessa, ele só pensava na paixonite em Capitu (que ele dizia amar, mas no final mandou pra Europa e nem respondia direito as cartas).
5. Bentinho precisa de terapia e acompanhamento psiquiátrico
Não é normal haver essa falta de afeto quanto a pessoas que nunca te fizeram mal.
Adorei o livro, superou minhas expectativas.
March 1, 2017
Capítulo 99 (de 148):
"A leitora, que é minha amiga e abriu este livro com o fim de descansar da cavatina de ontem para a valsa de hoje, quer fechá-lo às pressas, ao ver que beiramos um abismo. Não faça isso, querida, eu mudo de rumo."
Foi assim, com este jeitinho meigo e divertido, que Machado de Assis me prendeu durante horas a Dom Casmurro - poucas vezes fechei o livro entre a primeira e a última página.
Como quase todos os romances, Dom Casmurro é uma história de amor, acrescida de ciúme e de possível infidelidade. O narrador é Bentinho que suspeita da traição de Capitu, a qual ela desmente e Machado de Assis nunca confirma. As opiniões dos leitores dividem-se entre a culpa e a inocência de Capitu. Será Bento Otelo e, simultaneamente, Iago, ou Capitu foi mesmo infiel? Eu não tenho qualquer dúvida...
"A leitora, que é minha amiga e abriu este livro com o fim de descansar da cavatina de ontem para a valsa de hoje, quer fechá-lo às pressas, ao ver que beiramos um abismo. Não faça isso, querida, eu mudo de rumo."
Foi assim, com este jeitinho meigo e divertido, que Machado de Assis me prendeu durante horas a Dom Casmurro - poucas vezes fechei o livro entre a primeira e a última página.
Como quase todos os romances, Dom Casmurro é uma história de amor, acrescida de ciúme e de possível infidelidade. O narrador é Bentinho que suspeita da traição de Capitu, a qual ela desmente e Machado de Assis nunca confirma. As opiniões dos leitores dividem-se entre a culpa e a inocência de Capitu. Será Bento Otelo e, simultaneamente, Iago, ou Capitu foi mesmo infiel? Eu não tenho qualquer dúvida...
June 23, 2014
I do not know how to review this novel. Reading it was like watching a great chess master play, or like when he shows you a great game he has played. Move by move, you watch, mesmerized. Narrated in the first person, he even teases you every now and then: go here and see this beauty; go back several moves, recall the logic of what has happened; no, could this be really the meaning of what went before? But this is not a mystery novel. There is no crime to solve. Or maybe there is, but one can't be sure. Early on, you'll think this is a love story. I am convinced that I saw here the most masterful dramatization of first love, ever, in literature (or at least the literature I had known, so far). But this isn't a love story as love stories go.
I can only imagine, if this book will be chosen for book discussion of any of the groups here in goodreads, there could be disagreements that could lead to war, which can only be settled in peace if Machado de Assis resurrects (he died in 1908) or if, magically, his characters in this novel come to life and answer our questions.
I can only imagine, if this book will be chosen for book discussion of any of the groups here in goodreads, there could be disagreements that could lead to war, which can only be settled in peace if Machado de Assis resurrects (he died in 1908) or if, magically, his characters in this novel come to life and answer our questions.
Read
January 19, 2022Wow. I had to read more of this author after the fabulous The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas and I'm glad I did. This, like the other, feels so fresh it could have been written yesterday though it's from the 1890s. Linguistically and structurally inventive, with the narrator in constant back and forth with his own text, writing and manipulating it. That kind of thing can easily go right up its own arse: here it does not because of the masterful characterisation. The structural messing about is absolutely part of the MC's unreliable, wavering, yet obstinate personality.
Which is superbly done. This is a story of a spoiled boy whose mother has destined him for the church but who falls in love with the girl next door. It is a love story, absolutely, with some descriptions (particularly of Capitu's 'undertow eyes') that I want to steal for my next romance novel because wow. And it also isn't, because Bento is a deeply flawed and self centred man. And, again, an unreliable narrator because he's so up in his own head, so we don't know if what he reports is the truth--we only see what it does to people's lives.
Just a masterly performance with form and character and everything. The skewering of the suffocating church, Brazil's moribund social structure, and of course slavery are all done through Bento's uncomprehending eyes. The sequence about his neighbour with leprosy is at once the most inhumane and the most deeply and humanly relatable thing I've ever read: it tells you everything you need to know about people, very little of it good.
The translation is good rather than brilliant, and the ebook has a few typos in this edition. I wish I could read this in Portuguese and knew more about Brazil's history because I'm doubtless missing a lot, but even with that caveat this is terrific.
Which is superbly done. This is a story of a spoiled boy whose mother has destined him for the church but who falls in love with the girl next door. It is a love story, absolutely, with some descriptions (particularly of Capitu's 'undertow eyes') that I want to steal for my next romance novel because wow. And it also isn't, because Bento is a deeply flawed and self centred man. And, again, an unreliable narrator because he's so up in his own head, so we don't know if what he reports is the truth--we only see what it does to people's lives.
