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domingo, 25 de março de 2012

Make Every Man Want You - Marie Forleo

You know this book is a controversy to me. The reason I say this is because there are some things in the book which I totally disliked like when Marie starts her whole "cosmic world", " flower power" kind of talk that just didn't really make me click. Yet on the other hand, there were some other things she wrote which I totally say "Amen" to and totally agree with her on. Like for example, on one chapter she says that it is no use for a women to play the "hard to catch" game as when the guy finally does "catch her" that will be the end of the game for him and she will once again be left alone. She then goes on to explain that the right thing is for each women to build a happy, stable, fulfilling life as that will show all of those around her (not only men) that she is glad and good in her own way and this is a total magnet to attracting others to you: the fact that you are truly happy and fulfilled with what you have and are - and not something forced, put on or a set guide of rash and rigid rules.
More than being a good writer Marie is a good business woman - someone that knows how to appeal to other people, join forces and make money - which is actually something great! In one part of the book she tells women to do every single thing they do with their whole heart putting their all into it even if it is only a simple or routine chore that you must give it your all. And I think this little quote is the secret of her success and of all she has been able to do and reach up until now.
So even though I wont rant and rave on her good writing skills or great advice on how to make every man want you I can give her credit for her professional stance on life. In this she is truly good at. 


Book Review:

Make Every Man Want You (or Make Yours Want You More): How To Be So Damn Irresistible You’ll Barely Keep From Dating Yourself!
According to Kelly Ripa, “Make Every Man Want You gives every woman the tools she needs to unlock her inner magnet”. Yeah, because life is so hard for Kelly Ripa, that fat, ugly, poor, boring woman. I kid.
Make Every Man Want You is actually a great read and tells it like it is. And that might be hard to take for women who are constantly in denial. For example, Marie Forleo says, “Here’s a tip: If you think you look fat in a particular outfit, you probably do”. Hallelujah! A woman who refuses to let other women live in denial.
All in all, Marie Forleo advises women to get their own lives, only then will men gravitate towards them. So if you spend all your time giving men your all and putting yourself by the wayside, it’s time you got busy and started planning things for yourself. Go out with the girls, get a massage, and start training for a triathlon so you don’t have to keep wondering if you look fat in those pants. That’s right, I said it!
Overall, Marie Forleo offers readers a well-written and informative book that advises women on what it really takes to snag a man. And you know what? It’s really not rocket science.

A Long Way Gone - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

This book is a good wakeup call for those who see only their little tree instead of noticing there is actually a whole forest surrounding us. It is one of those books that not everyone will be able to read until the end because of the truth it tells and that truth is pretty strong. This book is about a boy called Ishmael who led a happy and good life with his family and friends - a boy who enjoyed Shakespeare, school, rap and hip hop moves. And yet from one day to the other his life is shattered in a million pieces. He is forced to flee his little village and wander around in search of his family (whom he is separated from when the rebels attack). Unfortunately his search ends when he discovers that his whole family was killed - burnt to ashes in a little hut. And so he joins six other boys now in search of nothing more than survival. They find this survival in joining the army as boy soldiers as they know there is no way out. It is the only way to be able to get food not to say the feeling they have of "being part of something" and being able to "revenge their families." The army leaders keep these boys constantly on all kinds of drugs and brainwash them to kill sparing not even women or children. He admits to committing all kinds of atrocities and says he has no idea how many people he has killed. After two years as a child soldier, by some kind of a miracle he ends up in a rehabilitation center and that is when his life starts to change for the better. Now he lives in New York with his adoptive family and tells his true and heart wrenching story which I believe all should hear: it is an eye opener and makes you grateful for all you have in your life. If you have enough guts and can stand a hard read, do so! Read it!


Here are some of my favorite personal quotes of this book:

"We must strive to be like the moon." An old man in Kabati repeated this sentence often to people who walked past his house on their way to the river to fetch water, to hunt, to tap palm wine; and to their farms.
I remember asking my grandmother what the old man meant. She explained that the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others.
She said that people complain when there is too much sun and it gets unbearably hot, and also when it rains too much or when it is cold. But, she said, no one grumbles when the moon shines.
Everyone becomes happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way. Children watch their shadows and play in its light, people gather at the square to tell stories and dance through the night. a lot of happy things happen when the moon shines. These are some of the reasons why we should want to be like the moon."
" When I was very little, my father used to say. "If you are alive, there is
hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good
left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die." I thought about these
words during my journey, and they kept me moving even I didnt know where I was
going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it
stay alive."


