#19: Those Cousins from Sapucaia! by Machado De Assis

This edition Released: 2009

Available: A Chapter of Hats

Influence on: Carlos Fuentes, Jose Saramago, Harold Bloom

Machado De Assis is long dead, but thanks to Bloomsbury, his writing still lives on. Born in 1839, De Assis lived his life in Rio De Janeiro, the son of poor parents. He made his way up to becoming a civil cervant and writer and was revered in his lifetime, although some argue his work was not fully understood until much later. Since his death, he has been touted as the greatest Brazillian writer in history.

We live in a world of change, but good writing often stands the test of time...note also that bad writing is still bad writing. I'm looking at you, Joan Collins.

The Story

The narrator has three cousins from Sapucaia. They are a nightmare. They are a blessing. It's complicated.

Why It Sticks

In a few key phrases, De Assis says much about family and obligation. The author charts benefactors and victims, with roles interchanging as the story unfolds.

The narrative develops as a tale half-forgotten, with the narrator often interjecting with other thoughts that loosely relate. Reflected back, the story takes a different turn, from a simple tale of opportunity lost and found to a larger meditation on what is fair and unfair, and how malleable these concepts can be from moment to moment.

Like A Singular Occurrence, also featured in A Chapter of Hats, Those Cousins explores obsession and it's abiilty to cloud rational judgment. It also explores duty and responsibility, touching ever so sublimely on the selfishness that often leads us astray in a world so interconnected.

In the world of De Assis, stories rarely exist outside of their social context. There are stories within stories, tales told to friends on the steps of villas and churches and it seems as if every woman that wanders by is part of a different story, every man yet another fool at the gates of love. At the same time, these tales are far from simplistic. He charts a moving kaleidoscope of images, themes and longings in a city perpetually in motion, and in doing so, says much about the universal, regardless of time, location or background.