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Shepherds of the Night

Jorge Amado,

Harriet de Onís (Translator)

3.87 · Rating details · 310 ratings · 14 reviews

"This work can be described tersely but not unfairly as a contribution to the debate on Brazilian self-definition, rendered ineffective by being cast in the form of pastoral. Amado's theme is the life of the Bahian poor: not the whole of their lives, for we seldom glimpse them at the back-breaking work that must occupy some of their waking hours, but their leisure life. Hi ...more

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Paperback, 372 pages

Published July 1st 1988 by Avon Books (first published 1964)

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Nov 18, 2014 Jim Fonseca rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brazilian-authors

A celebration of life among the African and mulatto population of the favelas of northeast Brazil in the 1960’s. These poverty-stricken folks somehow manage to survive and to enjoy life while they are at it. Many of these folks are con-men, thieves and prostitutes but they are good-hearted. You do what you can to get by even if it means running a crooked dice game or a scam. There are three main episodes that structure the book: the marriage (short and mistaken) of a playboy to a former prostitu ...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Kezia rated it really liked it

Shelves: literature, own

Rich, comic, tragic tales of the barely-working classes of Bahia, the gamblers, ladies of the night, their lives and loves. Really it's three novellas with recurring characters. The first is a great introduction and scene-setter, the second is charming, and just when you thought this was Amado's least political book, the third section blows kisses to the robber barons in excellent Amado style. Perfect summer reading, with characters that linger like a warm sea breeze that smells a little like sa ...more

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Mar 28, 2014 Peycho Kanev rated it really liked it

Not as good as Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands and Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, but good in its own way!

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Dec 17, 2011 Ensiform rated it really liked it

Shelves: portuguese, fiction

Translated by Harriet de Onís

Three interconnected stories of the gamblers, prostitutes and layabouts of Bahia, Brazil – of Colonel Martim’s marriage, of the christening of Negro Massu’s child, and of the invasion of Cat Wood by the hoi polloi. At turns highly comic, moving, and sad, the novel shows an extraordinarily deep understanding of human nature and various personal motivations. A brilliant writer, Amado paints a poetic picture of street life from the point of view of those who uphold thei ...more

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Apr 06, 2019 Judy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 20th-century-fiction, books-from-1964, literature-in-translation, set-in-brazil

I have been neglecting my 1964 list lately so I put three on my April reading plan. Jorge Amado was a Brazilian author whose novels about social classes, especially the lower ones, are full of rollicking scenes and expose the hypocrisy of the upper classes. He sets these tales in the Brazilian state of Bahai, where he was born and raised.

(As an aside, when I read translated books for My Big Fat Reading Project, I put them on my lists in the year they were first published, usually earlier than I have been neglecting my 1964 list lately so I put three on my April reading plan. Jorge Amado was a Brazilian author whose novels about social classes, especially the lower ones, are full of rollicking scenes and expose the hypocrisy of the upper classes. He sets these tales in the Brazilian state of Bahai, where he was born and raised.

(As an aside, when I read translated books for My Big Fat Reading Project, I put them on my lists in the year they were first published, usually earlier than the English translation.)

The "shepherds of the night" in this collection of three character-related novellas, are a group of men who spend their nights drinking rum and bedding their women, many of whom are prostitutes. From the opening page of the book: "We shepherded the night as though she were a bevy of girls and we guided her to the ports of dawn with our staffs of rum, our unhewn rods of laughter."

In the first novella, one Corporal Martim, looked up to by all of these men, commits the unspeakable act of getting married. In its hilarious and poignant pages, his friends expose the wife for the conniving woman she is, break up the marriage, and rescue their dude.

The second novella concerns the christening of a blue-eyed mixed race baby whose mother died and who was brought to his grandfather Massu to be raised. Massu is a large, very large, Negro with a soft, very soft heart. He is part of the gang. Here we get a look at the cross section of Afro-Brazilian voodoo cults and the Catholic Church brought to Brazil by European colonists. Plenty of magical realism brightens up the tale.

Finally, the third novella deals with clashes between the poor, the government and the press. Oh my, this one could have been set in the present as the families connected with the gang of "shepherds" try squatting on a piece of property owned by one of the major industrialists of Bahai who is also a slum lord.

