Help Me Choose My Next Read!

The 1st person to leave a comment gets to choose which book I read next.  A primeira pessoa a comentar escolhe qual o próximo livro que eu devo ler.  I promise/prometo escrever/write a/uma review/resenha of/do the/dito thing/cujo [1]:

• The Russian House – John Le Carré


• Tell No One – Harlan Cohen


• Mexico Set – Len Deighton


• Domes of Fire – David Eddings


• My Name is Red – Orham Pamuk


• The Negotiator – Frederick Forsyth


• Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman - Hank Wagner, Stephen R. Bissette, and Christopher Golden


• Nee Naw, Real Life Dispatches from Ambulance Control – Suzi Brent


• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World – Haruki Murakami


• The Storyteller – Mario Vargas Llosa


• 2666 – Roberto Bolaño


• Brooklyn – Colm Toibín


• Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie


• The Good Soldier – Ford Madox Ford


• Tecendo Sonhos – Maria Helena Chiaradia Finamor


• Suede: Love and Poison  - David Barnett


• The Luminaries – Eleanor Catton


• A Postcard Memoir – Lawrence Sutin


• Cradle – Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee


• Spy Hook – Len Deighton


• The Eye of the World – Robert Jordan


• The Legend o f Huma – Richard A. Knaak


• Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock


• The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


• Pequenas Criaturas – Rubem Fonseca


• Aunts Aren´t Gentlemen – P.G. Wodehouse


• Hyperion – Dan Simmons


• The Nine Dragons – Justin Scott


• Autobiography – Morrissey


• Au hasard La chance – Michel Tremblay


• Saturne – Serge Quadruppani


• Lyonesse II – Jack Vance


• The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists – Granta 121


• Poetry – Journal September 2013


• O Alienista e outros contos – Machado de Assis


• Oulipo Compendium – Henry Mathews & Alastair Brotchie


• The Cuckoo´s Calling – Robert Galbraith


• Melhores Poemas – Mario Quintana


• Dix petits phoques – Jean-Paul Tapie


• Olhais os Lírios do Campo – Erico Verissimo


• As Mentiras Que os Homens Contam – Luis Fernando Verissimo


• La position du tireur couché – Jean-Patrick Manchette


• La nuit dês princes charmants – Michel Tremblay


• Melhores Contos – Domingos Pellegrini


• Le coeur découvert – Michel Tremblay


• A Descoberta da América Pelos Turcos – Jorge Amado


• Literatura Comentada – Lygia Fagundes Telles


• Outras do Analista de Bagé – Luis Fernando Verissimo


• Blecaute – Marcelo Rubens Paiva


• The Brazilians – Joseph A. Page


• A Ladeira da Memória – José Geraldo Vieira


• Misterio na Morada do Sol – Isa Silveira Leal


• O Menino no Espelho – Fernando Sabino


• As Amáveis Assaltantes – Carlos Drummond de Andrade


• História da Literatura Brasileira – Carlos Nejar


• A Obscena Senhora D – Hilda Hilst


• Morte e Vida Severina – João Cabral de Melo Neto


• O Caçador de Pipas – Khaled Hosseini


• O Caso Morel – Rubem Fonseca


• A Cidade Sitiada – Clarice Lispector


• O Poder Ultrajovem – Carlos Drummond de Andrade

[1] I´m reading at the moment the debut novel of a brasilian acctress, "Fim" by Fernanda Torres.  I´ll be finished with it very soon.  Estou lendo no momento o primeiro romance de Fernanda Torres, "Fim". Devo termina-lo logo logo.

Rich Pickings

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is Martin´s most literary novel in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, and the least loved by fans (apparently). After the intrigues of A Game of Thrones and the war, gore and horrors of A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords, Martin slows down the tempo and focuses the story on characters that have been, until then, Supporting Cast. He can finally take some time to flesh out the complex fantasy world he has created.

The pace is reflective, the chapters lacking the cliffhangers so expertly used in previous books. Martin takes more time to describe the world the characters inhabit - a world torn apart by war, picked over by crows, left to take its bearings during a short interlude. Not having to worry about protagonists, antagonists and obstacles, Martin can bring forward some beautiful and evocative passages that add pathos to the drama.

As readers we crave to know more about Tyrion, Jon Snow and Daenerys, the apparent heroes, but all we get are rumours and gossip from innkeepers, sailors and soldiers. Action is elsewhere, like Greek tragedy. Because we know Martin well by now, though, we can´t trust everything we read...

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