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Title: Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado ISBN: 0-380-01796-2 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 November, 1977 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Jorge Amado's best
Comment: I lived in Brazil for several years and fell in love with Brazilian author Jorge Amado. "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon" received some notoriety in the U.S. in the 50s or 60s, although Amado hasn't made much of a splash here since then. But his books are wonderful and shouldn't be missed. Apparently Amado was the son of cacao plantation owners, but when he wrote his first works in the 20s exposing land owners for their cruelty to workers, he was more or less disowned. I've read about a dozen of his works. Although each is very different, they seem to have recurring themes. Most take place in Brazil's underdeveloped Northeast, in Bahia or Sergipe. Women are often the heroines. Perhaps in further rebellion against his family, most of his characters are on the seamy side of society ---drunks, prostitutes, street people, con artists. Much of his work includes themes of death although not morbidly so. All are spiced with the superstitions, spells, and magic typical of folk religions that have their roots in the pagan beliefs of Africa transported to Brazil by slaves. "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" attracted some attention when the movie version appeared in the U.S. The Brazilian film, starring Sonia Braga, is one of my all-time favorites. It is funny, melancholy, romantic, and erotic ---but the novel is all that and much more. The story takes place in the 1940s. Flor, who runs a small cooking school in her home in Salvador, is married to Vadinho, who gambles, whores around, takes Flor's money, slaps her around, and is a master con artist who can charm even the padre. His only redeeming quality is that he is great in bed, tapping into Flor's deepest desires. But during one riotous night of Carnaval frivolity, Vadinho drops dead. After a suitable period of mourning, Flor is pursued by Teodoro, a pharmacist who is everything Vadinho was not. Teodoro has a steady job, is responsible and respectable. Only on their wedding night does Flor discover one other way he differs from Vadinho ---he's a dud at making love. Flor, a passionate woman, appeals to the gods for help and eventually figures out how to enjoy both of her husbands. Although the film version does not play up the importance of the gods, the middle of the novel is almost like a Greek play with the gods using humans to resolve their own conflicts. A little background about Brazilian Spiritism will help one understand the gods and their significance. African slaves in Brazil were told they must become Christian or be killed. They, of course, agreed to become Christians, giving their African gods the names of Saints with similar powers or characteristics. Eventually the two religions became intertwined. Many Brazilians worship at Catholic mass and attend ceremonies of Spiritism, Macumba, and Condomble paying homage to African gods and goddesses relying on spirits to help them solve everyday problems. Amado's books are filled with colorful details that enhance the accurate picture he paints of the Brazilian culture. He is wordy, but beautifully so. He won't appeal to someone interested in a fast read, but for those who love a good story, spiced with exotic details, unusual characters, comedy, emotion, and raw passion, "Dona Flor" is a gem, in my opinion the best of Amado's many novels. Other good options are "Gabriela Clove and Cinnamon", "Tieta Home from the Wars", "Sea of Death", and "The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell".
Rating: 4
Summary: Brazilian Journey
Comment: Never having read Brazilian literature previously, I approached "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" with some uncertainty. However, my apprehensions were quickly erased. This is a funny, entertaining and very readable novel (despite its length). "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" conveys the atmosphere and flavor of the Bahian culture, its love of people, land, and food. Religious principles and cultural norms have an important place in Bahian lifestyle, thus Dona Flor's struggle upon the return of the spirit of her first husband. Yet, this moral dilemma is treated light-heartedly and sympathetically, making all the characters approachable and likeable. My first Brazilian literary experience was like sampling a good "caruru". I will be back for more.
Rating: 3
Summary: Magical realism and senselessness
Comment: Tightly holding the sweaty palm of Senor Marques, the climate of South America, the humid nights, and drunken carnivals, transcend reality apparently and come back from the dead to haunt us, whoever has bothered to read the the book, the placenames abound "in Sao Miguel, on Via Campaneira, Asuncion Fernades, with her ample thighs facing the ceiling, could barely contain herself from tearing the sheets apart, as Miguel Silva, sweating in the humid night, penetrated her over and over and over" make sure to turn every s into sh for authenticity's sake, and dispose of the book in the all consuming fire
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Title: Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado ISBN: 0380012057 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 01 March, 1982 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Tieta (The Americas) by Jorge Amado, Barbara Shelby Merello, Moacyr Scliar ISBN: 0299186547 Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press Pub. Date: 24 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The War Of The Saints by Jorge Amado ISBN: 0553374400 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Tent of Miracles (The Americas) by Jorge Amado, Barbara Shelby, Barbara Shelby Merello, Ilan Stavans ISBN: 029918644X Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press Pub. Date: 24 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Brazilians by Joseph A. Page ISBN: 0201441918 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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