Just a masterly performance with form and character and everything. The skewering of the suffocating church, Brazil's moribund social structure, and of course slavery are all done through Bento's uncomprehending eyes. The sequence about his neighbour with leprosy is at once the most inhumane and the most deeply and humanly relatable thing I've ever read: it tells you everything you need to know about people, very little of it good.
The translation is good rather than brilliant, and the ebook has a few typos in this edition. I wish I could read this in Portuguese and knew more about Brazil's history because I'm doubtless missing a lot, but even with that caveat this is terrific.
May 12, 2021
Machado de Assis acaba de entrar para o top dos meus escritores preferidos.
Mais vale tarde do que nunca.
Mais vale tarde do que nunca.
March 28, 2019
Dom Casmurro was at first striking to me for its unique setting: Brazil in the mid-19th Century, a place which seems at once familiar and exotic. A place where slavery has not yet been abolished; deeply Catholic, yet modern and European in its sensibilities.
The synopses of this novel tend to focus on the theme of jealousy, but this is not the whole story. For me, the novel is a study of human failings, of our tendency towards self-destruction; the ways in which we are slaves to our nature. There is a kind of amorality, or at least a sense of pessimistic resignation that as humans we inevitably impose on ourselves these subtle tragedies, and though we may feel we can and must rise above them, in fact we cannot help but repeat these same mistakes - we are simply drawn to them by our nature. And it is not that we are evil, only that our passions inherently contain an opposing counterpart – in the case of love, that counterpart is jealousy, which is not love’s antithesis, but is in fact an inseparable component of love itself.
Along with our failings we have been given an incredible capacity for rationalisation, an ability to re-frame and reconcile ourselves to any personal wrongdoing. As Bentinho looks back on his life, we are never really sure which of his reminiscences are fact, and which are a product of this rationalisation. But it is the quality of his experience that is salient, rather than the question of truth. Though we cannot confirm it, we suspect that certain pieces of the narrative have been distorted, and we see exemplified in Bentinho that very human trait - the complete inability to sacrifice the ego. We see what fragile and tragic creatures we are, who are unable to face the fact of who we are in reality; who must instead twist the narratives of our lives so that they can compare tolerably when held up against the ideal self, which we believe ourselves, falsely, to embody.
The synopses of this novel tend to focus on the theme of jealousy, but this is not the whole story. For me, the novel is a study of human failings, of our tendency towards self-destruction; the ways in which we are slaves to our nature. There is a kind of amorality, or at least a sense of pessimistic resignation that as humans we inevitably impose on ourselves these subtle tragedies, and though we may feel we can and must rise above them, in fact we cannot help but repeat these same mistakes - we are simply drawn to them by our nature. And it is not that we are evil, only that our passions inherently contain an opposing counterpart – in the case of love, that counterpart is jealousy, which is not love’s antithesis, but is in fact an inseparable component of love itself.
Along with our failings we have been given an incredible capacity for rationalisation, an ability to re-frame and reconcile ourselves to any personal wrongdoing. As Bentinho looks back on his life, we are never really sure which of his reminiscences are fact, and which are a product of this rationalisation. But it is the quality of his experience that is salient, rather than the question of truth. Though we cannot confirm it, we suspect that certain pieces of the narrative have been distorted, and we see exemplified in Bentinho that very human trait - the complete inability to sacrifice the ego. We see what fragile and tragic creatures we are, who are unable to face the fact of who we are in reality; who must instead twist the narratives of our lives so that they can compare tolerably when held up against the ideal self, which we believe ourselves, falsely, to embody.
August 16, 2020
ماشادو د آسیس نویسنده کتاب دُن کاسمورو با استادگی و چیرگی داستان یک دلدادگی را برای خواننده روایت می کند ، او خواننده را با خود به برزیل قرن نوزدهم می برد ، کشوری که در چنگ خِرافه اسیر است .
بنتو سانتیاگو قهرمان کتاب است ، او کم کم متوجه شده که از دختر همسایه کاپیتو خوشش می آید ، او داستان و شرح خود را از ایام عاشقی که خوش تر از آن نیست تعریف می کند ، روایت خود را می گوید . اما همزمان خواننده عزیز متوجه می شود که به روایت بنتو که حالا در دوران میانسالی با نام دُن کاسمورو شناخته می شود نمی تواند اعتماد کند ، از آنجایی که بنتو در زمان عاشقی نشانه هایی از حسادت و شکاک بودن را از خود نشان داده است این حدس ممکن است در خواننده تقویت شود .
با گذر سالیان ، برزیل وارد دوران مدرنیته می شود و تاثیر این دوران را می توان در آینده بنتو هم دید . دیگر لباس مُد اروپا و فرهنگ اروپایی وارد ریو دوژانیرو خیابانهای آن شده ، اما همزمان داستان هم وارد فاز جدیدی می شود ، روایت سرخوشانه بنتو شتاب می گیرد و در آخر به فاجعه ای ختم می شود ، همه چیز ویران می شود ، خانه خیابان ماتاکاوالوس هم مخروبه می شود ،از خاطرات خوش هم چیزی به جا نمی ماند به جز شک و بدگمانی و تردید .
