Bøger af Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson's critically acclaimed translations of Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas and The Collected Stories of Machado de Assis introduced a new generation of readers to one of Brazil's most ground-breaking authors. Hailed as "the greatest writer ever produced in Latin America" (Susan Sontag), Machado's genius is on full display in this fresh translation of the 1899 classic Dom Casmurro. In his supposed memoir, Bento Santiago, an engaging yet unreliable narrator, suspects his wife, Capitu, of having an affair with his closest friend. Withdrawn and obsessive, our antihero mines the origins of their love story: from childhood neighbours playing innocently in the backyard to his brief spell in a seminary to marriage and the birth of their child-whom, he fears, does not resemble him. A gripping domestic drama brimming with Machado's signature humour, this is another stunningly modern tale from the progenitor of twentieth-century fiction.

"The intellectual invention here, the worldly perception, the ultimate resignation- all give this its special interest for a special market which the earlier book will have indicated." - Kirkus Reviews

Machado de Assis's first novel visits themes the author developed exquisitely throughout his career including marriage, memory, and perspective. In this insightful translation by Karen Sherwood Sotelino, and with an introduction by José Luiz Passos, the novel reveals the author¿s early experiment in drawing out psychological and sociological issues of his times. Readers familiar with his mature works will recognize the progression from infatuation, through passion, doubt, and toxic jealousy, as experienced by protagonists Félix and Lívia in 19th century Rio de Janeiro.

Machado de Assis's iconic novel, now considered a progenitor of twentieth-century South American fiction, is finally rendered as a stunningly modern work.

This new translation of a classic Brazilian novel, originally published in 1900, includes an informative introduction and notes by John Gledson, which set the novel in its historical context.

This "watershed collection" (The Wall Street Journal) now appears in a selected paperback edition with twenty-six of Machado's finest stories.

A landmark event, the complete stories of Machado de Assis appear in English for the first time in this extraordinary new translation.

The stories in this volume reflect Machado's post-1880 emphasis on social satire and experimentation in psychological realism.

Featuring ten stories never before translated, dating from 1878 to 1886 (regarded as Joaquim Machado de Assis¿s most radically experimental period), this selection of short fiction by Brazil¿s greatest author ranges in tone from elegiac and philosophical to impishly ironic. Including the author¿s classic essay on world literature¿also appearing in English for the first time¿and with pieces chosen from his vast body of work for their playfulness, pathos, and stylistic subversion, this collection is an ideal introduction to one of world literature¿s greatest talents.¿A prodigy of accomplishment¿deserving of a permanent place in world literature¿ ¿ Susan Sontag¿Everything about Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis seems double. There¿s before and after, domestic and metaphysical, high and low, black and white, erotic and austere, short and long, trapped and free, gentle and cruel, perceived and real. The 200 or so stories he wrote spin out these oppositions into a remarkable variousness.¿¿Peter Robb, Times Literary Supplement¿There is in Machadös prose a playfulness that teases the reader, humor that mocks solemnity and seriousness. He punctures pretentiousness and ridicules received ideas (¿) The range of allusions in his work would have amazed even Nabokov. And as with Nabokov, indeed as with any work of art which gives us what Nabokov calls the shiver between the shoulder blades, what elicits one¿s astonished admiration is not to do with subject matter¿but with that abstract and elusive concept¿which manifests itself in that purely aesthetic thing called style.¿ ¿ Zulfikar Ghose, Context No. 12

A retired Brazilian diplomat (Ayres) recounts the love affair of a young widow who would rather be faithful to her dead Romeo. In this book, how she rejoins the world of the living, rekindling Ayres' spirit as well, is told with muted allusions to Brazil's plantation life and its emancipation of the slaves.

"Esau and Jacob" is the last of Machado de Assis's four great novels. At one level, the story of Brazil itself, it is the story of twin brothers in love with the same woman. Assis presents a study of the doubts and insecurities of the human condition, rather than an heroic bible fable.