Popular South American Cultural Books
Find cultural books written by authors from South America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (23)
1.
Affections : A Novel by Rodrigo Hasbún EN
Country: South America / 
Bolivia
Bolivia
Description:
The award-winning and haunting novel from Rodrigo Hasbún, the literary star Jonathan Safran Foer calls, “a great writer,” about an unusual family’s breakdown—set in South America during the time of Che Guevara and inspired by the life of Third Reich cinematographer Hans Ertl. Inspired by real events, Affections is the story of the eccentric, fascinating Ertl clan, headed by the egocentric and extraordinary Hans, once the cameraman for the Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl. Shortly after the end of World War II, Hans and his family flee to Bolivia to start over. There, the ever-restless Hans d... continue
2.
Capitães do Brasil by Eduardo Bueno PT
Country: South America / 
Brazil
Brazil
Description:
No terceiro volume da sua provocadora série que conta a história do Brasil colônia, Eduardo Bueno foca no período de 1530 a 1550 para nos revelar quem foram esses homens, as aventuras e tragédias de suas vidas, e como ajudaram a moldar a experiência brasileira. Podemos ver o tamanho da missão conferida, as razões do fracasso do modelo de capitanias hereditárias (com a exceção do êxito das capitanias de Pernambuco e São Vicente) e, também, a origem de chagas que assolam o país ainda hoje, como o clientelismo, o latifúndio improdutivo e a falta de um projeto coletivo e inclusivo.
3.
Country: South America / 
Chile
Chile
Description:
A near-future fable about love, life, and friendship in a world that’s coming apart. Chilco is the name of Pascale’s home island. It is also the Mapudungun word for fuchsia: a word that evokes tropical lushness, wetness, the deep greenness of the forest. Pascale's partner, Marina, grew up in the vertical slums of Capital City, a place scarred by centuries of colonialism and now the ravages of feckless developers. Every day the couple fear a sinkhole will open up and take with it another poor neighborhood, another raft of desperate refugees from the hinterlands: the indigenous, the poor, who ar... continue
4.
Double Play : The Story of an Amazing World Record by Frank Martinus Arion EN
Country: South America / 
Curaçao
Curaçao
Description:
A marathon game of dominoes, lasting from early morning to dusk, and involving four men for whom the game is a trigger for social, political and sexual rivalries against a background of colonial unrest. A complacent bailiff and his feckless taxi-driver partner are deserted by their wives for a mixture of personal and idealistic reasons, and the resulting turmoil leads on to murder and suicide as the tensions work themselves out. As well as being a novel of character, Double Play offers a powerful picture of colonial and attitudes in the mid-twentieth century.
5.
El asedio a la modernidad : crítica del relativismo cultural by Juan José Sebreli ES
Country: South America / 
Argentina
Argentina
Description:
El asedio a la modernidad es una apasionante y apasionada revisión crítica de las ideas predominantes en la segunda mitad del siglo XX. A partir de hilos conductores hábilmente detectados por el autor, a través de marcas y huellas que señalan la semejanza o la diferencia, aparecen unidas corrientes de pensamiento tan distintas a primera vista como el existencialismo heideggeriano, Nietzsche, el estructuralismo, las filosofías cíclicas de la historia, la antropología culturalista, el funcionalismo, el psicoanálisis junguiano y lacan... continue
6.
Facundo : Civilization and Barbarism by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento EN
Country: South America / Argentina
Argentina
Description:
An educator and writer, Sarmiento was President of Argentina from 1868 to 1874. His Facundo is a study of the Argentine character, a prescription for the modernization of Latin America, and a protest against the tyranny of the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas (1835-1852). The book brings nineteenth-century Latin American history to life even as it raises questions still being debated today--questions regarding the "civilized" city versus the "barbaric" countryside, the treatment of indigenous and African populations, and the classically liberal plan of modernization.
7.
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado EN
Country: South America / Brazil
Brazil
Description:
Ilhéus in 1925 is a booming town with a record cacao crop and aspirations for progress, but the traditional ways prevail. When Colonel Mendonça discovers his wife in bed with a lover, he shoots and kills them both. Political contests, too, can be settled by gunshot... No one imagines that a bedraggled migrant worker who turns up in town–least of all Gabriela herself–will be the agent of change. Nacib Saad has just lost the cook at his popular café and in desperation hires Gabriela. To his surprise she turns out to be a great beauty as well as a wonderful cook and an enchanting boon to his busi... continue
8.
Gebrochen-Weiß by Astrid H. Roemer DE
Country: South America / 
Suriname
Suriname
Description:
In einem gewaltigen Buch voller Sinnlichkeit, Schmerz und Lebensfreude entfaltet „Gebrochen Weiß“ ein Panorama weiblicher Biografien.
In Surinam, der ehemaligen niederländischen Kolonie in Südamerika, mischen sich Sprachen und Religionen, Hautfarben und Ethnien. In Paramaribo leben die Frauen der Familie Vanta, drei Generationen, von der sterbenskranken Oma Bee bis zu Enkelin Imker, die sie liebevoll betreut, von Mutter Louise, die vier Kinder alleine großzieht, bis zu ihrer Tochter Heli, die wegen einer verbotenen Affäre in die Niederlande geschickt w... continue
9.
Gran sertón : veredas by João Guimarães Rosa ES
Country: South America / Brazil
Brazil
Description:
Grande Sertão: Veredas es la compleja historia de Riobaldo, un ex yagunço (mercenario o bandido) del interior pobre y estepa del río São Francisco, conocido como Sertão, de los estados de Minas Gerais y Bahía en los albores del siglo XX. Ya viejo y campesino, Riobaldo cuenta su larga historia a un oyente anónimo y silencioso de la ciudad. El libro está escrito en una sección larga, sin secciones ni saltos de capítulo.
10.
Guyana