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The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (1881)

by Machado de Assis

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
2,369666,414 (4.15)1 / 114
"One of the wittiest, most playful, and . . . most alive and ageless books ever written." --Dave Eggers, The New Yorker A revelatory new translation of the playful, incomparable masterpiece of one of the greatest Black authors in the Americas A Penguin Classic The mixed-race grandson of ex-slaves, Machado de Assis is not only Brazil's most celebrated writer but also a writer of world stature, who has been championed by the likes of Philip Roth, Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsberg, John Updike, and Salman Rushdie. In his masterpiece, the 1881 novel The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (translated also as Epitaph of a Small Winner), the ghost of a decadent and disagreeable aristocrat decides to write his memoir. He dedicates it to the worms gnawing at his corpse and tells of his failed romances and halfhearted political ambitions, serves up harebrained philosophies, and complains with gusto from the depths of his grave. Wildly imaginative, wickedly witty, and ahead of its time, the novel has been compared to the work of everyone from Cervantes to Sterne to Joyce to Nabokov to Borges to Calvino, and has influenced generations of writers around the world. This new English translation is the first to include extensive notes providing crucial historical and cultural context. Unlike other editions, it also preserves Machado's original chapter breaks--each of the novel's 160 short chapters begins on a new page--and includes excerpts from previous versions of the novel never before published in English.… (more)
  1. 00
    Quincas Borba by Machado de Assis (hrjunior)
  2. 00
    Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo (fspyck)
    fspyck: Ik vond er eenzelfde terughoudenheid in, Machado de Assis is misschien wat grimmiger, en speelt nog meer met vorm en intertekstualiteit, Svevo is ietwat hilarischer
  3. 01
    Memórias de um Soldado de Milícias by Manuel Antônio de Almeida (Anonymous user)
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» See also 114 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 49 (next | show all)
Three and a half stars. Very clever, I appreciated it, but I didn't enjoy it too much - I hated the main character. I'm glad I've read it, but I'm not going to reread it in the future. ( )
  Donderowicz | Mar 12, 2024 |
An interesting story told by a man who takes a rather remote perspective on his family and friends. Lots of cynicism, lots of deadpan humor. It is sometimes difficult to figure out exactly what De Assis is trying to say and this borders on the poetic. ( )
  dbsovereign | Dec 8, 2023 |
I wonder: is he as obsessed with aging and death as he appears to be? Reading this after Dom Casmurro makes me wonder. I read the translation by William Grossman made in the 1950s: the first translation of Machado de Assis into English. It takes a little getting used to and I’m not sure whether I would have preferred Jull Costa’s brand-new one. That said, I found the end a bit…deflating. I have to admit that the book--generally acknowledged as one of his masterpieces--fell a bit short for me. I enjoy reading him for his observations, especially on relationships between people, but the end just didn't impress me...sorta the same way I felt about Dom Casmurro. Not sure which of his works I will take on next, but I’m glad I have a number of books (not to mention his stories) still ahead of me. A distinctive voice, that’s for sure. ( )
  Gypsy_Boy | Aug 24, 2023 |
Delightful, strange book that I really liked. Written by a great 19th century Brazilian author, it purports to be written from the grave by a wealthy man who looks askance at his behavior while alive. It is interesting, insightful & delightful. ( )
  RickGeissal | Aug 16, 2023 |
Reason Read; Reading 1001, TBR takedown, TIOLI #10
This is a 19th century work by Machado de Assis, a Brazilian author. It is set in Rio. It is a Brazilian Classic. Bras Cubas is writing this from the grave, thus it is the posthumous memoir.
Brás Cubas dedicates his book: "To the worm who first gnawed on the cold flesh of my corpse, I dedicate with fond remembrance these Posthumous Memoirs". The characters include Bras Cuba who is a man who is mediocre and fails to accomplish anything. He dies of pneumonia; a normal death, a normal life. He wishes to be famous but never achieves it. There is romance and a love triangle with Virgilia, wife of Lobo Neves.
"The Plaster," the narrator describes the sublime idea that hopped into his head while walking, the invention of "an anti-hypochondriacal plaster destined to alleviate our melancholy humanity." (this is desire for greatness; for vain glory. There are hippos, Pandora, etc. Many, many short chapters. Bras Cuba sees the reader as the villian. he states that "the greatest defect is you" (the reader).
There is a lot in this short little book; comedy of manners, romance, storytelling, playfulness, and death. Borba, the friend, is promoting Humanatism. In one scene, Bras Cubas is walking in the area where slaves were formerly sold. He sees his free slave beating a slave. Overall, Bras Cubas never marries, never gets a political post and dies in mediocrity. It is the second that I've read by this author. I read Dom Casmurro which I gave 5 stars. Machado's Bras Cubas shares similarities with Tristam Shandy (Stern). The addressing the reader in the story is not a new or even a post meta device because it can be found in books such as Don Quixote where the characters are aware that they are characters in the first book, in Vanity Fair where Thackery makes many references to the author. Realism is the style of the 19th century novel of which this has its origin but it does not read like a typical realism novel. I enjoyed it. ( )
  Kristelh | Aug 5, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 49 (next | show all)
This new translation, by Flora Thomson-DeVeaux, is the perfect chance to get reacquainted with the delights of a book written with “the pen of mirth and the ink of melancholy”, or to discover it for the first time.
added by Nevov | editThe Observer, John Self (Aug 29, 2021)
 

