The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (""The Devil in the Street, In the Middle of the Whirlwind'') [Hardcover]

Joao Guimaraes Rosa (Author), James L. Taylor (Translator), Harriet de Onis (Translator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 494 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (June 1963)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9997555449
• ISBN-13: 978-9997555441
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,730,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it!, August 1, 2001

By 

Linda Oskam "dutch-traveller" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (""The Devil in the Street, In the Middle of the Whirlwind'') (Hardcover)

This is maybe the best book I have ever read and certainly the one which I discussed the most with other people who have read it.

In this book Riobaldo, a man who has long been a bandit travelling the interior or Brazil, tells the story of his life and love to an unknown listener. In first instance he seems to be a simple man, but this impression is deceiving. Behind it is the story of a man struggling with the Big Issues of life: the devil, life, love, friendship and trust. This is set against the gorguous background of this part of Brazil.

The language used in the book is not easy: the author uses the spoken language, which means repetitions and innovative new words and the book is one big monologue. But please, read on, because once the book has gripped you, it will not let you go. And you are in for a big surprise at the end...

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riobaldo, a brother of Fausto and Dom Quixote, March 26, 2000

By 

"rogpo" (Goiânia, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (""The Devil in the Street, In the Middle of the Whirlwind'') (Hardcover)

Guimarães Rosa is a kind of brazilian James Joyce. The linguistic inovations and the marvelous saga of a simple/complex man called Riobaldo, makes this novel one of most important books of XX century. Like Fausto and other famous characters of world literature, Riobaldo is a man in doubt about life, love, God and Devil, death, friendship, always looking for the answers in the nature of the interior of Brazil. The book is a mixture of epic, drama, war and the language shows what Guimarães Rosa was in life: a researcher of portuguese language and a studious of the human nature.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the best from Latin America, July 13, 2002

By 

Roger Glass (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (""The Devil in the Street, In the Middle of the Whirlwind'') (Hardcover)

This book changed my life. It's all about life and death, good and evil. A tale about growing up in the worst of conditions, of learning about what is right and wrong. Choosing between what was given to him and what he knew was right. Sometimes people don't get it right the first time around but have the courage to continue on and keep trying. I'm a sucker for epic adventures, and this is one of the best. You can learn more about Brasil from this book than from the rest of them combined.