نویسنده دنیایی ساخته وهم آلود ، شک و تردید حاکم این جهان است ، نویسنده با لحنی جدی اما شاد و سرخوش از دنیای بنتو برای خواننده می گوید ، زیبایی های دنیای او بیشتر حجم کتاب را گرفته اما زمانی که فاجعه رخ می دهد این دنیای زیبا برای بنتو و خواننده وارونه می شود و در انتهای داستان خواننده خود را ناتوان از هر گونه داوری می یابد .
ترجمه کتاب بدون شک بسیار عالی و روان است ، جناب کوثری همانند ترجمه های دیگر خود با استادی روح حاکم بر کتاب را به خواننده منتقل کرده است ، دُن کاسمورو در ترجمه جناب کوثری با لحنی جدی اما سرشار از طنز سخن گفته است . شاید اوج ترجمه کوثری را بتوان در وصف معشوق از زبان عاشق یافت :
طوری جلو او ایستاده بودم که انگار رو به محرابم ، این گونه اش رسالات بود و گونه دیگرش انجیل . دهانش را می توانستی جام بگیری و لبش را نان مقدس . فقط جای نمازی تازه خالی بود .
بنتو سانتیاگو قهرمان کتاب است ، او کم کم متوجه شده که از دختر همسایه کاپیتو خوشش می آید ، او داستان و شرح خود را از ایام عاشقی که خوش تر از آن نیست تعریف می کند ، روایت خود را می گوید . اما همزمان خواننده عزیز متوجه می شود که به روایت بنتو که حالا در دوران میانسالی با نام دُن کاسمورو شناخته می شود نمی تواند اعتماد کند ، از آنجایی که بنتو در زمان عاشقی نشانه هایی از حسادت و شکاک بودن را از خود نشان داده است این حدس ممکن است در خواننده تقویت شود .
با گذر سالیان ، برزیل وارد دوران مدرنیته می شود و تاثیر این دوران را می توان در آینده بنتو هم دید . دیگر لباس مُد اروپا و فرهنگ اروپایی وارد ریو دوژانیرو خیابانهای آن شده ، اما همزمان داستان هم وارد فاز جدیدی می شود ، روایت سرخوشانه بنتو شتاب می گیرد و در آخر به فاجعه ای ختم می شود ، همه چیز ویران می شود ، خانه خیابان ماتاکاوالوس هم مخروبه می شود ،از خاطرات خوش هم چیزی به جا نمی ماند به جز شک و بدگمانی و تردید .
نویسنده دنیایی ساخته وهم آلود ، شک و تردید حاکم این جهان است ، نویسنده با لحنی جدی اما شاد و سرخوش از دنیای بنتو برای خواننده می گوید ، زیبایی های دنیای او بیشتر حجم کتاب را گرفته اما زمانی که فاجعه رخ می دهد این دنیای زیبا برای بنتو و خواننده وارونه می شود و در انتهای داستان خواننده خود را ناتوان از هر گونه داوری می یابد .
ترجمه کتاب بدون شک بسیار عالی و روان است ، جناب کوثری همانند ترجمه های دیگر خود با استادی روح حاکم بر کتاب را به خواننده منتقل کرده است ، دُن کاسمورو در ترجمه جناب کوثری با لحنی جدی اما سرشار از طنز سخن گفته است . شاید اوج ترجمه کوثری را بتوان در وصف معشوق از زبان عاشق یافت :
طوری جلو او ایستاده بودم که انگار رو به محرابم ، این گونه اش رسالات بود و گونه دیگرش انجیل . دهانش را می توانستی جام بگیری و لبش را نان مقدس . فقط جای نمازی تازه خالی بود .
January 10, 2023
Jealousy or "just Bento out of shape"
European students of literature usually concentrate on writers from their own continent, with occasional nods across the Atlantic to North America. Americans have a somewhat more respectful attitude to Europe, but that's all. Neither take the rest of the world all that seriously and that's a big mistake. Among the national literatures most consistently ignored, none has more to offer than Brazil's. Four writers stand out to my mind----J.M. Machado de Assis, Jorge Amado, João Guimaraes Rosa, and Euclides da Cunha---but there are many others. Of these four writers, three have written great books that reveal aspects of Brazilian history, society and culture in rich detail. The fourth, Machado de Assis, (1839-1908) the writer under review here, is much more a universal author. You will not learn very much about 19th century Brazil from his works. Of course, a little bit of knowledge will stick to your brain---slaves, Emperor, eyes on European trends, tropical climate---but it's amazing how little atmosphere or description there is. Machado de Assis never wanted to be a realist; he is very far from writers like Balzac or Zola.
