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Dom Casmurro

Machado de Assis

Start date: January 1, 2010

Finish date: February 1, 2010

Discussion: Classics Corner

Discussion leader: Rosana

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Mar 12, 2011 Ken rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-newly-read, finished-in-2011

Read to the tune of "Your Cheating Heart" on Youtube.

DOM CASMURRO ambles out of the gate as a 19th-century, Brazilian coming-of-age story (I'd say it in Portuguese but my polyglot is rusty). Leisurely (thus, "ambles") in the beginning and middle, its chief interest is the tone and style. Sure, it's a translation, but a translator can't even pull this off. Machado de Assis is (cliche alert!) a man before his time if ever there was one. Short chapters. Pithy asides. Ironic humor. Frank admissions. Read to the tune of "Your Cheating Heart" on Youtube.

DOM CASMURRO ambles out of the gate as a 19th-century, Brazilian coming-of-age story (I'd say it in Portuguese but my polyglot is rusty). Leisurely (thus, "ambles") in the beginning and middle, its chief interest is the tone and style. Sure, it's a translation, but a translator can't even pull this off. Machado de Assis is (cliche alert!) a man before his time if ever there was one. Short chapters. Pithy asides. Ironic humor. Frank admissions. Certified organic navel gazing. The whole nine Portuguese yards.

Bento Santiago, our hero, is winsome as first-person narrators tend to be. Put that in your memory bank and collect interest for the end. At a very young age he falls in love with and vows to marry a girl named Capitú (Portuguese for "captivating," for all I know). She's feisty, lovely, and has "eyes like the tide" (the gene pool at high tide, in other words). Soon after, enter a new best friend from the seminary, where the reluctant Bento is sent to be a priest by his saint-like mother. This friend, Escobar, is one of those characters who creeps up on you (if you're listening, you can hear the audience shouting warnings in the way of all dramatic ironists). His stock rises as the novel progresses. In short, he is the catalyst that builds interest, that makes a good novel a better one.

In fact, by the very end, the novel comes on gangbusters. Plot, you ask? Pshaw! (Portuguese for "no, you silly fool.") Intrigue! Jealousy! The green-eyed monster! It's no accident that allusions to OTHELLO start to drop like raindrops in Seattle as our protagonist -- the man who thinks too much -- starts to think maybe his friend and his wife have an "in" with "fidelity" or something. Ah... the age-old triangle. It's either Man, Best Friend, Wife or Wife, Best Friend, Man.

At this point the unreliable narrator card is played. We ignore him at our own risk EVERY time we read a 1st-person POV book, but who can blame us? We LIKE having a best friend in the book's numero uno. We LIKE being confided in so openly. But do we like having to second guess ourselves, much less our amiable friend? No sirree Bob (Roberto, whatever).

Now we're into strange terrain. Now we're looking around for the GPS to a lady's heart. And we (read: guys) ALL know how dependable THOSE are.

Nice finish. A thinking man's finish. And a thoroughly-readable add-to-your-near-empty-South-American resume book. ...more

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Sep 18, 2016 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gutenberg, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, proofreading, realism, e-books, free-literature, read-2017, fiction-19th-century, brazilian-literature, mtbr-challenge-2017

Free download available at Project Gutenberg

I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and it will be published by Project Gutenberg.

Original files are provided by Biblioteca Nacional ...more

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Nov 12, 2009 Sherry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classicscorner

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!
SPOILERS!

Never before in reading any novel have I ever felt so much a character IN the novel. I am "dear Lady." I certainly felt like it. In the early stages of the novel, it was if I was sitting down on the front porch with a kindly old uncle and given tea and cakes and told a charming story. Oh he was so in love. Oh he loved his mother so much...she was an angel. He was, as someone pointed out, seducing me. And then I was listening to the ...more

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Nov 21, 2009 Dree rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: central-south-america, 1001-read, in-translation, 2009-reads

I read the Library of Latin America version, translated by John Gledson.

This novel was a pleasant surprise. I had never heard of it or Machado de Assis--in spite of the fact that in college I took a Latin American History survey class from one of the Library of Latin America editorial board members. Though it wasn't a good class for many reasons--including the reason that no literature was introduced.

I plodded through the very dry introduction--and it was worth it, since I have no background wit I read the Library of Latin America version, translated by John Gledson.

This novel was a pleasant surprise. I had never heard of it or Machado de Assis--in spite of the fact that in college I took a Latin American History survey class from one of the Library of Latin America editorial board members. Though it wasn't a good class for many reasons--including the reason that no literature was introduced.

I plodded through the very dry introduction--and it was worth it, since I have no background with Brazilian lit. It was a good choice to do so.

