DESTINATION: BRAZIL
Sunday, May 17th, 10AM to 11:30AM (We'll have tea + coffee!)
FREE, but RSVP is helpful!
Postcard Bookshop | 81 SE Yamhill St, PDX 97214
Parking lot located in back, off of Water Ave
Our Word Travel Book Club meets every-other-month to read books from a common country. We pick the destination and you choose what book to read! When we gather, we’ll all be introduced to a broader survey of a country’s writing, and have the chance to explore connections and themes across books.
As our reading takes us to regions around the world, it's inevitable that we find connections between literature in different countries. I've been looking forward to drawing the lines between nations; particularly when they share a tumultuous colonial past. How do we view an imperial country's writing after reading the books from one of their colonies? How is our understanding of a younger nation's books influenced by the legacy of their former colonizer? For May, we'll read from Brazil — our second Lusophone country — and I'm curious what ties we'll see to Portugal (our destination last September).
To be sure — Brazil's writing and literary culture stands fully on its own. The country certainly has ample material for storytelling. From the Amazon to the arid sertão, from the megacity of São Paulo to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the Afrobrazilian enclave of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil is incredibly diverse. Readers can find early picaresque novels, modernist feminist stories, contemporary crime fiction, and authors reclaiming indigeneity. I've made a few recommendations below, but you can always choose another book from our featured country. Read a long-overdue classic, or try out a new genre — read what catches your attention!
Suggested from the shop:
Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis
Macunaíma by Mario de Andrade
The Accidental Tourist by Mario de Andrade
Gabriela, Clove, Cinnamon by Jorge Amado
Too Much of Life: The Complete Cronicas by Clarice Lispector
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector
There's No Point in Dying by Francisco Maciel
We All Loved Cowboys by Carol Bensimon
The Jaguar's Roar by Micheliny Verunschk
Out of Earth by Sheyla Smanioto
Pandora by Ana Paula Pacheco
As If By Magic by Edgard Telles Ribeiro
On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior
The Simple Art of Killing a Woman by Patricia Melo
View these books (and more):