DOM CASMURRO is divided into 148 chapters. Obviously in a book of 277 pages, each chapter cannot be very long. Machado de Assis uses his chapter titles as part of his work, sources of humor, direction, and irony. The novel is arranged as a memoir written by an embittered man in his sixties about the period of his life from roughly ages 15 to 30. When you begin reading, you think that the theme is "coming of age in Brazil" as the author describes his early romantic attachment to the girl next door and his struggle to avoid the seminary and a priestly future. His family members emerge as complex, interesting and somewhat amusing characters. Machado de Assis is strong on irony, whimsy, and a kind of self-deprecating humor. He also likes creating or using aphorisms and epigrams, of which the novel is full. Slowly he weaves an amazing, complicated story of jealousy and bitterness. Though initially it seemed clear to me that Bento, the main character, was justified in his jealousy of his best friend, the author never takes sides. He allows Bento to write that his wife had betrayed him, but Capitú, the wife, never admits it. On reviewing all the evidence, I have to admit that everything is seen only from Bento's point of view. According to your nature, you will decide yourself on finishing this subtle and well-written classic that deserves a place alongside the best that Europe and America have to offer.
European students of literature usually concentrate on writers from their own continent, with occasional nods across the Atlantic to North America. Americans have a somewhat more respectful attitude to Europe, but that's all. Neither take the rest of the world all that seriously and that's a big mistake. Among the national literatures most consistently ignored, none has more to offer than Brazil's. Four writers stand out to my mind----J.M. Machado de Assis, Jorge Amado, João Guimaraes Rosa, and Euclides da Cunha---but there are many others. Of these four writers, three have written great books that reveal aspects of Brazilian history, society and culture in rich detail. The fourth, Machado de Assis, (1839-1908) the writer under review here, is much more a universal author. You will not learn very much about 19th century Brazil from his works. Of course, a little bit of knowledge will stick to your brain---slaves, Emperor, eyes on European trends, tropical climate---but it's amazing how little atmosphere or description there is. Machado de Assis never wanted to be a realist; he is very far from writers like Balzac or Zola.
DOM CASMURRO is divided into 148 chapters. Obviously in a book of 277 pages, each chapter cannot be very long. Machado de Assis uses his chapter titles as part of his work, sources of humor, direction, and irony. The novel is arranged as a memoir written by an embittered man in his sixties about the period of his life from roughly ages 15 to 30. When you begin reading, you think that the theme is "coming of age in Brazil" as the author describes his early romantic attachment to the girl next door and his struggle to avoid the seminary and a priestly future. His family members emerge as complex, interesting and somewhat amusing characters. Machado de Assis is strong on irony, whimsy, and a kind of self-deprecating humor. He also likes creating or using aphorisms and epigrams, of which the novel is full. Slowly he weaves an amazing, complicated story of jealousy and bitterness. Though initially it seemed clear to me that Bento, the main character, was justified in his jealousy of his best friend, the author never takes sides. He allows Bento to write that his wife had betrayed him, but Capitú, the wife, never admits it. On reviewing all the evidence, I have to admit that everything is seen only from Bento's point of view. According to your nature, you will decide yourself on finishing this subtle and well-written classic that deserves a place alongside the best that Europe and America have to offer.
March 12, 2020
(review in English below)
Nem sei o que dizer!...
Que escrita fantástica! Quero mais!
A maneira como a história é contada, em retrospectiva mas com tanta "cor", os capítulos curtos, por vezes curtíssimos, o humor na dose certa, até a forma como o narrador/protagonista se dirige ao leitor ou leitora, consoante mais lhe convém, tudo do melhor!
Se o resto da obra de Machado de Assis tiver esta qualidade, acho que encontrei um novo autor favorito!
I'm at a loss for words!...
What a fantastic writing! I want more!
The way the story is told, in retrospective but with so much "colour", the short - sometimes very short - chapters, the wisely dosed humour, even the way the narrator/protagonist addresses the reader (him or her, at his convenience), all of it is really the best!
If Machado de Assis' other works have this kind of quality, I think I found myself a new favourite author!
Nem sei o que dizer!...
Que escrita fantástica! Quero mais!
A maneira como a história é contada, em retrospectiva mas com tanta "cor", os capítulos curtos, por vezes curtíssimos, o humor na dose certa, até a forma como o narrador/protagonista se dirige ao leitor ou leitora, consoante mais lhe convém, tudo do melhor!
Se o resto da obra de Machado de Assis tiver esta qualidade, acho que encontrei um novo autor favorito!
I'm at a loss for words!...
What a fantastic writing! I want more!
The way the story is told, in retrospective but with so much "colour", the short - sometimes very short - chapters, the wisely dosed humour, even the way the narrator/protagonist addresses the reader (him or her, at his convenience), all of it is really the best!
If Machado de Assis' other works have this kind of quality, I think I found myself a new favourite author!
January 13, 2020
Ao leitor desta obra de Machado de Assis não faltarão divertimento e satisfação literária. Porém, o bom leitor ficará inevitavelmente aquém do quanto se divertiu e satisfez o autor com a escrita.
Irónica fábula de costumes às mãos de um narrador que tem tanto de cândido como de indigno de fiança, «Dom Casmurro» a ninguém canoniza e a todos descobre faltas capitais, mesmo nos designados (expressa ou tacitamente) «santos».
Perde no desequilíbrio entre a parte primeira e a segunda, que embora espelhando o ritmo da passagem do tempo sob a perspectiva do narrador, priva o leitor do muito que poderia do detalhe devido pela riqueza (somente insinuada e voluntariamente omissa) da trama criada.
