Marcelo Oliveira thats’ because although Brazil has great authors, people there don’t really read much and the rest of the world is not aware how good some Brazilian writers write. I mean, I cannot even buy a book from Brazil because they don’t ship to Europe. Ridiculous.
One day you'll read Grande Sertão: Veredas (The Devil to Pay in the Backlands) or anything else by Guimarães Rosa, and when that day comes, I'll be the first to click the video.
@@Marcus1526 yeah. That's what all of my Brazilian friends said as well. Half the reason I learned Portuguese. Its bullshit. Finnegans wake is like 1000 of that book rolled into one. All I learned was that my friends should read more.
I lived two years with Hilda Hilst. (I wrote a book about this experience: O Exorcista na Casa do Sol / The Exorcist at the House of the Sun.) She wrote The Obscene Madame D after the death of her last boyfriend, her cousin Wilson Hilst, an airplane pilot who was murdered by drug traffickers. In addition to being an excellent writer, she was an amazing person. She used to say: the real revolution is not political; it is holiness. She loved St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Well, as a brazilian writer I can share some further informations about her. First of all, Hilda wasn't a "famous author" till her last days, therefore I got pretty happy with your interesting. I want to start telling a little bit about her life: Hilda was born in 1930, and since her teens she was a "controversy" woman, in her twenties she used to receive big figures in her aparment, where she lived only with a cleaner, not married, not under a man. In 1950, if I'm not wrong she made her debut with poetry, what sends us straight to her father, the true reason Hilst became a writer. Apolonio de Almeida Prado Hilst was a farmer, journalist and also poet, however in 1935 he got hospitalized because of his mental disease. This left a mark on Hilst: when she was sixteen she visited the father but he didn't recognize her, worst, he thought that she was her mother and asked for three nights with her (you can find this episode clearly developed in her book "Kadosh", in the first tale). In a interview Hilst shared that her father was the reason she became a writer; in The Obscene Madame D his figure is also present, and the protagonist has the same nickname of Hilda. But, honestly, Hilda is more than this. I can put her side by side with Guimarães Rosa and Machado de Assis. She's known as "pure literature" because she made poetry, prose, plays and chronicles and I agree with that. The happiness you made me feel with this review is because, as I said before, Hilst's books wasn't popular and the world needs to know her unique stream of counciousness, her marvelous poetry and her "obscene" sight. Faulkner used to advice us to read his books many times, I'd say the same for Hilst, her prose books are inexhaustible, everytime your read you find something new, one of the enthusiast of her pieces said: "When you read Hilst is like a computer website, as your eyes are gathering the information some windows start to pop up", Hilst's stream of counciousness is dialogical, it's a pity that Tu Não Te Moves de Ti (in a free translation: You don't move from yourself) is not translated yet, this unique tecnique can be be found in this piece. Because of this lack of readers in 1990 Hilst published what is known as "the erotic trilogy", tired of being a unknown thinker she went after the foul, the swearing side of humans: the obscene; "The true nature of the obscene is on its will in converting", she said in a interview. O caderno rosa de Lori Lamby (Lori Lamby's pink notebook) can turn Lolita into a fairytale, is a story of a little girl who sells herself for toys, if you get what I'm saying, but there's more than a sexual story, this piece has a huge critic aimed to the brazilian editorial business, and is not erotic; Hilda trying to be provocative ended making a book as powerful as Sade's view. I wish you can read more Hislt in the future, it has no turning back. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THISSS
I read somewhere that Nightboat Books is publishing a new HHilst book every 2 years; if they continue to do so, stay tuned for “Caderno rosa de Lori Lamby” (something like “Lori Lamby’s diary”) - man, you are in for a (weird) treat. Also, her most beautiful book (in my humble opinion) “Tu não te moves de ti” is still unavailable in English. She’s one of the greatest, definitely.
@@Jessica-pp8ks Foi bloqueada nas redes dela e tá felizaça em perturbar a Tati por aqui, não é, gatinha? A satisfação do seu dia é ser escrota com quem faz mais pela literatura na internet do que você e seus amigos floquinhos de neve jamais farão. É triste ser um zero à esquerda, com uma vidinha infeliz, né? Bom pro Clifford, mais engajamento.
