Serpentine - A Good Example of Portuguese Literature

The available time to read is, unfortunately, much less than I would like to. Yet, I try to read every day, even if I can only read a single page at a time.

This time, I chose something in my first language, written by a renowned author.

Fancy writing, poor content

I’m not the biggest fan of Portuguese literature. You may find it odd. It would be expected that we would quickly identify with our country, culture, and language. Unfortunately, what I see in Portuguese literature most of the time is a whole lot of beautiful words and fancy sentences, with little ability to make us dream.

Beautifully arranged sentences and highly educated words seem more important than the story itself. It lacks the fantastic ability to transport us to other worlds, to make us live what we are reading, or to feel what the characters are feeling. Despite that, I try to stay up to date on what’s new or considered a ‘must-read.’

I must say, however, and with great joy, that the new generation of authors is slowly trying to invert this tendency. But the path is hard, and it takes time.

Technique over emotion

Back to Serpentine, this book was pretty much what I described earlier as the general run of Portuguese literature, without the fancy language. I must confess: I’m not sure of what I can say about it. I didn’t love it, and I don’t intend to reread it, but something kept me reading until the very last page.

It is not my kind of book or story. Said so, I tried to analyze it and understand why I didn’t just stop reading it. My conclusion: it’s an excellent author. His name is Mário Zambujal. He’s famous as a writer and as a journalist, and his writing qualities justify all his fame.

Serpentine has a good rhythm, many parts of dialogue with a sense of humor that will at least make you smile, and his genius shows in the way he writes each scene. They are good, no matter if you like them or not; every single scene is good.

That’s probably the reason why we keep turning pages, while we say to ourselves, “just one more.”

Keep trying

It’s definitely essential, and I’m speaking mostly to Portuguese people now, that we give some opportunities to Portuguese authors. Allow yourself to be surprised. Our language is beautiful, and we have great talent amongst us that is hidden due to the difficulties of promotion.

Especially if you are a writer, no matter the language you use in your work, you always have something to learn from every single author. Read, enjoy, analyze, and then follow your own path.

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