Na qualidade de pessoa que usa termos jurídicos em humor quotidiano, e de testemunha com ampla razão de ciência sobre os meandros da beatice e da sua criatividade em renegociação de dívidas para com o Senhor, registei com gáudio as plúrimas passagens de dissertação em fluxo de consciência sobre a particular doutrina beato-legal de Bentinho e os seus.
Uma maravilha.
Irónica fábula de costumes às mãos de um narrador que tem tanto de cândido como de indigno de fiança, «Dom Casmurro» a ninguém canoniza e a todos descobre faltas capitais, mesmo nos designados (expressa ou tacitamente) «santos».
Perde no desequilíbrio entre a parte primeira e a segunda, que embora espelhando o ritmo da passagem do tempo sob a perspectiva do narrador, priva o leitor do muito que poderia do detalhe devido pela riqueza (somente insinuada e voluntariamente omissa) da trama criada.
Na qualidade de pessoa que usa termos jurídicos em humor quotidiano, e de testemunha com ampla razão de ciência sobre os meandros da beatice e da sua criatividade em renegociação de dívidas para com o Senhor, registei com gáudio as plúrimas passagens de dissertação em fluxo de consciência sobre a particular doutrina beato-legal de Bentinho e os seus.
Uma maravilha.
October 20, 2019
Não sei se traiu; mas se traiu tava certa pq Bentinho era chato pra caramba.
January 6, 2022
A única pergunta que me vem à cabeça é : "Como é que eu nunca li este livro?"
Fiquei rendida logo na primeira frase "...um rapaz aqui do bairro, que eu conheço de vista e de chapéu". Que maravilha!
É tudo sublime, a escrita, a história e os seus moradores. Li-o de uma assentada e tenho pena de o ter feito. Gostava de ter passado mais tempo a degustar esta pérola.
Não podia ter escolhido um melhor primeiro livro do ano.
Fiquei rendida logo na primeira frase "...um rapaz aqui do bairro, que eu conheço de vista e de chapéu". Que maravilha!
É tudo sublime, a escrita, a história e os seus moradores. Li-o de uma assentada e tenho pena de o ter feito. Gostava de ter passado mais tempo a degustar esta pérola.
Não podia ter escolhido um melhor primeiro livro do ano.
September 10, 2015
Dom Casmurro is about a lifelong love affair in which one person betrays the other; the mystery is who has done the betraying. The narrator doubles back on himself, loses track of his thoughts, lies both to us and to himself, and generally mucks everything up in a series of short,sharp chapters with titles like "Let us proceed to the chapter" and "Let us enter the chapter." Machado de Assis is apparently Brazil's best-loved author and an antecedent of the magical realist style, and I'd never heard of him until this year. Exciting! And this book is weird and wonderful.
Early on, a minor character explains that life is an opera. Not metaphorically. Satan, "a young maestro with a great future," is cast out of the conservatory of heaven after rebelling, but not before stealing a cast-off libretto of God's. He turns it into a full opera and begs God to hear it. At last God relents, but refuses to have it played in heaven; instead, he creates this world as a special stage to hear Satan's composition - which, in the lonely fleshing out, has accidentally lost or distorted some of God's themes. "Indeed in some places the words go to the right and the music to the left...Certain motifs grow wearisome from repetition. There are obscure passages...and there are some who say that this is the beauty of the composition and keeps it from being monotonous." That's cool, right? It's even better in context.
The foreword by Elizabeth Hardwick spoils everything. You should basically always read forewords last.
Heather suggested that Tolstoy's novella The Kreutzer Sonata would make a good companion read, so I obediently read that next; she was totally right. They go together perfectly.
Early on, a minor character explains that life is an opera. Not metaphorically. Satan, "a young maestro with a great future," is cast out of the conservatory of heaven after rebelling, but not before stealing a cast-off libretto of God's. He turns it into a full opera and begs God to hear it. At last God relents, but refuses to have it played in heaven; instead, he creates this world as a special stage to hear Satan's composition - which, in the lonely fleshing out, has accidentally lost or distorted some of God's themes. "Indeed in some places the words go to the right and the music to the left...Certain motifs grow wearisome from repetition. There are obscure passages...and there are some who say that this is the beauty of the composition and keeps it from being monotonous." That's cool, right? It's even better in context.
The foreword by Elizabeth Hardwick spoils everything. You should basically always read forewords last.
Heather suggested that Tolstoy's novella The Kreutzer Sonata would make a good companion read, so I obediently read that next; she was totally right. They go together perfectly.
November 23, 2018
Reler Dom casmurro foi um grande prazer..
que livro delicioso de se ler com seus capítulos curtos e adoráveis .Machado de Assis tem um jeitinho especial de escrever que nos cativa, seu jeito de interagir com o leitor é um recurso fantástico. ..A história também ajuda , uma grande história de amor com todos os ingredientes peculiares possíveis ; ciumes, promessas e talvez traição! O grande mistério ainda persiste não dá saber se realmente Capitu traiu Bentinho, cada leitor terá sua interpretação, eu particularmente acho que não. ..Ótimo livro
que livro delicioso de se ler com seus capítulos curtos e adoráveis .Machado de Assis tem um jeitinho especial de escrever que nos cativa, seu jeito de interagir com o leitor é um recurso fantástico. ..A história também ajuda , uma grande história de amor com todos os ingredientes peculiares possíveis ; ciumes, promessas e talvez traição! O grande mistério ainda persiste não dá saber se realmente Capitu traiu Bentinho, cada leitor terá sua interpretação, eu particularmente acho que não. ..Ótimo livro
May 11, 2019
Dom Casmurro é um daqueles clássicos que queria ler há muito. No fim, continuo a gostar de Machado de Assis, mas não por causa deste livro - ele que me perdoe -, antes por causa de O Alienista. Esse, sim, achei 5 estrelas.
