Customer Reviews

Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a brazilian living in the USA I wanted to read an American analysis of the recent events in Brazil. Instead I was surprised first with a short chapter that tries to condense the five hundred years-long brazilian history and second with a long rant about sexual oddities, racism, and the real meaning of beach, soccer and carnival. All this was permeated with comparisons to the "Anglo-saxon" values. Only the second half of the book deals with the rising on its title but without any hard fact to corroborate its text. Finally the book concludes with profiles of the current candidates to the Brazilian presidency.

In summary the book is a very long op-ed recollection of personal impressions of an american journalist working in Brazil. It can only be of some use to people that know absolutely nothing about Brazil, but i don't recommend it as a good introduction to my country and also as an in-depth analysis of the political and economic changes that unleashed the Brazil rising that the book title refers to.

Mr. Rohter enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame after President Lula illegal and clumsy attempt to expel him from Brazil for reporting in the New York Times about Lula's abuse with alcohol. So I ran to the library to get Deu no New York Times (O Brasil segundo a otica de um reporter do jornal mais influente do mundo), published in Brazil (no English edition available). I liked the book so much, and after so many recent headlines (just check the latest issues of The Economist) about Brazil successful agribusiness model and how it has achieved sustainable energy independence (sugarcane ethanol makes up 50% of the gasoline market + the recent discovery of huge off shore deposits of gas and oil), I also rushed to buy this book.

Chapter 1, Brazil's history in a nutshell, and chapters 6 through 10 are a must read for anyone interested in understanding the Brazilian economic miracle. Five stars! Unfortunately, chapters 2 and 3, which by the way are completely out of context for a book dealing with "Brazil on the Rise", present a biased view of Brazil, with unfair generalizations and passing judgment based on his moral and religious view of the world. And chapter 2 in particular is written through the lenses of his apparent tight Protestant beliefs as he unnecessarily passes moral judgment on Brazilian sexuality and sexual preferences as viewed by him and supported just by anecdotes. The comparison Mr. Rohter makes in Chapter 4 about Brazilian soccer players treatment of the ball as if it was a woman in just delirious, I just could not stop laughing at such ridiculous metaphor (by the way, if you watch soccer games you should have known that European players and from a lot of nationalities too often kiss the ball too after scoring, including Americans). Those chapters only deserve one star hence resulting in my three star rating. Chapter 5 deals with Brazilian music and arts in general, and despite being excellent, Mr. Rohter really shows up his mastery of this subject, it is out of context for a book on economic development. Brazil on the Rise is actually two separate books published as one.

As Mr. Rohter, I am a gringo (foreigner) who has worked all over Brazil for the last ten years and actually lived over there for four years, and like him, also married a Brazilian, so I do not have the bias of a nationalistic view of Brazil, nor I am not offended by some of Mr. Rohter's moral outbursts and undeserved criticism (as rightly most Brazilians will). The book demonstrates he really knows Brazilian culture (a couple of blunders apart), but in those hapless chapters he not also shows his Anglo-Saxon bias but also displays the typical carioca (inhabitant of Rio de Janeiro) shortsighted view of the rest of Brazil, which is much more than Rio, Bahia and Brasilia (the chapter covering beach and carnival actually refers almost exclusively to Rio de Janeiro). Not a word in the book about the cultural features of Curitiba, or the states of Sao Paulo, Parana and Santa Catarina, nor anything about the southern region in general, which together with Sao Paulo state is quite an economic model for other Latin American countries, and also has a different culture and idiosyncrasy not found anywhere in the book. The existing country's inequality is a sad fact, but it is mainly related to poverty, lack of opportunities for a decent education, no matter the color of your skin. Also, some of the idiosyncratic features he harshly criticized are shared by most Latin American countries (Roman Catholic heritage). I wonder if Mr. Rohter has ever spent enough time in any of those other countries so that he can tell the differences and similarities.

So, shame on him, a New York Times journalist should have known better. Bringing back old fashion religious prejudices and comparing racism in the U.S with Brazil is not what you expect from someone with his experience and cultural baggage. Those unfair chapters based on his personal biases just serve to reinforce the good old stereotype about American gringos in Latin America. He should have stayed on the book's main subject or instead write two separate books. Nevertheless, I believe Mr. Rohter did an excellent job in chapters 6 through 10 and delivered what he promised in the book's title, how Brazil was able to achieve such progress in agribusiness, sustainable energy and energy independence (chapters 6 and 7), its controversial stewardship of the Amazon (chapter 8), and how "the country of the future" finally seems to be getting there and Brazil aspirations in the global stage (chapter 9 and 10).

