Lima Barreto
1881–1922
Biography
Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto, known simply as Lima Barreto, was a novelist and journalist born in Rio de Janeiro. He is counted among the leading writers of Brazilian Pre-Modernism, the generation that turned away from the ornate, European-modelled style of the Belle Époque toward plainer prose about everyday Brazilian life.
His best-known book is Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma, a bitter satire of the early years of Brazil's First Republic. His fiction also takes up racism and social inequality in Rio de Janeiro, and he wrote with a sharp, ironic eye for the public life of his day.
Three of his books are on this site. Clara dos Anjos follows a young woman from a family in Rio's suburbs and was first published as a book after his death. Aventuras do Dr. Bogoloff is a satire, and Vida e Morte de M. J. Gonzaga de Sá rounds out the selection. Together they show the range of his fiction, from social novels to satire.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
Aventuras do Dr. Bogoloff
by Lima Barreto
A Russian who leaves Odessa with the most honest of intentions tells in the first person of his adventures in Brazil, where his gift for impressing officials and the credulous takes him a long way. Lima Barreto's short comic novel of 1912 is a mocking tale of credulity and…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.Clara dos Anjos
by Lima Barreto
Clara, a sheltered girl in a modest family of the Rio de Janeiro suburbs, grows up among serenades and respectable neighbours, while Cassi Jones, a guitar-playing young man with a reputation, takes notice of her. Lima Barreto's last novel is a plain and angry picture of the…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.Histórias e Sonhos
by Lima Barreto
A collection of Lima Barreto's stories of 1920, opening with the preface Amplius! and gathering pieces such as O Moleque and Sua Excelência. The tales look at the people of Rio de Janeiro's offices, suburbs and streets with the writer's characteristic irony and sympathy. This…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.Numa e a Ninfa
by Lima Barreto
Numa Pompílio de Castro, a modest official, rises to be a deputy through a clever marriage to Edgarda, the daughter of a powerful politician, while the Chamber debates a proposal for a new state of the federation. Lima Barreto's satire of 1915 shows the republic's political…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.Recordações do Escrivão Isaías Caminha
by Lima Barreto
Isaías, a bright young mixed-race man from a small town, goes to Rio de Janeiro to become a doctor and instead ends up as a clerk on a powerful newspaper. Lima Barreto's first novel is a bitter, funny portrait of the press, the city's elites and the walls built against a man…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.Triste Fim de Polycarpo Quaresma
by Lima Barreto
Major Policarpo Quaresma, a quiet civil servant in Rio de Janeiro, loves Brazil so sincerely that he petitions for Tupi to become the national language. Lima Barreto follows his patriotic projects, in culture, farming and politics, through the troubled early years of the…
Summary written by Claude Opus 5.5.Vida e Morte de M. J. Gonzaga de Sá
by Lima Barreto
A young clerk, Augusto Machado, tells of his friendship with an older civil servant, Gonzaga de Sá, a wise and ironical man who walks him through the old streets of Rio de Janeiro and its history. Lima Barreto's novel of 1919 is a gentle, melancholy portrait of the city and of…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.