Brezilya : Festivaller Tanrılar ve Kahramanlar Ülkesi

by Fran Bryson, Dilek Özyozgat (Traslator)

Festivaller, Tanrılar ve Kahramanlar Ülkesi BREZİLYA

Brezilya, tahmin edemeyeceğiniz kadar özel bir coğrafyadır… Orada ruhlarla komün halinde yaşayabilir, tanrılarla dans edebilirsiniz. Hayatın ne olduğunu ve ne olabileceğini aynı anda görebileceğiniz, benzersiz bir yerdir.

Gezgin Fran Bryson, bu muhteşem ülkeyi tanımak konusunda epey şanslıydı çünkü oradaki misafirliği tam yedi yıl sürdü. Anlattıklarına bakacak olursak, orada geçirdiği her gün, Brezilya’nın dini inanışlarına, kültürüne, insanlarına ve sokaklarına biraz daha âşık oldu; bu kitap da onun meyvesi.

Dünyanın en büyüleyici, en çelişkili ve en renkli ülkesine yapılan bir seyahat, Bryson’ın hayatını onulmaz bir biçimde değiştirmeye yetti… Sıra okurlarında!

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Brazil, Memoir

376 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Damla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haritada oturmuş tatlı bir tavşanı andıran ülkeyi, yazar kurtlarla ve ‘münzevi, baştan çıkarıcı ve meraklı’ olmakla özdeşleştiriyor. Okurken sadece gezi notları değil Brezilya’nın tarihini ve tarihi figürlerinin önemini de okuyacaksınız. Bir de eş zamanlı olarak Brezilyan bir reality show izlemek, kültürü ve öğrendiklerinizi daha kalıcı yapabilir. Sonraki adım ise on beş saat yolculuğu göze almak olsun mu, neden olmasın?

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Rather than through religion, I make sense of the world through books…Another way to make sense of the world is through travel…Books of course, make the mind as well. What we read helps to form our beliefs.”

Bryson makes for a refreshingly unpretentious guide to Brazil. Although working as a literary agent, she has none of the self-importance that so often comes with that world. Bryson makes for the best kind of traveller and so by extension she makes for the best kind of guide. She’s humble yet bold, always intrepid and inquisitive, she’s a good listener and always wants to learn more, and so we do too. She shows us that there is a lot more to Brazil than Football, Havianas, beaches and the telenovela.

“Brazil was ‘discovered’ at a time when Europeans divided the world into only two categories: Christian and non-Christian.” Bryson explains how Pope Alexander VI- A Spaniard, drew a line, and decided that everyone east of the line would speak Spanish and all in the west would speak Portuguese. This was known as the Treaty of Tordesillas. This was then revised by a new Pope, Julius II and the line was moved 170 leagues west. So in 1500 Captain Pedro Alavares Cabral arrived after being blown of course on the way to India, he claimed Brazil for Portugal. We also learn about a prince by the name of Henry the Navigator, who played a hugely significant part in opening up the sea trade routes for the start of the Atlantic Slave trade.

Let’s be honest, when Brazil is in the news around the world, football aside, stories tend to be limited to police and military brutality, political corruption and poverty. There is obviously a lot more to the vast country than that, but let’s remember it was ruled by a military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985, with some help from the good old CIA. Bryson shows that throughout its history there have certainly been no shortage of military uprisings or suppressions of the poor, whether it be the horrendous killing of eight adolescents (aged between 11 and 20), sleeping on the ground by Candelaria Church in 1993, committed by the police, or the various uprisings and massacres, at Quilombo and Canudos.

Bryson goes onto expand on the murder culture, she focuses on one particular case, giving us the tragic story of Chico Mendes. She explains that, “In Brazil, death can come with a price tag. Revenge and self-interest are the fertile seeds of many of Brazil’s tragic tales. Take the hitman’s price list circa 1990, ‘A union leader costs $500 to $1200; a town councilman or lawyers, $1500; a padre $3,500-$4,000; a judge, state deputy, mayor, or bishop $25,000. Murders, in the name of opposing ‘causes’, occur in Brazil at a startling rate. There have been more than 1000 murders over land conflicts alone since 1980. That’s a rate of nearly one a fortnight, just for land conflicts. In 1987, 88 union leaders were killed because someone didn’t like them trying to establish some form of workers’ rights.

