A Cidade E As Serras

De Eça de Queiroz

A Cidade e as Serras é um romance de Eça de Queiroz, publicado em 1901, pertencente à última fase do escritor, onde se afasta do realismo e abandona a crítica pesada que fazia à sociedade portuguesa da época. O próprio título já indica sobre o enredo. Nesse livro, Queiroz faz uma comparação entre a vida módica e agitada de Paris e a vida tranquila

• Idioma: Português
• Editora: Clube de Autores
• Data de lançamento: 2 de jan. de 2021
• ISBN: 9788572326094

Avaliações de A Cidade E As Serras

[jon1lambert · Nota: 5 de 5 estrelas]

Great book comparing the beauty and the traditional way of life in rural Portugal with the madness, modernism and boredom of big city Paris - 19th century Paris.

[diefledermaus · Nota: 4 de 5 estrelas]

An entertaining satire about city life and country life, marred a bit by the ending which is predictable and sentimental (although the ending was not finished by de Queiros – his friend completed it). Jacinto is well-educated and rich, has friends and lovers from the cream of Parisian society, lives in an enormous apartment with all the latest technological marvels, and has piles upon piles of books and knowledge of all the latest philosophies that are supposed to make him happy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he is not happy. When Ze Fernandes, the narrator, visits him after seven years away in the country, Jacinto is starting to get bored of the endless whirl of society visits, and then all his gadgets start malfunctioning. There are some good comical scenes with technology thwarting and attacking Jacinto. Even though the overall message is one of the falsity of city life compared to the real life going on in the country, de Queiros has leisurely, lovingly described depictions of all the society parties and characters and Jacinto’s luxurious life. He does continually poke fun at their affectations and contradictions, as well as at the sometimes-useless or malfunctioning machines. Jacinto becomes an ennui-ridden shut-in after vainly trying to give his life meaning with charity or philosophy, and he finally decides a change of scenery to his country estate might help. In true Jacinto fashion, though, his trip involves him boxing up most of the furnishings, gadgets, and stuff in his apartment and sending it to the estate.Jacinto and Ze Fernandes run into trouble from the moment they arrive in the countryside. Although predictably Jacinto starts loving rural living and throws himself into the management of the estate, there are at least hints that some of it is just his usual quest for the new. Also, some of his good works are possible because of the feudal-type arrangement of country society (whereas his funding of institutions to help the poor in the city is rather remote). There are still the same leisurely descriptions of country life, and the author does poke fun at the beliefs of some of their neighbors as well as Jacinto’s overenthusiasm. The book probably seems slow by modern standards, but it was enjoyable and well-written.

[5eva5 · Nota: 4 de 5 estrelas]

After spending most of his life being part of the crème de la crème of Paris, Jacinto de Tormes returns with his friend José "Zé" Fernandes, our narrator, to his family estate in Portugal to see that the bones of his ancestors are properly installed in the newly renovated chapel, but once there, the people and vistas of the Portuguese countryside show him a completely different way of life and the discovery will change Jacinto's life forever. Jacinto's Paris is full of interesting and cultured people, amazing invention and technological wonders, and a plethora of knowledge and art. It is a sumptuous world that satisfies and satisfies until it satiates and Jacinto's fascination becomes boredom and ennui, because, being at heart an idealist, he craves improvement and in the "perfect world" that is Paris, everything is already improved. So, when he reluctantly returns to the country and finds that he can be genuinely needed, the idealist has found his right place and the civilized life in Paris seems synthetic in comparison.Eça de Queirós' story is a satire of the city's artificiality and the posturing of its people, a satire which eventually becomes outright mockery when juxtapositioned with the countryside's authenticity and its salt of the earth people. The story arc could certainly have been a lot more complex and the characters are sometimes allowed to wax philosophical in a less than subtle way, but Eça de Queirós' style is beautiful enough to make even those passages enjoyable.Unfortunately, the ending (which was finished after Eça de Queirós' death by his close friend and sometime writing partner, Ramalho Ortigão) gets excessively flowery and should probably have been left out completely since the satire turns into pure pastoral idyll and loses the edge it had in the beginning. However, Eça de Queirós' descriptions of the Portuguese landscape makes up for any deficiency in the story and what starts out as a sharp and funny critique of "civilization" turns into a beautiful celebration of all things natural.

[miguelnunonave · Nota: 4 de 5 estrelas]

Eça is one of the greatest European writers of the 19th century. Even if you're not from the lusophone world, you will surely enjoy his books. The witty social critic just makes them unique and timeless. This one dwells on the contrast between urban and rural life. The adventures (and misadventures) of a Parisian bimbo in a backward village in remote northeastern Portugal. Just hillarious. Masterful descriptions.