Customer Reviews

The Inquisitors' Manual

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I just loved this book. It's deep,it's tragic, it's moving but it also has great humor.
It tells the story of the downfall of an upper class family following the leftist revolution that took Portugal by storm in 1974. It's told by several people, all inter-related,like Joćo, the helpless son of a powerful, arrogant land owner, close to the high ranks of Government, who now lays dying in a hospital bed, Joćo's wife, Sofia and her very rich family, the cook ,the father's former secretary and mistress,etc.
Thus a very rich portrait of the Portuguese political and social scene of the pre-revolution days emerges, with dictator Salazar reigning supreme.
The characters are very powerful.Some you hate, like the father, some you really feel for, like Joćo. He reminded me of the character named Balthasar in «TheBeastly Beatitudes of Balthasar B.» by J.P. Donleavy. Has the same kind of vulnerability.
This is my favorite book by Antonio Lobo Antunes. He really knows how to tackle all this powerful stuff, like love and hate and incest and rape. Still he manages to make you laugh, sometimes. And cry too.

This Portuguese novel is a mesmerizing and surrealist look at an obscure episode of history, though it's rather drifty and inconclusive. The real-life dictatorship in Portugal of Admiral Salazar (1932-1968) is examined through the life and relations of his self-righteous lackey Senhor Francisco, who has become old and washed up, bitter about being passed over as Salazar's successor, and is now wasting away in a demeaning nursing home. Each chapter is narrated by different characters who reminisce, often bitterly or sarcastically, about Francisco's brutal rise and fall. This includes his neglected family members, abused employees, pampered but slipping aristocrats, and various sycophants and opponents. Antonio Lobo Antunes uses this expository method to delve into the trials and tribulations of people living under a dictatorship, and this is especially interesting when it reveals the harsh class segregation of Portugal during that period, with the upper class feeling entitled to the dictatorship's favor, oppressing the working classes, and complaining about more equitable social developments that they're too lazy to stop.

The thoughts of these types of characters, as well as underlings whose lives were damaged by Francisco's brutal treatment, are the true treasures of this novel, as we learn how average lives are distorted by bizarre politics, by way of real historical trends in Portugal. But the underlying difficulty of the book is that it is all in the form of fictional confessionals, with very little plot for the reader to hang onto, in favor of personal developments from an increasingly unwieldy cast of characters. Also, Antunes presents each character's thoughts in a non-linear, stream-of-consciousness style that surely represents the inner thought processes of confused and angry real people. The problem is that every single person thinks in this same style, making the book rather repetitive and drifty. Antunes' unique writing style and intriguing look at the human side of Portuguese history and politics are certainly fascinating and are likely to keep you interested. However, with the voluminous character-driven approach, you'll get the feeling that the novel isn't really leading anywhere conclusive. [~doomsdayer520~]

I am not sure whether, as some of the reviewers say, the monologues of the characters are actually streams of consciousness, given that there are indications at several points in the book that the characters are addressing someone else, who is kind of documenting their stories. Be that as it may, these monologues do indeed look a lot like streams of consciousness. Readers of such authors as Faulkner or Virginia Woolf will get nothing new from the point of view of literary technique out of this book.

Antunes has talent, but this book has a HUGE defect: all the monologues are in the same style. The guy from The New Yorker who said they are very individual must have been reading a different book or else he doesn't know what he is talking about. The book is in THE SAME STYLE from beginning to end. While this can be ok for one section, 430 pages is just too much. Listening to people reminiscing about their lives in the very same style, so that no one would be able to tell one from the other, is bound to get boring.

Although Antonio Lobo Antunes is undoubtedly a master novelist, this is not his best work. The narrative of the book is extremely difficult, perhaps too "schizophrenic" to fully grasp and enjoy. In my opinion, Os cus de Judas (South of Nowhere) is far superior.

I thought this book had a great deal of potential. The subject matter was bleak, yet it had purpose. Stream of consciousness can be quite enlightening when done right. Unfortunetly, I could not get involved in this book. Perhaps it was because it is a translation, but I don't know. There were certain passages that were quite lyrical, while others left me totally lost. Perhaps one day I will try this book again.