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The Maias (1888)

by José Maria Eça de Queiroz

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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1,1022918,117 (4.12)68
The Maias depicts the declining fortunes of a landowning family over three generations as they are gradually undermined by hypocrisy, complacency and sexual licence.
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The single great work in Portuguese literature…at least according to Jose Saramago: “The greatest book by Portugal’s greatest novelist”! That’s a pretty heavy burden to place on any piece of literature. In fact, I have mingled feelings. Though I can appreciate the achievement, in the end I can’t avoid saying that I was a trifle disappointed. The story follows the rich aristocratic Maia family, primarily told through the lives of grandfather and grandson. The grandson’s (and, indeed, the society’s) dilettantish predilections are a wonderfully executed metaphor for the decline of Portugal in the second half of the 19th century, but the plot reminds me mostly of Sir Walter Scott: the book is just a little too “romantic”—the ups, the downs, the amazing coincidences, the incidents (especially the large cast falling into and out of love) that repeat over and over and over to characters who seem to spend their entire lives learning nothing. And de Queirós’s preoccupation with opera, clothing, and interior decoration (not to mention interminably long sentences) eventually becomes tedious. (I understand that this is how he chooses to invoke "society" and that he is skewering them but less is usually more and too often de Queirós beats his topics to death.) I was also disappointed that the end seemed rushed. All the loose ends are tied together in the last chapter or so, telling us what happened to every character and how their lives played out. The same explanations could—and should, I think—have been told over as many chapters as needed, not crammed into one tidy package. And this after 600+ pages. And so I’m left thinking that the book is either too short or too long.
(My other very sad comment: I read the translation by Margaret Jull Costa. Her work, as always, is impeccable. But her publisher—New Directions—did her and the readers a grave disservice by publishing the book with no supporting information. In some books, I would not need a glossary, but when an author describes his characters’ methods of transportation in excruciating detail (at least six different terms—I stopped counting—for their carriages: calèche, phaeton, dog-cart, four-in-hand…), when amounts of money are important and often used to make a point but the reader has no sense of relative value, the publisher owes it to readers to explain these things. This book had nothing: no notes, no glossary, no introduction (though a brief “appreciation” at the end by Jull Costa), nothing. De Queirós made these distinctions and wrote as he did with a purpose. But when the reader cannot decipher them, I think a publisher actually harms the work by not helping with notes or explanations. Too often I spent time hunting information down because it seemed too important to just pass by. And like War and Peace, a list of characters wouldn’t hurt.) ( )
  Gypsy_Boy | Aug 24, 2023 |
“Porque não se deixaria o preto sossegado, na calma posse dos seus manipansos? Que mal fazia à ordem das coisas que houvesse selvagens? Pelo contrário, davam ao universo uma deliciosa quantidade de pitoresco”.

(My loose translation: “Why couldn't the Black be left alone, in the calm possession of his charms? What harm did it do to the order of things that there were savages? On the contrary, they gave the universe a delicious amount of the picturesque”)

In “Os Maias” by Eça de Queiroz

I’ve just re-read “Os Maias” because I read somewhere in the Portuguese press it had racist “undertones”.

Let me get this out of the way first: I have a personal moral obligation to not be racist, as well as a personal inclination. I do not have a moral obligation to erase history because someone says that they find it offensive. I'm not arguing that just because it happened a long time ago it is harmless or that I approve, just that history is there to be learned from and you cannot do that if you sanitize it into oblivion. I just believe that history and fiction in particular is a "warts and all" thing, you have to show the nasty stuff and doing so does not in any way imply that you agree with the opinions and mores of the time under study. Having said that, overreaction effectively gives genuine racists a get out, painting any one who complains about racism as hysterically oversensitive and prone to grandstanding. Moreover, free speech only needs to be defended when someone says something that is controversial, or offensive, or utterly disgusting. The fact that you personally find something offensive is not reason enough to ban it. And banning things has nothing to do with free speech. The principle of free speech is the bedrock of democracy, allowing criticism and new ideas to flourish in society, and it is far more important than any individual's sensibilities.

If you start to declare all literature depicting racism as racist, then you immediately include all anti-racist literature in that category- it's virtually impossible to condemn racism without depicting it. “To Kill a Mockingbird” depicts racism. Toni Morrison's Beloved depicts racism. Primo Levi's “If This Is a Man” depicts racism. Are these anti-racist works to be derided as racist for simply depicting the horrors they condemn?

