Jorge Amado - The War of the Saints

Jorge Amado has been called one of the great writers of our time.  The joyfulness of his storytelling and his celebration of life's sensual pleasures have found him a loyal following.  With The War Of The Saints ,  he has created an exuberant tale set among the flashing rhythms, intoxicating smells, and bewitching colors of the carnival. The holy icon of Saint Barbara of the Thunder is bound for the city of Bahia for an exhibition of holy art.  As the boat the bears the image is docking, a miracle occurs and Saint Barbara comes to life, disappearing into the milling crowd on the quay.  Somewhere in the city a young woman has fallen in love, and her prudish guardian aunt has locked her away--an act of intolerance that Saint Barbara must redress.  And when she casts her spell over the city, no one's life will remain unchanged.

Comment: This book was given to me many years ago by a family member who used to work at a newsstand. This book was part of a collection which compiled the best work by this author and this book somehow was left uncollected, and since my uncle knew I liked books, he gave it to me. It has been in the shelf for a long time but this month I picked it up because it suits one challenge I'm doing.

In this magical realism novel, Jorge Amado writes about saint Barbara who, in the city of Bahia, decides to fix some wrongdoings with her power. Then, as her spell reaches the whole city, several characters are influenced by her and some even go as far as to change their decisions, or their ways of thinking, all while the everyday life must go on too. However, some people are too obstinate and they will not easily accept change. And, when the saint decides her work is done, how will everyone cope with the results of this strange spell?

This is actually the second book by Jorge Amado that I read. I remember trying another one of his novels back in 2001 or 2002, when I found the book by chance at my school's library. I confess I don't remember much, only that I was disappointed I could  not find more obvious and immediate resemblances to the soap opera which happened to have been partially based on the book. You see, at the time the most famous example of Brazilian art in my country were the soap operas which, to this day, are known for their incredible plots and development.

However, my teenager self could not really grasp the idea of "based on" and I felt that book to be quite boring. That is the only notion I keep, but I was determined to look at this other title through different eyes and, as a matter of fact, I did like the reading experience now a lot more. As for liking the story more? That I cannot really say, because despite enjoying magical realism novels and having enjoyed some segments of this book, as a final product I feel it wasn't as inspiring as it might have been meant to be.

The plot seems very simple: the saint is just like any other holy image traveling to a holy art exhibit and when the boat carrying it arrives, the saint leaves the altar in which it was resting and travels through the city. As an idea, this was quite interesting but I'm afraid the possibilities were lost among such a huge cast of characters and different settings. I know this is the hole point, but the author diverts our attention into so many things, explaining inconsequential stuff and spending time with characters who don't really add much, that I started to feel lost and uninterested.

The fault is actually mine, because I don't know that much about the history of Brazil apart from what we learn in school, and mostly related to our own side of things. My contemporary knowledge also stays in relation to the news of each day and a superficial notion so when the author mentioned so many other saints and different names for the same or for new ones (and how many they were!), I just could not follow what was going on. When the story would stick to three or four characters, whose personalities and importance seemed better constructed, I actually liked the prose. But when things went a new road...perhaps it's my lack of knowledge, but I've felt that not having a better understanding of the cultural background left me in disadvantage.

I kept going and some things were, indeed, rewarding to read, and in the end the saint does accomplish whatever she was meant to do. I did get the idea there were happy endings and the "happy for now" potential for others, but aside from a few other elements, which were more to the point, I fear a lot passed me by, especially the more cultural and historical details. Or perhaps I just cannot be a fan of the author's style... 

I might try another book one day, one of those based on another soap opera which has been a huge success here, actually the first soap opera to be aired on the single Portuguese channel that existed at the time. My father tells me that he missed one day of work back in the late 70s, when that soap opera was on, so he - along with how many more people! - could watch the final episode. 

I don't think the talent and the cleverness of this author is in question, but I suppose I just cannot really see it for myself...

Grade: 5/10