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Barren Lives (1938)

by Graciliano Ramos

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7091432,083 (4.19)14
A peasant family, driven by the drought, walks to exhaustion through an arid land. As they shelter at a deserted ranch, the drought is broken and they linger, tending cattle for the absentee ranch owner, until the onset of another drought forces them to move on, homeless wanderers again. Yet, like the desert plants that defeat all rigors of wind and weather, the family maintains its will to survive in the harsh and solitary land. Intimately acquainted with the region of which he writes and keenly appreciative of the character of its inhabitants, into whose minds he has penetrated as few before him, Graciliano Ramos depicts them in a style whose austerity well becomes the spareness of the subject, creating a gallery of figures that rank as classic in contemporary Brazilian literature.… (more)
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» See also 14 mentions

Esta é a obra prima do autor. É incrível como ele desconstrói a natureza humana. As personagens são de uma incrível simplicidade. Contudo o autor descreve suas angústias de cada dia de uma forma psicanalítica. Talvez seja a maior obra literária brasileira. ( )
  FatimaCastelao | Oct 4, 2021 |
This is one of my high school must read that I enjoyed the most. Although the place where this story takes place might be odd and different for you, the feelings are very well known to all human kind... ( )
  Glaucialm | Feb 18, 2016 |
Confesso só ter empatizado com o povo todo depois do capítulo da Baleia, a cachorrinha que passa esta secura de vida com a família e parece mais gente do que eles. É triste, toca na falta de conhecimento o tempo todo e nas implicações disto no cotidiano do casal. Muito do que damos por garantido faltando, levando a pensar na quantidade de supérfluos que temos. Escrita seca como as vidas. ( )
  MarthaNunes | Nov 2, 2015 |
A tentativa de repoduzir os estados mentais do protagonista acaba por reduzi-lo a algo próximo da animalidade. ( )
  leandrod | Feb 10, 2015 |
If Graciliano Ramos' intention was to convey the reason that "....to the city from the backland would come ever more and more of its sons, a never-ending stream of strong, strapping brutes....", then he was absolutely successful! Painting the backland family headed by Fabiano and Vitoria, along with their two boys, the reader cannot help but feel despair and an intense desire for change from the drought-ridden, hard-scrabble existence of this family. Simple people, depicted essentially as beasts of burden who are following their basest instinct for survival, this family tries tirelessly to survive and get ahead. Unfortunately, Mother Nature and the wealthy, smarter locals conspire to make it almost impossible. Yes, it is a dark, barren story. Yes, it is deceptively simple. Yes, it is profound. ( )
  hemlokgang | May 30, 2014 |
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A peasant family, driven by the drought, walks to exhaustion through an arid land. As they shelter at a deserted ranch, the drought is broken and they linger, tending cattle for the absentee ranch owner, until the onset of another drought forces them to move on, homeless wanderers again. Yet, like the desert plants that defeat all rigors of wind and weather, the family maintains its will to survive in the harsh and solitary land. Intimately acquainted with the region of which he writes and keenly appreciative of the character of its inhabitants, into whose minds he has penetrated as few before him, Graciliano Ramos depicts them in a style whose austerity well becomes the spareness of the subject, creating a gallery of figures that rank as classic in contemporary Brazilian literature.

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