joshy167's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
nodogsonthemoon's review
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Infertility, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Abortion, Colonisation, Death of parent, Incest, and Pregnancy
kate_in_a_book's review
4.0
The book opens with Paulo, a Brazilian law student and activist, driving along a highway in torrential rain and spotting a poor indigenous girl at the side of the road. Stopping to give 14-year-old Maína a lift sets in motion events that reverberate through two decades of relationships, politics and activism.
Paulo is like many idealistic young socialists – rich, oblivious to the reality of poverty and the true effect of his actions, but genuinely well intentioned. Maína is a Guarani Indian and lives with her family in a tent at the side of the road. She collects discarded newspapers and magazines from which to learn Portuguese. She is quiet but not shy, and she and Paulo learn to communicate in words, though not in understanding.
The prose is dense – most paragraphs go on for two or three pages – but it’s so well written that I found it thoroughly absorbing, full of amazing life-filled characters who I really felt I had come to know. However, it does suffer from that family saga trait of skipping forwards in time, jumping to a new setting or character every 50 or so pages, which would leave me feeling a little lost. It wasn’t always clear exactly how much time had passed, at least at first, but cultural and political references give clues.
Read my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2017/05/05/fresh-from-the-experience-of-an-invisibility-hitherto-unknown/
Paulo is like many idealistic young socialists – rich, oblivious to the reality of poverty and the true effect of his actions, but genuinely well intentioned. Maína is a Guarani Indian and lives with her family in a tent at the side of the road. She collects discarded newspapers and magazines from which to learn Portuguese. She is quiet but not shy, and she and Paulo learn to communicate in words, though not in understanding.
The prose is dense – most paragraphs go on for two or three pages – but it’s so well written that I found it thoroughly absorbing, full of amazing life-filled characters who I really felt I had come to know. However, it does suffer from that family saga trait of skipping forwards in time, jumping to a new setting or character every 50 or so pages, which would leave me feeling a little lost. It wasn’t always clear exactly how much time had passed, at least at first, but cultural and political references give clues.
Read my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2017/05/05/fresh-from-the-experience-of-an-invisibility-hitherto-unknown/
catherineofalx's review
4.0
I started out this book thinking I didn't like it but then I read it all in one sitting so clearly it worked some kind of magic after all. It's a weird book, and I mean that as a compliment. It's uncomfortable and it's supposed to be; the characters can be awful, the world they live in certainly is. I liked that it swept across generations, my favorite books always do. I'm being vague because I think the way I read it is best—just sit down with no expectations and get sucked in.
thepoisonwoodreader's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jcr610's review
5.0
Perhaps it's my distance from the politics, the way this educated me about the social situation in Brazil. But this book broke my heart and rebuilt it in a way that is sadly rare for me with books these days. Flows from person to person showing members of Brazilian society encountering and changing one another, and how the structures they run up against can be the strongest forces of all. Hold on to the queasiness you feel with the Lolita-esque relationship in the first few chapters--your moral feelings will be proven right, but not without giving fair due to each perspective involved. It never preaches or moralizes, it dialecticizes. Similar to Coetzee's Disgrace, but told with impassioned language rather than cold remove.
More...