All of the posts related to The Relic are listed below, and I’ll repeat the closing of the last post: The Relic combines comedy, romance, and satire in a bawdy picaresque tale. Even with all the spoilers in these posts, I highly recommend this unique work and author. It is a true pleasure to read […]
Tag: Eca de Queiros
The last two chapters return us to Teodorico’s waking life, following him home from the Holy Lands. After being carried back in time, Teodorico finds that he is indifferent and weary of the shrines and sights. The languor of soul is serious: “I did not even feel interested in the pretty Jewish girls” of Nazareth. […]
And now for something completely different… After enjoying the women and champagne at the end of Chapter 2, Teodorico is transported by dream back to the first century AD. Following Topsius on a whirlwind trip to Jerusalem, we are given a detailed view of the city and temple as it might have appeared at the […]
The Relic follows the outrageous antics of Teodorico Raposo in the quest to inherit his aunt’s riches. His mother died shortly after he was born while his father died when Teodorico was seven. He is sent to live with his rigidly pious (yet gullible) aunt, who puts him through school and graduate school. It is […]
A quick post to introduce the book I’m currently reading: The Relic by Eça de Queirós. Since I enjoyed The Maias so much I wanted to dip into another work of his. Despite having the same title, don’t confuse this with the 1997 horror movie. Here is my post with some online resources on Eça […]
A summary of the posts on The Maias by Eça de Queirós, as well as some additional notes. José Maria Eça de Queirós online resources The Maias: resources The Maias discussion: Chapters 1 – 6 The Maias discussion: Chapters 7 – 10 The Maias discussion: Chapters 11 – 14 The Maias discussion: Chapters 15 – […]
Os Vencidos da Vida (Those Defeated by Life)Eça de Queirós in front row with walking stickPhoto from www.arqnet.pt The end of the book comes with mixed feelings: satisfaction from reading such a wonderful novel, dissatisfaction with many characters that cannot develop, and reevaluation of everything that has happened to date. The generational differences are still […]
The melodrama continues… The plot of The Maias is rather thin, standard soap opera fare, but the richness of the telling is the reason to read the book. Not just the characters, but 1880s Portugal comes to life. The relationships between the male characters develop and seem truer to life than most novels. Rarely do […]
One thing that stood out for me in this section is the use of parallels or comparisons, where events echo a previous occurrence or current situation. Some examples: Carlos’ first viewing of Maria Eduara Gomes echoes that of his father, Pedro, seeing Maria Monforte for the first time. Not only their reaction, but their language […]
Eça de Queirós’ novel is a chronicle of the Maia family and, to some extent, of Portugal in the 19th century. While I’m only a quarter of the way through the book, it reminds me of a Benito Pérez Galdós novel I’ve read (which is a good thing). The first six chapters give a quick […]