emilysbrazilianlitblog

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Reflections on a Year of Reading Brazilian Literature 

This year I read Adultery by Paulo Coelho, The Hour of The Star by Clarice Lispector, The Spy by Paulo Coelho, The Archer by Paulo Coelho and A Death in Brazil by Peter Robb.

The first book I read was A Death in Brazil by Peter Robb, it was a nonfiction book that I was able to learn more about my country. I learned that Brazil was a compost of corruption, dangerous places but had good places where people wanted to migrate from a lot of other countries such as Germany, Italy and portugal. Rio and Sao Paulo are the biggest cities, they describe as “huge, lovely and terrifying” . The capital of Brazil was Rio de Janeiro at the time, important people, businesspeople were all moving to Rio.  I also learned that Pedro Alvares Cabral was going to Africa and India when he discovered Brazil. Money was always a problem in Brazil.

Based on the fact that  the book talks and describes Lula’s childhood in “A Death in Brazil”, I learned that he had a really hard childhood. I understand his arguments better than before reading the books, even though it's from years ago, his first time being president.

How is my country's culture you might be asking yourself, so let me tell you a little bit. From a book's perspective, Brazil is a dangerous place but still lovely, happy people, people that receive others with so much love and empathy. Brazil has a lot parties, big cities are known for their “Carnaval party” 

From most of the fiction books I learned about life, I got some advice that I will take with me for the rest of my life. The Archer by Pauco Coelho, looks like a boring book that is not interesting but when we open our eyes, our imagination to see and think about it and put into real life everything makes sense, how we should focus on or goals without looking our enemies, without wasting money if you goal depends on money, without having a lover  with your goal is a good relationship, being loyal. We will have mistakes but we should keep trying to achieve our goal, our target. 

I am partially proud of myself for reading those books, I thought I couldn’t do it but I did. Partially because sometimes it was hard to understand and for many times I passed my eyes while I was supposed to read 34324 times if necessary, but I don’t have enough time either to put so much effort into it. The first time I read 10 pages a day it was crazy,  I spent two hours reading (trying) a kid crying, people waiting for dinner and what a mess lol, I wanted to give up on the same day. By now I read 30 pages because I didn’t want to wait another day to know what was coming. I know that I love reading romances but I can't follow up on pages that are a thousand words in only one page, which makes my eyes hurt and I keep losing track. (522)

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“As far as Olimpico was concerned, what exists, exists, and Jesus was not only divine but also a man just like him minus the gold tooth.” 46 - The hour of the star by Clarice Lispector

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“She would cease to be a princess and become transformed into an insect. Because, however awful her situation might be, she had no wish to be deprived of herself. She wanted to be herself.” 31 The hour of the star by Clarice Lispector .

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Week 20 blog

In the book “The Spy” written by Paulo Coelho, the most important sentence I found was “July 24, your hair was unkempt and your clothes faded, but your head was held high and you kept a steady pace, as if you had accepted your fate, refusing the public humiliation to which they wanted to subject you. You understood the battle had come to an end, and that all you could do was leave with dignity.” Here is why Mata did all she could to get out of prison, to prove her innocence but she couldn’t do much . She was executed as Spy but she wasn’t . As we know by here, the book is written by letters between Mata and her lawyer. Before this sentence, they were still fighting so they could let her go. But as she didn’t accept to be a spy of one of her affairs because she was probably in love with him, they put her in prison to be executed. Mata died because of something that she didn't do because of powerful people that do whatever they want.

Besides that I knew that Mata would die, something in me wanted her to be free, to go back to Paris, that she could find a real love and to live that to see the good side of life when still is time. I liked the book as a real story that is interesting to read . I like when books involve a big thing about women to know more about how it worked in the past . Really good books, we can also get a lot of quotes to use independently that give a good message from life. I think that the lawyer could have done more, even because he was in love with her. If they had no proof that she was a spy , only abusive power could be the answer for this injustice. 315

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“things happen and you suddenly know. No one would teach her how to die one day: yet one day she would surely die as if she had already learned by heart how to play the starring role.” 28 - The hours of the star by Clarice Lispector

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“Forgive me if I add something more about myself since my identity is not very clear, and when I write I am surprised to find that I possess a destiny. Who has not asked himself at some time or other: am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?” 15 The hour of the star by clarice Lispector

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The hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