A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier  
A Long Way Gone.jpg
A Long Way Gone first edition cover.
Author(s)Ishmael Beah
Cover artistJennifer Carrow,Michael Kamber(photograph)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject(s)History, Civil War
Genre(s)Memoir
PublisherSarah Crichton Books
Publication dateFebruary 13, 2007
Media typePrint (Hardcover andPaperback)
Audio CD
Pages240 pp (first edition)
ISBNISBN 978-0-374-10523-5
OCLC Number69423270
Dewey Decimal966.404 B 22
LC ClassificationDT516.828.B43 A3 2007
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah. Published in 2007, this book provides a firsthand account of the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone and the ongoing plight of child soldiers in conflicts worldwide.[1] Ishmael Beah was forced to run away from attacking rebels in Sierra Leone at the young age of 12. He was then forever separated from his direct family. He wandered his war-filled country and was then forced to join an army unit where they brainwashed him into believing in only large guns and blood. By thirteen, he had experienced incidents that others may not have to deal with throughout their entire lives. At the age of 16 however, he was removed from the unit by the UNICEF and was given a chance to be forgiven and to be loved once more. With the help of some of the staff he was able to forgive himself for everything he had done and to finally move on. He was then given a chance to teach others about the hell he was forced to be put through called war. He traveled the United States teaching people about the devastating and unforgettable things that he was forced to encounter and the things that millions of kids all over the world still have to encounter today.

Contents

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[edit]Main character list

Ishmael Beah: The main character of the book. Ishmael was a child soldier for the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. His parents and brother were killed by theRevolutionary United Front, or RUF. After being rescued by UNICEF and rehabilitated, he went to live with his Uncle Tommy. While there, he was recruited to travel to the United States to speak at a United Nations event about child soldiers. Returning to Freetown after his speaking event, he eventually made his way back to the United States. As a result of time, he was able to forgive himself and love once again.
Junior: Junior is Ishmael’s older brother by a year. Ishmael and Junior are separated while running from the RUF. Later in the book, Ishmael learns that his brother had escaped and was in the next village with the rest of his immediate family. Junior apparently left to find Ishmael out of guilt, but returned back a week prior. However, on his way to the village to be reunited with his family, Ishmael hears the RUF attacking the village. Though Junior's body or that of his parents and younger brother is not found among the dead, it is assumed that Junior was killed by the RUF.
Alhaji: Alhaji is one of Ishmael’s closest friends. Alhaji was part of the group of boys from Mattru Jong that Ishmael met in the wilderness. Alhaji and Ishmael formed a close bond during their years as soldiers, and were part of the same squad. Alhaji was nicknamed "Rambo" for his combat skills that were heavily influenced by the film. Alhaji and Ishmael were eventually taken by UNICEF and put into a rehabilitation shelter in Freetown. He apparently moves from foster home to foster home following the events of the book.
Kanei, Musa, Saidu, Jumah, and Moriba: Ishmael’s friends from his home village that he meets in the wilderness after being separated from his initial group. Saidu is the first of the group to die. He dies suddenly two nights after he and the other boys eat a crow that fell from the sky. Kanei is the oldest of the group by 3 years, although Alhaji is confused as being older because he is taller. He becomes junior sergeant, and later is chosen to stay behind because he is older while Alhaji and Ishmael are sent to rehabilitation. It is unknown what happens to him. Musa is the group's storyteller; he is killed in the first battle that Ishmael and his squad fight in. Jumah and Moriba also become part of the army. Jumah is assigned to another squad in a different village, and is last seen preparing for another village raid. Moriba is killed in a fight some time during Ishmael's time as a soldier, however, his death is not thought much about.
Talloi, Gibrilla, Kaloko, and Khalilou: Ishmael's initial travelling companions. Talloi is Junior's friend and follows them to Mattru Jong for the contest. The three meet up with old friends, Gibrilla, Kaloko, and Khalilou there. They escape the attack of Mattru Jong by RUF forces, but are later split apart by another attack in a different village. Ishmael found Kaloko hiding as well, but Beah subsequently left him once he grew tired of hiding, and Kaloko was unwilling to follow him. It is unknown what happened to the four boys.
Uncle Tommy: Uncle Tommy becomes Ishmael’s foster parent after he leaves the shelter. Uncle Tommy has three kids and a wife, all of whom welcome Ishmael as their new brother. Uncle Tommy is a carpenter. They all love Ishmael irrevocably, and unconditionally. Uncle Tommy and his wife are the only ones who know about Ishmael's past. However, they forgive him and take him in as their own son right away. Ishmael truly feels like he belongs when he is with them. Uncle Tommy later dies of sickness.
Esther: Esther is a nurse at the shelter that Ishmael develops a friendship with. Ishmael tells parts of his war stories and dreams to Esther, and soon comes to fully trust her. Esther gives Ishmael a Walkman with a RUN-D.M.C casette and later buys him a Bob Marley cassette. Esther does regular check-ups on the mental health of Ishmael during his time being rehabilitated at Benin Home. Ishmael admits that he loves her, but never sees her again after he leaves Freetown.
Mambu: Mambu, another child soldier who was with the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. Mambu and Ishmael meet at the shelter for the first time. They become close friends. He later goes back to the front lines after his family rejects taking him in.
Mohamed: Mohamed is Ishmael’s best friend from his home village that he is reunited with when he is placed in the UNICEF rehabilitation centre where Ishmael has already been for several months. Mohamed was meant to go with Ishmael to the talent show in the beginning of the story, but had to stay behind to help his father work.