Bottom-line: No, “Os Maias” is not a racist novel ffs! It's fiction, you stupid tossers! ( )
  antao | Jul 3, 2021 |
Passa-se um drama familiar logo no comecinho. Depois disso nada acontece por umas seiscentas páginas - os personagens visitam-se, tomam chá, jogam cartas, ocasionalmente há um affair, mas nada de substantivo. Centenas de páginas de diálogos chatíssimos e descrições desnecessárias. Lá pelo final passa-se outro drama familiar. E é isso. ( )
  marzagao | Jun 1, 2021 |
This magnificent 19th century novel has been called, 'The greatest book by Portugal's greatest novelist,' by Jose Saramago. Harold Bloom called it, 'one of the most impressive European novels of the nineteenth century, fully comparable to the most inspired novels of the great Russian, French, Italian and English masters of prose fiction.' I had never heard of this book or its author before I picked it up to read as the 'Q' author for my Alphabet Challenge. I am so glad I did, and I will be reading more of de Queiros.

The book reminds me of Buddenbrooks, so for anyone who has read and loved Buddenbrooks that might be recommendation enough. The family in The Maias is much smaller than that in Buddenbrooks. After his mother runs away with her lover, and his father's tragic death, Carlos da Maia is raised by his wealthy grandfather. He studies at medical school, and as a young man becomes a dilettante in Lisbon society. Ultimately, he faces a tragedy that will form his character for the rest of his life.

What I loved about this book are the characters. The love Carlos's grandfather has for Carlos permeates the story. He is there behind the scenes, not intrusive, but his love is boundless. It takes Carlos a long time to realize this. The story of Carlos's friendship with Ega, another happy-go-lucky man-about the town is also beautifully portrayed. We should all be so lucky as to have such a friendship in our lives. ( )
1 vote arubabookwoman | Apr 22, 2017 |

Fond memories... ( )
  antao | Dec 10, 2016 |
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» Add other authors (96 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Queiroz, José Maria Eça deprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Carvalho, J. Rentes deAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jull Costa, MargaretAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jull Costa, MargaretTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lemmens, HarrieTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pinheiro, Patricia McGowanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stevens, AnnTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Het huis in Lissabon dat de Maia's in de herfst van het jaar 1875 betrokken, stond in de straten rond de Rua de São Francisco de Paula en de hele verdere wijk Janelas Verdes bekend als Huize Boeket, of gewoon het Boeket.
The Lisbon house into which the Maias moved in the autumn of 1875 was known in the neighbourhood of Rua de Sao Francisco de Paula, and throughout the district of Janelas Verdes as Ramalhete -  the House of the Bouquet.
Quotations
"A casa que os Maias vieram habitar em Lisboa, no Outono de 1875, era conhecida na vizinhança da rua de S. Francisco de Paula, e em todo o bairro das Janellas Verdes, pela casa do Ramalhete ou simplesmente o Ramalhete. Apesar deste fresco nome de vivenda campestre, o Ramalhete, sombrio casarão de paredes severas, com um renque de estreitas varandas de ferro no primeiro andar, e por cima uma timida fila de janellinhas abrigadas à beira do telhado, tinha o aspecto tristonho de Residência Eclesiástica que competia a uma edificação do reinado da sr.ª D. Maria I: com uma sineta e com uma cruz no topo assimilhar-se-ia a um Collegio de Jesuitas. O nome de Ramalhete provinha de certo d'um revestimento quadrado de azulejos fazendo painel no lugar heraldico do Escudo d'Armas, que nunca chegara a ser colocado, e representando um grande ramo de girassóis atado por uma fita onde se distinguiam letras e números d'uma data. Longos anos o Ramalhete permanecera desabitado, com teias d'aranha pelas grades dos postigos terreos, e cobrindo-se de tons de ruina. Em 1858 Monsenhor Buccarini, Nuncio de S. Santidade, visitara-o com ideia de instalar lá a Nunciatura,(...)"
-We've failed in life my friend.
-I believe so...But so do most people. That is, they fail in so far as they never attain the life they planned in the imagination. They say 'I'm going to be like this, because it's beautiful to be like this'. But it never turns out like this, but invariably like that: occasionally better, but always different.
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The Maias depicts the declining fortunes of a landowning family over three generations as they are gradually undermined by hypocrisy, complacency and sexual licence.

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