Mini-Comments

Two more books written by Portuguese authors I just crossed out of my "to-read" lists, although one of them was an impetuous decision, since it wasn't really in my TBR.

These two books don't have many pages (both in the 220 something) which means they were relatively quick reads, the two divided into a day and a half.

The first is fiction and, to me, nothing special. The second is non-fiction and it was something I sort of expected since it was not the first book by the author I read.

O Chão dos Pardais by Dulce Maria Cardoso

The title could be translated into "the ground of the birds", referencing the fact things in life can be as random and as small as the little grains of bread we throw to the ground, for the birds to eat. This author is known here to be quite literary, erudite, her writing style can be described as if a conversation is ongoing, the words are often poetic and a little whimsical. 

This is a story of several characters that know each other and we meet them in preparation for the birthday of a 60 something old man. Throughout the book, the author creates very vulgar situations, where the deeper thoughts of the characters come to the surface in the midst of a tragedy. 

I can recognize the importance of little things, the secrets we all carry...but to be honest, the writing itself cannot hide the fact this was a very simple and plain story with very unappealing characters to me. I don't think I'll read other books by this author without a specific reason.

Grade: 5/10

Labirinto de Mágoas by Daniel Sampaio

This is a non fiction book written by a teacher/psychiatric/psychologist which we could translate as "labyrinth of hurt" and it focuses on the issues and problematic of marriages.

This is a short book so the theme isn't developed as much as it could and should, were this to be an academic approach. 

The author has managed to summarize the main issues couples face in a marriage nowadays and what techniques could be used to try to fix it or to minimize the chance of ending in a divorce.

The author stresses he is not against divorce when it is the only answer but that is true many couples do not try enough before calling ti quits. I think the book has a good enough structure and main idea but yes, it does feel a little too simple. My favorite part is the clinical examples used to exemplify a situation; it is always easier for the reader to connect with that than with academic words.

Grade: 7/10

-> Two more books finished, onto the next one.

Happy weekend!