I especially enjoyed the narrative style used. To have one character/narrator, who discusses writing this story in between chapters of the story--and the loops back and forth, and should I or should I not take this out, and discussing his feelings both then and now--makes you all the more aware, when reading, how manipulated you may be. It also shows his personality--his extreme manipulation of people, his arrogance, his spoiled upbringing--which left me wondering, at the end, "Did she or didn't she?" I don't know.

The characters were interesting--the dependent, Cosme, Padua, Gloria, the aunt, Escobar, Sancha. Even the boy who died of leprosy shows a side of Bento's personality in his reaction.

The afterword, by João Adolfo Hansen--is a good example of why I was a history major instead of an English major. Nowhere does he discuss my favorite theme in the novel--Bento's claiming to be religious, seminary studies (and weaseling out), and constant bargains with God (which he readily admits never fulfilling). I would love to know how this reflects Brazilian society when the book was written--or does it reflect Machado de Assis'religious views? Was it a typical upper class view? Or just a joke? Rather, the afterword is about how the narrative style is a "critique" of typical styles--but does not explain why. We are just supposed to believe the author wasn't experimenting, or reflecting another author, or just trying something new. Whatever.

...more

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Jan 13, 2010 Pang rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: constant-reader

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is not a long book, though it took me a long time to finish it. Let that not be a reflection of how the book is because it's one of a better books I've read recently.

The book is narrated by Bentinho (Bento) Santiago, and the story is about his life. He was in love with his childhood friend, Capitolina (Capitu) and wanted to marry her, though he couldn't because of the promise that his mom made to God that she would raise him to be a priest. Bento asked Capitu before he left for the seminary This is not a long book, though it took me a long time to finish it. Let that not be a reflection of how the book is because it's one of a better books I've read recently.

The book is narrated by Bentinho (Bento) Santiago, and the story is about his life. He was in love with his childhood friend, Capitolina (Capitu) and wanted to marry her, though he couldn't because of the promise that his mom made to God that she would raise him to be a priest. Bento asked Capitu before he left for the seminary that "'... Promise me that I'll be the priest that marries you?' 'No, Bentinho,' she said, 'that would mean waiting a long time; you won't be a priest for a while, it takes many years ... Look, I'll promise something else; I'll promise that you will baptize my first child.'" Sad, is it?

Then the story turned. Bento and the dependent, Jose Dias, found a way for Dona Gloria to fulfill her oath to God, but without Bento becoming a priest. He married Capitu and had a son. Then, his best friend from the seminary died suddenly in a swimming accident. At the funeral, Bento observed his wife's affectionate reaction to the death of this friend. Since then he was convinced that the son wan't his, but actually of Escobar. Capitu called Bento crazy. He wanted to kill himself, then thought that she should have been the one to die, and even tried to kill the son. He went to the distance of sending both Capitu and Ezequiel to Switzerland for schooling. He seldom visited, and Capitu died and buried oversea.

The book just isn't what I was expecting, but better. I was getting caught up on their love for each other, which led me to believe that there had to be a twist somewhere. But the twist was much better than I'd expected. I knew that there would be doubts about Ezkequiel being Bento's son, but it also left me wondering whether it was really true... That Ezkequiel wasn't really Bento's or was it just Bento's wild imagination. Like the cover said, "It's also a story about love and its obstacles, about deception and self-deception, and the failure of memory to make life's beginning fit neatly into its end." There is a thin line between love and hate. Bento loved Capitu so much and could hate her much more to the point that he left her dying far away from him. Made me sad.

There's one passage that really stuck out to me:

Before the discovery of that evil land of truth, we had other tempests, of short duration; it was never long before the sky was blue, the sun shining and the sea smooth: we would set our sails to cross it once more, and they would take us to the loveliest isles and coasts in the universe, until another squall would upset everything, and we would lower our sails, waiting for a further spell of fine weather, and when it came, it was neither slow nor uncertain, but complete, trustworthy, and sure.

...more

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Mar 13, 2008 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: brazilian-literature, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, fiction-19th-century

Bentinho e Capitu são criados juntos e se apaixonam na adolescência. Mas a mãe dele, por força de uma promessa, decide enviá-lo ao seminário para que se torne padre. Lá o garoto conhece Escobar, de quem fica amigo íntimo.

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Dec 10, 2009 Beej rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fascinating little book that leaves a fascinating big impression. What did I learn? Again, not to presume anything about a book. Just go ahead and open that cover. Then decide.

I loved this 'little' tome. And yes, it IS a tome, even as thin as it is; there's a lot in there. ...more

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Dec 18, 2009 Al rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites, 2010-books

I loved this book - I'm shocked it is not more well-known among an American audience. A classic love story with great humor and high drama. A must-read and a real hidden gem. ...more

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