#captainsofthesands

Books Read This Year; Backlands: The Canudos Campaign by Euclides da Cunha, Macunaíma: The Hero With No Character by Mario de Andrade, Hippie by Paulo Coelho and Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado

All throughout the year, my piece of Brazilian literature mostly focused on the northeastern part of Brazil. In Backlands, I explored the northeastern part of Brazil. With its dry, arid and empty lands, I learned of the mountains and sertões surrounding areas like the Bahia, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Ceara, Piauí and Maranhão. During the summer, the sertão is known for being so dry that even rain is impossible to get. Macunaíma mostly takes place in Brazil's beautiful, lush and dense rainforests with its main character, Macunaíma growing up and living there. Before he became the Hero With No Character, he was thrown away by his mother in a spacious clearing within the beautiful forest. Captains of the Sands takes place in the Bahia, specifically the capital, Salvador. Based on the fact that the Captains lived on a warehouse along the docks of Salvador, I learned that it was somewhat of a coastal city, with beautiful beaches and a lot of vendors surrounding it.

While reading these books, I learned a good amount of Brazilian history. For example, In Backlands, I learned about Antonio Conselheiro, a rebel that led one of the bloodiest uprisings in Brazil. Before this, his family was known as a dangerous family, killing several rich people and pillaging their fortunes. Conselheiro changed that when he decided to become a leader and try to help the northeast be free of southern rule. Macunaíma, however is slightly different. It is neither fully history nor truth, rather a mixture of both. Since almost all of the characters in the book are fake, the events that happen throughout the book are real and always tie in with Macunaíma and his brothers' escapades. Hippie takes place in the 70s and the 70s was a strange time for the world. While reading that book, I learned more about the hippie movement, especially about magic buses, buses that would travel entire continents to get their inebriated passengers to spiritual places like Nepal, for instance. Coelho and his new friend travel from Amsterdam to Kathmandu and on the way, they stop in Constantinople which is now know as Istanbul. I also learned that many. "hippies" were not dedicated to the lifestyle. They merely saw it as a trend and rolled on with the times. Many gave up and returned home to get real jobs and start families after they were done "exploring."

Brazil's culture is very rich and while Hippie doesn't strictly talk about it, Macunaíma does. Many of the adventures Macunaíma and his brothers go on inadvertently cause some shift in Brazilian culture. When Macunaíma first met Ci, the amazon queen of the forest and married her, she later on died and became a star and gave Macunaíma a talisman that was then taken from him and he embarks on a journey to find it. Later on in the book, Macunaíma travels to São Paulo where he attends a festival and talks about the Cruzeiro do Sul and how it is a god, not just a cluster of stars. Mainly, the first few chapters take many things from indigenous culture in Brazil. For example, the author, Mario De Andrade made Macunaíma's catchphrase, "Aí, que preguiça!" which is a fusion of Portuguese and the Tupi language. "Aí," means sloth in Tupi, whereas "preguiça" is the Portuguese word for sloth. This book was also published during Brazil's famous modernism movement. Some say it was one of the founding pieces of literature for the movement. It was published six years after the "Semana de Arte Moderna," and symbolized the beginning of the movement.

From Backlands: The Canudos Campaign, I learned that despite facing difficult odds, in life you must over come that adversity and keep moving on. While reading Macunaíma: The Hero With No Character, I learned that in life, your identity is fluid and it can change many times, so don't try to suppress or change it. In Hippie, I learned that in order to live life, you must embrace the unknown and challenge yourself. Take risks and learn before its too late. Finally, I Captains of the Sands, I learned that I should not let my circumstances dictate who I am or what I am going to be. In life, there will be people who put pressure and doubt your abilities because of where you are from and you shouldn't let that shake your worth.

Some things I learned about myself while reading these books is that I love Brazilian literature. It is incredibly abstract and different than English or American literature. Although some literary works may be difficult to comprehend (mostly because of translation), I think that reading books from a different country can change your previous perspective on a country, it sure changed mine. It made me want to learn more about Brazil and ignited a new flame for Brazilian literature. While I am not done with Captains of the Sands, I will continue to read it because its a well-written book full of humor and societal commentary. This is my OFFICIAL final blog post. Acabou, and muito obrigado. victoriasbrazilianlitblog, out!

This week, I read pages 74 to 105 of Jorge Amado's Captains of the Sands. The most important quote of the week was on page 74, "Good-Life thought it would be foolish to leave Bahia where he grew up..."

We made it! This week was the final week for independent reading. It was something I've been looking forward to for the longest time. I read some good books and definitely learned plenty about Brazil's literature arsenal. I barely touched the surface but with a newfound interest in reading, I think I can reach it now that reading deadlines aren't looming over my head.

This week, the captains got in trouble with the police and some got caught. Pedro Bala, he ringleader scurried back to their headquarters in the abandoned warehouse on the docks and started plotting with Professor and God's-Love. Along the way, they meet Dora, a girl who wouldn't leave their side. It was as if she was gorilla glued to them and wouldn't de-attach if she wasn't given entry into the gang. Dora was also an orphan who has a grudge for the reformatory, being deposited there and escaping. She helps Pedro and what is left over from his gang rescue Legless, Lollipop and Cat.

This week was a really fun week for reading Captains of the Sands. I had more time to catch up on my reading and schoolwork because of the delayed entry days. I missed posting on Tuesday because I didn't wake up on time to post it but I followed through with the rest of the week and am now writing this blog. This should be my last blog for the remainder of my senior year. Tchau! (It means "Bye" in Portuguese)

This week, I read pages 26-66 of Jorge Amado's, Captains of the Sands. I feel that the most important quote of the week was, "You'll go a long way kid. You can get rich with those tricks," on page 43. The reason for this quote is because the first few chapters gave me the rundown of the gang.

Throughout the first chapters, I saw the Captains in their elements, each with a specific skill. The Professor, reads books and strategizes, Legless is the lookout, Cat is the distraction and Pedro Bala is the mastermind. I first see them in action when they plan a heist in order to pay off a "loan." The Captains had to steal a box full of confidential cheating letters from their contractor's wife in order to pay back the loan and they did so, almost getting caught in the process. Later, they go to a bar and begin to play cards, where all of them seem to lose against Cat. An older man, probably a fisherman, comes up to them and asks to play. At first, he thinks that Cat is cheating him and almost wrings his neck but Cat and the others insist that Cat is just that good. So, the fisherman relents and loses his money but he doesn't leave outraged, hence the quote above.