@@MarcosPaulo-ot2jb Fui bloqueada não, nem acompanho ela, comentei pq vi o comentário dela aqui, vc quer print também? Me desculpe se não compactuo com quem apoia um presidente que é responsavel por 39mil mortes e está levando o brasil pra baixo. Agora se você prefere ser um ignorante e cego, fica a vontade, eu só comentei a verdade, quem tá xingando aqui é você. Eu hein
@@Jessica-pp8ks É pra fazer e conta que a sua mensagem para ela não foi agressiva? Ah, mas agressividade do bem, pode. CHORE. Assuma que sua mensagem teve a intenção de infernizar, não seja covarde.
This is such a great way of seeing these authors. It's so nice to see a foreign perspective! We study her in such a brazillian-ness way, it's so wonderful to see someone without the brazilian references read and review her
Brilliant review! Look for Hilda's story, she was a tremendous force of nature in our literature. She lived far away, reclused from everything and "everyone" in her house (The House of the sun = Casa do Sol). Her literature embodied her life and vice versa, there is no-one like her. I loved your metaphor of the end of the Earth being herself. Great image of what her text is. And I will say that the big authors from Brazil are like that. I highly recommend Guimarães Rosa and Graciliano Ramos.
I’ve read Barren Lives from Graciliano Ramos when I was 16. I’m 28 now and can’t think about Baleia without shedding a tear... hahahah and Guimarães Rosa with Sagarana ❤️ “...the story of a donkey, like the story of a great man, is well given in the summary of a single day of his life”.
Having read, loved, and reviewed Passion according to G. H. myself, I’m going to stop this video at just past the 3-minute mark and order this book. I’ll return after I’ve read it. Thanks for putting yet another one on my radar!
Seeing your love and respect for Brazilian literature not only makes me incredibly happy and proud, but it has also encouraged me to dive deeper into my country's culture myself - not only in regards to literature, but also film and music. I can only thank you for that! It's not everyday that you come across authentic and insightful content such as yours, so keep up the amazing work!
@Alanna Amorim Eduardo Coutinho e Kleber Mendonça são dois diretores que sempre tive vontade de conhecer mais a fundo (do último só assisti Bacurau, que gostei muito). Muito obrigada pelas dicas, vou checar todos ;)
I discovered recently a brazilian author name Graça Aranha who has been forgot a long time ago, he wasn't a great writer but he did write a great book called Canaan, there's a english translation on Amazon.This book is so poetic, so realistic, so good. I'm recommending to everyone i know, so they can all share my enthusiasm for the piece.
check out Lygia Fagundes Telles. she was one of Hilda's closest friends. I guess you'd like Ciranda de Pedra. this video is so heart warming in times like these ❤️
The fact that you often review novellas and shorter novels like this one makes it easier for me to give a book like this a try. The book sounds weird and wonderful.
So glad you brought another Brazilian author 😍😍😍 Recently I knew that Machado's The posthumous memoirs of Brás Cubas had been sold out, and that it has gone into a third print run in its first week of "posthumous life", translated by the brasilianista Flora Thomson-DeVeaux. You should read it and compare the translations! Just to know how different (or even similar) both can be. I just love your channel. Great job and keep it up, Mr. Sargent! Greetings from Brasil 🇧🇷
Hilda Hilst is hands down one of our best authors! I wish she was more recognized, even here not much people know about her. And she was a hell of a human being as well. Also: man, I LOVE your reviews. They have a uniqueness that is not often seen on book reviews. Keep up the good work :)
Uau, I'm so glad you read my recommendation and liked it so much :) thanks for the video, it means so much for us Brazilians to see our writers being read all over the world!
Great review. I love Hilst. When you are ready for another Brazilian, though closer to Machado de Assis than Hilda Hilst in style, you should try the new translation of 'São Bernardo' by Graciliano Ramos, translated by Padma Viswanathan and published by the New York Review Books.
I recently found your channel and I'm loving it, also I wanna recommend two books: Recently a new translation of S. Bernardo were released by New York Review Books, it's a book by Graciliano Ramos, one of Brazilian greatest writers that wrote about the Northeast region. His Magnum Opus is Barren Lives (Vidas Secas), published by the University of Texas Press. Both books are great and Barren Lives has one of the saddest deaths on Brazilian Literature.
Man, it's so amazing to see the literature of my country been enjoyed by foreign people. It's not only soccer and carnival. We have more than that. Thanks to read our authors. Thank you sooooo much.
Yes Brazilian literature! By the way there are other authors you would love. Such as Rubem Fonseca, he was a cop from what I know, and Daniel Galera, a promising author. Oh yeah I also recommend Amador Daguio's Wedding Dance and Nick Joaquin, known as one of the greatest of Filipino writers.