Pela Capitu e pelo Ezequiel, 3 🌟. Já o Casmurro Bentinho da história conseguiu conquistar a minha antipatia eterna.
Quanto ao desenrolar da trama, aguardamos que as pontas se liguem, mas elas permanecem soltas. Podem dizer-me que é como na vida... Assim será.
Palavras-chave para a obra? Por ordem cronológica, serão amor, amizade, ciúmes, casmurrice, egoísmo e insensibilidade.
Fica um gosto amargo, sem aprendizagem.
Contudo, caro leitor (como diria Assis), leia, leia, e tire as suas próprias conclusões.
Pela Capitu e pelo Ezequiel, 3 🌟. Já o Casmurro Bentinho da história conseguiu conquistar a minha antipatia eterna.
Quanto ao desenrolar da trama, aguardamos que as pontas se liguem, mas elas permanecem soltas. Podem dizer-me que é como na vida... Assim será.
Palavras-chave para a obra? Por ordem cronológica, serão amor, amizade, ciúmes, casmurrice, egoísmo e insensibilidade.
Fica um gosto amargo, sem aprendizagem.
Contudo, caro leitor (como diria Assis), leia, leia, e tire as suas próprias conclusões.
December 20, 2017
My arms and my hands were practically shaking yesterday while I was in the last 50 pages of this book. One of those novels with perfect denouement. I immediately sent a text message to my brother (who gave this 5 stars) and our friend (who wants to borrow this book so I had to squeeze this in to my already tight queue of to-be-read books) telling them how beautiful this book was. I am glad I forced myself to read this now. I also told them that I was planning to dislike this book to avenge Roberto Bolano's 2666 that I rated with 5 stars and excitedly lent it to my brother. He read it and gave it a 1 star. You see, Dom Casmurro, got 5 stars from him and so when I was about to start this, I thought why not do the same to him? But I COULD NOT. This novel is too brilliantly-written especially the last 50 pages. It would have been a big injustice to Machado de Assis if I used him just to appease my hurt feelings for my idol Roberto Bolano. Anyway, there are other 5-star books in my brother's read folder that I am still to read hahaha. May araw ka rin, kuya!
Why I do I like the last 50 pages? Because I shook in anticipation. The book is told in first person by the BEST unreliable narrator that I've read so far in my almost four years of voracious reading. Prior to this, I thought that the best in my book was the guy in Julian Barnes' 2011 Booker winner, The Sense of an Ending (4 stars). This 1899 book by Machado de Assis truly pushed to the edge the meaning of unreliable narrator for me. Bentinho a.k.a., Dom Casmurro is wicked, childish yet funny and he has this habit to withholding his secrets until your hands and arms are shaking in excitement murmuring what now? come on. what's the truth? tell me!
But, why am I not giving this a full 5 stars? Take note that I am not giving you any hint on what was revealed in those last 50 pages. That part was the "real deal" in this book and I want you to enjoy it as much as I did. However, the book's composition for me is like this:
I love this book!
Why I do I like the last 50 pages? Because I shook in anticipation. The book is told in first person by the BEST unreliable narrator that I've read so far in my almost four years of voracious reading. Prior to this, I thought that the best in my book was the guy in Julian Barnes' 2011 Booker winner, The Sense of an Ending (4 stars). This 1899 book by Machado de Assis truly pushed to the edge the meaning of unreliable narrator for me. Bentinho a.k.a., Dom Casmurro is wicked, childish yet funny and he has this habit to withholding his secrets until your hands and arms are shaking in excitement murmuring what now? come on. what's the truth? tell me!
But, why am I not giving this a full 5 stars? Take note that I am not giving you any hint on what was revealed in those last 50 pages. That part was the "real deal" in this book and I want you to enjoy it as much as I did. However, the book's composition for me is like this:
first 1-50: 3 stars (interesting)You really have to finish the book to appreciate the story. I have a feeling that those who gave this a 1-star rating were those who were not able to bear the arduous and tiresome middle. For those who don't care about spoilers, here is the breakdown for those 155 pages comprising the middle of the book:
middle 155 pages: 2 or sometimes 1 star (it's okay to sometimes boring.)
last 50 pages: 5 stars (amazing!)
Reading this book is like passing through a long dark tunnel. You appreciate more the bright light at the end of it because of the dark boring path that you want to pass through.
I love this book!
August 17, 2019
Remember those days when growing up in a Catholic household the mother always wanted the male child to enter into Seminary School so they could become a priest? After all, mothers know best. And maybe win some celestial favour.
