Want to know what books Larry Rohter recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Larry Rohter's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Claude Levi-Strauss, John Weightman, Doreen Weightman | 4.22
Tristes Tropiques begins with the line ‘I hate travelling and explorers’, yet during his life Claude Lévi-Strauss travelled from wartime France to the Amazon basin and the dense upland jungles of Brazil, where he found ‘human society reduced to its most basic expression’. His account of the people he encountered changed the field of anthropology, transforming Western notions of ‘primitive’ man. Tristes Tropiques is a major work of art as well as of scholarship. It is a memoir of exquisite beauty and a masterpiece of travel writing: funny, discursive, movingly... more Tristes Tropiques begins with the line ‘I hate travelling and explorers’, yet during his life Claude Lévi-Strauss travelled from wartime France to the Amazon basin and the dense upland jungles of Brazil, where he found ‘human society reduced to its most basic expression’. His account of the people he encountered changed the field of anthropology, transforming Western notions of ‘primitive’ man. Tristes Tropiques is a major work of art as well as of scholarship. It is a memoir of exquisite beauty and a masterpiece of travel writing: funny, discursive, movingly detailing personal and cultural loss, and brilliantly connecting disparate fields of thought. Few books have had as powerful and broad an impact. less 
Larry RohterMy original intention was to choose only Brazilian books because it’s good for us to hear Brazilian voices, but this one is so good that I had to throw aside my Brazilian choice and give you this. It’s mostly but not entirely about Brazil. Levi-Strauss was in São Paulo, which is now the world’s third largest city, in the 1930s. He draws a lovely, fascinating portrait of the city, but then he also... (Source)
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2
Roberto DaMatta, John Drury | 4.36
Encompassing half the continent of South America, Brazil is one of the most modern, complex, and misunderstood nations. Renowned Brazilian anthropologist Roberto DaMatta takes the misconceptions and offers a fresh, provocative interpretation of the complexity of social structure in Brazil. Using the tools of comparative social anthropology, DaMatta seeks to understand his native country by examining the values, attitudes, and systems that shape the identity of Brazil and its people. He probes the dilemma between the highly authoritarian, hierarchical aspects of Brazilian society and the... more Encompassing half the continent of South America, Brazil is one of the most modern, complex, and misunderstood nations. Renowned Brazilian anthropologist Roberto DaMatta takes the misconceptions and offers a fresh, provocative interpretation of the complexity of social structure in Brazil. Using the tools of comparative social anthropology, DaMatta seeks to understand his native country by examining the values, attitudes, and systems that shape the identity of Brazil and its people. He probes the dilemma between the highly authoritarian, hierarchical aspects of Brazilian society and the concurrent desire for equality, democracy, and harmony in that same society. DaMatta leads us on a fascinating exploration into the the world of Brazilian carnivals, rogues, and heroes, and in so doing uncovers a deeper meaning of the rituals, symbols, and dramatizations unique to Brazil and its multifaceted society. less Larry RohterWith this one the issue of translation plays a big role. Robert Da Matta is a brilliant writer, an anthropologist who has a column that is syndicated everywhere in Brazil. He is perceptive and funny and, as the title of the book suggests, it’s about carnival and the people who live by their wits in urban Brazil. He has written other books that are equally good and I hope someone translates all of... (Source)
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3
An important new translation of a fundamental work of Brazilian literature
Written by a former army lieutenant, civil engineer, and journalist, Backlands is Euclides da Cunha's vivid and poignant portrayal of Brazil's infamous War of Canudos. The deadliest civil war in Brazilian history, the conflict during the 1890s was between the government and the village of Canudos in the northeastern state of Bahia, which had been settled by 30,000 followers of the religious zealot Antonio Conselheiro. Far from just an objective retelling, da Cunha's story shows both the... more An important new translation of a fundamental work of Brazilian literature
Written by a former army lieutenant, civil engineer, and journalist, Backlands is Euclides da Cunha's vivid and poignant portrayal of Brazil's infamous War of Canudos. The deadliest civil war in Brazilian history, the conflict during the 1890s was between the government and the village of Canudos in the northeastern state of Bahia, which had been settled by 30,000 followers of the religious zealot Antonio Conselheiro. Far from just an objective retelling, da Cunha's story shows both the significance of this event and the complexities of Brazilian society.
Published here in a new translation by Elizabeth Lowe, and featuring an introduction by one of the foremost scholars of Latin America, this is sure to remain one of the best chronicles of war ever penned. less Larry RohterEuclides da Cunha was a military engineer turned journalist who, in the 1890s, covered a rebellion of pro-monarchist settlers in Canudos, in the Northeast of Brazil, led by a religious fanatic called Antonio Conselheiro, who thought that Brazil becoming a republic meant the end of the world. The army was sent in to crush the rebellion five times and 15,000 people were killed. This book is about... (Source)
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4
Nelson Rodrigues, Joffre Rodrigues, et al. | 4.64
Larry RohterI acknowledge that I’m cheating here, because this is two volumes, containing 12 of the 17 plays Rodrigues wrote. He is one of the great figures of modern Brazilian literature, best known as a playwright, but also a novelist and essayist. His plays are constantly shocking and were considered so vile when they came out, beginning in the 1940s, that he was nicknamed ‘a degenerate in suspenders’.... (Source)
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5
The powerful firsthand account of life in the streets of São Paulo that drew international attention to the plight of the poor.
Includes eight pages of photographs and an afterword by Robert M. Levine
Translated from the Portuguese by David S. Clair more The powerful firsthand account of life in the streets of São Paulo that drew international attention to the plight of the poor.
Includes eight pages of photographs and an afterword by Robert M. Levine
Translated from the Portuguese by David S. Clair less Larry RohterI chose the Carolina de Jesus in part because it’s a sentimental favourite. It was the first book I ever read in Portuguese, and there was a reason for that. It came out in 1960, but I read it a decade later, and it really marked the first time the voice of the Brazilian lower class, the oppressed, was heard. It gave Brazilian readers a glimpse into a world that was all around them but that they... (Source)
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