Well!
That was an experience I must say. When I picked up this book I had
no idea what I was getting into. One of my treasured reads from this
fine Brazilian author is an allegorical, fairytale feeling book The
Alchemist. So while expecting something similar in the genre it was a shock to read this book. Even though it was not what I expected, it transpired that this book could
not leave my hand today until it was finished, even though it was
unnerving and not my usual reading material.
If I were to put this
book in a genre I would say erotic odyssey. There are graphic scenes
of sex and even some masochistic content but basically it is a story
of Maria on a long, confusing, and often treacherous journey to find
herself and the meaning of true love.
Maria is virginal and
very beautiful as a young girl in a small town in Brazil. When love
disappoints her she becomes totally convinced that love only leads to
heartache and decides to forge a life without it. Not without sex
though because she very much enjoys all the sensual pleasures.
As a young, unhappy, and
restless naive girl she is duped into going to Switzerland to
hopefully become a famous dancer but in inadvertently becomes a
skilled and successful prostitute. She charges 1000 Francs (about
$1049) for the eleven minutes that it takes a man to finish his
“business.”
Her odyssey finally finds
her grappling with her feelings when she has a relationship that
seems genuine. The handsome young painter may mean more to her than
the usual eleven-minute-man. So perhaps she will be able to have a
relationship that is loving and includes sex?
It's not that it was so
shocking, for in library censorship classes I read much more
explicit, but most books considered to be literary fiction usually do
not have so much graphic content.
Even though the first
line of the story is, “Once upon a time...” this is no allegory
or fairytale and I certainly won't be handing it to all my friends
for an easy escape read. But I am glad I read it and will try harder
not to pigeonhole the authors I read expecting them to be consistent
with their writing style
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