I read‘Pereira Maintains’ for Antonio Tabucchi week hosted by Caroline from Beauty is a Sleeping Cat.
‘Pereira Maintains’ is a slim book with comfortable fonts and nice spacing between lines. It is also a breezy read even though the subject matter is complex. The story is set in Portugal of the 1930s. The editor of the literary section of a newspaper meets a young man one day who wants to contribute articles for that section. Then the young man brings his attractive woman friend one day for one of the meetings. Then mysterious things start happening – the young man talks over phone and through letters and he seems to be on the run. Once he brings a supposed cousin who comes from Spain and is recruiting Portuguese fighters to fight on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil war. Strange things start happening to our hero, the editor. Suddenly his telephone is monitored and his editor-in-chief wants to look at his article choices more carefully. There is a suggestion of censorship. One day our hero the editor, who is middle-aged and fat, decides to rebel against the system.
I found ‘Pereira Maintains’ quite gripping and a breezy read. I finished it in one day. In his beautiful introduction, Mohsin Hamid asks this about the book – “How, with such serious and pressing concerns, did Pereira manage to be so difficult to put down? Put differently, how could this most literary of novels also be such a thrilling page-turner?” I couldn’t have put it better.
I found the structure of the book quite interesting. It is in the form of a confession or testament given by the main character, Pereira. The dialogues are not within quotes and there are not many paragraph breaks and one sentence continues after another. The tone of the novel is light though the themes it addresses – freedom, love, sacrifice, taking on an autocratic system – are deep. In some ways, ‘Pereira Maintains’ reminded me of the great novels of the past which also cover the theme of one small man deciding to take on an autocratic system – the novels of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Hans Fallada.
I have one small complaint about the book though. As it is structured in the form of a testament, the phrase ‘Pereira maintains’ comes up in nearly every paragraph. Initially, I felt it was okay, but after sometime it became irritating and later it even became annoying. But I think probably Tabucchi didn’t want the reader to forget that it was a testament. So, I ignored the annoying feeling after a while and decided to experience the beauty of the book.
I will leave you with some of my favourite passages from the book.
Philosophy appears to concern itself only with the truth, but perhaps expresses only fantasies, while literature appears to concern itself only with fantasies, but perhaps it expresses the truth.
…he doubted if the Portuguese papers reported the event the waiter was referring to. Rumours simply spread, news travelled by word of mouth, all you could do was ask around in the cafes, listen to gossip, it was the only way of keeping in touch with things, other than buying some foreign paper from the newsagent in Rua do Ouro, but the foreign papers, if they arrived at all, were three or four days old, so it was useless to go hunting for a foreign paper, the best thing was to ask.
Goodbye Father Antonio, said he, I’m sorry to have taken so much of your time, my next visit I’ll make a proper confession. You don’t need to, replied Father Antonio, first make sure you commit some sin and then come to me, don’t make me waste my time for nothing.
Have you read ‘Pereira Maintains’? What do you think about it?
I’m glad you liked it but I understand your reservations too. TBM had an interesting explanation for te use of “Pereira Maintains” – she said she felt it wanted to emphasize how Pereira tried to stay out of politics.
Pereira Maintains is considered to be one of his more accessible books. Requiem was challenging at times as we always need a moment to figure out who is talking but it seesm much more decriptive and atmospherical than this one. Will you watch the movie some day?
I loved ‘Pereira Maintains’, Caroline! I got used to the phrase being used after a while. TBM’s thoughts on it are quite interesting. I will read her review soon. I loved your review of ‘Requiem’. I definitely want to watch the movie 🙂 I also want to read the novel. I love atmospheric novels which bring a place alive to the reader.
And thank you so much for participating and a wonderful review.
Thanks a lot for hosting Antonio Tabucchi week, Caroline 🙂 I wouldn’t have discovered Tabucchi without your help. I am hoping to read more of Tabucchi’s works, especially ‘Indian Nocturne’ and ‘Requiem’.
