Granta 121: The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists

Granta: The Magazine of New Writing #121

by John Freeman (Editor)

Since Granta’s inaugural list of the Best of Young British Novelists in 1983 � featuring Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Martin Amis and Julian Barnes � the Best of Young issues have been some of the magazine’s most influential and best-selling. In 2010, Granta looked beyond the English-speaking world with Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists.

Now, in an issue fully translated in partnership with Granta em Português, the magazine celebrates emerging talent from Brazil, many translated into English for the first time. Authors include Cristhiano Aguiar, Vanessa Barbara, Carol Bensimon, Javier Arancibia Contreras, J.P. Cuenca, Miguel del Castillo, Laura Erber, Emilio Fraia, Julian Fuks, Daniel Galera, Luisa Geisler, Vinicius Jatoba, Michel Laub, Tatiana Salem Levy, Ricardo Lisias, Chico Mattoso, Antonio Prata, Carola Saavendra, Leandro Sarmatz, and Antonio Xerxenesky.

Plus: look for candid interviews, exclusive podcasts, and interactive features, which allow readers to comment on current and past issues, on our website, granta.com.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Brazil, Literature, Anthologies, Literary Fiction, Essays

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Freeman is an award-winning writer and book critic who has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. Freeman won the 2007 James Patterson Pageturner Award for his work as the president of the National Book Critics Circle, and was the editor of Granta from 2009 to 2013. He lives in New York City, where he teaches at NYU and edits a new literary biannual called Freeman's.

Reviews

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good pieces in this edition including "Animals" by Michel Laub, "Evo Morales" by Ricardo Lisias, "The Dinner" (the tension of the past is ever present and rising) by Julian Fuks, "Valdir Peres, Juanito and Poloskei" by Antonio Prata, "Tomorrow, upon Awakening" by Antonio Xerenesky, "Lion" (disturbing) by Luisa Geisler, "Before the Fall" by J.P. Cuena, "Still Life" by Vinicius Jatoba, and "Apnoea" by Daniel Galena. I like when Granta does these best of young novelists editions. Not sure that the pieces selected always works especially when the pieces are taken from larger works. It's more successful when the piece selected is itself a self-contained story. But I read every piece and I find some writers whose works I want to explore more. Hate that I have to wait for works to then be translated into English. My limitation, of course. But why do publishers think that Americans don't want to read works by non-English writers. Good writing in any language deserves to be translated and read. So much thanks to those who have the job of translating! Keep up the good work.

[Zoë Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Portuguese to English translator I was thrilled to see this edition and positive about the prospect of introducing more readers to contemporary Brazilian writing. Unfortunately none of the selected pieces really jumped out and moved me (the way so much writing of Brazil has over the past few years).

[Julie Capell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful buffet of twenty stories by twenty young Brazilian writers. The stories that showed the echoes of the various Latin American dictatorships of the 1970's were among my favorites (Violeta, The Dinner,). Although the authors were either not yet born or were very young during those turbulent times, it was very interesting to see how they have not escaped the brutality entirely.

A couple of the non-political stories that I liked a lot were plain old good storytelling (Evo Morales, Every Tuesday, The Count, Valdir Peres, Juanito and Poloskei).

In terms of writing style, many of the stories were told in extremely convoluted ways, several so much so that I had trouble figuring out what was going on. Must have been a fad going on among writers at the time. I did not care much for those stories. A couple were downright inscrutable, or had no main point, or seemed so focused on mundane details that I couldn't figure out the point (Animals, Lettuce Nights, Teresa, That Wind Blowing Through the Plaza, A Temporary Stay, Far from Ramiro, Sparks, Lion, Still Life)

I cannot fail to mention that the quality of the translations was uniformly excellent.

[Roberto Fideli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Valeu como estudo de prosas e estilos diferentes, mas só.