[edit]Plot summary

The book starts with Ishmael, his older brother Junior, and their friend Talloi traveling from their village of Mogwembo to Mattru Jong in order to perform in a talent show. Ishmael, Junior, and their friend dance and sing rap music. Thinking that they would return the day after, they tell no one of their leaving. During their stay in Mattru Jong with Gibrilla, Khalilou, and Kaloko, the RUF attacks. The three are able to flee the village without the rebels following them. They decide to head back home. On their way back home, it turns out that their village was also captured by the RUF. According to an old man who was sitting outside the village, most of the people fled to a village on the Sierra Leone coast. Ishmael, Junior, and their friend decide to travel there in order to locate their family. On their way to the village, they stop by multiple other villages. They are accepted into another village on the grounds that they help with the farming. After months, the village is attacked. Caught by surprise, Ishmael, Junior, and their friend split up and run into the swamps. It is unknown what happens to his friends afterwards. Ishmael roams around the wilderness by himself for a while until he meets up with another group of traveling boys whom he recognized from his home village. The boys then travel together to another village on the coast. Many refugees fled to this village because the Sierra Leone Armed Forces occupied it. In search of safety, the group of boys and Ishmael go to that village, but soon leave. Ishmael then learns from a woman from his hometown that Junior, his younger brother Ibrahim, and his parents are safe in another village with many others from Mattru Jong. Just before they reach the village, the boys meet a man named Gasemu that Ishmael knew from Mattru Jong. He tells them that his family are indeed safe in the village, and ask the boys to help him carry bananas back to the village. However, moments before they reach the town, it is attacked by the RUF. Although their bodies are not found among the dead or in the burning house where they lived, Ishmael assumes that his family is dead. Devastated, and believing that Gasemu is to blame for him not being able to see his family on time, Ishmael attacks Gasemu but is stopped by the other boys. They are then chased into the forest by remaining RUF soldiers, and Gasemu dies from being shot, leaving Ishmael more saddened. The boys then settle into another village protected by the army. After many uneventful days, the lieutenant in charge of the troops in the village announced that the RUF is beginning to assault the village. The lieutenant said that in order for the people to survive they must contribute to the war effort by enlisting in the army, escape was not an option. By doing this, the lieutenant secures many child soldiers, the weapon of choice for both the RUF and the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. Ishmael becomes a junior lieutenant for his skill in executing prisoners of war and is put in charge of a small group of other child soldiers. As a child soldier Ishmael is exposed to extreme violence and drug usage. The drugs he used are described in the book as “brown brown”, “white pills”, and marijuana. In January 1996, during one of the roll calls, a group of men wearing UNICEF shirts round up several boys and takes them to a shelter in the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, where he and several other child soldiers are to be rehabilitated. However, the children cause much trouble for the volunteer staffers at the facility, with Ishmael experiencing symptoms of drug withdrawal as well as troubling memories of his time as a child soldier. Despite the violence caused by the children, one of the staffers, Nurse Esther, becomes interested in Ishmael, learning about his childhood love of rap music and purchasing him a rap cassette and Walkman when she takes Ishmael and his friend Alhaji to the city. It is through this connection and his numerous counseling experiences with Esther that Ishmael eventually turns away from his violent self and starts to heal from his mental wounds. Eventually, Ishmael becomes adopted by one of his uncles in the city and settles down with him and his family on the outskirts of Freetown. It is during this time that Ishmael is chosen to speak to the UN in New York about his experiences as a child soldier and the other problems plaguing his country.While at the UN meeting in New York Ishmael met several other children who were also experiencing problems in their countries. There were 57 children present at the meeting and each of them told their story to the UN. He also meets Laura Simms, a storyteller chaperone to Ishmael and his future foster mother. However, in 1996 when Ishmael returns to Sierra Leone, Freetown is invaded by a combination of the RUF and the Sierra Leonean government army, causing many civilian deaths including the passing away of his uncle from malady. Believing that he can no longer stay in Freetown for fear of becoming a soldier again or for being killed by his former army friends if he refused, Ishmael decides to get in contact with Laura Simms, and then escapes Sierra Leone and crosses the border into Guinea, where he eventually makes his way to the United States and his new life abroad.[2]

