Books: O Meu Irmão, Afonso Reis Cabral

This is the first in a new species of posts, about books (in case you hadn't guessed from the title). The idea is that I'll write a little bit about Portuguese-language literature I've been reading, or re-reading. To begin with, it'll be about 'leisure' reading - maybe later I'll write about literature I've read for university work. Or maybe not...

Anyway, this post is about O Meu Irmão, by Afonso Reis Cabral. As you might know, I was lucky enough to meet Afonso at the book club in the Livraria Ler. I hadn't actually finished reading the book then, but I did finish it not long afterwards, and have been meaning to write a small post on it here.

I really enjoyed this novel. Set partly in a tiny Portuguese village, partly in Porto and partly in Lisbon, it follows the story of two brothers, one of whom has Down's syndrome. The other brother narrates the story of their lives, from childhood to the present day. The narrative is split between the past and the present in alternating chapters, so matters that are mentioned in the 'present' story are gradually explained in the 'past' chapters. This structure makes the book really gripping, because the explanation of a key plot point is left right until the end.

What makes the book so interesting? Well, one of the aspects I most enjoyed is the sense of place. The author manages to completely immerse the reader in the environment the characters are experiencing, whether the middle-of-nowhere village, or the backstreets of Porto at night. The narrator's confidential tone means the reader can feel like they're present at every moment.

The variety of characters is also impressive. Although some of them, particularly the female ones, seem a bit 2D (Portuguese stereotypes), I think this is more down to the narrator's outlook than the author's. There is a real sense of insight into the narrator's slightly twisted mind, helped by frequent 'asides' within the text, which mark out darker thoughts.

Would I recommend the book? Definitely! If you read Portuguese, that is. Otherwise, you're going to have a hard time.