For a broader analysis of the Brazilian economy and its political history (that Mr Rohter deals in just two chapters) I do recommend The New Brazil, also published in 2010. Its style is more academic like, but readable for the general public and without cultural biases or moral judgement, just stays in the policies and the economics, and its historic evolution. Nevertheless, Rohter's short explanation behind Brazil's spectacular take off is much more detailed, while "The New Brazil" just looks at it from the macroeconomic point of view.

I awaited this book with great hopes, but these were fulfilled only in part.- The Introduction is excellent, it is based on Stefan Zweig's famous title "Brazil The Country of the Future".- And the last five chapters (6 to 10), which are about Brazil's economy and politics, are extremely informative and very illuminating.-
However, I was very surprised, disappointed and indignant about the first five chapters,because I found them intolerably critical and negative.- To take only one example: Chapter Three ("The Myth of a Racial Paradise") attempts, unconvincingly, to demonstrate that Racism in Brazil, against black people and mulattos, is worse than even in the South of the United States.-

Brazil has experienced a huge improvement in its international statue during last 10 years. How did Brazil do it? The book is interesting, but I am not sure it gave me an understanding why Brazil had surged. Larry Rohter is an American journalist who is a former New York Times bureau chief in Brazil. In 2004 he gained notoriety by publishing an article in NYT claiming that the President Lula was a feeble-minded alcoholic. Lula and the Brazilians took umbrage claiming that Rohter's article was politically motivated. Fortunately in reality Lula turned out to be a successful, sober-minded president, presiding over a significant rise of Brazil international statute and economic power. As for the article, some say that it was an attempt of political "character-assassination" by the U.S. media against Lula who led a revolt among the developing nations against the U.S. agenda at Doha round of free trade negotiations in 2003, to say nothing about Lula's criticism of the war in Iraq. Who knows.
As far as the book, while it is packed with information, it is, to my taste, a bit wishy-washy and goosy-doosy. Brazilian democracy has flaws. Whose doesn't? Rohter is writing about the samba nation, Brazilian insecurities, and complexes of "economic giant but political dwarf", how Brazilians allegedly dislike manual labor, ostensibly prone to racial discrimination. These are conventional fallacies. Rohter, who is native of Chicago, I think, goes on a limb by claiming that Brazil has a culture of unusually wide-spread corruption in big cities. I think he gets Brazil like so many Americans get Russia - through the prism of American Weltanschauung and the English language, which preprograms you to looks at things in a certain light. His bias is too apparent; he may even flaunt it a bit. Perhaps he does in on purpose to tick off to the Brazilians and Lula who tried to make him a persona non-grata in Brazil. He is more engaging when delving into the economy and, particularly, the bio-fuel, oil industry and nuclear power.
Brazil is a big player in the South America and has Great Power ambitions. The question is: how the US reacts to all this, is the US ready for Brazil rise? Would Brazil Grand Strategy clash with American Monroe doctrine? Under Lula, Brazil balked at the US' role as a sheriff in South America, and the economic decoupling became apparent when Lula singed significant trade deals with France, China and Russia. State-controlled Petrobras became a leading oil company in South America. As a Chinese scholar by training, Larry Rohter could have concentrated more on the Brazil-China ties which have grown exponentially during last few years. The two members of BRIC are increasing cooperation in all fronts: form satellites to airplanes to soy beans. They have just announced that the Shanghai Stock Exchange Brazil's Bovespa will be linked. But Rohter is mostly laconic on China's involvement in Brazil, (actually there is no word "China" in the index). Is it going to leave the U.S. uncomfortable or insouciant? It deserves a better coverage. The Leviathan of the South America has awakened; a story is big, and I expected more from the book.

Like others who have written reviews, I purchased this book with great anticipation only to be dissapointed. Based on the title, I believed I would be reading about the progress Brazil has made in the last 10 years along with the great direction the country is headed. Instead, I had to struggle my way through chapter after chapter of Mr. Rohter's ethnocentristic view of Brazil and Brazilian culture. He was so off the mark most of the time that I just had to laugh. One particular gem is how he attempts to label Brazil's race relations as being worse than those found in the American South! In any case, the book doesn't deliver what it promises until the last few chapters. Up to that point it is simply a crusade by one very narrow minded, WASP individual to view/criticize Brazil through tainted glasses. There are a number of books detailing Brazil's economic rise which have come out recently and are due to be released soon. Buy any one of those-the best so far is titled The New Brazil. This book is only good for the last few chapters, and even then it is not the best. Overall, I was very dissapointed both with this book and it's author.

