- Paperback: 248 pages
- Publisher: Avon Books (P) (March 1988)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0380897180
- ISBN-13: 978-0380897186
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.5 x 1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This first English-language edition of a 50-year-old novel by the popular Brazilian author of Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands et al. is the last of a series of six he wrote about his native Bahia, which is a Brazilian state. The "captains" of the title are a gang of abandoned children who live in a waterfront warehouse and survive by robbing the rich. The novel is clearly an early effort for Amado, with self-conscious effects (such as an imagined dialogue between a gang member and an icon he wants to steal) and a tendency to romanticize the young thieves and to telegraph their destinies. But Amado's vivid descriptions of Bahia, his strong social conscience ("The problem of abandoned and delinquent children that worried almost no one in the whole city was Father Jose Pedro's greatest worry") and his moving characterizations carry the reader along to the inevitable denouementwhich, despite its predictability, is both stirring and poignant. This edition also includes a self-righteous "postface" penned in 1937, in which Amado claims that "no one until today has dared look face to face with so much love at Bahian humanity and its problems."
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Timeless protrayal of Brazil's Poverty, Jan 29 2002
By Thomas F. Ogara - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Captains of the Sands (Paperback)
Amado's literary output falls rather neatly into two periods. His early work is imbued with a strong sense of social responsibility, a fact for which he had some difficulty under the Vargas regime, and I believe he may have even done a short stint in jail over. The second period, the post-"Gabriela" books, are a lot more laid back and anecdotal.Sorry to say that in general the second period is the one that's more fun to read, and the books he wrote in the second half of his life are what established his international reputation. A lot of his earlier stuff is not that great, with one exception - this book.
The story is about the kids on the street in Fortaleza, back in the 1930's. To say that they're poor doesn't do justice to it - they live on the street. By necessity they're thieves, but you can't help liking them. They have aspirations of their own in life.
Explaining it in a few words like that may make the American reader think that he's dealing with some "Angels with Dirty Faces" sort of story. It's not. This is not a sentimental novel. It's a reflection of some of the hard realities of Brazilian life, like the urban poverty that never seems to disappear. But it also reflects some of the inherent optimism and the very un-American concern with each other that Brazilians manifest - features of their society that make Brazil such a wonderful place.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It really touches your heart, Jan 23 2000
By Carolina Vargens - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Captains of the Sands (Paperback)
This has to be the best book Jorge Amado has ever written. It was the first book of his that I ever read, it touched me so deeply, that I have read almost all his books since. It really lets you know about the poverty in Brasil, and what some people would do for money. Every character and every story in the novel makes sense. It touches my heart to see what some kids go through, not only in Brasil but in the whole world. As a proud Brasilian myself, It made me think a lot about the poverty in my country. The love story is also so romantic and sad. It's simply just the best book that I have ever read.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you've read them all, read this!, Nov 6 2001
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Captains of the Sands (Paperback)
It is absolutely magnificant. This is the first time for me writing a book review online and I thought that I'd never do it, but after I saw that there's is copy out there somewhere I had to say that 69$ is nothing for this book. It is the only book I take along when I travel or move abroad. It is the book that can change your life, or atleast bring that special something to it. Now that I'm reading this through I have this funny feeling that it's not me writing, but from time to time you come across extraordinary matters that make you act in a very peculiar way. This is one them. Don't miss it.
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