Brazilian literature in English

[Arthur Sermon]

Hello,

I'm planning a trip to Brazil within this year and I thought it might be a decent idea to read a novel or two by Brazilian authors before I go. Can anyone recommend novels which have been translated into English as I know no Portuguese? I've struggled to find easily available works by authors who are not Cuelho.

Thanks a lot in advance.

[ennison]

'Rebellion in the Backlands' by Euclides Da Cunha

[JCamilo]

I remember that Guimarães Rosa have translations (Another side of the River, maybe). But then, translated Guimarães Rosa is a bit like Joyce translated...i.e, it is not them. Do you know spanish?

[Arthur Sermon]

I'm afraid my Spanish does not allow me to read Spanish novels, or even Spanish cereal boxes. I'm confined to read books written in English or a Scandinavian language.

[JCamilo]

Then a quick search of the main brazilian authors in Amazon showed to me that
Machado de Assis have Dom Casmurro , Quincas Borba and The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas in english versions. He is a XIX century writer, realism style. Those are not my favorite works from him (his short tales are). Anyways, founder of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and a great writer on his own.

Mario de Andrade have his classic Macunaima in english as well. Modernist, very allegoric writer, full of humor.

Jose de Alencar have Iracema translated. One of his best books in My opinion is Encarnation. He is XIX romanticism author, a curious one because he is a name of the indianism - a movement here that started to vallue the indians after the brazilian independecy.

I found "Brazilian short stories (Little blue book, no. 733, ed. by E. Haldeman-Julius)" by Monteiro Lobato. He is a great writer of the begining of the XX century. But his principal work is seen as children story, it is the "Sitio do Pica-Pau Amarelo". Did not found a translation, which is a shame.

Erico Verissimo have The Time and the Wind saga translated. It is a huge collection of books, interesting author of the XX specially because he portraits the south of the Brazil.

Ariano Suassuna is a great writer of the popular tales of brazilian Northest. The Folk's Trial is translated and also some colection of theatre. It is very worth.

Barren lives by Graciliano Ramos is one of the most originals of all novels in Brazil. He is another author focused in the northest and the drama of the poor population there.

Jorge Amado is famous for the sensualit of his novels, focused in the people of Bahia state. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon is his most famous novel. Others are Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, The Tent of Miracles, etc.

I found Plantation Boy by Jose Lins do Rego, another important author of the northest.

Rachel de Queiroz is another from the Northest group. The Three Marias is one book i found translated.

Carlos Drummond de Andrade is a major name in brazilian literature, he did not wrote romances, rather short stories and poems. If you wanna a shot: The Minus Sign: Selected Poems , In The Middle of the Road, Travelling in the Family, are poem selections avaliable.

Guimaraes Rosa in the other hand is the major romance writer of brazil. He also worked with short stories. However his translation is not easy (He said the german translation of his work are the best, but anyways, I cann't not tell it) because he works with oral language and use a bag of tricks with wallet-word like Lewis Carroll and Joyce did. I found: The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (his Major Work), Diadorim, The Third bank of the river, Sagarana.

Malba Tahan is a great writer, but a little less know. He was a mathematic teacher who invented this persona "Malba Tahan", that was supposed to be a muslim that come to live in Brazil and started to tell stories with "arabian theme". The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures, Maktub,: The book of destiny and other stories.

You could check for Lima Barreto too. I did not found a translation in portuguese, but there is a few in other language, it may be one that you can understand. There is more (I am not listing great portuguese writers like Eça de Queiroz, Camilo Castelo Branco, Fernando Pessoa, etc) and those are nowhere near Paulo Coelho (who is an utter crap self-help writer) but those are the true great brazilian writers (In the case of Malba Tahan, the dude he tries to copy).

[Arthur Sermon]

Thanks a lot!

My own Amazon search did not yield half those results.

[paulagoes]

Of Brazilian literature translated into English: books, titles in English and Portuguese, author and translators and also ISBN.

You can find it here: http://talqualmente.wordpress.com/tradutores/

Most of these books are available in Amazon - I have just bought many out of interest. I would recommend these below, which are quite easy and most enjoyable reading:

Budapest - Chico Buarque
Dom Casmurro - Machado de Assis (translated by John Gledson)
Anything by Moacyr Scliar.

have a lovely time in Brazil!

paula

[hedbanger]

If all else fails, google it. :D

[Orual]

I am eagerly taking notes on books I should read...