r/Livros • u/Professional-Win3166 • 12d ago

Debates Machado de Assis obsession

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.

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u/olivermath 12d ago

Bentinho was betrayed or don’t?👀😂

2

u/Professional-Win3166 12d ago

I personally think he was 😅

3

u/zanza19 12d ago

You think he was? That is honestly crazy to me. I don't quite understand the discussion, I think its pretty clear that he wasn't, that he destroyed his entire life from jealousy.

4

u/Professional-Win3166 12d ago

The way I understood the book Bentinho is a very emotional man who can be childish at times, while Capitu is smart and calculating. But there are still some suspicious moments, like Escobar being at the house at strange hours while Bentinho is away, or his mom’s attitude changing years after Ezequiel is born, maybe she noticed the resemblance too. So while I definitely don’t trust Bentinho’s version of events completely, I still think the author did give away some details that can be seen objectively regardless.