A review by eni_iilorak
Macunaíma: Der Held ohne jeden Charakter by Mário de Andrade

adventurous challenging informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No

[English below]

Die Übersetzung von Curt Meyer-Clason verdient einen Preis. Das muss eine echte Herausforderung gewesen sein. Auch in der Übersetzung hat das Buch einen ganz besonderen Rhythmus, und das ist der wesentliche Grund, weshalb es sich toll liest. Für vieles in diesem Buch fehlt mir der kulturelle Schlüssel. Aber das ist in Ordnung. Ein echtes Hindernis ist die konstante Gewalt gegen Frauen, an deren fehlender Einordnung das Alter des Buchs deutlich wird.

[EN:]
Impossible to rate with stars. I don't doubt that this is an important book, but many details are hard to appreciate without the right cultural and/or academic background. That's fine, though! It wasn't written primarily for me.

What kept me going was the book's unique flow and the interesting language. Hats off to the translator!

There are lots of etiological myths (stories that explain why a certain thing exists or is the way it is), which I love. The development of a jaguar into the first automobile was my favourite.

The constant (sexualised) violence against women is hard to bear. I understand the book is based on myths and folktales, and European myths are no better. But more recent myth-based novels tend to deal with this aspect in some way. This book doesn't. It just reproduces it, which truly makes it feel 100 years old. Also, most other myth-based novels I have read were written by women, which goes to show that it really matters who tells a story.
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