Novel
Barren Lives
Vidas secas
Graciliano Ramos · 1938
Synopsis
Fabiano, a cowherd, his wife Sinhá Vitória, their two boys, whom the book never names, and the dog Baleia flee the drought across the sertão. They find refuge in an abandoned farm, where Fabiano tends the cattle of an owner who does not pay him what he is owed. In town, a yellow soldier draws him into a card game, provokes him and has him thrown into prison. Each chapter follows one member of the family, the dog included.
Context
The novel appeared in 1938. According to Melo, its thirteen chapters had first appeared separately in newspapers, as self-contained short stories, and they can each be read on their own. An omniscient narrator gives each of the characters their turn. The book earned its author worldwide renown for its picture of the poor of the sertão. Nelson Pereira dos Santos brought it to the screen in 1963, in a film regarded as a milestone of Cinema Novo.
Who it is for
A short novel, with episodes that can be read separately; two French translations exist, the more recent published in 2014 under the title Vies arides.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the major works of Brazilian literature, and praised abroad as a classic of realism.
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