Amazon.com: Customer reviews: A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands

Top positive review

Masterfully Done

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2014

Arthur Powers is one of those authors who could write just about anything, and I'd be enthralled. "A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands" is certainly no exception. After finishing just the first short story in this amazing collection, I realized this was no ordinary sellection of stories. The descriptions are rich, vibrant, and detailed. The narrative makes you feel like you're standing in the hot sun on a dusty road--next to its characters. There is also something else to it... One can easily recognize that this place means something tremondously important to the author, and that he has a special love for its people. That love and the humanity of the author are clearly reflected within each well-crafted page. Wonderful book!

One person found this helpful

Top critical review

All critical reviews›

M. Nascimento

i am thriilled that the author wrote about an area ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2014

I am thrilled that the author wrote stories of the 'cerrado', an area i know well. His understanding of the harsh landscape, compassion for the people who inhabit the 'cerrado', and ability to dig under the outward surfaces, to get to the hearts, the fight for survival, and daily struggles of both nature and persons show a deep connection to both. The stories are only strengthened by a very simple and gentle style.

His story, entitled Claudio, is a masterpiece, woven through daydreams in a pocket of isolation, among desolation, happenstance, and the vagaries of a fast changing country. Written from a woman's point of view, the story portrays her escape valve, dissatisfaction with the crushing present before the jolt back into reality. Since it is done in the South American mystical style, it is not for everyone. It is, however, for any reader who is interested in small snippets of Brazilian highland culture.

One person found this helpful

Sort by

Filter by

29 global ratings | 29 global reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

MysteryAuthor

Masterfully Done

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Ann Frailey

Powerful and Thought Provoking Stories

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

A very powerful set of stories which leave the reader with some serious questions. How is our world affected by what we do and by what we fail to do? I believe the characters were drawn true to life and that made them quite personal - brought their experiences close to home. I was impressed by the flow of the writing and the level of artistic beauty embedded even in the more tragic elements of the stories. Certainly makes one think, and perhaps feel, a little deeper.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

M. Nascimento

i am thriilled that the author wrote about an area ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Craig Baranowski

This is a great read.

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

Having recently completed Arthur Powers’ book “Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands”, I felt compelled to write this review because of how much I enjoyed his book. In my opinion it is difficult to write short stories because I believe it is difficult to develop characters in a short period of time to which the reader relates. Mr. Powers demonstrates how it can be done. I found every encounter with each of the diverse characters interesting and engaging. I found myself hoping for the “good” outcome. Having lived in Brazil, I felt as if these were the Brazilians I would pass on the streets. These are the tales of the Brazilians, who struggle to make their way. Mr. Powers shows that traits, such as honor, are not confined to books centered in the halls of justice or the fields of battle and he demonstrates that through his characters that you could meet anywhere. He took me back to my days in Brazil with fond memories of the Brazilians I met. I enjoyed this book immensely and I recommend it as a good read for people who are interested in the human condition, life in Brazil and in the decisions people make that take them on their chosen paths.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

John Van Valkenburgh

Wonderful Book!

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

Arthur has compiled a great collection of short stories. His narrative is down to earth and personable. I found myself sitting down just to read one or two stories, and remaining there for "just one more" then "just one more after that". Arthur shows a wonderful sense of the value of people, both the obvious and the not so obvious. I highly recommend it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Karen Kelly Boyce

A Master Storyteller!

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2013

When you read the work of a Master it causes a spiritual reaction that keeps you wanting more. When I first received A Hero for the People by Arthur Powers, I thought I would just read it fast. Short Stories are like that, something you can read quickly with each story being like a chapter. However, this collection of stories was different. I couldn't just rush through them. I couldn't go from one story to another. I had to pause after each story while my very soul took in the pulse, feel, and profound knowledge that each tale imparted.

It could be Brother Michel who in humility underestimates his own value, or Jack whose premonition startles the reader. It could be Carla who learns to see the dark pain in another's soul or Dave who finds his own dark side in his treatment of the evil Tumbao. The characters of these stories haunted this reader as each tale wove a person of depth, and profound uniqueness. I would read one story and thinking it was the best character portrayal I had ever read be blown away by the next story. Powers captures the very essence of each character and creates a collection of tales that is unforgettable.

