Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.
Title: There Were Many Horses
Author: Luiz Ruffato, Anthony Doyle (translator)
Narrator: Timothy Andrés Pabon
Format: Unabridged
Length: 5 hrs
Language: English
Release date: 10-08-14
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
There Were Many Horses is considered one of the defining novels of Brazilian literature, winner of the Brazilian National Librarys Machado de Assis Award and the APCA Award for best novel upon its debut in 2001, and this publication marks its English debut. A day in the life of So Paulo exposes the city for the diversity of all its inhabitants as the author describes in detail the scenes around him. Its May 9, 2000, and the city teems with life. The city is more than just traffic jams, parks, and global financial maneuvering. He deciphers every minute and second of the metropolis marked by human diversity - a mosaic of people from all over Brazil and the world marking the citys personality at the turn of the 21st century.
Members Reviews:
An Acquired Taste We All Should Have
I actually read this en route to and during a brief stay in Brazil (Rio, though, not Sao Paolo) and it was the perfect complement for the trip, an ever present snapshot of the gritty underbelly of the country. I am never one to get caught up in the glamour put on for tourists, I always am more interested in the side alleys and the real people behind the salesman smiles. This book captured such people in every single vignette. I saw Ruffato's inspiration in every splice of graffiti, every toothless boy sleeping on the sidewalk...and it kept me grounded, reminded me to seek the flavor of the city, not just the souvenirs.
Vignettes like those in this book are not for everyone, but I think they should be. This is the kind of taste people should acquire. It's the kind of jolt, like black coffee, that people need to be reminded that everyone has a story, everyone has worth.
Collage of Stories
Excellent book...novel is not the correct term since this is essentially a collage of tales trying to encompass the variety of Sao Paulo. Rather than imposing the strictures of a narrative on the stories, the author provides an emotional coherence to the book that I think in the end succeeds. If the reader is prepared to accept this unique structure, the book will reward the investment of time and effort.
There is no plot, no stories
There is no plot. There are no stories.
This book shouldn't be called a novel. Of course, these aren't short stories either. I'm not even sure they can be called vignettes. The good thing was that I could come home from work after a busy day and read without worrying about the storyline because there was none. I didn't have to remember what I read the day before.
But I love characters, first and also like a good plot, a good story. Since there was none, I was left feeling rather Blasé about the book when I was reading it and when I finished.
If this is a new style of storytelling, I will stick to the old style.
Three Stars
Idiosyncratic, interesting
Wild Horses Running in All Directions ...
My interest in this book was piqued due to the high acclaim, awards and recognition it received in Brazil. It won two prestigious awards one even being named 'best novel.' I expected to admire the writing and love the book. I was seriously disappointed.
The book consists of sixty eight vignettes, unconnected chunks and pieces of life events, information, glimpses into various aspects of people's lives, people who come from all classes and walks of life.
