How many books do you usually read in a year? Along with the year that begins, new goals are created, and one of them is, for many readers, the initiative to start consuming more books or create a list with the desired works for the year as a reading goal.
“The beginning of the year is always a kick-start for creating new habits, new goals and desires to be fulfilled during the year, and the same thing happens with reading. The list of works to be read during 2023 is an opening for those who don’t know where to start, and also good indications for those who already have the habit of reading”, comments Tomaz Adour, founder and editor-in-chief of Vermelho Marinho.
Check out our editor’s list of the best classics for 2023:
THE SLAVE ISAURA – Bernardo Guimarães
One of the greatest classics of Brazilian literature, recognized worldwide for the novel made a century later, this 1875 novel tells the story of Clara Isaura, an innocent girl admired by many and envied by her competitors. Fruit of the desire of Leôncio, heir to the farm where she lives, Isaura loses all hope of being freed, as Leôncio’s mother had promised. Even under pressure from his wife Malvina, Leôncio does everything to not release Isaura, including rejecting the ten contos de réis that Miguel, Isaura’s father, had managed to save with difficulty to buy his daughter’s freedom. But this price was defined by Leôncio’s father, who did not keep his promise when his father died. A critical and public success, this story of love, desire and suffering is fundamental in the history of Brazilian literature in the 19th century.
THE NEW CALIFORNIA – Lima Barreto
Magnificent collection of short stories by Lima Barreto, where the story that gives title to the book narrates the adventures of an eccentric researcher and chemist, Dr. Flanel, who rocks the small town of Tubiacanga with his alchemical powers to turn bones into gold. A fundamental work to discover the talent of one of the greatest writers in Brazilian literature.
YOUNGINNA – Affonso Celsus
Giovanna, published in 1896, is a different novel than usual. Divided into eight frames, it tells the story of the protagonist’s family who leaves Italy to try a better life in Brazil. The frames range from the difficult life and the departure from Italy to the crossing of the Atlantic and the arrival in Brazil. The frames are all composed of dialogues, giving an agile pace to the narrative, almost as if it were a play.
THE DOCTORS – Junior France
One of the most important plays by França Júnior, As Doutoras was staged for the first time in 1889. In a period of appreciation for women, who had been authorized 10 years before to study at universities, with the consent of their parents, if single, or of husbands, if married, the play tells the story of Luísa and Carlota, two women who entered higher education.
THE MEAT – Júlio Ribeiro
Published in 1888, it is Júlio Ribeiro’s best known novel, considered his masterpiece. It tells of the ardent passion between the young Lenita and the middle-aged engineer Manuel, son of Colonel Barbosa. The book caused a scandal for addressing issues such as free love, divorce and a new role for women in society, something that was ignored in the literature of the time. It is a book about human sexuality.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MJ GONZAGA DE SÁ – Lima Barreto
The book begins with an explanation by Lima Barreto that he received the work from the hands of the young Augusto Machado, dated 1906, and that it tells the life of the eccentric Gonzaga de Sá, his superior in the department and who would become a mentor of the important things of the life, in several conversations and walks through a Rio de Janeiro in accelerated growth in the European style, with the social differences that this would entail until today. With a funny and often melancholy content, the book ends with the death of Gonzaga de Sá, who ends up regretting having been a free person and never having found the love of Venus to keep him company, especially in his final solitude, accompanied by always close by the young Machado.
About Editora Vermelho Marinho:
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, publishes from contemporary works to unpublished classics or out of print in Brazil for a long time. For more than 8 years it has had the seal “O Melhor de Cada Tempo”, which aims to publish works in the public domain that were great successes in their time, and that do not have current Brazilian editions, or never had. It is the only publisher to rediscover forgotten authors/classics, recognizing their importance to society and demonstrating how centuries-old themes are still present in our society. In addition to the 1200 classic titles ready to be released, the publisher still has more than 10,000 volumes of forgotten books that are being updated with the new spelling agreement to be published in the coming years.