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“Mata Hari's body was buried in a shallow grave, which has never been located. According to habits of that time, her head was cut off and handed over to government representatives. For years it was kept in the Anatomy Museum on Rue des Saints-Pères in Paris, until, on an unknown date, it disappeared from the institution.“ 186 - The Spy By Paulo Coelho

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“July 24, your hair was unkempt and your clothes faded, but your head was held high and you kept a steady pace, as if you had accepted your fate, refusing the public humiliation to which they wanted to subject you. You understood the battle had come to an end, and that all you could do was leave with dignity.” 175 (The Spy by Paulo Coelho)

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Week 19 blog

In the book “The Spy” written by Paulo Coelho, the most important sentence I found was “Paris seemed like a distant dream. But it was the only true north in my life, the only city where I felt like a human being and everything that means.There, I was allowed both what was accepted and what was sinful.” Found on page 124. And the reason it’s because the sentence reflects that mata was living far from reality at that moment . She expresses how she feels good in Paris, but she couldn’t go back there. Mata was waiting to be out of prison but she wasn’t .

This book is a really interesting book with a lot of mysteries. As Mata says, who is ever going to know the truth. The book contains a lot of lies. Not for me as a reader, but a conversation between the lawyer, the judge and whoever.

Since I am at the end of the book, I will try to talk generally more about it. The book is about a conversation between Mata and her lawyer. Even Jhonata didn’t receive her letter from her lawyer. Martha didn’t truly believe her lawyer was telling the truth, and was helping her out, but she had no choice. Her lawyer was one of her men/lovers. At the last letter he made for her he sees that he believes in her innocence, but he was trying to make his name. As a conclusion, and as I said it.

250

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"Zelle is the kind of dangerous woman we see now-adays. The ease with which she expresses herself in several languages--especially French-her numerous relations in all areas, her subtle way of worming into social circles, her elegance, her remarkable intelligence, her immorality, all this contributes to her being seen as a potential suspect." 167 - The Spy by Paulo Coelho

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“We don't know what happened to Consul Kramer, but Mata Hari was definitely a double agent who, until then, had not provided any such information.” 152

The spy by Paulo coelho

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“After he was unmasked, he tried to justify his actions by saying his work "was not limited to knowing the enemy's next steps, but preventing him from undermining the morale of our friends." 147 - The Spy by Paulo Coelho

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“What kind of paradise was this, where nothing, absolutely nothing, interesting happened? I was not looking for happiness, but what the French called la vraie vie, a true life, with its moments of inexpressible beauty and deep depression, with its loyalties and betrayals, with its fears and moments of peace.” 134 - The Spy by Paulo Coelho

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“Paris seemed like a distant dream. But it was the only true north in my life, the only city where I felt like a human being and everything that means.There, I was allowed both what was accepted and what was sinful.” 124

The Spy by Paulo Coelho

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Week 18 blog

The most important sentence can be found on page 113. “Be who I am? How could I be true to myself if I didn't even know exactly who I was? The dancer who took Europe by storm? The housewife who humiliated herself in the Dutch East Indies? The lover of powerful men? The woman the press called a "vulgar artist," despite, just a short time before, admiring and idolizing her?” Here is why. It's much more to clarify everything she went through right now, and I remember that I mentioned on the blog last week that I didn't know why she was called a prostitute and she said she wasn't.  It's a little confusing because she was “more than that” all men that she slept with, she pretended she fell in love with him. She started being lovers from powerful men and she took money and everything from them. I mean, she didn't take it. She received it as a gift, she was paid with expenses, luxurious gifts.

I honestly have nothing to say and wait, we think this is worse right now but actually it was more in the past, people had no shame of who they were, be good or not. I am not expecting anything for this ending. It's an interesting story to read yet, not believing that it happened but still curious to not read and to let it go without knowing the end of it. Mata, even though she has had a lot of professional life she still didn't discover herself, she didn’t know who she was as she mentioned at the beginning of the sentence I chose. At that point she was tired, she was old  and people weren’t seeing her dance as before, it was hard for her but she started assuming she was really getting old. She was afraid to get old, she was too worried about how she could perform yet.  320

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“Be who I am? How could I be true to myself if I didn't even know exactly who I was? The dancer who took Europe by storm? The housewife who humiliated herself in the Dutch East Indies? The lover of powerful men? The woman the press called a "vulgar artist," despite, just a short time before, admiring and idolizing her?” 113

The Spy By Paulo Coelho