I knew little about Brazil or the problems of the people who live there. After reading these stories, I have an increased sense of who Brazilians are and what these special people face as the country develops and faces the future. I understand because these stories have been written by a master storyteller. I don't know if Powers has any Irish blood in him but he is a true seanchai'. A seanchai was a storyteller who roamed around the Irish countryside and kept the ancient and unwritten stories of the Irish people alive by telling the tales and passing them on. Powers has done that for the Brazilians. He has kept the spirit of a people alive between the pages of a book.

What is so Catholic about his writing? His stories are Catholic because they look beyond the surface judgment of a people. He looks into the very heart of the people, their way of thinking, their customs, their confrontation with evil. He has captured the pulse of the Brazilian people - showing both virtues and flaws with equal treatment. His approach is Catholic in the sense that his stories care about the individual both rich and poor, both evil and good. His tales make no excuses for the mistreatment of the poor, but show the very complex motives that push the greedy into the very `rape' of their own people. Arthur Powers shows a gentle, generous, and kind people who deal with pain and loss with both dignity and grace. In a very real sense, it is the story of all abused people. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I, myself will read and re-read these stories and think that knowing them will actually make me a better, more thoughtful person. A better Catholic.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

A collection of stories that will take you on an adventure you'll love!

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2013

This is a book I stumbled upon. I didn't expect it to be good, much less at the "write to the author and ask for an interview" level. I didn't expect much from it.

I found myself, about a third of the way through the book, checking to see if it was a memoir or a collection of stories. For me, this speaks to a few things.

First, it was so well-written that, as fiction, it seemed real. As in, "pinch me, I'm riding shotgun across Brazil" real.

Second, I'm not a big fan of most memoirs (but yes, I love a good story, so there's that). The fact that I was LIKING this even though I thought it was a memoir (or I wasn't sure) was a big thumbs up for the writing and storytelling.

I always forget how much I enjoy collections of stories. They're like assorted hard candies...if you don't like one, it's not such a big deal because there's a good one coming up soon. In this bag of stories, though, there weren't any bad ones.

Each story in this is crafted and fine-tuned. They leave you satisfied and yet wanting more.

There's an adventure and, within that, a deeper theme. You almost get the sense that you're traveling along through Brazil's backlands, and that the people there, while delightfully unique, aren't so different from you. There's a taste to this book that made me look up Powers's other work.

Dare I say this is literature? Maybe. At the very least, it's a book I really, really, REALLY enjoyed, with a wow on top.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Elma (Martens) Schemenauer

Real gritty life with a Christian message

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2014

Suppose a young man is shot during a gunfight and paralyzed from the neck down. And suppose you're an Evangelical pastor who has a gift of healing. You're humble about it, saying "Jesus is the healer, and I am only a tool in his hands."

Also suppose the young man repents of his sins, believes God can heal him, and asks you to pray for him. Could there be a situation in which it would be wrong to pray for the man's healing?

Author Arthur Powers explores this question in his short story "The Healer." It's part of his book of fictional narratives titled A Hero for His People: Stories from the Brazilian Backcountry, published in 2013.

Powers, an American lawyer, spent many years in Brazil as a Peace Corps volunteer. Later he worked as a layman for the Catholic Church in Brazil. The stories in this book are based on those experiences.

In the story "The Bridge," a priest suffers from something like post-traumatic stress, apparently because his work is so demanding. The church sends him back to the United States, to a place "for people who work too hard and care too much." There is a happy outcome for this priest, though it turns bittersweet in the end.

In the story titled "Come into My House and Stay," an unprincipled or misguided person sets fire to a slum. As the slum-dwellers watch "with dead faces," a Baptist minister looms like a giant on the road. His voice booms out a single phrase: "Forgive them, God. They don't know what they're doing." The slum-dwellers echo these difficult words even as their homes burn.

Mistreatment of the poor by the rich is a recurring theme in these narratives. The story
"Hate" is about a land-hungry businessman bilking an illiterate farm couple out of their few acres. When he visits the unsuspecting couple, he is greeted with the words "We have very little, compadre, but what we have is yours."

This is a customary way of welcoming guests. However, the author keeps repeating the same words in different contexts till we readers grasp their deeper meaning. The couple mean they are happy to make a cup of tea for the visitor, and share whatever they have to eat. They don't understand—until too late—the heartbreaking truth that what little they have really will become the visitor's property.

