A Death in Brazil : A Book of Omissions

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding impressionistic portrayal of Brazil
Review: "A Death in Brazil" is more than a mere personal memoir, travelogue, or political history. Rather, it combines all three, creating a whole that is more than the sum of its parts, a vivid, impressionistic tableau of Brazilian life and culture in which Robb interlaces past and present in a compelling, sometimes seamless manner.

If you've spent much time in Brazil, Robb's brushstrokes of local color will bring back many memories. In my case, "A Death in Brazil" evoked a scary taxi ride in Maceio in Brazil's northeast in 1989; the mold encrusting the walls of a cheap hotel in Salvador in 1984, flavoring the room with a smell that I can still detect almost as soon as I set foot in the country; the protests for eleicoes direitas ja (direct elections now) in 1984, toward the end of military rule. Even the cover photo, of old pastel houses and people lingering aimlessly in their doorways to escape the stifling indoor heat, brings back memories of Rio de Janeiro's Gloria neighborhood, where in 1984 my hotel charged U.S. $3.20 a day for a room with intermittent air conditioning (depending on the mood of the reception desk) and private bath (thankfully with a gas-powered hot shower, rather than the uncertain chuveiro eletrico with wires dangling ominously behind the shower head, which always forced a choice between the promise of hot water and the possibility of sudden electrocution). The last time I was in Rio, in 2000, the hotel was more like $40 a day, and it had installed bulletproof glass to protect the reception desk from street crime. Armed violence is now a serious problem in urban Brazil; the urbane news presenter Boris Casoy devotes much of the Record Network television news to it. I went to Brazil twice in 2000, but a daily dose of the "Jornal da Record" newscast on satellite TV is scaring me from returning.

For those who know little about the country, much of what Robb describes may seem mysterious, as though he were venturing into the Africa of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." Speaking of which, Robb's encyclopedic knowledge encompasses a mention of Conrad's voyage to the Congo River on the "Ville de Maceio" in 1890, and allows him to bring in figures ranging from Roger Casement to Fernando Ramos da Silva, the star of the critically acclaimed 1981 movie "Pixote, a lei do mais fraco."

Not only is Robb extremely knowledgeable, but his writing is first-rate (why does the British Commonwealth continue to produce so much fine and subtle writing?). He fills his narrative with imagery like this: "It was dark now, so damp the air was palpable, and silent outside. The smell of rank plaster filled the little room. It was peeling off the blue-washed walls in foamy patches. . . . In the world outside a fine and soundless rain was falling and a scarf of tiny droplets floated under the bulb of a yellow streetlight." (Pp. 305-306.)

Robb's political perspective is to the left of mine and probably that of most American readers. As a result, I occasionally found fault with aspects of his book. Robb rhapsodizes over Lula (Luis Inacio Lula da Silva), the current Brazilian president, but suggests, explicitly or implicitly, that Lula's predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, was a neoliberal who did much to placate international capital and little to ease Brazil's vast disparities in wealth and income. I think the election of Lula is of enormous historical importance and has the potential to bring revolutionary change to relations between the developed and less-developed worlds. But I regret the portrayal of Cardoso, a distinguished centrist whose achievements include taming inflation, an astonishing feat that benefits Lula's administration every day. The Brazilian currency, the real, is essentially stable against the U.S. dollar, and that too is thanks to Cardoso, and to Lula's continuation of many of Cardoso's policies.

Nevertheless, Robb's ruminations on Brazilian society, culture, and mores are among the best I've read, and I highly recommend "A Death in Brazil."