Our stubborn young Bentinho has his path made clear thanks to mom. But like every great story, why not add in a love interest, Capitu. Talk about a monkey wrench. Temptation is too great; temptation is a sin as well. Add in SenhorJosé Dias, Tío Cosme and prima Justina for commentary and moral reflection. Add in a good friend Escobar from the Seminary to widen our young Bentinho and Sancha to tempt. Bentinho is a very jealous man; envious of everyone.
Thus you have a Brazilian version of a Shakespearean comedy (minus the rhyming couplets). What a true comedy of errors. A real treat to read. Obrigado Susana!
Just came across an interesting article via Radio Ambulante.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/14/bo...
Our stubborn young Bentinho has his path made clear thanks to mom. But like every great story, why not add in a love interest, Capitu. Talk about a monkey wrench. Temptation is too great; temptation is a sin as well. Add in SenhorJosé Dias, Tío Cosme and prima Justina for commentary and moral reflection. Add in a good friend Escobar from the Seminary to widen our young Bentinho and Sancha to tempt. Bentinho is a very jealous man; envious of everyone.
Thus you have a Brazilian version of a Shakespearean comedy (minus the rhyming couplets). What a true comedy of errors. A real treat to read. Obrigado Susana!
Just came across an interesting article via Radio Ambulante.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/14/bo...
October 9, 2020
Os entendidos na matéria defendem que o amor é cego. Daí que, imbuído pela sua alma lírica, Camões terá apregoado que "Amor é fogo que arde sem se ver". Curioso que, caindo no paradoxo, muitas das relações são seladas através da troca de olhares. De facto, os assuntos do Eros encontram-se pejados de incongruências, falácias, mal entendidos e tristezas, temperados com um picante de desejo (com)prometido.
Escalpelizando os assuntos do coração, Machado de Assis cria um personagem pomposo mas mesquinho, abençoado mas tacanhos, cujo cognome se mantém na mente - Dom Casmurro. Este é um homem comodista, conformista e cruel que, ruminando os seus pensamentos, tenta a qualquer custo atingir os objectivos traçados, de forma dissimulada e esquiva. Apesar do holofote estar sob um execrável Bentinho, o cenário é mais amplo e permite uma bem conseguida crítica a uma sociedade de interesses e regalias, numa quase crónica de (maus) costumes. Para amenizar estes componentes mais negativos, o autor faz uso de uma linguajar cómico, pleno de diminutivos. O requerimento de uma potencial empatia, por parte do leitor, é completo ainda por capítulos de antevisão e preparo, outros de explicação de actos e factos, onde abundam expressões sublimes - alimento para futuras reflexões maiores.
Coloca-se, pois, o dedo numa ferida em contínua sangria - a masculinidade tóxica. Essa que funda uma redoma de vidro em todo o mundo, sufocando-o. Nesta asfixia constante, dissipa-se o oxigénio que alimentaria a chama da paixão. Assim, ela extingue-se e cai por terra um embotamento global - existências de não existência. A isso é preciso dizer "Não!", num tom decidido. Quanto às eterna questão, respondo com outra: "Quem terá traído primeiro?".
"Se só me faltassem os outros, vá, um homem consola-se mais ou menos das pessoas que perde; mas falto eu mesmo, e está lacuna é tudo."
Escalpelizando os assuntos do coração, Machado de Assis cria um personagem pomposo mas mesquinho, abençoado mas tacanhos, cujo cognome se mantém na mente - Dom Casmurro. Este é um homem comodista, conformista e cruel que, ruminando os seus pensamentos, tenta a qualquer custo atingir os objectivos traçados, de forma dissimulada e esquiva. Apesar do holofote estar sob um execrável Bentinho, o cenário é mais amplo e permite uma bem conseguida crítica a uma sociedade de interesses e regalias, numa quase crónica de (maus) costumes. Para amenizar estes componentes mais negativos, o autor faz uso de uma linguajar cómico, pleno de diminutivos. O requerimento de uma potencial empatia, por parte do leitor, é completo ainda por capítulos de antevisão e preparo, outros de explicação de actos e factos, onde abundam expressões sublimes - alimento para futuras reflexões maiores.
Coloca-se, pois, o dedo numa ferida em contínua sangria - a masculinidade tóxica. Essa que funda uma redoma de vidro em todo o mundo, sufocando-o. Nesta asfixia constante, dissipa-se o oxigénio que alimentaria a chama da paixão. Assim, ela extingue-se e cai por terra um embotamento global - existências de não existência. A isso é preciso dizer "Não!", num tom decidido. Quanto às eterna questão, respondo com outra: "Quem terá traído primeiro?".
"Se só me faltassem os outros, vá, um homem consola-se mais ou menos das pessoas que perde; mas falto eu mesmo, e está lacuna é tudo."
May 5, 2021
Esta é daquelas obras da qual sempre manifestei curiosidade. Para além do desfecho enigmático também é considerado o romance mais belo da América. Machado de Assis intriga-nos com a sua bela Capitu. Culpada ou inocente. Dessimulada ou honrada. Quem se escondia por detrás daqueles olhos de cigana?
