Objectively speaking, it is a good book.

Subjectively, I didn't like it as much as I had expected.

However, at a certain moment, I was caught up in it. The sadness of Romeo and Juliet and the joy of their love made me read the book more quickly, which automatically led to a faster completion of the book : ) My fault.

This book has its own charm. Although my initial impression was not very good, as I delved deeper, I began to appreciate its beauty.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is a classic, and it always touches people's hearts.

Maybe I need to read it again to have a more profound understanding.

Overall, it is a book worth reading.

A disturbingly interesting book that will make you think.

This book is truly a remarkable piece of work. It has the power to both disturb and fascinate the reader. The story line is filled with unexpected twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat.

The characters are well-developed and complex, making it easy for the reader to become emotionally invested in their lives. The author's writing style is engaging and thought-provoking, challenging the reader to question their own beliefs and values.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a good mystery or thriller. It will leave you with a sense of unease and a desire to explore the deeper themes and ideas that it presents.

Whether you are a seasoned reader or just starting out, this book is sure to have an impact on you. So, pick it up and prepare to be taken on a wild ride that will make you think long after you have turned the last page.

This was an extremely intense, violent, and sexy read.

One afternoon at the beach, a black boy from Rio's favelas crossed paths with a pampered, moneyed white girl.

Instantly, a powerful longing consumed them, and they hungrily resolved to love and possess each other completely.

As their relationship unfolds, the world seems to turn upside down.

The lovers are subjected to various trials and tribulations that tear them apart and yet, in some strange and unusual combinations, put them back together again.

The story is a captivating exploration of love, desire, and the forces that seek to either unite or destroy.

It delves deep into the hearts and minds of the characters, revealing their vulnerabilities and strengths.

Overall, it is a thrilling and unforgettable read that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.

8/200 - "Brazil"

"Brazil" is a novel published in 1994 by the American writer, John Updike. It is a love story that is based on the ancient myth of Tristan and Isolde. The plot revolves around a young black boy from Rio de Janeiro, Tristan, and a beautiful white girl, Isabel. The story explores the themes of love, race, and class in a Brazilian setting. Updike's writing is known for its vivid descriptions and complex characters. In "Brazil," he creates a rich and detailed world that draws the reader in and keeps them engaged until the very end. The novel has received critical acclaim for its exploration of these important themes and its beautiful prose. Overall, "Brazil" is a must-read for anyone interested in love stories, Brazilian culture, or thought-provoking literature.

I just completed reading "Brazil" by Updike, and I must say that my feelings towards it are rather complex.

To be completely honest, I can't deny that the book is well-written. The story's pace, plot development, and overall structure, despite being a transposed Tristan & Isolde, are quite well-executed. Additionally, Updike does a remarkable job of making his elite, upper-class characters sound similar to those in other Western countries during that time and perhaps even now. He highlights the idea that while open racism wasn't the path to modernity, maintaining a safe distance between the lower class, presumably darker people, and the upper class was crucial for proper social decorum.

What bothered me the most was how slavery was still maintained and revered in the west of the country, as it ensured a steady source of labor from a group of people supposedly most physiologically suited for it. I'm aware that slavery persisted in Brazil long after its official abolishment in the 1880s, but the idea of it still existing as late as the 1970s (presumably) makes me uncomfortable. Although this is a work of fiction, the thought that slavery could continue in a country as complex and hypocritical as Brazil (our own country not excluded) is disconcerting.

Now, let's move on to the actual story of the two lovers. As someone who has dated interracially throughout my life, I still felt a bit of discomfort when Isabel wanted Tristao to make her his slave during their encounters. At first, I thought it might involve some BDSM elements, but as the story progressed, it seemed that her desire was more about placating her guilt as an upper-class, privileged, white young lady. While the intention of trying to put oneself on par with the oppressed is noble, I found her method a bit crude. Her personal submission to his sexual prowess, while enticing, was a bit disappointing in a literary sense. Her love for him was evident, but her desire to be an abused slave just to make him happy seemed excessive.

I haven't read much else by Updike, aside from an excerpt from "Rabbit is Rich," but it appears that he's attempting to address white guilt through his main female character's submission. However, I have a major problem with this philosophy as it seems like a half-hearted way for black folks to get back at the establishment. It's as if he's saying, "White man, you still run everything, but at least the black boys from the favelas will seduce your women with their sexual prowess." I'm cynical, but I can't help but get this vibe from the story.

