Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

The Beloved Jorge Amado is Back
June 11, 2008

Before there was Coelho there was Amado.  Brazil's all-time, best-selling author Jorge Amado died in 2001 at the age of 88 leaving his mark on the modern Brazilian narrative. Amado wrote 32 books that were translated into 48 languages from his native Portuguese. He was loved, amado, just like his last name means in Spanish and he knew how to write stories about love and every day life that both women and men could appreciate him. And though he was an advocate for social reform and for the marginalized, he was also criticized for being a bit too romantic when discussing poverty, being a  sexist and reinforcing negative racial stereotypes in his books. In other words, he got to people and he is debated and analyzed in Latin American literature classes today.
       Mario Vargs Llosa is a fan.  Jean-Paul Sartre considered Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon to be "the best example of a folk novel." And The Nation called him "the Charles Dickens of the 20^th century."  In Brazil, two of his novels, Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon and Doña Flor and Her Two Husbands, were made into TV series and movies, both starring Sonia Braga. Only in the hands of Amado can a story about a woman cheating on her husband be done with so much humor and tact. You might have seen the grainy 1978 film based on Doña Flor when it came out and thought “telenovela!” but the book (surprise!) is a hundred times more layered. Flor is a cooking instructor whose first debauched husband dies during Carnival. She marries a second. He’s a nice guy pharmacist. But she’s bored and desires the passion she had with her first husband in bed and her powerful yearning brings him back in the form of a ghost. We’re talking metaphysical ménage à troi, folks.

Go get yourself a copy. Vintage Español  released two of his most popular for U.S. readers of Spanish on June 10th. As if this summer weren’t steamy enough.

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on June 11, 2008 | Comments (1)