[…] Pereira Maintains – Vishy (Vishy’s Blog) […]
Your review made me smile because in the beginning I was also a bit put off by the “Pereira maintains” business. But as the novel developed, I realised it was perfect. It builds up tension as the reader is never sure who is narrating this testimony, and you’re left wondering even at the end.
Thanks for stopping by, Bettina. Nice to know that you liked ‘Pereira maintains’. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the ‘Pereira maintains’ business 🙂 I am still thinking of who the narrator is and what happened after the last scene of the story. Maybe more things might be revealed on a second reading.
Glad you like this book. In the US version it is called “Pereira Declares”, which I thought would make me cringe than Pereira Maintains. My review can be found here:
I quite like it, but not too much.
Nice to know that you too like this book, Jo. ‘Maintains’ is definitely better than ‘Declares’ 🙂 Thanks for giving me the link to your review. I am off to read it now 🙂
Hi Vishy. I love how you describe the writing as breezy. It does feel that way, even though the subject matter is anything but breezy. I think his attempt at seeming lighthearted is another way to distance Pereira from the politics that he wants to stay away from. I couldn’t put this book down either. As soon as I read the first page I was hooked. And I loved the introduction by Hamid. Sometimes when I read such glowing words in an introduction I’m let down by the actual work. This didn’t happen.
Thanks for stopping by, TBM 🙂 I like what you said about how the lighthearted style was another way to distance Pereira from the politics. Hamid’s introduction was so good, isn’t it? I agree with you on glowing introductions and reviews – many times the book falls flat. But in the case of ‘Pereira Maintains’ the praise was well deserved.
It’s funny, Vishy, I always leave your blog with another book added to my list of books to be read! Even when you write about a book I’ve read, you still entice me with a mention of Hans Fallada, who I’ve heard about but never read. Which book would you recommend by him?
Anyway, I agree with your review of Pereira Maintains. The repetition of that phrase didn’t bother me, but I can see how it could stick out at first. I also highlighted that quote about philosophy and literature as I was reading! And I loved the way Pereira, a journalist, kept having to ask the waiter in the cafe to find out the news. I thought the atmosphere of a dictatorship was conveyed really well. My review is here if you’re interested in my take on the book:
http://andrewblackman.net/2012/09/tabucchi-week-pereira-maintains/
Hope you enjoy reading Hans Fallada’s works, Andrew. His most famous work is probably ‘Every Man Dies Alone’ (also published as ‘Alone in Berlin’) which addresses a theme similar to ‘Pereira Maintains’ but which is probably a little bit more dark and bleak. His ‘Little Man, What Now’ is also quite famous. It was made into a Hollywood movie of the same name. I am planning to read ‘Little Man, What Now?’ for German Literature Month in November 🙂
Glad to know that you liked ‘Pereira Maintains’. I am off to read your review now.
Oh that souds wonderful and kudos to Tabuchhi for balancing literary and thrilling! 🙂
Yes, it was really wonderful, Bina. If you do get to read it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
I had a very similar reaction to yours, Vishy–loved the book overall but was annoyed by the repetition of the “Pereira maintains” mantra! I just finished my second Tabucchi novel this morning and was happy to see that once again, as you said about Pereira, it managed to be both breezy and complex at the same time. Nice blog you have here, by the way… 😀
Thanks for stopping by, Richard 🙂 Glad to know that you too liked ‘Pereira Maintains’. So jealous that you could read another Tabucchi novel! I didn’t plan properly and thought I will be conservative and so decided to read just one book. I didn’t know that his books would be a fast read. Will look forward to reading your thoughts on ‘Pereira Maintains’.
[…] Pereira Maintains – Vishy (Vishy’s Blog) […]
The cover of this book is really beautiful, not unlike an old photo, carefully preserved.
As for the novel(la?) itself, I’m not familiar with the author or Portuguese history, but perhaps Pereira’s plight could be anyone’s, anyone who is caught in an autocratic system. Fallada is another author I really need to read, along with Antonio Tabucchi, a new to me writer 🙂
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