What saves this allegory from being completely off-putting is that the main character, albeit timidly, doesn't fully buy into this image of brutality in exchange for leniency from the lower class. I struggle with these perceived images because, while it bothers me that black men are often seen only as a means of getting back at "the man" through sexual conquest, I can't help but be aroused by the idea of a young, nubile white lady submitting to a strapping black beau. It's a contradictory feeling that makes me laugh and frustrate myself simultaneously.

Overall, this is a good book. It will make you uncomfortable, it may turn you on or off, but it will definitely make you feel something. If you're looking for that kind of story, then "Brazil" is right here for you.

A-. What a miserable love novel indeed!

Love, as those who have experienced it know all too well, has the power to consume one's entire being. It makes you forget about work, neglect household chores like washing the dishes, and even fail to call your dear grandma back. All for the sake of love. And this very fact is, in itself, a rather terrible thing.

Isabel and Tristao (a clever play on Tristan and Isolde) find themselves falling deeply in love. However, their love is, of course, doomed from the start. Isabel is wealthy and white, while Tristao is poor and black in the unforgiving society of Brazil. What options do they have? They choose to ignore everything, even moving past the tragic death of their children when it comes to their love. At times, their love seems selfish and terrible.

It is a beautiful book, filled with passion and heartache. But at the same time, it is also a tragic tale that leaves the reader with a sense of profound sadness.

So... Updike, he really writes about sex a lot. This was my initial encounter with Updike. Subsequently, I delved into a selection of his poetry and one short story. I have plans to explore a few other of his novels, perhaps "Couples". However, "Brazil" was my first experience with his work, and it truly stood out to me.

Updike is an exceptionally brilliant writer. His prose is not only luminous and rich but also has a touch of purple at times, which is by no means a negative trait. It is almost astonishing how masterfully he can write about the most ordinary and mundane things. In the hands of another writer, these descriptions might have come across as a tiresome lecture rather than the beautiful poetry that Updike creates.

His writing has the power to lift you up and carry you along within its vivid descriptions. In "Brazil", which is not regarded as anywhere near his greatest work (for that, one should look to his "Rabbit Angstrom" novels), the descriptions are so clean and engaging that even when seemingly nothing was happening, I was still completely hooked, simply captivated by the deft and skillful way he painted the scenes.

Now, onto the novel itself... Well, the story is a rather standard romp. It is a tale of forbidden love between a rich white girl and a black peasant from the streets of Brazil. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but I suppose that's excusable since Updike states that his inspiration for the story was Tristan and Isolde (is that how you spell it?). A classic Arthurian romance tale, as old as any romance in the world.

So, the plot was fairly standard. What makes it interesting, however, is the setting. The story is set in Brazil from the 1960s to the 1980s. Updike manages to capture the flavor and turmoil of this country nearly fully. The shanty towns, the language of the people, all are vividly present here, creating a fully lived-in experience, as if the author himself had walked among the dirty streets. This is all truly great stuff.

It is once the story ventures into the jungles and thorns that it starts to lose itself a little. First, the characters encounter some magic, which within the context of the novel made no sense and had me second-guessing the story and trying to rationalize what 1800-century Conquistadors were doing in Brazil.

The jungle part of the story pretty much runs the gamut of jungle survival stories. They get assaulted by natives (but for an added pinch of irony, a child is taken from them, which the father didn't really believe was his). Although the story here has been written before, Updike manages to inject new life into it. The characters do not escape to fortune but rather to suffering and misery. The only thing that seems to keep them alive, Updike suggests, is their love. It is a rather beautiful moment.

Of course, here Updike reintroduces sex, which has been a prominent theme throughout the novel up to this point. Once the big magic thing happens, where the girl changes her skin color to black and gives her boyfriend white skin, and he uses this newfound power to free himself from slavery and kill the oppressors of the farm, the story stalls so hard as if someone had hit the brake pedal. I knew they would eventually go on, back to Brazil like this, and was interested to see what would happen. And yet, Updike spends pages narrating some dominatrix fantasy bullshit. I didn't like this part, especially since it had nothing really to do with the story, apart from some kind of abstract notion that Updike injected relating to sex, gender, and skin color. Since once the girl turns black, she becomes more savage(?). I admit the novel lost me here.

The good thing is that it recovers and sums itself up fairly quickly towards the end. So, I enjoyed the first bit and some of the middle, but the second half of the middle was rather lackluster.