I'm so happy to see you talking about Brazilian literature and impressed with this. Thank you for your great job as always (and I really appreciate the Brazilian Portuguese subtitles :) )
I'm so happy to see so much of Brazilian Literature here! Brazilian Literature is one of the best in world yet is severely underappreciated and underestimated.I must beg you to, please, read "The Brothers: A Novel", by Lebanese descent Brazilian author Milton Hatoum, as well as "We Were Six", by Maria José Dupré! Those two are some of favourite books, and will hopefully be transforming in your reading perspectives! P.S. There's also Guimarães Rosa, a Brazilian author cararactherized for his studies of regional dialects, language innovations and short stories. Likely there are no comparable writers in worldwide Literature. Of his works, "The Devil to Pay in the Backlands" is of utterly importance. Thank you very much! Subscribed!
Thank you so much! I'm from Brazil and I study brazilian literature in my college. It's increadible to see non-latinos reading the amazing works of our special authors. I recommed you to read some short stories by Caio Fernando Abreu, my favorite brazilian author. Hilda was one off his best friends! The book "O Inventário do Ir-remediável" its just increadible. And, yes! There is a reason why Hilsa and Clarice are similar :)
Thank you! Thank you very much for this! Hilst is my favorite brazilian author, she was a genius. You saved my day, I'm pretty pretty pretty glad with it
I found your channel by looking for Água Viva reviews..... Your work has been adding a lot of value for all bookfans and readers globally. Please keep doing this great stuff and never stop. Cheers from Brasil, parça
4 года назад
I really really love Hilda, and also prefer her in comparison to Lispector. You have more of her books translated? I know Lori Lamby is, and it’s amazing, but totally different than this one. I think Hilst is an author you have to read again and every time you realise something knew. Loved your video ♥️ Ps: the pig child is in other books too 😉
Thanks my friend, although we don’t have many of us who really love our culture, it’s very comforting to see you speak so well of our works, hugs from Brazil.
You have a really,like really good taste in books!and i feel glad a person like you,with all this cool and intersting words and knowledge,have an youtube channel!
my god, i'm reading her poetry compilation right now, my next book was definitely chosen with this video. Best channel that the algorithm recommended me, thanks youtube haha
Here's something interesting about pig-boy or boy-pig (don't know how this one was translated): 'Pig' in Portuguese spells 'P o r c o', which we can see pretty clearly in PtBr as an anagram for 'C o r p o' ('corpo' translates to 'body'). So, there you go: pig-boy = body-boy. A whole other level of meaning. Also, Really like your reviews, mate. especially when they're about Brazilian authors. This one was the first of Hilda's that I read too.
I strongly admire how you seem to enjoy these two brazilian authors. Lispector and Hilst. That are surely among my favorites. You obviously did your homework and know what you are talking about. It is such a delight to watch. Thank you!
Yay! This is exciting! I haven't read her books yet, I look forward to reading it in Portuguese. I love your channel, please do more reviews about Brazilian literature. Obrigada 🖤
Você poderia colocar legendas nas outras resenha de autores Brasileiros, pois ainda não conseguir compreender direito o inglês RSS. P.S: você fala muito rápido
Wow, so glad you took your time to read Hilda Hilst! When it comes to the experience of reading Hilda Hilst I dare say that the feelings are mutual for sure. It's a another world's adventure, so to speak.
Glad you read Brazilian works. Greetings from Brazil and I love it when this literary exchange happens. In fact, I met you with a review by Machado de Assis - is there in your country a compilation of his short stories? I searched the channel and didn't find it: have you read 'Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira' by José Saramago, a portuguese writer? I think it came out translated as 'Blindness'. One of my favorite authors.
Great as always❤. I highly recommend the blind owl by Sadegh Hedayat. This book is the first and yet best modern persian novel. Based on your taste, I think you're gonna love it.
If you haven't had the opportunity, I'd suggest reading Herta Müller; in my humble opinion, her style assimilates to Lispector's and Hilst's a lot, - especially "The Fox Was Ever the Hunter"-, nonetheless being more grounded to recognizable descriptions of the world. Anyway, thank you for once again reviewing Brazilian authors, for they are an esteemed part of our culture, of whom we're very proud of. Cheers! :)
I LOVE the fact that you read brazilian literature ❤ one sugestion, although much different from the books you have previously read from us, is "suicidas" by raphael montes! It's a mindblowing thriller
I went to Brazil and searched high and low for Riacho Doce by Jose Lins do Rego. I even went to his state, Alagoas and no bookshops had the book. I went to the London Library (in London obvs, as I am a member) and I got the book!! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU, BRAZIL??? HONOUR THY ART!