sexta-feira, 9 de março de 2012

The Unbearable Lightness of Being


This has definitely been one of the books that has made me think the most, reason and rationalize on the subject of love and relationships. Milan Kundera is a genius and he shows his genius in the human mind and being through this book. I can compare it to When Nietzsche Wept in terms of being able to enter a simple, common like subject and bring out a whole philosophical discussion that will make you cave deep into your soul until you are sure that you have started to find what you are searching. 
It is easy to see how it became a worldwide bestseller, loved by the critics and the public alike. There is a weightlessness that permeates you as you take in the many passages of straightforward philosophical and political speculation.   
One of the main topics which is pretty much the center of this story is betrayal. There is a part in the book that Tereza looks herself in the mirror, trying to see her true inner being, wanting to perceive what is inside her soul and certifying herself that there is no resemblance whatsoever of her mother in her features. She then goes on to say to herself that Thomas, her husband, loves he soul and her soul alone. She feels it is her duty to stick with him despite knowing of his many affairs and lovers that he possesses because of all of them he has married her, he has slept each night with her, he has made her his wife and in doing so he loves her, he loves her soul. There is no way she can leave him. She then looks at her body in the mirror and hates her body. She despises it because it wasn't good enough to make Thomas want it and it alone. He needs to have other women bodies as well. Just hers isn't enough to satisfy him. And so being she comes to the conclusion that she loves her soul but hates her body. 
The whole is full of these examples and parts of the book which just would reach out into my soul and make me want to just go in further and deeper. Everything about it is good. There is such a lightness to it that in the end you are caught asking "was this lightness good or bad? the feeling that I am left now, the thoughts that don't leave my head, what is their purpose?" I still haven't been able to answer all the many, many questions this book has got me asking. But now at least there exists the question so that is already a good start. No, it is a great start. And now I am off to try to answer them. 

WIKIPEDIA ON "The Unbearable Lightness of Being": 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), written by Milan Kundera, is a philosophical novel about two men, two women, a dog and their lives in the Prague Spring of the Czechoslovak Communist period in 1968. Although written in 1982, the novel was not published until two years later, in France. Original titles are CzechNesnesitelná lehkost bytí and Frenchl'Insoutenable légèreté de l'être.

Premise

The Unbearable Lightness of Being takes place mainly in Prague in the late 1960s and 1970s. It explores the artistic and intellectual life of Czech society during the Communist period, from the Prague Spring to the Soviet Union’s August 1968 invasion and its aftermath. The main characters are Tomáš, a surgeon; his wife Tereza, a photographer anguished by her husband's infidelities; Tomáš’s lover Sabina, a free-spirited artist; Franz, a Swiss university professor and lover of Sabina; and Simon, Tomáš’ estranged son from an earlier marriage.

