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Miguel Sanches Neto Brazil
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Miguel Sanches Neto was born in 1965 in
Bela Vista do Paraíso (Paraná) in southern Brazil. After having studied
Agricultural Science and Literature, he has mainly worked as a literary critic,
writes for several newspapers and teaches Brazilian literature at the State University
in Ponte Grossa.
Chove sobre minha infância (“It is raining on my Childhood”), his first novel,
describes the different stages in the childhood and youth of the first-person
narrator, whose name is the same as that of the author.
The individual chapters in this perfectly composed and
compellingly written novel are very different in structure. After his father’s
early death, Miguel’s mother marries again. His stepfather, who brings children
of his own with him into that marriage, can ensure the survival of the family
through his work as a small trader and agricultural worker. For him, hard work
is a value in itself, and poverty an honour. Miguel is not made for that kind
of work and would prefer to learn something, to become a writer. In the eyes of
his stepfather, who cannot read or write, Miguel is a waster.
Two worlds, two views of life and two sets of values clash head on. One can
easily share the boy’s disappointments but one can also understand his
stepfather, who has no choice but to come to terms with a world in which the
fight for survival is merciless.
Thanks to its great authenticity, Chove sobre minha
infância is above all a moving portrayal of a youth in Brazil in the last three
decades. The narrator paints a picture of country life
which differs greatly from life in the big Brazilian cities.
The author writes about his own life,
from his own viewpoint. This is a compelling novel from beginning to end. A masterpiece. Moving and inspiring both at an
existential-psychological and a socio-historical level.
TRIBUNA DA IMPRENSA
Even where the author falls back on his
own experiences he does not seek a factual but rather a psychological truth.
With their symbolic language the short chapters resemble short prose pieces or
even poems. The result is a unique book, the poetry of which captivates the
reader.
O POPULAR
The author dedicates his second novel, Um amor
anarquista (“An anarchist Love”) to the “Colonia Cecília”, a colony of
Italian immigrants in Southern Brazil, founded by the veterinary surgeon Dr.
Giovanni Rossi in 1890. After only few years of hard work and deprivation, in
which more and more families and individuals leave the colony in order to find
work in neighbouring municipalities, Rossi himself gives up.
Against this backdrop Sanches Neto developes a moving story of utopia. All inhabitants are to share work and yield. However, the communal funds are not sufficient to provide for food. The anarchists intend to break all traditional structures and promote free love to end the dependency of women. Rossi himself tries to live such a life of free love. The shortage of women burdens the community. The reputation of the anarchists is far from good. The ideals of the commune, in which in fact only very few believe, are hardly appreciated/understood by the provincial neighbourhood. Rossi asks for help from Italy by writing to friends, and new immigrants arrive, those that leave resort to their old moral concepts. Rossi leaves the colony in 1893 and finds a position as a lecturer for Agricultural Science and veterinary medicine, until he returns to Italy with his girlfriend Adele and her daughters.
Sanches Neto portrays the increasing rift between
ideology and reality. The experiment has failed, what remains is the utopia.
Time and again, even in recent history, there have been comparable examples of
ideologies which were doomed to fail. With “An anarchist love” the author has
created a sensitive and empathetic novel.
The story of the Colônia Cecília was filmed in 1975 by
Jean-Louis Comolli in a French-Italian production under the title “La Cecilia”.
The Brazilian television channel Bandeirantes screened the mini-series “Colônia
Cecília“ in 1989 and Zélia Gattai, widow of Jorge Amado, inspired by her
grandparents experience in the colony, wrote the novel „Anarquistas, graças a
Deus“ (Anarchists, thank god)
In A primeira mulher ("The First
Woman"), Carlos Eduardo Pessoa is a university professor, devoted to his
female students. While he attempts to simply go about his pleasantly unexciting
everyday life, the sudden arrival of his first love Solange turns Carlos' ivory
tower into a whodunnit. Solange, preparing her campaign for the upcoming
mayoral election, is being blackmailed by anonymous callers. The only person
she feels she can trust is Carlos, the lover she lost touch with twenty years
ago, and she turns to him for help in solving the case and personal protection.
Carlos moves in with Solange to provide moral and physical support, precisely
at the moment when his latest student girlfriend Lírian turns up on his
doorstep to intensify their affair.
The
author's graphic narrative style invites the reader to actively participate in
the criminal investigations, enabling emotional empathy with the novel's
humorous and erotic situations. Almost in passing, the book portrays Brazilian
society with its problems such as corruption or disappearing children.
Miguel Sanches Neto sets the novel’s
characters in scene with a lot of sensitivity.
O
Globo
Sanches
Neto's latest novel, Chá das cinco com o
vampiro ("Five O'Clock Tea with a Vampire"), tells the story of
Beto, a young writer who leaves his home in the provinces to become a
celebrated journalist in the big city. He is soon drawn into a vicious circle
of avarice and envy.
An excellent novel.
Jornal
do Brasil
The best author of
his generation.
Veja
Novels:
Chove sobre minha infância
Rio de Janeiro: Record 2000, 254 p.
Spain: Poliedro 2003
Um amor anarquista
Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Record 2005, 250 p.
A primeira mulher
Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Record 2008, 335 p.
Chá das cinco com o vampiro
Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva 2010, 285 p.
Stories:
O hóspede secreto
Rio de Janeiro: Record 2003, 155 p.
Herdando uma Biblioteca
Rio de
Janeiro: Record 2004, 140 p.
Então você quer ser escritor?
Rio de Janeiro: Record 2011, 150 p.