The author of A Hero for the People is excellent at description. He knows how to convey a lot in a few words. For example, he describes one man as being "stubborn as a fence post." Of nightfall, he says: "Between 5:55 and 6:30 p.m., it switches from afternoon to complete dark." Describing the Bible reading in a church service, Powers says "Slowly—in the voice of a man newly practiced in reading—he proclaims the passage."

A number of these stories have specific religious content. Others do not. However, each story contains a message, or lesson. Powers doesn't ladle these on. He lets readers draw their own conclusions, and displays an exquisite sense of where to end a story.

Many readers will be sorry to see Powers' book end. It's a powerful document. A Hero for the People, published by Press 53, is 190 pages long.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Actual Harpist

The best book I can remember reading

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2017

The joy of this book was not just becoming familiar with the genuine issues of a distant country, understanding how the problems of greed and limited resources developed over the last 70 years or so, and finding yourself with a better understanding and compassion for the situation, but to experience it through the eyes of the different people involved: the indigent farmer, the corrupt land surveyor, the affluent and curious first world visitor, the missionary, the military warlord, the frequently uprooted laborer, or the slum lord who is king of the samba dancehall by night.

At all times I felt in synch with whatever short story I was reading, neither struggling to make sense of what I read a few pages ago nor anticipating the ending. I can vividly remember all of the stories after finishing them, and I'm glad they're with me.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Don Mulcare

The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2014

Arthur Powers’ experiences while living in Brazil seep into his short stories such the descriptions of brightly painted shacks, savvy street vendors and shady samba schools in the big city slums or the night-time, pick-up truck ride through the swishing tall grass of the backlands, to the accompaniment of an orchestra of chirping and buzzing, insects, a chorus of tropical frogs and a solo performances by a screeching monkey. As night yields to the dawn, the overture of chattering birds greets the sun, but there is a darker side of the Brazilian experience.
Sixteen short stories portray life and death, heroes and villains in the backlands and slums of Brazil. Death’s familiar face appears everywhere, claiming family and neighbors through starvation, disease and violence, but the poor would rather face death on their own terms, resisting oppression by land-hungry speculators and their co-conspirators in the military government. Wealthy agricultural interests drive the subsistence farmers from the land they cleared and worked for decades, sending them to the crowded city slums until the land beneath their hovels appreciates to the point that wealthy developers push the slum dwellers to even more remote and unlivable quarters.
Who are the heroes that will save the poor? Religious, priests, lay-volunteers, doctors, lawyers, and even a man with a truck who is willing to give a ride to someone in need. Some heroes realize quickly that all their efforts can barely dent the growing mass of suffering. They sometimes break under the strain and may become villains in response to the pervasive injustice. Some never realize that their mere presence crystallizes the community to diamond hardness against the forces of oppression.
The most beautiful aspect of Brazil is the attitude of the poor who live out the belief that “we have very little, but what we have is yours.” Their willingness to share and the expectation that others will share when the need exists, underlies their ability to survive. They care for each other, offer compassion, hospitality and forgiveness to even their oppressors. Their hopes sprout dreams of what life might be in a just world. Heroes may lack the strength of the poor, but at least they sustain the hope that if the poor endure they may live to see the day when the meek inherit the Earth.
Arthur Powers, himself a master of the short story in the spirit of O. Henry ends his tales with a punch that may amuse or disturb. He deals out slices of life: romance, parable, fantasy, true confessions, comic relief as well as detours into hell. When Arthur Powers writes from the first person point of view, he engages the reader so completely in character, it is as if the priest, lawyer or doctor is present.
The Holy Spirit appears throughout the collected stories reminding the reader that “God hears the cries of the poor.” Although oppression devastates their bodies and souls, the Spirit guides, protects and holds out a welcoming hand to those who hope. Arthur Powers projects this hope shining through the dust and grime of both backlands and slums.

Powers, Arthur. A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands. Winston-Salem: Press 53. 2013

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Need customer service? Click here

‹ See all details for A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands

5 star		67%
4 star		15%
3 star		17%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

A Hero for the People: Stories of the Brazilian Backlands

›

Customer reviews