Na minha prespectiva Bentinho é um "Otelo", movido pelo ciúme acusa a mulher de adultério por simples suposições. Precisávamos da prespectiva da Capitu para entender melhor todo este trama. Para mim ela se mostra inocente. Contudo nunca haverá certezas. Será uma dúvida que permanecerá para nós eternos leitores.
Na minha prespectiva Bentinho é um "Otelo", movido pelo ciúme acusa a mulher de adultério por simples suposições. Precisávamos da prespectiva da Capitu para entender melhor todo este trama. Para mim ela se mostra inocente. Contudo nunca haverá certezas. Será uma dúvida que permanecerá para nós eternos leitores.
August 15, 2022
Read to the tune of "Your Cheating Heart" on Youtube.
DOM CASMURRO ambles out of the gate as a 19th-century, Brazilian coming-of-age story (I'd say it in Portuguese but my polyglot is rusty). Leisurely (thus, "ambles") in the beginning and middle, its chief interest is the tone and style. Sure, it's a translation, but a translator can't even pull this off. Machado de Assis is (cliche alert!) a man before his time if ever there was one. Short chapters. Pithy asides. Ironic humor. Frank admissions. Certified organic navel gazing. The whole nine Portuguese yards.
Bento Santiago, our hero, is winsome as first-person narrators tend to be. Put that in your memory bank and collect interest for the end. At a very young age he falls in love with and vows to marry a girl named Capitú (Portuguese for "captivating," for all I know). She's feisty, lovely, and has "eyes like the tide" (the gene pool at high tide, in other words). Soon after, enter a new best friend from the seminary, where the reluctant Bento is sent to be a priest by his saint-like mother. This friend, Escobar, is one of those characters who creeps up on you (if you're listening, you can hear the audience shouting warnings in the way of all dramatic ironists). His stock rises as the novel progresses. In short, he is the catalyst that builds interest, that makes a good novel a better one.
In fact, by the very end, the novel comes on gangbusters. Plot, you ask? Pshaw! (Portuguese for "no, you silly fool.") Intrigue! Jealousy! The green-eyed monster! It's no accident that allusions to OTHELLO start to drop like raindrops in Seattle as our protagonist -- the man who thinks too much -- starts to think maybe his friend and his wife have an "in" with "fidelity" or something. Ah... the age-old triangle. It's either Man, Best Friend, Wife or Wife, Best Friend, Man.
At this point the unreliable narrator card is played. We ignore him at our own risk EVERY time we read a 1st-person POV book, but who can blame us? We LIKE having a best friend in the book's numero uno. We LIKE being confided in so openly. But do we like having to second guess ourselves, much less our amiable friend? No sirree Bob (Roberto, whatever).
Now we're into strange terrain. Now we're looking around for the GPS to a lady's heart. And we (read: guys) ALL know how dependable THOSE are.
Nice finish. A thinking man's finish. And a thoroughly-readable add-to-your-near-empty-South-American resume book.
DOM CASMURRO ambles out of the gate as a 19th-century, Brazilian coming-of-age story (I'd say it in Portuguese but my polyglot is rusty). Leisurely (thus, "ambles") in the beginning and middle, its chief interest is the tone and style. Sure, it's a translation, but a translator can't even pull this off. Machado de Assis is (cliche alert!) a man before his time if ever there was one. Short chapters. Pithy asides. Ironic humor. Frank admissions. Certified organic navel gazing. The whole nine Portuguese yards.
Bento Santiago, our hero, is winsome as first-person narrators tend to be. Put that in your memory bank and collect interest for the end. At a very young age he falls in love with and vows to marry a girl named Capitú (Portuguese for "captivating," for all I know). She's feisty, lovely, and has "eyes like the tide" (the gene pool at high tide, in other words). Soon after, enter a new best friend from the seminary, where the reluctant Bento is sent to be a priest by his saint-like mother. This friend, Escobar, is one of those characters who creeps up on you (if you're listening, you can hear the audience shouting warnings in the way of all dramatic ironists). His stock rises as the novel progresses. In short, he is the catalyst that builds interest, that makes a good novel a better one.
In fact, by the very end, the novel comes on gangbusters. Plot, you ask? Pshaw! (Portuguese for "no, you silly fool.") Intrigue! Jealousy! The green-eyed monster! It's no accident that allusions to OTHELLO start to drop like raindrops in Seattle as our protagonist -- the man who thinks too much -- starts to think maybe his friend and his wife have an "in" with "fidelity" or something. Ah... the age-old triangle. It's either Man, Best Friend, Wife or Wife, Best Friend, Man.
At this point the unreliable narrator card is played. We ignore him at our own risk EVERY time we read a 1st-person POV book, but who can blame us? We LIKE having a best friend in the book's numero uno. We LIKE being confided in so openly. But do we like having to second guess ourselves, much less our amiable friend? No sirree Bob (Roberto, whatever).
Now we're into strange terrain. Now we're looking around for the GPS to a lady's heart. And we (read: guys) ALL know how dependable THOSE are.
Nice finish. A thinking man's finish. And a thoroughly-readable add-to-your-near-empty-South-American resume book.
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