City of God: A Novel

What a great story. The film shows a detailed and nuanced tail but still manages keep the viewers in rapt attention. This movie also benefits from not being your typical cliches story of the lives of the Brazilian poor.

The fact that the film didn't win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay proves that the Academy Awards are nothing more than a popularity contest. The chore of adapting this massive novel must have been an immense task (it took three drafts before they director and producers got a script they were satisfied with). What was on the screen was basically a summary of the novel. For instance, Rocket is a minor character in the book, Lil Ze is based on a character named Tiny, and the 'Tender Trio' is based on the characters Squirt, Hellraiser and Hammer. Carrot (called 'Carrots'in the book) and Knockout Ned (simply called 'Knockout') are about the only characters in the book that fans of the movie will recognize right off the bat. There's no mention of The Runts specifically, but dozens of other youngsters are. So many characters are introduced and killed off that it was impossible for me to keep up, but fans of the movie will notice bits and pieces of specific characters. Almost all the characters in the film are creations from several other characters in the book. The book is more violent than the film. Paulo Lins describes the massacred bodies in grafic detail. The last third of the book (well over 100 pages) deals with the war between Knockout and Tiny. Cocaine and marijuana is mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. Almost every character seems to use or deal the drugs. The world of dope dealing is thouroughly investigated in this book. Paulo Lins does an amazing job of telling the story of the City of God, but for me it was hard to keep up with the countless characters. The film makers did a great job of adapting this massive story. So if your a fan of the movie, and want to get a different perspective of this Brazilian hell-hole, then check out the book, just don't expect it to be just like the film.

The book City of God is a deposition on daily of a social sector ahead of the process of urbanization and the growth of the urban violence in Rio De Janeiro. The depositions that had been transformed into a romance (and to leave of it in film) didaticamente trace the different and possible exclusion and ways of the members of this Carioca community. The rotation of the man power in the traffic of drugs and the mortality of its members is impressive and is noticed clearly that the exploration gear leaves in the mount (slum quarter) the part poor, with the connivance of the policy and of investors until the cartels. Disputes of teritórios and the creation of walls "invisíveis" but deadly so that it crosses them in the sample as the absence of the public power and the diffidence with what still surplus of it does not leave choice ahead of "lei" of the violence. Impressive and involving this romance.

O livro Cidade de Deus é um depoimento sobre o cotidiano de um setor social diante do processo de urbanização e o crescimento da violência urbana no Rio de Janeiro. Os depoimentos que foram transformados num romance (e a partir dele em filme) traçam didaticamente a exclusão e os caminhos diferentes e possíveis dos membros dessa comunidade carioca. A rotatividade da mão-de-obra no tráfico de drogas e a mortalidade de seus membros é impressionante e nota-se claramente que a engrenagem de exploração deixa no morro (favela) a parte mais pobre, com a conivência da polícia e de investidores até os cartéis. Disputas de teritórios e a criação de muros "invisíveis" mas mortíferos para que os atravessa nos mostra como a ausência do poder público e a desconfiança com o que ainda sobra dele não deixa escolha diante da "lei" da violência. Impressionante e envolvente este romance.