Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,906
edits
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| (7 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{work}}
{{Infobox book
[[File:21 MHG tonybrunca 7552.jpg|350px|thumb|right|Riobaldo and Diadorim, as they appear in the [[miniseries]].]]▼
| title = The Devil to Pay in the Backlands
| original title = Grande Sertão: Veredas
| image = 21 MHG tonybrunca 7552.jpg
▲
| author = João Guimarães Rosa
| central theme =
| elevator pitch = "''Grande Sertão: Veredas'' is the complex story of Riobaldo, a former jagunço (mercenary or bandit) of the poor and steppe-like inland of the Rio São Francisco, known as Sertão, of the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia in the dawn of the 20th century." ''(Wikipedia)''
| genre =
| publication date = 1956
| source page exists =
| wiki URL =
| wiki name =
}}
{{quote|''“Do you know, sir, why I had gone to those places? You needn’t ask, I’ll tell you. How is it that you can like the true in the false? Friendship with the illusion of disillusionment? I had it easy, but with dreams that left me tired. The sort from which you wake up slowly. Love? A bird that lays iron eggs. It was worse when I started staying awake all night, not able to sleep. Diadorim was one of those inscrutable persons —he never revealed his inner thoughts, nor what he was surmising. I think I was that way too. Did I really want to know him? I did and I didn’t. Not even if you bury it in silence can a thing that doesn’t make sense be dealt with.”''}}
Acclaimed as one of the most important books ever written in Portuguese language -- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews maybe in the whole world] -- and compared to works like ''[[The Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', ''[[The Devil
The book is best know for mixing [[Neologism|Neologisms]] with orality in [[Anachronic Order|a non-linear narrative]], making it [[Mind Screw|very difficult to understand]] at first reading, and for [[Doorstopper|its more than 600 pages]]. It's also [[What Do You Mean It's Not Didactic?|studied in Brazilian schools]].
Talking about the story, it consists of Riobaldo, an ex-jagunço (mercenary), telling his past to a man from the city. What follows is [[Trope Overdosed|betrayal, war, secret identity, conflicts with religion, friendship, homosexuality, deal with the devil and journey of revenge]]. Everything set in the almost mystical space of the backlands.
The book had two adaptations, one to the [[The Film of the Book|big-screen]] in 1965 and another in a [[Miniseries|mineseries]] from 1985.
Line 16 ⟶ 26:
{{tropelist}}
* [[Action Girl]]: {{spoiler|Diadorim}}.
* [[Anachronic Order]]: The events are not narrated in chronological order ''at all''. But Riobaldo justifies himself saying that, to tell any memory that way, it must be a thing of little value.
* [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroes]]: Mostly of the jagunços. They can kill you for money or for any other reason - but mostly for money - and do your ladies, but they can also give you food, protection and -- well -- money.
* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]: All the jagunços's leaders are pretty awesome. The leader of the leaders is even compared to God.
* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]: {{spoiler|Diadorim is a case of [[Sweet on Polly Oliver]] by herself, but when played by Bruna Lombardi, she's even more [http://www.redebrasilatual.com.br/revistas/44/imagens/GrandeSerto_VeredasBrunaLombardiI0003710.jpg attractive]}}.
* [[Author Avatar]]: One can believe that the man listening to Riobaldo's narrative is João Guimarães Rosa.
* [[Badass Adorable]]: Diadorim likes birds and is lovely with children, but don't try to fight him.
Line 33 ⟶ 43:
* [[Doorstopper]]
* [[Flower Motifs]]: When Riobaldo asks Otacília what a flower name means, she says "marry me". Bacause of this we know that she wants commitment, not just a one-night thing.
** Beyond that, when Riobaldo tells her to say the same thing to Diadorim, she stays still, and Diadorim has a little jealous moment.
* [[Futureshadowing]]: Since everything is out of chronological order, a lot.
* [[Gayngst]]: Riobaldo, after he stops seeing himself and Diadorim as [[Heterosexual Life Partners]].
Line 42 ⟶ 52:
* [[Holding Hands]]: You saw the image of this page .
* [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold]]: Nhorinhá.
* [[I Have Your Wife]]: Not in the usual way, because it's the [[Anti-Hero|heroes]] who kidnap Hermógenes's wife to use her as bait. Eventually, she [[Badass Adorable|becomes Diadorim's friend]].
* [[It's the Journey That Counts]]: {{spoiler|The very last word of the book}}.
* [[Knife Nut]]: Apparently, Diadorim. Even more after [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|the fight with Hermógenes]].
Line 48 ⟶ 58:
* [[Love Triangle]]: Otacília loves Riobaldo, who likes her and could even love her back if he wasn't already in love with Diadorim - who seems to love him too - but he has his own reasons - besides they being both male - to stay quiet.
* [[Meaningful Rename]]: After {{spoiler|the [[Deal with the Devil]]}}, Riobaldo claims to be "The White Rattler".
* [[Neologism]]: João Guimarães Rosa's works in a whole are well known for including a lot of neologisms, mostly of them very hard to translate, since they are all made-up to work in Portuguese.
* [[No Periods, Period]]: How {{spoiler|Diadorim}} hid it every month?.
* [[Not So Different]]: Hermógenes was a fucking killer and made a deal with the devil, but {{spoiler|Riobaldo}} was not so different.
* [[Once More with Endnotes]]: Sometimes; to explain that things like "dan''s''e" were on purpose.
* [[Only Known by Their Nickname]]: It would be difficult to find characters with real names.
Line 59 ⟶ 69:
* [[Revenge]]: The goal of all the jagunços.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Diadorim can't stand living without his revenge, and will do anything to have it.
* [[Romantic False Lead]]: Riobaldo was jealous of Joca Ramiro and Diadorim relationship for a long time. Which is quite funny, since Joca Ramiro was his father, after all.
* [[Satan]]: A pretty important character, {{spoiler|even if he doesn't exist}}.
* [[Secret Identity]]: Reinaldo is Diadorim {{spoiler|who is Maria ''Diadorin''a da Fé Bettancourt Marins}}.
* [[Shoot the Dog]]: Riobaldo almost does it literally once. In the normal meaning, many times.
* [[
* {{spoiler|[[Sweet on Polly Oliver]]: Riobaldo over Diadorim, obviously}}.
* [[Talking to the Dead]]: [[Tear Jerker|"My love!"]]
Line 76 ⟶ 86:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Lit Fic]]
[[Category:Miniseries]]
[[Category:The Fifties]]
[[Category:Pages Needing an Entry Pimp]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Literature of the 1950s]]
[[Category:Portuguese Literature]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil to Pay In The Backlands, The}}
| |||