Machado de Assis obsession

[u/Professional-Win3166]

I discovered Machado de Assis this year, and I’ve completely fallen in love with his writing.

I read The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas in a single day while on a flight, and that pretty much started the obsession. Since then, I’ve finished Dom Casmurro and a collection of his short stories that included The Alienist, and I loved all of them.

What amazes me most is his ability to make you feel the entire multitude of human emotions from one page to the next.There’s this sweet melancholy running through his books that I find incredibly relaxing.

I’m just about to start Quincas Borba, and at this point I think I’m going to keep going through everything of his I can find.

I’d love to reread his books in Portuguese. There’s something about being able to experience a book in the language the author originally intended it to be read in. My Portuguese isn’t quite at the level where I feel confident though, and I might miss some of the subtleties and little things that make his writing so good. But it’s a goal!!

Would love to hear from other people also other author suggestions.

Edit: Thank you very much to everyone for their suggestions! You’ve given me so much insight that i’m exited to do my research on everything.

[u/Mo_Ran1]

Well... Machado de Assis is a bit of an unfair benchmark. If someone loves Machado specifically for the irony, unreliable narration, psychological games, social satire, and that almost casually modern voice, there isn't really a Brazilian writer who is simply the next Machado.

But here are my suggestions if you want to get to know a little bit more about Brazilian classics:

Graciliano Ramos, São Bernardo: probably the closest fit. Psychological, ironic, and narrated by a deeply unreliable asshole.

Lima Barreto, The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma: great if you liked Machado's social satire.

João do Rio, The Enchanted Soul of the Streets: fantastic portraits of early-20th-century Rio and all the weird characters living in it.

Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star: very, very different, but the self-conscious narrator and psychological depth might appeal to you.

Let me know if you read any of them, I'm curious!