Quincas Borba
by Machado de Assis · 1891
Difficulty
advanced
Length
medium
Reading Time
8–10 hours
About the Book
Rubião inherits a fortune and a philosophy, then enters a world of manipulation, vanity, and social performance.
Why You Should Read It
Read it for one of Machado's finest studies of money, madness, social climbing, and the comedy of human self-deception.
Who This Book Is For
For readers who like satire, psychological realism, and classics that expose society by making it laugh at itself.
About the Author
Machado de Assis is the central classic of Brazilian literature: ironic, elegant, psychologically ruthless, and far more modern than a quick glance at the nineteenth century might suggest. His mature fiction breaks narrative expectations, speaks directly to the reader, mocks social vanity, and turns jealousy, ambition, class, slavery, marriage, and self-deception into literature of extraordinary precision.
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