Rubião, a modest teacher from Barbacena, becomes the heir of Quincas Borba, a philosopher who created a system called Humanitism, in which survival and conflict are good, along with his dog, also called Quincas Borba. With a large fortune, Rubião moves to Rio de Janeiro, where he falls into the hands of the social climbers Cristiano Palha and his wife Sofia, on whom he develops a hopeless passion. Machado de Assis tells the story with irony, mixing a plain narration with sly commentary, showing greed, vanity and Rubião's slide into madness.
It suits readers who enjoy nineteenth-century novels with sharp social satire and psychological detail. It continues themes from Machado's Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas.
Deep and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2012
- Publisher
- Penguin - Companhia das Letras
- ISBN
- 9788563560520
- Language
- PT
