Book review of Dom Casmurro by Machado De Assis (trans Margaret Jull Costa, Robin Patterson)
Name of Book: Dom Casmurro Author: Machado de Assis (trans Margaret Jull Costa, Robin Patterson)
ISBN:978-1-324-09070-0
Publisher: Live right
Type of book: Rio de Janeiro Brazil, memories, seminary, wealth, love, secrets, 1857-1870s, friendship, marriage, happiness, jealousy, suspiciousness, adolescence, childhood sweetheart, promises, fictional memoirs
Year it was published: 2023 (1899)
Summary:
Dom Casmurro is the nickname of Bento Santiago, who, old and alone, reveals his memories. A promise from his mother shaped his destiny as a priest, but Bento Santiago, in love, abandoned the seminary. He studies law and marries his great love, but jealousy and distrust grow. He suspects that he is not the biological father of the couple's son, Ezequiel, but rather his great friend Escobar.Main characters are Bento Santiago who is best described as naive and takes things at face value. He is a jealous man but also loyal and semi talented. In old age he is a recluse nicknamed Dom Casmurro. Capitu is his love from childhood and someone who looks at things deeper than he. She also hides certain things about herself and often tries to reassure Bento that its all in his head. She is described as having oblique, sly and gypsy eyes. Escobar is a savant in mathematics and met Bento in a seminary. His passion is commerce. He is a talented swimmer and becomes good friends with Capitu and Bento. There are plenty of other characters such as Bentos family and servants as well other characters family and friends but I think it would be more fun to discover them for oneself.
Theme:
Not everything is spelled out in a book
Plot:
The story is in first person narrative from Dom Casmurros, aka Bento Santiagos point of view. It begins with how he got the title of Dom Casmurro from falling asleep when someone was reciting poetry and then the story jumps back to when he was fifteen and realizes he is in love with Capitu. But there is a catch: he is supposed to become a priest. Unable to be apart from Capitu, both of them plan and scheme for Bentinho to get out of becoming a priest. This arc takes up more than half of the book. Afterwards Bentinho begins to describe felicity and happiness he experiences when being with Capitu in married life; his business is booming, he and Capitu eventually have a son named Ezequil and he remains with his best friend from seminary, Escobar. However good things don't last forever and very soon everything he gained he began to lose, leaving the reader with more questions than answers.
Author Information:
(From goodreads)
Opinion:
I am definitely in minority when I say that I had trouble understanding this books message. I read it from cover to cover and can sum it up that more than half of the book deals with childhood/adolescence and the rest with growing up, but unlike others I didn't get the deeper meaning and didn't understand how the main character is considered unreliable. Maybe a second reread or something? Or perhaps the author and I are not right for one another? The writing style is easy and informal to read and whether someone is new or old to classics, this will definitely be an excellent start.
This was given for review
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
Not everything is spelled out in a book
Plot:
The story is in first person narrative from Dom Casmurros, aka Bento Santiagos point of view. It begins with how he got the title of Dom Casmurro from falling asleep when someone was reciting poetry and then the story jumps back to when he was fifteen and realizes he is in love with Capitu. But there is a catch: he is supposed to become a priest. Unable to be apart from Capitu, both of them plan and scheme for Bentinho to get out of becoming a priest. This arc takes up more than half of the book. Afterwards Bentinho begins to describe felicity and happiness he experiences when being with Capitu in married life; his business is booming, he and Capitu eventually have a son named Ezequil and he remains with his best friend from seminary, Escobar. However good things don't last forever and very soon everything he gained he began to lose, leaving the reader with more questions than answers.
Author Information:
(From goodreads)
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, often known as Machado de Assis, Machado, or Bruxo do Cosme Velho, (June 21, 1839, Rio de Janeiro—September 29, 1908, Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer. He is widely regarded as the most important writer of Brazilian literature. However, he did not gain widespread popularity outside Brazil in his own lifetime.
Machado's works had a great influence on Brazilian literary schools of the late 19th century and 20th century. José Saramago, Carlos Fuentes, Susan Sontag and Harold Bloom are among his admirers and Bloom calls him "the supreme black literary artist to date."
Machado's works had a great influence on Brazilian literary schools of the late 19th century and 20th century. José Saramago, Carlos Fuentes, Susan Sontag and Harold Bloom are among his admirers and Bloom calls him "the supreme black literary artist to date."
Opinion:
I am definitely in minority when I say that I had trouble understanding this books message. I read it from cover to cover and can sum it up that more than half of the book deals with childhood/adolescence and the rest with growing up, but unlike others I didn't get the deeper meaning and didn't understand how the main character is considered unreliable. Maybe a second reread or something? Or perhaps the author and I are not right for one another? The writing style is easy and informal to read and whether someone is new or old to classics, this will definitely be an excellent start.
This was given for review
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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