Helena

Do you want to read a book which is romantic ,but not frivolous,thrilling but not exagerated?Then try "Helena" written by Machado De Assis,in my opinion the best Brazilian writer of all times.But beware!The author is very exact, almost cynical, in showing life as it really is,full of lies and deceptions.So reading Machado books is always a very tough exercise because you always fell to be personally examinated and confronted by the author.But this "interactivity",plus the inimitable witness of Machado is what makes the reading a most pleasing experience.In this book which which belongs to the "Romantic" period of Machado De Assis production the author explores his favourite theme:the conflict between what we really are and what we are supposed(by the other people of course) to be.Who is really Helena?We all are Helena because basically we all live in the same contraddiction that she in the end is unable to face anymore.The other point in which Machado excelles is in the analysis of the family life expecially the very special relationship which develops between brother and sister.I suggest to everyone to read this book of Machado and many others.5stars!

So sorry , my english is not very well ... Vale apena ! Quem não leu amará esta linda obra deste fabuloso autor !

I read it a long time ago as a first introduction to Brazilian Classic Literature. It is a light novel with the great elements of the Romantism Era of Literature, and it reflexes very well the society of the last quater of the eighteenth century of the country. Women are a focal point in the novels by Machado de Assis, and recently I read that his wife revised his novels, and even changed the storyline when she saw the heroine suffering too much. Praise for the women of last century that helped their great men be so loved by a culture!