Impressões e Paizagens

by Raul Brandão

202 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

Raul Germano Brandão (Foz do Douro, March 12, 1867 – Lisbon, December 5, 1930) was a Portuguese writer, journalist and military officer, notable for the realism of his literary descriptions and by the lyricism of his speech. Brandão was born in Foz do Douro, a parish of Porto, where he spent the majority of his youth. Born in a family of sailors, the ocean and the sailors were a recurrent theme in his work.

Brandão finished his secondary studies in 1891. After that, the joined the military academy, where he initiated a long career in the Ministry of War. While working in the ministry, he also worked as a journalist and published several books.

In 1896, Brandão was commissioned in Guimarães, where he would know his future wife. He married in the next year and settled in the city. Despite living in Guimarães, Brandão spent long periods in Lisbon. After retiring from the army, in 1912, Brandão initiated the most productive period of his writing career. He died on December 5, 1930, age 63, after publishing a profuse journalistic and literary work.

Published works:

1890 - Impressões e Paisagens
1896 - História de um Palhaço
1901 - O Padre
1903 - A Farsa
1906 - Os Pobres
1912 - El-Rei Junot
1914 - A Conspiração de 1817
1917 - Húmus (1917)
1919 - Memórias (vol. I)
1923 - Teatro
1923 - Os Pescadores
1925 - Memórias (vol. II)
1926 - As Ilhas Desconhecidas
1926 - A Morte do Palhaço e o Mistério da Árvore
1927 - Jesus Cristo em Lisboa, with Teixeira de Pascoaes
1929 - O Avejão
1930 - Portugal Pequenino, with Maria Angelina Brandão
1931 - O Pobre de Pedir
1933 - Vale de Josafat

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Bra...

Reviews

[Luís · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a seminal work but must reflect the author's talent. Still, it hints at some themes he would later address and how he combined naturalist, symbolist, and impressionist elements. Raul Brandão dedicated his entire life to writing and left behind a unique work in the context of national literature. He is considered one of the greatest Portuguese writers, although little read, having been overshadowed by the presence of Fernando Pessoa in the literary panorama of the time—a work of singular creative freedom to read and discover.

[Celso Moura · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Coligindo estes contos durante a elaboração longa dum romance Os descalços — eu não os refundi nem emendei. Seja-me permitido, portanto, dizer singelamente que eles não representam a minha maneira actual de sentir nem de escrever."

[Leandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

"O outro n'uma raiva infindável, louco, cahiu sobre elle, cheio de força, apertando-lhe o pescoço entre as mãos, beijando-o, esfregando-lhe a cara pela d'elle com força, a ponto de pedaços pôdres de carne cahirem..."

"Morreu. - E morta, inchada de pança, envolta em farrapos, com manchas verdes já de podridão nas faces, era immunda - mais immunda e mais nojenta ainda que a cadella que gania parindo..."

[Iris Sampaio · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Foi n'esta beira de costa, pintalgada de verde e de amarello, alegre e cantante como um avental de Valença, banhada por esse farrapo de mar que flutua azul entre Villa do Conde e Aveiro - que a nossa mocidade inteira se passou..." Raul Brandão

[Rosa Ramôa · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...têm a espessura de montanhas. São as palavras que nos contêm, são as palavras que nos conduzem..."
(Raul Brandão)