Machado de Assis's The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas

9 notes on the new translation of a major Brazilian modernist classic in the tradition of Sterne, Borges, and Cervantes

1. Can’t remember where I heard of this, as I ordered it while stoned on New Year’s Eve with a bunch of books that seemed different from the usual things I’d been attaching to. From even a casual glance, this novel is way ahead of its time. Originally published in 1881, it bears relation to Tristram Shandy in that it continuously invents techniques and ways of speaking that most novels from its era wouldn’t imagine. The recent Penguin Classics edition contains a new translation by Portuguese and Brazilian scholar, Flora Thomson-DeVeaux (whose name doesn’t appear on the cover, nevertheless, despite the full name of the Foreword-writer and the little banana sticker heralding the change).

2. The novel is written in 160 very short chapters, narrated by a dead aristocrat who feels inspired to tell his story and opine about the problems of his world from the grave. In contrast to the narrator, and despite being one of Brazil’s “most celebrated” artists, Assis is an outsider, the mixed race grandson of ex-slaves who educated himself and worked as a printer while aspiring to write. The mix of “high” language with a heavily tongue-in-cheek POV spouting off about his business and love affairs, the malfeasance of the ruling class, and all sorts of social mores feels far more effective than an earnest takedown novel would, especially given how outlandish his sense of humor, and how willing Assis is to do whatever he wants on the page.