Brazil Kindle Edition

As one whose second home is in Brasil, I find this book to be very entertaining and nicely written in the way it blends fact with fiction. The author's credentials as an established writer are very apparent in the way he portrays the story of a truly fascinating land and its people. From the stark beauty of the caatinga and the sertao in the Northeast to the lushness of the Southwest, from the city to the engenho, "Brazil" is a virtually unknown epic novel, a real "page turner" and my absolute favorite book for when acute saudades ("homesickness", for lack of a better definition) strikes and I cannot afford a plane ticket to visit friends and family throughout the country.The stories of the fictional families of the Cavalcantes and the da Silvas are set against a historical timeline stretching from before Brasil's discovery in the 1500's to the modern-day period of the construction of the country's capital, Brasilia. Along the way, you will encounter tales of the native Tupiniquim and the outsiders, the Dutch, French, English and Portuguese. There is excellent story continuity throughout and family trees are provided in the Appendix - you will come to know these people in a very personal way!The author has done his research well and it shows in the quality of his writing. For whoever has curiosity or an interest about Brasil, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book! And for anyone wanting to visit the country, for personal enjoyment, business or whatever, reading this book before traveling there should be mandatory; you will get so much more out of your trip than you could ever receive from a guidebook!Bom viaje!Edit: 5 Setembro 2019. As I was chatting with friends from Brasil today, I was reminded of the debt I owe to the author of this book. I visited my family a year ago and, talking with people around me, I learned that many (perhaps most) Brasilians don't know their history, even to the extent of not knowing September 7th as anything more than a national holiday (for USA people, this would be exactly like forgetting Independence Day).Because I had read the novel several times, I was able to speak with people around me about the historical events of the book. This led to many interesting conversations, political, historical, social and cultural, and won for me many friendships that endure to this day and will endure forever! It was delightfully refreshing to speak with these people and see their eyes come alight and their hearts catch fire to learn of the history that is their own!Travelers to Brazil must keep their eyes open; Brazil is not the "Samba-and-Snakes" tropical Paradise of Hollywood portrayal. And this book, even though it is a love story about a country and her people, does not attempt to gloss over the ugliness behind the glitter. But behind the aldeia, the escrava and the pelourinho stand the hope and strength of an amazing people.Because of this book and the oh-so-many discussions I have had with people regarding the material in it, I am gladly welcome in any place I have been in Brazil. My beloved second country, Brazil, is a land of story and a land of storytellers. And this is exactly the book by and for storytellers!

That Brazil is more than futebol (football, soccer), beaches, samba and carneval is obvious - just how much more, and why, is laid open in this excellent book. An engaging read, whose only fault is that sometimes it gets too caught up in itself and lingers on a little pointlessly - I skimmed through those sections and lost nothing for doing it. You'll enjoy this, especially if you're a fan of Michener.

I read this historical novel after having completed a Master's degree and passed doctoral exams in Latin American history, specializing in Brazil--and wished I had found it earlier! Uys manages to weave the most important economic, political and geographic themes of Brazilian history into a vibrant narrative, populated by believable characters. His characters are not straw figures, but frequently reveal contradictory qualities--a pioneer's admirable physical courage in the rapacious pursuit of plunder...a Jesuit missionary's willingness to undergo rigorous deprivation and practice Machiavellian politics on a heartfelt campaign to save his indigenous flocks' souls, while subjugating their earthly bodies...a patriot whose Enlightenment ideas of liberty lead him to reject colonialism, but do not extend to freeing his own slaves...a messianic social reformer whose campaign for justice turns his followers into cannon fodder...the heiress of an aristocratic family who uses her privileged position to advocate for street children. The contradictions, brutality, heroism and inspiration are all here. Better than several semesters of dry history lectures...and more memorable!

I am enjoying this book and wanted to read it as a complement to a short course on the history of Brazil that I am taking. The Kindle version, however, has no table of contents, forward and back through chapters doesn't work, and words are divided into syllables in the middle of the line which slows down reading. If I had known this, I would have bought a used paperback. There are many characters and until I used the "Look Inside" feature for the print version, I had no idea that there was a genealogical chart. Can't recommend the Kindle version.

The story told in this book is very interesting and provides a valuable history lesson on not only Brazil, but of South America. My issue is with the grammar and odd punctuation of the book. The editor liked to hyphen everything like every-thing, stu-dent, with-out, and be-hold, with no rhyme or reason. There are several edit notes that were not removed from the final copy. These made it hard to read.

Sadly up until a few months ago I knew very little of Brazil or it's twisting/confusing history. Then this summer a business trip to Brazil was scheduled for September, it was to be my first trip to SouthAmerica. I have read and enjoyed numerous Michener novels in the past and searched to see if he had writen on Brazil, he did not but the search led me this novel by Errol Lincoln Uys. The book immediately grabbed my attention and gave me several useful tidbits of information that I was able to use while on the trip. Now that I have read the entire book, I very much look forward to my next visit to Brazil, so that I can use more of knowledge gained from the book. It was a fascinating and worthwhile read, even if you're not fortunate enough to be travelling to the beautiful country of Brazil anytime soon.

I'm a guy who reads a lot. It's extremely rare that I haven't finished a book that I've started, no matter how bad it is. This is a book I put down half way through and, oddly enough, have shown no interest in picking it up again. I felt no attachment to the characters and no sense of intrigue about what was/is going to happen next.Basically, it appears as if the author read Michener and decided to copy the ideas and plot line without adding soul or the kind of depth that Michener could. Each chapter was the same story repeated: only the names were changed to protect the banality of the story.I do not recommend this book.

Makes the history of Brazil live, weaving it together into every readable, coherent story. It makes sense of the various strands I encountered while resident for more than 20 years in the country, giving a voice to many, much better than any text book I've come across. However I have one caveat. I found the section on the war with Paraguay interesting but tedious.

Umfassende, mitreisende Beschreibung der Geschichte Brasiliens. Äußerst hilfreich, das heutige Brasilien zu verstehen.Beeindruckt durch seine Sachkenntnis. Auch alle Brasilianer sollten es lesen.

Great biography of a wonderful country! I understand a lot more about Brazil and Brazilian culture and heritage, as well as particular traits of behaviour...I guess being a woman I was not so interested in the war part, which in my opinion dragged on for far too long. The book is big enough as it is and hundreds of pages of war against Paraguay was a little too much for me.But the rest was fantastic, mixing real elements to fictional characters is the best way to tell History.