World Literature Reading Group

Our World Literature Reading Group aims to showcase literature written outside of the anglophone world. On our journey we will make a variety of stops in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Oceania, tracking down the masterpieces that have otherwise been overlooked. In this thirteenth group, we will read and discuss Itamar Vieira Júnior’s Crooked Plow.

Deep in Brazil's neglected Bahia hinterland, two sisters find an ancient knife beneath their grandmother's bed and, momentarily mystified by its power, decide to taste its metal. The shuddering violence that follows marks their lives and binds them together forever.

“A tour de force of injustice, tragedy, affection and human dignity reminiscent of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables or John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Vieira Júnior’s book garnered top literary prizes in Portugal and Brazil. Its author has drawn comparisons to Jorge Amado, the giant of Brazilian letters who introduced the magic and plight of Afro-Brazilians to the world. [...] Perhaps most impressive in Vieira Júnior’s work is the sensitivity it displays in treating the struggle of the most vulnerable members of the community he describes: the women. [...] The women in his novel must bear children every year, go hungry to feed them, and live under the same thatched roof with their violent husbands—yet sometimes they still manage to improve their fates by resorting to the only methods available to the truly desperate.” (Camila Fontana, Americas Quarterly)

“This powerful debut novel charts the plight of Brazil's poorest farmers scrabbling for subsistence on the land their enslaved ancestors worked. Initially centered on two sisters whose lives are changed forever by a catastrophic accident, the book explores themes of generational poverty and political strife through the lens of family bonds and the eyes of a once-revered Afro-Brazilian divinity. A bestseller in Brazil and lauded with literary accolades, the engrossing story gives visibility to many who have traditionally been marginalized.” (Becky Meloan, The Washington Post)

“Translated into more than ten languages, Crooked Plow has received wide acclaim, both for its poignant story of social struggles and for the empathetic depiction of the quilombolas' lives and traditions. Also remarkable is its vivid imagery and the colorful vocabulary typical of Brazil's Northeast. These are aptly maintained in Johnny Lorenz's excellent translation, which employs various Portuguese words and expressions present in the original, thus avoiding unwieldy footnotes or glossaries while offering English-language readers a taste for the distinct language of the Brazilian sertão.” (Cristina Pinto-Bailey, World Literature Today)

Our previous selections include:

Human Acts by Han Kang
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Potiki by Patricia Grace
Explosion in a Cathedral by Alejo Carpentier
Men of Maize by Miguel Ángel Asturias
Tamas by Bhisham Sahni
Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani
Egyptian Earth by Abdel Rahman al-Sharqawi
We Do Not Part by Han Kang
Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
The Women’s Courtyard by Khadija Mastur