Michel Marques

michel

São Bernardo

São Bernardo is considered to be the masterpiece of one of Brazil’s most important writers. Set in the backlands of northeastern Brazil with its poverty-stricken peasants, its violence and feuds, and the decay of the old landed aristocracy, it is the story of the rise and fall of Paulo Honório. In his blunt, first-person account, Paulo tells of his journey up from the slums and prison and his single-minded pursuit of the ownership of the haciendo, São Bernardo, where he had once worked as day laborer. Ramos’s almost spartan prose, his subtle characterization, his taut style, and trenchant psychological insights are fully revealing of the inner Paulo Honório behind the brutal exterior. In the end Honorio’s marriage to Madalena and the tragic consequences tear away the protective shell that has hidden his real humanity from himself. This brilliant novel is superbly translated by R. L. Scott-Buccleuch.

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