#o primo basilio

[ariel-seagull-wings]

COUSIN BAZILIO (1988)

PART I: LUISA AND JULIANA

Giulia Gam as Luisa and Marília Pera as Juliana in the 1988 minisseries adaptation.

@astrangechoiceoffavourites @gravedangerahead

[shinylitwick94]

Era um rapazola pálido e afadistado; Joana era minhota, de Avintes, de família de um lavrador, e aquela figura delgada de lisboeta anémico seduzia-a com uma violência abrasada.

O Primo Basílio, Eça de Queirós

[ariel-seagull-wings]

COUSIN BAZILIO (1988)

PART III: SIDE CHARACTERS

Louise Cardoso and Alexandra Marzo as kitchen maids Joana and Mariana, Renato Consorte as Vicente and José de Abreu as Julião Zuzarte.

@gravedangerahead @astrangechoiceoffavourites

[ariel-seagull-wings]

COUSIN BAZILIO (1988)

PART II: BAZILIO AND JORGE

Marcos Paulo as Bazilio and Tony Ramos as Jorge, with Giulia Gam's Luisa, in the 1988 minisseries adaptation.

@gravedangerahead @astrangechoiceoffavourites

[shinylitwick94]

this is about a week late but that’s ok

Finished reading “O Primo Basílio” by Eça de Queirós.

First things first - if you haven’t read anything by this guy, go read it, this book or any other, doesn’t matter, he’s a genius, end of story. Idk what the good translations are, but I’m sure they exist and can be found with a nice google search.

Ahem, moving on...

Oddly enough I knew virtually nothing about this book before I started reading it. I recognised the title, but since I didn’t take portuguese literature at school and it’s not as talked about as some of Eça’s other books, I had actually no idea what the story was. So I went in with a fairly open mind.

And goodness did I have fun!

I’ll be completely honest and say that the plot itself is kind of meh and I was rather disappointed in the ending.

The story basically boils down to a woman having an incestuous love affair with her cousin (the title character) and dealing with the consequences - it’s the sort of thing that’s been done a million times except maybe for the incest (what is it with you and incest, Eça?).

I hear it’s quite similar to Madame Bovary, but I have yet to read that one and so cannot comment.

However, the character work and writing (especially the writing) are absolutely stellar.

The character that easily stands out the most is that of Juliana, the maid - permanently angry, resentful and with almost no redeemable characteristics other than her circumstances being pitiable - she fills in the pages like no one else.

Smaller secondary characters, like the set that frequents the house of Jorge and Luísa and those marvelous men Jorge has a dinner with, are described in all of their mediocrity with such ferocity that I almost feel sorry for them at some points.

The main characters other than Juliana - Luísa, Basílio and Jorge - I found quite forgettable, but the secondary cast is very entertaining.

But really the star of this thing is the writing, whose ferociousness Eça extends  even to harmless things, like the most depressing description of a pastry shop I have ever seen and which I have to quote again because , it’s so over the top and so funny to me:

Estavam parados ao pé da confeitaria. Na vidraça, por trás deles, emprateleirava-se uma exposição de garrafas de malvasia com os seus letreiros muito coloridos, transparências avermelhadas de gelatinas, amarelidões enjoativas de doces de ovos, e queques de um castanho-escuro tendo espetados cravos tristes de papel branco ou corde-rosa. Velhas natas lívidas amolentavam-se no oco dos folhados; ladrilhos grossos de marmelada esbeiçavam-se ao calor; as empadinhas de marisco aglomeravam as suas crostas ressequidas. E no centro, muito proeminente numa conversa, enroscava-se uma lampreia de ovos medonha e bojuda, com o ventre de um amarelo ascoroso, o dorso malhado de arabescos de açúcar, a boca escancarada: na sua cabeça grossa esbugalhavam-se dois terríveis olhos de chocolate; os seus dentes de amêndoa ferravam-se numa tangerina de chila; e em torno do monstro espapado moscas esvoaçavam.

Almost makes you not want to eat lampreia d’ovos again.

Anyway, I liked it and definitely recommend it to anyone, but especially native portuguese speakers, because the writing is just that enjoyable.

Not my favorite book of his by far, but certainly worth checking out.

[verdadessilenciadas]

Havia cinco anos que D. Felicidade o amava. (...) A indiferença do Conselheiro irritava-a mais: nenhum olhar, nenhum suspiro, nenhuma revelação amorosa e comovida!

O Primo Basílio de Eça de Queiróz

[laliviana]

[emillitafeelings]

...Tinha suspirado, tinha beijado o papel devotamente! Era a primeira vez que lhe escreviam aquelas sentimentalidades, e o seu orgulho dilatava-se ao calor amoroso que saía delas, como um corpo ressequido que se estira num banho tépido; sentia um acréscimo de estima por si mesma, e parecia-lhe que entrava enfim numa existência superiormente interessante, onde cada hora tinha o seu encanto diferente, cada passo condizia a um êxtase, e a alma se cobria de um luxo radioso de sensações!

Eça De Queiróz ; O Primo Basílio.