So, it's not the greatest work from a great novelist like Updike, but it is certainly a cut above middle-brow adventure/romance stories. It engages with the great tradition of adventure stories but without reinventing it or really adding anything truly new.

A thing that is more than unexpected for the reader familiar with Updike through his more famous works such as "Centaur" or the Rabbit trilogy. Instead of the usual provincial North American towns, this time we are shown Brazil. The heroes of the Celtic epic Tristan and Isolde are also thrown there. I admit, if I hadn't been warned that they are they - I would never have guessed. Magical love, wanderings and a tragic finale - perhaps that's all the coincidences.

The ballad meter, the colorful mythology in the style of Márquez, which I don't quite appreciate - sometimes unexpectedly and sharply change to the most realistic details - a political dispute among student youth, work in a factory (sixteen-millimeter bolts, tightened with a force of 21.5 kg/cm), details of daily life. Magical realism is generously diluted with industrial realism, a realism that reminded me of London's "Martin Eden".

Jumps from realism to realism, not making you wait for plot twists and an abundance of pornography do not make you bored - the book is read quickly and easily.

One funny thought did not leave me at ease as I read and especially at the moments dedicated to the country itself - it is interesting, was Updike in Brazil and did it somehow affect the story? Is it important in this book? Judging by the facts of the biography that I found quickly, Updike flew to Rio to rest, nothing more. But it doesn't matter. Pelevin wrote about Inner Mongolia - which "is called that not because it is inside Mongolia. It is inside the one who sees the emptiness". In Updike I saw Inner Brazil. An emptiness filled with life, sex, the riot of colors and emotions characteristic of the Latin American continent.

This is a new Updike for me and, probably, still, I like him less than the Updike I already knew. I'm sure I won't reread it, but I recommend reading it.

The sex in this book was extremely pervasive, to the extent that I would not recommend it for every individual.

However, it remains an astonishing love story that simply could not be told without incorporating that particular element. Sex is an inherent and integral part of the lives and relationship shared by Tristao and Isabelle.

This intimate perspective enables the reader to establish a much closer connection with the characters. It is a primal, earthy, and truly magical story of love and sacrifice, filled with a significant amount of sex.

Despite the prominence of the sexual content, it serves to enhance the overall narrative and provide a more in-depth exploration of the complex emotions and dynamics between the two protagonists.

It is a story that delves deep into the human experience, touching on themes of passion, desire, and the lengths to which people will go for love.

Overall, while the book may not be suitable for all audiences due to its explicit nature, it offers a unique and captivating look at love and relationships.

This book was truly amazing.

It presented a certain level of challenge, yet it was extremely worth the read.

The story is centered around a young white girl who finds herself falling deeply in love with a young black boy hailing from the slums of Brazil.

Unfortunately, both of their families oppose their love with great vehemence.

However, this does not matter to them in the slightest.

Their unwavering determination to stay in love propels them on a truly fantastic journey.

They face numerous obstacles and difficulties along the way, but their love only grows stronger.

Their story is one of courage, perseverance, and the power of true love.

It is a tale that will touch the hearts of readers and leave them inspired.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone who believes in the power of love to overcome all odds.

Ok, perhaps I simply had an affinity for this book because I was reading it in Brazil. However, I found it to be interesting in a somewhat fairy tale-esque manner. It also provided excellent details regarding the country and its racial history.

Essentially, it is a love story. I believe it is based on the legend of Tristan and Isolde. It讲述了一个黑人男子和一个白人女子相爱的故事，他们不得不一直逃避她愤怒的父亲，穿越巴西的丛林、大都市和海洋。

Their journey takes them through various landscapes, each vividly described, adding to the allure of the story. The contrast between the different settings and the challenges they face along the way make it a captivating read.

Overall, despite my initial thought that it might be due to the context of reading it in Brazil, I truly enjoyed this book for its unique blend of romance, adventure, and cultural exploration.

This book was written in a luscious and captivating manner, making it an absolute delight to read.

Just like following a diet, I had to impose restrictions on myself and limit my reading to only one chapter a day. This way, I could ensure that I fully savored the richness and depth of the story.

The story itself is truly amazing, with its engaging plot and well-developed characters. However, what sets this book apart is the magical way in which Updike weaved the words together.

His use of language is simply masterful, creating a vivid and immersive world that draws the reader in and keeps them hooked from beginning to end.

Each sentence is carefully crafted, filled with beautiful imagery and powerful emotions. It is a pleasure to read such a well-written book and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves great literature.