I think Brazilian Modernism (1922 to 1960, although the 3º generation, the one up to 1960, is sometimes called "post-modern", they are actually late modernists) is one of the best in world's literature, it stands at the absolute top wit the French and the Russians. For me the greatest prose writer in Brazil's Modernism is Joao Guimaraes Rosa, maybe your should give a try.
I was looking at your channel and I saw you hadn't reviewed much Mexican literature, I really recommend The Death of Artemio Cruz. It doesn't take that long and is pretty interesting. In case you have read it, I'd love your opinion.
There is an album made from the poems of Hilda Hilst from her book "Jubilation, Remembrance, Novitiate of Passion" in which great singers of Brazilian music interpret the poems as songs: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g9vZeTBpnu4.html&start_radio=1&t=134. The name of the album is "Ode Descontínua e Remota para Flauta e Oboé de Ariana para Dionísio - Poemas de Hilda Hilst Musicados por Zeca Baleiro" (available in Spotify). In Brazil there is a popular song type that is like literature.
If you’re looking for surrealist authors who so beautiful and disgustingly produce a miasmatic atmosphere look no further than John Hawkes. His first few books namely the Lime Twig, the Beetle Leg, and the Cannibal are some of the best works I’ve read in that nature. You can see his influence in the works of Pynchon and some of the other postmodernists. I recently finished the Beetle Leg and man I don’t know if I understood a quarter of it but you feel the need to take a long hot shower after reading it. Highly recommended.
Hawkes' Blood Oranges is perhaps my favorite novel (at least from an English language author) but all his work is great and I do think Cliff would particularly like "The Beetle Leg".
Gostei muito do review. Não sei se "insane" abarca a escrita da Hilda, mas acho que você vai no ponto quando diz que talvez seja uma espécie de "clareza excessiva sobre a existência", digamos assim... sinto que é por aí também. Sobre a introdução de outras explicações, que você coloca no final, talvez essa seja uma necessidade gringa. Aqui no BR costumamos ler Clarice Lispector na escola, penso que acaba sendo um começo para Hilda Hilst, no futuro. Geniais, fortes e sensíveis na sua própria maneira. Recomendo a leitura de "Rútilos", da Hilda. É absolutamente incrível. :)
Eu também amo os poemas da Hilda Hilst! Muito obrigada por valorizar e prestar atenção às nossas autoras =D Recomendo Lygia Fagundes Telles (I also love Hilda Hilst's poems! Thank you so much for valorizing and paying attention to our authors =D I recommend Lygia Fagundes Telles)
Great review Cliff, always love that you say who would maybe like it even if you do or don't like it yourself. I know you don't take on reccomendations from the comments often but the nature + confessional poet Ted Hughes has a surreal sexual magical-realism verse novel named 'Gaudete' about a priest who gets boddy swapped by a wood changeling. Reccomend it to anyone else here too, I've yet to read but really looking forward to it.
I just found your channel and i loved! Thank you for the review and someday please read Grande Sertão Veredas (The Devil to Pay in the Backlands), for me it is the best brazilian literature with our complex background culture.
Thank you for the brilliant review. I don't know if you read poetry regularly, but you should read Carlos Drummond de Andrade (Brazil). I easily sit and argue with any person that he's the best twentieth century poet of all (and yeah, that means Fernando Pessoa, William Carlos Williams, Brecht, Lorca, you name it). Also, I hate competition, but I mean it this time.
Great review! I' de recommend Angústia (Anguish) and Vidas Secas ( Barren Lives) - Graciliano Ramos. In both of them, you'll find a kind of moral, mental, and social disintegration of the protagonists.
yes, this book is a masterpiece! you should read "Fico Besta Quando Me Entendem", a book with all of Hilda's interviews; she was fascinant - but I'm not sure if there's a translated edition of this book to english, I hope so.
Maybe you would like A glass of rage (Um copo de cólera) and Ancient Tillage (Lavoura arcaica) by Raduan Nassar as well. Both masterpieces. Hilda Hilst also had also written a book called 'Fluxo-Floema', a killer and even more radical novel than The Obscene Madame D, hugely recommended.
It warms my heart to see someone from outside of Brazil enjoy our authors so much! You're probably being swarmed with books recs but I think that you would really enjoy "O triste fim de Policarpo Quaresma" by Lima Barreto and "Venha ver o por do sol" by Lydia Fagundes Telles :D