Our guide certainly gets around this huge country, the fifth largest in the world. She ventures from toasted beaches and winding rivers up into the jungles and mountains, as well as the town, village and city and much in between. Her trip to the highly divisive city of Brasilia was interesting, a strange city where Oscar Niemeyer’s influence is everywhere, but as she shows it was a project with good and admirable intentions, but it has long since outgrown its limitations and a number of shanty satellites have now grown up around the capital. We also get to experience many of the backwaters and hinterlands of the country, and get to taste the delights of the Rio carnaval, and a nightmarish journey into the world of ayahuasca.

She draws some interesting parallels with Brazil and her native Australia, from the belated creation of capital cities in the 1900s, to their being ruled by European colonies and built upon genocidal persecution of native populations. She makes a strong case. She does lose the thread now and then, and the flow occasionally breaks up, but never for too long. For instance for a book about Brazil, there is a lot about Australia in here, though to be fair most of it is interesting and she does at least tie it in some way to Brazil, even if the links are a little tenuous at times. There are some pockets of fascinating history and then the occasional disjointed passage. Overall this is an interesting series of adventures told with warmth, humour and affection and her research, effort and patience pays off making for an enjoyable read.

[David Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up. Probably after she mentions an former traveller called Peter who travelled up the amazon and then in the next paragraph, she and Peter are travelling up the Amazon only it is another Peter.
I struggled on for another few pages but the continuing discontinuity in the narrative and inconsistencies finally defeated me.

[Christel Keijzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

entertaining, interesting and random anecdotes on the author's travels around Brazil.

[Gökhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ülke ile ilgili verdiği bilgiler nedense nahoş hisler uyandırdı bende. Bu kitabı okurken hiç Brezilya'yı gezip görme arzusu, merakı uyanmadı . Yazarın tarzından olsa gerek.

[Noelene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway. Let me say from the start I am not a lover of travel books. However this book was not written in chronological order but was organized as an exploration of the culture in different regions of Brazil. The focus was more on the festivals and linked with some very in-depth research about the history of the country. There was a clash however when the author put in her personal experiences involving the history of Australia. I felt this detracted from the overall theme and the book would have been better if they had not be included ( often at the end of a chapter).

[Linda Ste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've now travelled through Brazil, ... well page by page. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, not just as a novel but as a history lesson, a view of lives I've never lead, places I've never seen or even thought of viewing, an open minded insight into religion and a magical escape on my commute to work. I love the fact the author was so passionate about travel (I get that) and so loving of her own homeland, ... (I get that too). My Mum was from King Island so I felt a little connection being so close to Flinders Island :) Thanks for a great read and the opportunity to read a really interesting and entertaining book through the goodreads prize program.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, informative and enjoyable read. To go beyond the usual tourist haunts was eye-opening and to meet the real Brazilian people and their beliefs, through the eyes of an Australian, was enthralling.

[Scribe Publications]

A wise and dazzling personal exploration of the beauty and strangeness of Brazil, its history and its culture.
Carmel Bird

[A] closely observed, lyrically written, deeply empathetic account of seven years’ worth of travels though the world’s fifth largest country … it heralds the arrival of a promising new talent in the travel writing field.
Matthew Clayfield Weekend Australian

[Bryson] fills her narrative with characters, culture, and history, often creating vivid scenes in this primer for those curious about the country that will try to reveal itself as the land of the future when it hosts this year's Olympic Games. Travel writers often reveal as much about themselves as the places they explore and the people they encounter. Bryson proves herself to be an amiable and curious explorer ... In Brazil should spur readers towards further forays into understanding the country.
Australian Book Review

[A] multi-flavoured and textured entrée to a country that is once again facing turmoil.
Rebecca Tansley, North and South

A rather fine introduction to this vast, diverse and gloriously unwieldy nation, which should have any Rio-bound revelers checking whether they can add a couple of extra plane-hops onto their visit.
Wanderlust

A breezy, episodic trek around the football nation, all samba voodoo, carnival and ayahuasca … Light and upbeat.
The Spectator

A wise and deeply personal look at the beauty and extremes of Brazil, from religious towns to Rio Carnival.
Elle

Bryson’s curiosity is addictive. This book is a tour of Brazil’s astonishing spiritual diversity — joyful, tragic, full of wonders — and a meditation on how we feel at home.
Delia Falconer