[edit]Characters

  • Tomáš - A Czech surgeon and intellectual. Tomáš is a womanizer who lives for his work. He considers sex and love to be distinct entities: he copulates with many women but loves only his wife, Tereza. He sees no contradiction between these two positions. He explains womanizing as an imperative to explore female idiosyncrasies only expressed during sex. At first he views his wife as a burden whom he is obligated to take care of. After the Russian invasion, they escape to Zurich where he starts womanizing again. Tereza, homesick, returns to Prague with the dog. He quickly realizes he wants to be with her and follows her home. He has to deal with the consequences of a letter to the editor in which he metaphorically likened the Czech Communists to Oedipus. Eventually fed up with life in Prague under the communist regime, he moves to the country with Tereza. He abandons his twin obsessions of work and womanizing and discovers true happiness with Tereza. His epitaph, written by his Christian son, is He Wanted the Kingdom of God on Earth.
  • Tereza - Young wife of Tomáš. A gentle, intellectual photographer, she delves into dangerous and dissident photojournalism during the Soviet occupation of Prague. Tereza does not condemn Tomáš for his infidelities, instead characterizing herself as a weaker person. Tereza is mostly defined by her view of the body as disgusting and shameful, due to her mother's embrace of the body's grotesque functions. Throughout the book she fears simply being another body in Tomáš's array of women. Once Tomáš and Tereza move to the countryside she devotes herself to raising cattle and reading. During this time she becomes fond of animals, reaching the conclusion that they were the last link to the paradiseabandoned by Adam and Eve, and becomes alienated from other people.
  • Sabina - Tomáš' mistress and closest friend. Sabina lives her life as an extreme example of lightness, taking profound satisfaction in the act of betrayal. She declares war on kitschand struggles against the constraints imposed by her puritan ancestry and the Communist party. This struggle is shown through her paintings. She occasionally expresses excitement at humiliation, shown through the use of her grandfather's bowler hat, a symbol that is born during one sexual encounter with Tomáš, before it eventually changes meaning and becomes a relic of the past. Later in the novel she begins to correspond with Simon while living under the roof of some older Americans who admire her artistic skill. She expresses her desire to be cremated and thrown to the winds after death - a last symbol of eternal lightness.
  • Franz - Sabina's lover and a Geneva professor and idealist. Franz falls in love with Sabina whom he considers a liberal and romantically tragic Czech dissident. Sabina considers both of those identities kitsch. He is a kind and compassionate man. As one of the novel's dreamers, he bases his actions on loyalty to the memories of his mother and of Sabina. His life revolves completely around books and academia eventually to the extent that he seeks lightness and ecstasy by participating in marches and protests, the last of which is a march inThailand to the Cambodian border. In Bangkok after the march, he is mortally wounded during a mugging. Ironically, he always sought to escape his wife Marie-Claude's kitsch, but dies in her presence, allowing Marie-Claude to claim he always loved her. The inscription on his grave was: "A return after long wanderings."
  • Karenin - The dog of Tomáš and Tereza. Although physically a female, the name given always alludes to masculinity, and is a reference to Anna's husband in Anna Karenina. Karenin displays extreme dislike of change. Once moved to the country, Karenin becomes more content as he is able to enjoy more attention from his owners. He also quickly befriends a pig named Mefisto. During this time Tomáš discovers that Karenin has cancer and even after removing a tumor it is clear that Karenin is going to die. On his deathbed he unites Tereza and Tomáš through his "smile" at their attempts to improve his health. Tereza invents an inscription for his grave: "Here lies Karenin. He gave birth to two rolls and a bee," a reference to a recent dream.

