The Slum

By chance did I pick up this book and by chance did I discover one of the best literary writings. This book is addictive; it gives you the real view of Brazil at the end of the last century; it makes you find out what Aluisio Azevedo sees. I am amazed at the few people that have even heard about it, let alone read. It should be a required reading in any International Studies class.

This book is a masterpiece for several reasons. It is filled with complex and interesting characters, none especially likable but all interesting. Some of the passages, including the scene where Jeronimo stands, hypnotized, watching Rita Baiana dance for the first time, rank among the best prose I have ever read (I hope the translator does it justice). Structurally it is unusual because no individual person is the main character. The main character is the Slum itself, which is treated as an organic unit. This fact brings me to my next point- Azevedo's idea of treating a neighborhood as an organic entity predates Chicago School Sociologists like Wirth and Zorbaugh by 40 years. People interested in Urban Studies will be fascinated by Azevedo's description of the birth of the slum and it's growth to the point where, towards the end of the story, it begins to fill up with students and artists and starts to gentrify. It also serves as a valuable historical document, showing what day to day life was like for poor Brazilians and immigrants in Rio de Janeiro during the twilight of the Empire. Apparently, one of the main differences between then and now in Brazil is that in those days, slums actually had owners. Today, most Brazilian slums are formed by squatters and this (judging from this book) seems to be an improvement. All This is not to say that the book doesn't have its flaws. One thing that I find troublesome with a lot of naturalism, including the Slum, is that it focuses almost entirely on sadness and tragedy while giving the appearance of objective storytelling. In any event, evil characters are often more interesting than good ones and the slumlord Joao Romao is one of the great literary hypocrites of all times.

I read about this book in one of the many book review publications I read. The reviewer correctly called it a masterpeice. Apparently only one other person read that review or perhaps she found it on her own. We were both lucky. It is a book so well worth reading that it is hard to find enough suitable words of praise yet it is unknown. This book throbs with the colors, odors and sounds of a Brazilian slum: the excitement, the perfumes, the sexuality and the despair. It is deceptively easy to read. In fact, it almost finishes too quickly. One wants to continue to bathe one' senses in the luxurious words. This is not to say that the reader's morality and intellect is not also engaged. It is a scathing commentary on Brazilian attitudes towards race and the poor during the early 20th century. The reader cannot help but recognize that thhese attitudes are still with us in the early 21st century. However, Azevedo does not preach to us. He simply presents us with the issues, quietly, even deceptively. We do not know how deeply we have thought and felt until the last page.

You can't help falling for all of the lusterous characters in this engrossing Brazilian classic. The novel is as addictive and effortless to read as watching a soap opera, yet educates us on Brazil's rich social history. I feel fortunate to be able to read it in this wonderfully smoothe and acurate English translation.