The Mandarin by Eça de Queirós - translated by Margaret Jull Costa 

I love your book reviews! You, Better Than Food, and Benjamin McEvoy are the best content on RU-vid. I showed my husband your book shelves in the background of your videos, so he would realize there is someone worse than me! Lol

Thank you so much for having me discovered this author! The “Mandarin” reminds me the fantastic German literary tradition as exemplified by Hoffmann and which in turn it widely influenced both Gogol and French authors. Especially Théophile Gautier and Balzac. In fact as Eça de Queiroz, even Balzac was not only a “realist” novelist but he also wrote famous “fantastic” novels and short stories which he liked to name “philosophical novels”. The most famous is his 1831’s novel “ La Peau de chagrin”. That is: “The Skin of Shagreen”, more known in English as “The Magic Skin” and “The Wild Ass's Skin”, according to Wikipedia. This novel is also famous for having influenced “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.

I love learning new authors and books. Your doing the gods work Chris

I remember seeing a street named after him in Portugal.

If you liked Mandarim you could try de masterpiece Os Maias (forvige the bad english but i am portuguese).

Harold Bloom still speaks from the grave... stttill🛌

Have you ever read Gantenbein by Max Frisch? I stumbled upon it recently and thought it might be right up your alley.

Highly recommend the gothic and luscious The Maias by this author. Also translated by MJC!

“I'm the great Leviathan Insatiable Colossus Titanic engulfer of lives I reward you, absorb you I'm the monstrous mouth That hungers for your awe Immense construction of lies I own you, disown you I'm a mammoth King evoked Conjured by your dreams Summoned by your fears You need Me, you feed Me I'm the imposing Giant Infallible Dictator My rules apply to all You'll heed Me, bleed for Me Guzzling down your dreams Tears of unheard pleas I drink Imbibe with such delight The fear that floods your temporal shell Raging red rivers and streams The kingdom of My shadow Where dread of man in endless night Revives My every cell To those who doubt Your wounds will never heal To those who question My creation I'm not real I am pain I am grief I'm the things you fear I'm the lie whispered into your ear I'm the great Leviathan I'm dominance and greed You imagined Me So I was conceived I am life, I'm death You belong to Me Call Me what I am I am Colossus” -Donald J. Trump