I was super impressed with this book, great writing and the author moves from the big picture down to stories on the smallest of scale to illustrate his points. Highly recommended if you want to learn more about modern Brazil!

This should be a must-read by pretty much anyone on the planet as it shows how a nation can pull itself out of hyperinflation and become an "emerged" market (OK, infrastructure aside, Brazil is no longer an emerging market). The author knows his stuff and gets beyond the sun, samba and soccer that Brazil is known for.

The history lessons are great because he writes from the perspective of now looking back rather than a sort of chronological step=by-step "here's Brazil then and now" deal. The politics are a bit tiresome but that's probably just me. I'm much more into the culture and how the economy has rocketed off.

This book will surely give you a lot of information, but it could be better organized. It's the story of a country transformed, but I'm not sure what the transformation turns out to be. It's hard to tell, but there my be some bias. I was expecting a far greater depth of analysis than I can recognize. Not bad, but unfortunately not quite up to expectations.

Me interessei pela primeira vez pelo Sr. Rohter quando tentaram expulsa-lo do Brasil por causa de seu comentario a respeito da bebedeira do Lula e quando li na Veja que ele estava lancando um livro sobre o Brasil fiquei ainda mais interessada.
Comprei o livro e o devorei em 2 dias, tendo que rele-lo em seguida pra digerir melhor o livro.
Mesmo nao estando de acordo 100% com tudo o que ele diz,acredito que o Sr. Rohter, como estrangeiro, tem uma visao ate que bem acurada do Brasil ao contrario de outros nas mesmas condicoes que sao 8 ou 80 com relacao a suas experiencias no Brasil, mas como segundo ele mesmo disse, seria muita audacia de sua parte dizer que ele entende o Brasil como um brasileiro, coisa que nem que vivendo 50 anos por la se adquire.
Depois de ler o livro, pensei que era realmente uma pena que ele nao fosse publicado em ingles, assim os estrangeiros poderiam ter um ponto de vista diferente sobre o Brasil alem do que todo mundo ja conhece (Rio, Carnaval, mulher pelada e futebol, etc). Qual nao foi a minha surpresa um dia procurando livros em portugues aqui no Amazaon (moro no Canada) e me deparei com o novo livro! Comprei na mesma hora, ja li 2 vezes e ja emprestei o livro para meus colegas de trabalho que quase nao conheciam o Brasil alem do Rio de Janeiro e que ficaram sinceramente surpresos como este pais enorme.
Fiquei particularmente deliciada ao ver a foto da minha cidade querida na capa do livro, raridade pois quando se fala do Brasil, a imagem ilustrada e sempre o Rio de Janeiro. (disputa historica, hehehehe) e fonte bem no estilo das xilografia nordestina. Os estrangeiros precisam entender que o Brasil e muito, muito mais.
O Brasil, apesar de ainda existirem muitos problemas que parecem cronicos e que precisam serem olhados de perto e resolvidos de uma vez por todas, esta no caminho para ser uma superpotencia e um pais a ser realmente levado a serio.
Parabens mais uma vez, Sr Rohter, te admiro sinceramente.

Larry Rohter explains his book's title and more in this short survey of contemporary Brazil. Individual chapters are devoted to history, ethos, race, lifestyle, industry, energy, the Amazon/environment, foreign relations and the future. Readers' appreciation will undoubtedly vary depending on their interest in these areas or their opinions of what was included or left out. As a general reader I found in each one interesting and well presented.

The chapter on lifestyle covers the beaches, Carnival and soccer, each of which looks a lot different on the inside than the outside.

The most controversial chapter, I am sure, is the one on race. Rohter essentially debunks the image that Brazil is a country of multi-cultural acceptance. Outsiders can be fooled, he poses, by the athletes, the artists and the Carnival that represent Brazil on the international scene. He reminds the reader of the duration of slavery in Brazil (de facto in the current time as described in a later chapter) and through statistics and anecdotes he describes the social stratification that exists today.

I came away with a renewed appreciation for this country and its vast resources. For those with more interest in how Brazil made its changes in government and economic policy, I recommend The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the president who paved the way for "the rise".