Books

Machado de Assis is, without a doubt, one of the greatest writers of Brazilian literature. While often grouped with the Realist school, Machado is truly sui generis, being a writer ahead of his time. Papéis Avulsos is a great illustration of this with its stories approaching a surrealist aesthetic with a realist approach. Two stories clearly highlight this unique style: “A Sereníssima República” and “Uma Visita de Alcibíades”. The premises of both are absurd: the former about a society of spiders, the latter about the resurrection of an ancient Greek in modern times....

The O Homem Cordial is a collection of essays centered around the eponymous essay that comes from Sergio Buarque de Holanda’s magnum opus Raízes do Brasil. The choice of essays feels disconnected, as the book attempts to be a broad introduction to the author rather than defending a central thesis, which makes the reading experience weaker. The essays themselves are taken from larger books. This has mixed results, as some of them have a clear central thesis, such as O Poder Pessoal, but others are open-ended and less focused, such as Experiência e Fantasia....

I first read Maus in my teenage years as part of my school classes. After so many years, it is hard to remember my impressions in detail, but I remember being moved by the animalistic representations of people and the scale of the war. Maybe I was too young but I’m not sure I really grasped the scale of the systematic killing and suffering implemented by the Germans. After watching a video by Shaun, I decided to reread the book and it was way more impactful this time....

I usually don’t like sci-fi stories. While they often feature settings that deeply interest me such as the future of mankind or space exploration, many of them get lost in their own context, adding scientific-looking explanations that normally fail to sound believable and break my suspension of disbelief. For me, it is easier to enjoy a story that does not attempt to explain how things work and focus on its consequences on the universe rather than one that tries and fails to do so....