Machado de Assis's first novel visits themes the author developed exquisitely throughout his career including marriage, memory, and perspective. In this insightful translation by Karen Sherwood Sotelino, and with an introduction by José Luiz Passos, the novel reveals the author's early experiment in drawing out psychological and sociological issues of his times. Readers familiar with his mature works will recognize the progression from infatuation, through passion, doubt, and toxic jealousy, as experienced by protagonists Félix and Lívia in 19th century Rio de Janeiro.
"Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis is universally recognized as Brazil's greatest writer. Resurrection was his first novel, and this is its first publication in English-a most welcome event. This is no tentative beginning, but an original, carefully observed study of a jealous man, set amongst the Rio de Janeiro middle class. In particular, it looks forward to Machado's greatest and most popular novel, Dom Casmurro
"Long relegated to the shelf of 'immature works, Resurrection resurfaces, in English version, as what it has always been: a sophisticated comment on the green-eyed monster's roamings in a tropical Europeanized society, whose denizens, like Ingmar Bergman's characters, will reappear in later novels, under different names, always intently turned upon their own feelings, fears, and foibles."-Milton M. Azevedo, scholar, Hispanic linguistics and translation theory
"In many aspects, Machado de Assis's debut novel foretells the genius found in his later works. Within the restricted limits of the reigning decorum, the daring of the moral analysis is substantial and highly unconventional. It is a novel for sophisticated readers." -Roberto Schwarz, author, Misplaced Ideas: Essays on Brazilian Culture
"The publication of Resurrection in English is not only timely, but also necessary for a thorough appreciation of Machado de Assis's place in world literature."-Luciana Namorato, Hispania