The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma

by Lima Barreto

Other authorsLilia Moritz Schwarcz (Introduction), Mark Carlyon (Translator)

Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

813

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

Penguin Classics (2015), Paperback, 272 pages

Description

A deftly satirical masterpiece about a man and a country caught in a violent clash between sanity and madness Policarpo Quaresma--fastidious civil servant, dedicated patriot, self-styled visionary--is a defender of all things Brazilian, full of schemes to improve his beloved homeland. Yet somehow each of his ventures results in ridicule and disaster. Quixotic and hapless, Quaresma's dreams will eventually be his undoing. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Gypsy_Boy

Brazil, actually Rio, in the 1890s. A story that (perhaps too) closely follows the political developments of that decade, so familiarity would be very helpful (I spent a LOT of time going back and forth with the helpful notes which, though useful, aren’t as good as really knowing the people and

the history first-hand). The protagonist is a champion for everything Brazilian and is a very sympathetic character. The book is good and, given Barreto's clear political and social sympathies, must have been controversial in its day. I can see how it could still be an important book in Brazil but I'm not sure how well it survive outside its own milieu. I enjoyed it for the most part but I guess the best illustration of my ambivalence is that it took several weeks to finish a easily readable 200-page book.

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