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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The ending was a bit of a surprise, but I think it works well. It took a minute to get used to the writing style, but once you get the hang of it the rhythm really flows.
Federico and Lourenço are brothers, but one is light-skinned and the other dark - despite their shared upbringing in Porto Alegre, their lives have followed quite different trajectories…
In theory, this was an interesting depiction of racism, colourism and the balance of power in southern Brazil, specifically Porto Alegre, and the way it manifests both societally and institutionally within universities. Through the storyline that deals with the governmental committee looking into affirmative action in university applications, we also get a glimpse of the politics surrounding Brazil’s wider racial conversation.
Unfortunately, I really struggled with the incredibly dense writing style - it was such hard work that it got in the way of the story and I never managed to get into the flow of it. It also took a while for the story’s direction to become clear - I spent the first third wondering where the story was going, then after 85ish pages, Scott meandered away from the sub-committee storyline and I found myself invested in what was going to happen.
And then Scott leaves us in the lurch at the end - I read this back in May and am still fuming over how utterly unsatisfactory the ending is. There’s leaving things open-ended and then there’s…abandoning the reader in what feels like the middle of the story. I was left with so many questions - it feels like there should be a sequel (though if there is, I likely won’t be reading it).
I greatly appreciated the Translator’s Note - Hahn discusses some of the choices he made and has some interesting points around having to consider the differing connotations of words across languages and even geographically within the same language and how that plays into translation.
A meandering story of racism and power in southern Brazil, deeply dissatisfying due to the absurdly dense writing and completely inconclusive ending.
The ending is so insanely sudden that I actually gasped, so that's really something. Regardless, Scott's novel is JUICY. There are a hundred different plot threads that are dropped and recur and are finished but are still somewhat left entirely open but they're done! There's a racial quota commission, a mid-life crisis, a gun, bureaucratic harassment, a teenage girl that may or may not be primed for terrorist action, and more. It's thrilling. All of these chunky, multiclausal sentences (which really seem to be the globally chic literary mode these past few years) come together as an extremely close character study of Federico, a white-passing mixed man who struggles to understand his brother's black experience and does everything in his power to work against racism but is, instead, just consumed by a deep-set (probably intergenerational) rage. Also cool to see Brazil's conception of race, because it does not really match up with America's. Much to glean and learn. I wish I knew people who have read/are reading this so we could just have a pleasant chat. Where's the book club?
A maneira que o autor escreve me assustou de início. Sem muita diferença de alternância de narrador para diálogos e texto praticamente contínuo do início ao fim. Mas depois de me acostumar com isso, foi uma leitura perfeita pra mim.
Ler de maneira tão clara algumas vivências que eu passei me deixou de boca aberta. Até agora não tinha lido nada que falasse de maneira tão clara questões de colorismo na sociedade brasileira.
Era disso que eu tava precisando. Obrigado Paulo Scott
Dicas de livros e séries:
TikTok
Instagram
Ler de maneira tão clara algumas vivências que eu passei me deixou de boca aberta. Até agora não tinha lido nada que falasse de maneira tão clara questões de colorismo na sociedade brasileira.
Era disso que eu tava precisando. Obrigado Paulo Scott
Dicas de livros e séries:
TikTok
Gostei bastante. Quando acabou, fiquei com vontade de mais (não de um jeito ruim, como se o fim não tivesse sido suficiente).
É só que leria mais uma quantas páginas de um livro como esse.
É só que leria mais uma quantas páginas de um livro como esse.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This was a great story, with really interesting well developed characters, with a fascinating window into Brasilian life and race, or a particular Brasilian life. However the writing style made reading the text quite difficult. It's a "consciousness stream" style of narrative that didn't really work for me.
However, the story was great, and would still recommend.
However, the story was great, and would still recommend.
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
medium-paced