» Add other authors (102 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Machado de Assisprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Costa, Margaret JullTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
de Sá Rego, EnyltonPrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Frisch, ShariDrawingssecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Grossman, William L.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kayser, WolfgangTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Passos, Gilberto PinheiroAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Patterson, RobinTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Petruccioli, DanieleTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rabassa, GregoryTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Willemsen, AugustTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Original title
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Epigraph
Dedication
AO VERME
QUE
PRIMEIRO ROEU AS FRIAS
CARNES
DO MEU CADÁVER
DEDICO,
COMO SAUDOSA LEMBRANÇA,
ESTAS
MEMÓRIAS PÓSTUMAS
First words
"Que Stendhal confessasse haver escrito um de seus livros para cem leitores, coisa é que admira e consterna. O que não admira, nem provavelmente consternará é se este outro livro não tiver os cem leitores de Stendhal, nem cinquenta, nem vinte e, quando muito, dez. Dez? Talvez cinco."
To the Reader: When we learn from Stendhal that he wrote one of his books for only a hundred readers, we are both astonished and disturbed.
Quotations
(Chapter 1) The Death of the Author. I hesitated some time, not knowing whether to open these memoirs at the beginning or at the end, ie whether to start with my birth or with my death.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

"One of the wittiest, most playful, and . . . most alive and ageless books ever written." --Dave Eggers, The New Yorker A revelatory new translation of the playful, incomparable masterpiece of one of the greatest Black authors in the Americas A Penguin Classic The mixed-race grandson of ex-slaves, Machado de Assis is not only Brazil's most celebrated writer but also a writer of world stature, who has been championed by the likes of Philip Roth, Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsberg, John Updike, and Salman Rushdie. In his masterpiece, the 1881 novel The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (translated also as Epitaph of a Small Winner), the ghost of a decadent and disagreeable aristocrat decides to write his memoir. He dedicates it to the worms gnawing at his corpse and tells of his failed romances and halfhearted political ambitions, serves up harebrained philosophies, and complains with gusto from the depths of his grave. Wildly imaginative, wickedly witty, and ahead of its time, the novel has been compared to the work of everyone from Cervantes to Sterne to Joyce to Nabokov to Borges to Calvino, and has influenced generations of writers around the world. This new English translation is the first to include extensive notes providing crucial historical and cultural context. Unlike other editions, it also preserves Machado's original chapter breaks--each of the novel's 160 short chapters begins on a new page--and includes excerpts from previous versions of the novel never before published in English.

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