[edit]Publication

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984) was not published in the original Czech until 1985, as CzechNesnesitelná lehkost bytí, by the exile publishing house 68 Publishers (Toronto,Canada). The second Czech edition was published in October 2006, in Brno (Czech Republic), some eighteen years after the Velvet Revolution, because Kundera did not approve it earlier. The first English translation by Michael Henry Heim was published in hardback in 1984 by Harper & Row in the US and Faber and Faber in the UK and in paperback in 1985.[1 





domingo, 4 de março de 2012

Stern Men - Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert is great. No, she is fantastic, amazing and totally awesome. All her books are totally involving and are of the kind that catch your attention and keep it there until you are done reading the book. Every single book of hers is somehow better than the other. She is one writer that you can tell truly enjoys writing and does so from the depth of her soul. There is so much context, so much honesty and deepness in every single one of her books that you are compelled to continue reading them. 
This book is a simply written book (like most all of her books are) of two small fishing islands. The main character is a young, spirited and feisty young woman named Ruth. The whole story has a very nice and easy going narrative, plausible occurrences and everyday dialogues. But what makes the book good is the ending. It is totally unexpected, out of the blue and you realize you would never have thought that the book could end the way it does. The whole novel is very original, full of wit and spark and always true to the authors nature, plenty of humor as well. 


Book Review:



“Honestly, was there any reason a smart fisherman had to wake up at four A.M.? There had to be a better way.” —Stern Men
Off the coast of Maine lie the remote islands of Fort Niles and Courne Haven. The two are virtually identical, have no near neighbors, and are separated only by a shallow channel less than a mile wide. Yet, for generations, their residents have been divided by a bitter and occasionally bloody feud begun by a long-forgotten man of questionable sanity. So by 1976, the only thing that the hard-drinking, stubborn, and proud lobster fishermen of Fort Niles know for certain is that they hate the hard-drinking, stubborn, and proud lobster fishermen of Courne Haven . . . and vice versa. What neither group realizes, however, is that outside forces are conspiring to change their way of life forever, and their hope for salvation just might lie in the hands of a very unusual young woman.
Ruth Thomas was born on Fort Niles in 1958 during “a week of legendary, terrible storms” (p. 12) and their fury established the tenor of her early years. Her parents—Stan, a native Fort Niles lobsterman, and Mary, the illegitimate, quasi-granddaughter of the island’s wealthy mainland patrons—separated when their daughter was just nine, and Ruth has been struggling against her mother’s attempts to win her away from Fort Niles ever since.
Up until she turned eighteen, Ruth was coerced into attending an elite boarding school in Delaware with girls “who fussed over their figures annoyingly, uninterruptedly, odiously” (p. 46). And, upon graduation, she proclaims her decision to eschew college in favor of joining her father, Stan, on his lobster boat as a stern man. No one is pleased by this announcement—not even Ruth who, honestly, finds both lobster fishing and her father’s company profoundly boring. Fortunately, her father has already engaged a stern man for the season, and Ruth is left to fume insincerely over her disappointment.
Though quick with a lie when it suits her, Ruth is honest with herself and knows two things for certain: she loathes the Ellises and she very much likes the solid, silent figure and blond eyelashes of one Owney Wishnell—a descendent of Courne Haven’s finest lobster-fishing family and therefore one of her father’s most hated rivals. Equipped with this knowledge, Ruth sets out in search of her destiny.
To the naked eye and especially to Cal Cooley—the Ellis family’s eyes and ears and Ruth’s nemesis—it might seem as if she were simply idling the summer away. Even Ruth herself is unsure what course her meanderings will take, but there is one person on the island who is confident they are the prelude to greatness. And, in the end, an elephant’s tusk, an antique lighthouse lens, and a drunken foray on Courne Haven point the way toward happiness and the salvation of the world Ruth loves.
In her sparklingly original debut novel, Elizabeth Gilbert’s indomitable heroine takes on a world hitherto run by men and achieves a triumph that trumps even her most ardent naysayers. Told with wit and compassion, and peopled by an endearingly quirky cast of characters, Stern Men also offers a tantalizing early glimpse of the writer whose own story would go on to strike a chord with millions of readers.

sábado, 3 de março de 2012

As Esganadas - Jô Soares

Truth be said, I expected more of this book. I had all my students, friends and known people (some which I am sure never even got to read the book) rant and rave about how good, exceptional and well written this book as was. Okay, I wouldn't classify it as bad or unreadable but I also definately wouldnt rate it as a magnificent peice of Brazilian literature to be read by any and by all (like so many others have classified it to be). Giving credit where credit is due, the idea was great. That yes, was something out of the ordinary and which I am sure is what made the book get as much credibility and become so well known and widespread. But in my opinion there lacked the polishing of many details and facts in the book and that is what was missing to make the book outshine and become a truly great success (at least before my eyes). Though other than that it is an easy read, a simple vocabulary, light and quick so that it doesn't take anyone too long to get it done.

