One of the most
respected authors of the Brazilian literature since the early 1930''s, Jorge Amado has been an eloquent writer
recognized by both critic and public. His work explores different aspects of the history of the Bahia''s people: The violent settlement of the region, the awful social consequences (like the installment of the first sugar farms in the south of Bahia), which were magisterially immortalized on "Cacao", "Sao Jorge dos Ilheus", "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon"and "The Violent Land". The typical people from the sloped streets of
Salvador are present in "Tent of Miracles", "Captains of the Sand" and "Sea of Death". The politically engaged and committed author beliefs are present in "Os Subterraneos da Liberdade", "O Cavaleiro da Esperanca". The depicting of seductive, moving and extraordinary women are present in "Tieta, the Goat Girl", "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" and many others. First of all, one needs to have in mind the detachedness of the author with the formal writing to better understand what is told about his "style". Jorge Amado once proclaimed himself as a "Romantic and Sexy Baiano". He is what the critics call a "Story Teller". He doesn''t follow with austerity the formal technique of writing and doesn''t give importance to the orthographic and grammatical rules. He naturally incorporates the common expressions spoken by his dear people from Bahia in his writings. So the reader can''t expect to find in Jorge Amado''s work a formal and standard text. In the other hand, those which are adventurous enough to read his work will find a flavored, mouth-watering narrative, that breaths the life and warm from the tropics. His stories are about a simple and tough people that uses their own day-by-day language."The Life and Dead of Quincas Berro D''Agua" is focussed in the marginalized people from Bahia, whose individual depictions are used to analyse and criticize a whole society. The action is developed basically in the city of Salvador, around the bohemian people that lives near the floating docks. It was published in 1958 and it''s one of the best novels written by Jorge Amado. Following the Magical Realism genre, it''s a misture of dream and reality, madness and sanity, love and indifferent, warm and hard feelings, in a passionate and moving way. Tells the life story of Joaquim Soares da Cunha, a outstanding father, husband and public employee that after his retirement decides to throw everything away: Family, respectability, acquaintances, friends and tradition. He embraced a life of an libertine, alcoholic and gambler. Abandon his family and start living with prostitutes, drunks, sailors, gamblers, thieves and bandits from the low classes of Salvador. He killed his thirst with sugar cane''s wine and rest on the inviting laps of prostitutes. Became admired and
respected by his new unfortunate fellows: To them he was father, wise man and counselor, always ready for one more party or drink. His turn of life represents the yell from a man dominated and castrated by all sort of prejudices from society, that one day decides to tear up his restrains and cry for liberty. He died alone, his dead only witnessed by his filthy new fellows. His dead started all sorts of respects (and disrespects) from both his blood and adopted family: His friends got drunk during the services and decided to get his corpse to a last goodbye celebration on the bars and whore houses. At certain point, after a storm, Quincas''s corpse accidentally falls in the sea, putting an end to his life (and partially dead) journey. In the end, Quincas died three times: The first time when he leaves his family and embrace a life of sin, a second time when he died drunk in a filthy little room dressed like a bum, and the third time after his body was lost in the sea, erasing any sign of his passage on earth. This story could be called "The Dead, Dead and Dead of Quincas Berro D''Agua"...One more "dead" on the title would make it fit perfectly to his journey.