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Granta 121: The Best Of Young Brazilian Novelists edited by John Freeman was first published in autumn of 2012 and I thought it might offer a nice introduction to modern Brazilian society. That is if that is at all possible, since it is, as Jorge Amado said “not a country, but a continent,” huge, diverse in race and social standing. Like all collections there will be hits and misses for me as a reader, but there were quite a few stories that made the grade in my opinion. The book is organized by age, so the eldest writers come first, but I have to say that my favorite story in the whole collection was the last story, “Apnoea,” by 35 year old Daniel Galera. It was a story about fathers and sons and living and dying. There were several references to Jorge Luis Borges classic short story “The South,” which prompted me to find it and read it on the internet, all in all a powerful and engaging story. For example, there’s Ricardo Lisias’ compelling story of a Brazilian chess champion’s crack up involving his suspect friendship with a Bolivian President. In “Animals” by Michael Lamb, he remembers his father and growing up with his father’s wisdom and pet dog. “Lettuce Nights” by Vanessa Barbara is story about a man trying to get on in life after the death of his long-time wife. There were several coming of age stories that I felt were heartfelt and resonated well, one of them was “A Temporary Stay” by Emilio Frian about a Brazilian tennis player unsure about his future in London. Another was, “Valdir Peres, Juanito and Polseki” about a status war among 10 year olds and their toys and possessions. “”Tomorrow, Upon Awakening” by Antonio Xexenesky was also a coming of age story about a teenage boy getting away with his younger girlfriend as he is trying to find himself and what it all means. “Rat Fever” by Javier Arancibia is an unusual story about an injured translator’s conflict with a giant coke-sniffing rat in his country house. “Sparks” written by 32 year old Carol Benismon was entertaining and was contemporary in away that was startling for some reason with references to Doc Martens, iPods, and indie music. Overall, I felt the collection was pretty solid, there were few stories that failed to interest me at all. I look forward to reading more of some of these authors in English in the future.

[Michael Vagnetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A goer when the writing stops explaining things in concrete, well-crafted sentences. When it's trying to be important, I'm reminded of Amis' hilarious essay somewhere on amateur writing contests ("The sun was bakingly hot.") Now, where to go from here, after reading the good stuff? I found myself slightly beside myself at the future for me and Brazilian literature in English. The dialogue in "Apnoeia," for example, almost reads itself aloud, and "Still Life" is oblique and welcomely unaccommodating, with swaths of text in italics that roll in like a puzzle in a fog. But you only get one story per writer, and good luck finding anything else by Daniel Galera or Carol Bensimon in English. I could read a tome of writing like her "Sparks," with its easy authenticity. I felt like she was giving me free binoculars.

[Sarah Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing read. None of the writings really evoked Brazil in a way I expected them to. I'm a great lover of Jorge Amado; I love the intertwining of the real with the surreal, the mysticism, sensuality and exoticism in his writings. Maybe I was expecting too much!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

All prosperity and the accompanying dark secrets.
Daniel Galera's "Apnoea", "That Wind Blowing Through the Plaza" by Laura Erber, and Javier Arancibia Contreras' "Rat Fever" are standouts.

[Chad Post · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authors I liked the best in here: Michel Laub, Cristhiano Aguiar, Julian Fuks, Antonio Xerxenesky, Javier Arancibia Contreras, J.P. Cuenca, and Vinicius Jatoba.

[Jodesz Gavilan · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The only thing that makes life bearable is the fact that it comes to an end.”
– from RAT FEVER, a short story by Javier Contreras.
————
GRANTA 121 is a collection of stories from some of the best-known young Brazilian novelists. But among all those included, the best ones are the stand-alone stories and not those extracted from longer pieces.

Overall, this anthology serves as a good highlight of the “new era” in Brazilian literature. The editors were so serious in pursuing this that they explained in full in the introduction how they determined the age range of the writers. They’re so precise that you can actually point out the difference between the authors included and older writers you’ve encountered in the past.

I loved Ricardo Lisias’ EVO MORALES which chronicles a chess player’s unusual “interaction” with the Bolivian president (and fall in love in the process???) and Antonio Prata’s VALDIR PERES, JUANITO AND POLOSKEI, a story so familiar among children who grew up wanting to outcool their “friends.” Both stories are hilarious without trying so hard. While these are works of fiction, the way the two stories felt so real and personal as if you’re just listening to a friend. I really love short stories written this way.

I thank the gods of Booksale in Makati Cinema Square where I got this copy. Makes me want to seek out the other editions or maybe subscribe. It’s also such a nice way to discover new writers.

[Mariela Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7? ⭐️ because I first started this book of short stories back in 2022, tbh I do not remember any of them. I wanted to remove this from my shelf already on Goodreads, but I could not bring myself to finish the last two stories. The only one I really liked was "Valdir Peres, Juanito and Poloskei," where the author describes the observations and experiences of mobility among social classes in Brazil in the 80s. The details are all through toys the kids have, especially WC sticker albums (a cultural rite of passage especially for young boys). This is the only one that will remain memorable. The rest? They will stay on my shelf back home, waiting to be read by the next person. Thanks again to my friend for getting this book for me at the thrift store (ykwya <3)

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved "The Dinner" and "Apnaeo." Very Brazilian; Borges references, themes of not belonging, diaspora, being in a beautiful place and searching for ugliness. Pretty good stuff.

