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Machado De Assis - Blog Posts
American students, do you really enjoy studying northen-american literature? So far I've read "The Catcher in the Rye" and I'm almost done with "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and I honestly believe that american characters are much more relatable with the brazillian ones. I mean, I totally respect Machado de Assis and I recognize the importance of José de Alencar to our literature, but honestly, Holden Caulfield and Tom Sawyer are much more interesting than Brás Cubas and Iracema...
Did she cheat or not?
"Capitu, in spite of those eyes the devil gave her … Have you noticed her eyes? They’re a bit like a gypsy’s, oblique and sly."
About the Book
Title: Dom Casmurro Author: Machado de Assis Published: 1900 Original Title: Dom Casmurro
Summary
Dom Casmurro follows the story of Bentinho, a man who reflects on his past, particularly his relationship with Capitu. He raises questions about whether his suspicions regarding Capitu's fidelity are true or merely the result of paranoia. Additionally, they have a son who Bentinho believes does not resemble him at all.
Bentinho is an unreliable narrator, as he is the sole person telling the story, and the author makes us question whether he is telling the truth or not.
Key Themes
Jeaslisy
Memory vs. Perception
Love and Trust
Unreliable Narrator
What is sanity?
“Were they all really insane? Did I really cure them? Or is not mental imbalance so natural and inherent that it was bound to assert itself with or without my help?”
About the Book
Title: The Alienist Author: Machado de Assis Published: 1882 Original Title: O Alienista
Summary
Dr. Simão Bacamarte is a brilliant but obsessive physician that made his life mission the study of mental illnesses in the small town of Itaguaí. Convinced he know how to determine who is sane and who is insane, the doctor begins commiting patients based on a rigid and weird criteria. Too emotional? Locked up. Too rational? also locked up.
This book is a mix of satire, irony, and existential dread. Who gets to decide what is insane? What is sanity? Machado de Assis challenges the reader to question everything about reason, while also critiquing the medicalization of traits that, in his time, were considered mental illness (like hysteria).
Key Themes
Science vs Humanity
Satire
Power
Madness vs Reason
Is he a dead writer or a writer who is dead?
"To the worm who first gnawed on the cold flesh of my corpse, I dedicate with fond remembrance these Posthumous Memoirs."
About the Book
Title: The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas Author: Machado de Assis Published: 1881 Original Title: Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas
Summary
The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas is a satirical novel, in which the narrator, Brás Cubas, tells his life story from beyond the grave. From this unusual point of view, Brás Cubas criticizes the 19th-century Brazilian society.
Brás Cubas narrates with an ironic and humorous tone, mocking the world and himself. He even begins his memoirs not with his birth, but with his own death. This weird man spends his life in failed romances, half-hearted political ambitions, and existential boredom, only to realize (too late) that he achieved absolutely nothing.
P.S. There is a chapter with only exclamation points.
Key Themes
mortality and death
irony and satire
social commentary
existentialism