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blueyorkie's review against another edition
5.0
A tale with multiple voices, The Splendor of Portugal recounts the end of Portuguese colonialism in Angola. The reader is immersing in revolution and civil war through the life of a family of Portuguese origin.
A mother, widow, and her three children Carlos, Clarisse and Rui the young son - It is a bit like the story of the impossible family, either treason, deception, or a defect, abnormality.
Each new chapter projects like flashes the intimate thoughts and reflections, without censorship, of a character.
The little story of the family is as if projected on a screen, at very different times in the life of the characters (childhood, youth, adult life or old age of the mother) without worrying about the chronology.
Time is bursting. From one chapter to another, we go from 1984 to 1995, 1978, 1980, each time we need a moment of reader’s adaptation to understand who is speaking.
The novel began on December 24, 1995, and it is Carlos who, in Lisbon, invited his sister Clarisse and his brother Rui to spend Christmas Eve. But his wait will be in vain.
He married Lena, a white woman from the slums (nicknamed the “slum.” And this woman, knowing her origins, refuses to have a child with him. She does not want a mixed-race child. It is more stigmatizing to be black than poor in colonial and post-colonial society. The rejection of the other and segregation also have their hierarchy.
Beyond the story of the end of Portuguese colonialism in Angola, the novel illustrates the impossible communication between people. Everyone monologue does not hear the others, interprets, transforms through his prism. It is undoubtedly here the psychiatrist Antonio Lobo Antunes who speaks. Each occupies a place from which he perceives things. Similarly, each protagonist says without following a common thread, according to his thoughts, as it comes to him. A bit like on the couch of a shrink where he would let himself go and tell himself without a deliberate plan, without sorting, without judging.
The Splendor of Portugal is a powerful novel that marks all the more as the violence of colonialism, revolution and war illustrate through the deep and indelible imprint they leave in the psyche of human beings.
Therefore, to read, both document this period in the History of Angola and Portugal and begin a History reflection and individual stories (universal).
A mother, widow, and her three children Carlos, Clarisse and Rui the young son - It is a bit like the story of the impossible family, either treason, deception, or a defect, abnormality.
Each new chapter projects like flashes the intimate thoughts and reflections, without censorship, of a character.
The little story of the family is as if projected on a screen, at very different times in the life of the characters (childhood, youth, adult life or old age of the mother) without worrying about the chronology.
Time is bursting. From one chapter to another, we go from 1984 to 1995, 1978, 1980, each time we need a moment of reader’s adaptation to understand who is speaking.
The novel began on December 24, 1995, and it is Carlos who, in Lisbon, invited his sister Clarisse and his brother Rui to spend Christmas Eve. But his wait will be in vain.
He married Lena, a white woman from the slums (nicknamed the “slum.” And this woman, knowing her origins, refuses to have a child with him. She does not want a mixed-race child. It is more stigmatizing to be black than poor in colonial and post-colonial society. The rejection of the other and segregation also have their hierarchy.
Beyond the story of the end of Portuguese colonialism in Angola, the novel illustrates the impossible communication between people. Everyone monologue does not hear the others, interprets, transforms through his prism. It is undoubtedly here the psychiatrist Antonio Lobo Antunes who speaks. Each occupies a place from which he perceives things. Similarly, each protagonist says without following a common thread, according to his thoughts, as it comes to him. A bit like on the couch of a shrink where he would let himself go and tell himself without a deliberate plan, without sorting, without judging.
The Splendor of Portugal is a powerful novel that marks all the more as the violence of colonialism, revolution and war illustrate through the deep and indelible imprint they leave in the psyche of human beings.
Therefore, to read, both document this period in the History of Angola and Portugal and begin a History reflection and individual stories (universal).
mikk's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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