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Assortment
Review: Don't be put off by the mingling of genres. Although Robb has written a book that is both history and travel, politics and opinion, he is a more than able enough author to keep the reader turning the pages. The prevailing question of the book is, 'What is Brazil?' and Robb entertains us by cherry picking historical anecdotes, then relating them to the political scene of the last 20 years. It's definitely rich picking. The presidency of Fernando Collor, which forms a healthy chunk of the book, is an utterly absorbing scandal, depicting a total abuse of the system. Yet it is in Brazil's history where Robb is at his best, his detailed description of slave societies that formed outside of the 'state', the manner in which they were dealt with, sounds strong comparisons with the problems that both gave Lula his presidency and ensure that his hold on power will be hard to keep.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Assortment
Review: Don't be put off by the mingling of genres. Although Robb has written a book that is both history and travel, politics and opinion, he is a more than able enough author to keep the reader turning the pages. The prevailing question of the book is, 'What is Brazil?' and Robb entertains us by cherry picking historical anecdotes, then relating them to the political scene of the last 20 years. It's definitely rich picking. The presidency of Fernando Collor, which forms a healthy chunk of the book, is an utterly absorbing scandal, depicting a total abuse of the system. Yet it is in Brazil's history where Robb is at his best, his detailed description of slave societies that formed outside of the 'state', the manner in which they were dealt with, sounds strong comparisons with the problems that both gave Lula his presidency and ensure that his hold on power will be hard to keep.

Rating:
Summary: "A death in Brazil" and its sources
Review: I have also researched one of the subjects with which A Death in Brazil deals, namely the election, government and impeachment of Fernando Collor, the former President of Brazil. From 1991 to 1997, I was managing editor at Veja, the magazine with the widest circulation in Brazil, which played an influential role in bringing about Collor's impeachment. In 1992, I received the Editor of the Year Award from the World Press Review for Veja's coverage during the period.


At the end of 1999, after almost two years of full-time writing, I finished my 720-page book on the subject, entitled Notícias do Planalto: A imprensa e Fernando Collor (News From the Planalto: The press and Fernando Collor). In writing the book I interviewed 140 people and read more than a hundred books. Notícias do Planalto was a bestseller in Brazil, selling more than 80,000 copies.


Peter Robb invited me to lunch in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of 2001. Robb praised Notícias do Planalto and told me of his plans to write a book about Brazil, Fernando Collor and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. I recommended that he read certain books and gave him phone numbers for both Collor and Lula da Silva. I never heard from him again.


When I read A Death in Brazil I was rather shocked. There were nineteen passages in Robb's book that were startlingly similar to passages in Notícias do Planalto. What we are dealing with here is not simply use of information, as is normal in intellectual work. The fact is that entire sentences, lines of reasoning and images recur with only a few words changed. I have prepared translated transcripts of the passages in question from Notícias do Planalto and the corresponding passages from A Death in Brazil.


Robb mentions my book only once. On page 313, in the section "Sources and Readings", he says that Notícias do Planalto is a "very fluid and complete account of Fernando's fast rise and faster fall as seen by the journalists of Brazilian press and television, not least of whom [is] the author". This mention in no way justifies the use Peter Robb seems to have made of my book. One wonders if he would have used my book so freely had it been published in English.



Rating:
Summary: Plagarism?
Review: I haven't had the chance to read "A Death in Brazil," though, until tonight, I'd read nothing but great things in reviews about it. But I thought it was important to share the tidbit from the June 15,2004 edition of Rio's leading daily newspaper, O Globo. First translated to English, then the original in Portuguese, from their popular columnist Ancelmo Gois:

(Translation to English)
Australian Pirate

The book "A Death in Brazil," by the Australian Peter Robb, has been highlighted in various important newspapers all over the world.

It's just that the author, when he talks of the Collor government, quite simply copied pages and pages of the book "News from the Planalto" by journalist Mario Sergio Conti.

(Original Text in Portuguese)
Pirata australiano

O livro "A death in Brazil", do australiano Peter Robb, tem recebido destaque em vários jornais importantes do planeta.

Só que o moço, simplesmente, chupou, quando fala do governo Collor, páginas e páginas do livro "Notícias do Planalto", do jornalista Mário Sergio Conti.

Rating:
Summary: Too Superficial
Review: This book is very strange. It is neither an academic essay nor a good analisys of Brazilian history and costumes.It is a combination of everything that ends up being very dissapointing.

For a brief book on Brazilian history, I reccomend "Brazil: Five Centuries of Change" by Thomas Skidmore. It is an excellent first step on the subject.