[Shan Perefixe · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists ::: you must be joking apart from a writer here called Ricardo LÌSIAS the rest of them are so dull you want to stand outside and scream. When you read the biography you realise the vast majority of them are either on creative writing courses or even worse work as editors or in publishing.

So what we are looking at here are not writers but people who work in the book industry and probably through connections have managed to get a gig on the Granta ticket. Granta used to mean something in the 1980s it was a place you went to for new intelligent writing. It looks as if it has been devalued to a farcical level of inanity and nothingness. If you want to be a writer you need to have something to say or if you don’t you need to have imagination. The guys here have neither.

Duller than dishwater.

I cannot for the life of me believe that Brazil this vibrant country cannot produce better writers; and those apart from Ricardo mentioned earlier whose story is really electric and yes original; the other guys will write something like “I got up this morning I took a shower I went into town I bought a cabbage I went home I went to bed“

I apologise. I have made this too interesting maybe you now felt a pulse in those lines. So no not like that. Duller. It really seems to me that the only reason they are included here is because they know someone who works in publishing in fact wait a minute no they don’t have to they themselves work in publishing. It is the clipboard School of writing: personality bypass/lack of topic/ inability to imagine and basically hundred percent tungsten titanium cast-iron boring

I am bailing ¾ of the way in. I merely carried on to see how bad it got

Sadly I have also got the young Spanish writer equivalent to this and it is more of the same same type of people same Boredom. The only upside to this experience this disappointing reading experience is that the book itself is extremely well made no spelling mistakes whatsoever and beautiful layout: this was always a trademark thing with Granta. The best thing which you can do with this book is to give it away to charity but then again why would you want to inflict this on anyone. I will nonetheless try and find books by Ricardo Lìsias Since he clearly is a writer. It doesn’t seem there are versions of his works in English but I can find copies in Spanish (Portuguese would be harder) so will try and do that.

[Sean Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Granta 121, The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists, is an anthology of stories from some of the best-known young novelists in Brazil. The collection is worth reading for the view it offers of Brazilian literary culture, which is not exactly readily accessible in the U.S., and these four outstanding stories: "Animals," by Michel Laub, a flash-fiction like recounting of the deaths of the narrator's pets, friends, and, most meaningfully, his father; "Evo Morales," Ricardo Lísias' hilarious story about a Brazilian chess champion who keeps crossing paths with the Bolivian president in the world's airports; "Temporary Stay," by Emilio Fraia, a well-orchestrated story about the hidden turning point in the life of a tennis professional; and my favorite, "Valdir Peres, Juanito, and Poloskei," by Antonio Prata, a wonderful coming-of-age story told around an escalating war among the children of a middle class neighborhood to possess the most coveted toy.

[Linawings · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Latin American literature, but I am mainly acquainted with classic authors like Marquez, Llosa, Amadu, Aliende. I was curious to make a "reality check". Definitely it was different - more cosmopolitan feeling, the contemporary themes of our European lives. My prepared expectation for exotic reality was not satisfied... But I can say the writers are pretty good if you approach the thing without a fixed idea. I really enjoyed "Blazing Sun" (Tatiana Levy), "Evo Morales" (Ricardo Lisias), "Valdir Perez, Juanito and Poloskei" (Antonio Prata) and "Before the Fall" (J.P. Cuenca).

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read about half the stories, which was enough for me. Not that they were bad, but the rest I can pick at, or not, at a later date.

Before the Fall, describing high-flying Rio before an imagined (and likely) bubble burst later this decade, is a real treat. As is Evo Morales, a kind of surrealist journey into an jokey obsession that turns into a kind of mental illness.

[Susan Emmet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of conflicted about this issue, mainly because I have no connection to Brazilian writers.
So much sad, dissociated, in touch with surroundings/buildings/cultural ways and means, so much of families broken, new people coming in, "things" sold and recovered, relationships included.
Not one of my favorite Grantas, but that's a function of my ignorance.

[Jacqueline Lafloufa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boas historias:
Apneia, Daniel Galera
Valdir Peres, Juanito e Poloskei, Antonio Prata
O jantar, Julian Fuks
F para Welles, Antonio Xerxenesky
Você tem dado notícias?, Leandro Sarmatz
Natureza Morta, Vinicius Jatobá

Nêmesis dessa coletânea: Geração Subzero

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection which improved towards the end. The stand out stories for me were Jatoba's 'Still Life' and Fraia's 'A Temporary Stay'.

[Joe Canas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. Excellent collection.

[Marilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textos muito bons. Acabei procurando outros livros dos autores selecionados aqui. Recomendo.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay but not my fave. Maybe Brazilian novels are not my thing.

[Viviane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great writers there, I was very pleased with this reading...

[Meiroz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great selection by Granta.