O Alienista

Simao Bacamarte, a distinguished physician, settles in the Brazilian town of Itaguai and founds the Casa Verde, an asylum, where he begins to confine those he judges to be insane. As he applies more and more loose criteria, a large part of the population is locked up, a revolt breaks out, and the rule of the new asylum is reversed. Machado de Assis uses dry humor to examine the claims of science, reason, and who decides what is normal.

This short novella is a classic of Brazilian literature. It suits readers who like satire, philosophy of mind, and short works that stay sharp, and it will appeal to anyone interested in the history of psychiatry.

Deep, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

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