Book Review (sorry, it is in Portuguese):

É difícil alguém rir alto quando lê um livro, quando isso acontece, o livro se materializa, o seu “existir espiritual” ganha uma proporção física, rara, de inquietação por parte dos seus leitores. É um resultado positivo e que merece uma levantada no chapéu, uma vez que nossa percepção anda lesionada pela sobrecarga e velocidade das informações que estamos recebendo.
Ler um livro já caracteriza uma atitude tremenda contra esse ritmo do mundo, rir com um livro então, é algo para um quase Buda: alguém aquém da miséria espiritual que caracteriza essa tal geração Y. Mérito esse, facilmente alcançado pelos leitores do novo romance do Jô Soares, As Esganadas. Percebi isso ao me pegar controlando os ânimos para não acordar minha mãe que dormia no sofá à minha frente, algo que nunca ocorreu nas minhas leituras, desde os gibis até o que li de James Joyce.
José Eugênio (Jô) Soares, já escreveu O Xangô de Baker Street, O Homem que Assassinou Getúlio Vargas e Assassinatos na Academia Brasileira de Letras, todos lançados pela Companhia das Letras. É um autor que dispensa maiores apresentações, e me permite dizer que seu mais novo livro, também lançado pela Companhia, se passa no ano do seu nascimento, 1938, e recria por uma espécie de memória atávica o Rio de Janeiro dessa época, por onde sua mãe perambulava quando grávida.
As Esganadas tem seu núcleo nas investigações a respeito do sumiço corrente de mulheres na Gávea, Porém, uma característica é comum a todas elas: são gordas, petulantemente gordas e viçosas, muito bem constituídas, uma a uma. Afinal, de acordo com Luis Fernando Veríssimo, “Como ator e comediante, o Jô é um grande fazedor de tipos. Sabe como poucos construir um personagem, defini-lo com um detalhe e dar-lhe a vida com graça e inteligência”.
Logo no pontapé inicial do livro, nos é revelado quem é o assassino e quais são as suas motivações, fazendo com que fiquemos íntimos das suas convicções. Os desejos e opções do psicopata se tornam comuns aos leitores, visto que é ao lado dele que caminhamos na trama. Escrita em terceira pessoa, com uma onisciência implacável e um poder de argumentação que faz o leitor se deliciar com rocamboles, cremes de avelã e todos os tipos de doces que o protagonista usa para atrair as mulheres, e em seguida, se divertir com os requintes de crueldade que suas vítimas são abatidas.



A ficção é a estória possível, mas não acontecida. A verossimilhança dos fatos dá suporte à obra. O romance reconstrói o Rio de Janeiro do estado novo, com cenas registradas historicamente, como a transmissão pelo rádio da derrota para a Itália, da seleção brasileira liderada por Leônidas, na Copa do Mundo daquele ano. Além de uma corrida automobilística no Circuito da Gávea.
As Esganadas trás à tona um contexto que antecipa a Segunda Guerra Mundial, com elementos criados por uma imaginação perspicaz, que justifica o suicídio forjado por Aleister Crowley, e coloca esse falso mago em contato direto com Fernando Pessoa, devido aos seus interesses comuns ao misticismo e ao horóscopo. Como se não bastasse, Jô Soares dá vida a Esteves sem metafísica, personagem que surge no poema Tabacaria, de Haroldo de Campos, e coloca os três num navio em Lisboa, para uma viagem de quinze dias até o Rio, onde saltitam as gulosas presas de um maníaco que odeia Getúlio Vargas.
As Esganadas diverte, prende a atenção, trás cópias de páginas de jornais cariocas de época, ilustrações feitas a mão pelo próprio autor, nos faz querer experimentar as guloseimas oferecidas como iscas a vítimas volumosas, contextualiza o Brasil de setenta e quatro anos atrás, com o país atual, intertextualiza escritores e seus personagens. Nesse ultimo livro do Jô, há magia, há crime e encanto, é uma obra que faz odiar, ficar com fome e rir, como tem de ser as boas experiências da vida.