I was not sure I was going to enjoy the book when I started it. I forgot that I almost always feel this way when I begin an Amado novel. (This is my sixth.) Then I get captured by his storytelling skills and lost in his characters' adventures. I was happy to spend a few days in another culture, all the while seeing that human beings are more similar than they are different all around the globe. ...more

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Jun 28, 2020 Mehmet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Latin Amerika yazarlarını her zaman kayırırım. Ama Jorge Amado gerçekten beni mest etti. Çeviri de çok iyi olunca tadından yenmez bir edebiyat zevki oldu. Özellikle hicivde çok başarılı olmuş. Burjuva ahlakını yerle bir ederken kullandığı eğlenceli kara mizah bana göre eşsiz güzellikteydi. Zaman zaman hikayeden kopup geri geldiğiniz bölümler olsa da çeviri dili o kadar akıcı ve güzel ki kitaba bir şekilde dönüp yazarı ve karakterleri özümsemeye devam edebiliyorsunuz. Hem Amado'ya hem Cemgil'e şa ...more

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Mar 13, 2008 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: brazilian-literature, fiction-20th-century

Escrito às vésperas do golpe militar de 1964, este romance modelar se constrói em três partes autônomas, interligadas por personagens comuns: prostitutas, boêmios, vigaristas, a comunidade notívaga de Salvador, com suas leis e valores próprios: o culto à cachaça, o ódio à polícia, o horror ao trabalho.Na primeira parte, o cabo Martim, craque dos baralhos marcados e dos dados viciados, sedutor cobiçado, aparece com companheira fixa e planos de constituir um lar. A notícia cai como uma bomba entre ...more

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Aug 11, 2014 Jacqueline Wagenstein rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: colibri-modern-classics

Амаду има милиони почитатели по света заради удивителното си чувство за хумор, неповторимите си образи, бурните страсти и трагикомичните любови... Шестнайсетгодишната Оталия пристига в големия град да живее и да работи в публичния дом на майчица Тиберия, но с появата си неволно нажежава страстите. Влюбчивият Курио се хваща в мрежите на прекрасната Мариалва, жената на най-близкия му приятел и побратим ефрейтор Мартим, и всичко се заплита неудържимо по романтичен, комичен и героичен начин. Негърът Амаду има милиони почитатели по света заради удивителното си чувство за хумор, неповторимите си образи, бурните страсти и трагикомичните любови... Шестнайсетгодишната Оталия пристига в големия град да живее и да работи в публичния дом на майчица Тиберия, но с появата си неволно нажежава страстите. Влюбчивият Курио се хваща в мрежите на прекрасната Мариалва, жената на най-близкия му приятел и побратим ефрейтор Мартим, и всичко се заплита неудържимо по романтичен, комичен и героичен начин. Негърът Масу кръщава с йоруба-християнска церемония своя русокос и синеок син и лично божеството Огун се наема да избере за детето му достоен кръстник. И докато бездомници градят своите колиби, а политическите лидери преследват корупционните си народолюбиви интереси, Курио изживява скръбна страст по мадам Беатрис, прочутата индийска факирка, родом от бразилския град Нитерой.

На 10 август,2014 г. се навършиха 102 години от рождението на бразилския писател Жоржи Амаду. Смятан е за модернист, пишещ често в стила магически реализъм. Амаду е един от най-известните бразилски автори, творчеството му е преведено на 49 езика. Много негови книги са филмирани. На български са преведи книгите му „Тереза Батиста, уморена от битки“, „Дона Флор и нейните двама съпрузи“, „Тиета от Агрести“, „Пастири на нощта“ и др. Умира през 2001 г.

„Светът е такъв – неразбираем и пълен с изненади“.

„Любовта – най-прекрасното и най-ужасното нещо на света“.

„Любовта не се доказва или измерва – тя съществува и това е достатъчно“.

„Любовта е вечна, защото винаги се подновява. Страстите умират, любовта остава“.

„Щастието има нужда да се храни не само със спомени от миналото. Нуждае се и от мечти за бъдещето“.

„Нито дори Бог, който ни е създал, не може да ни избие всички. Бог убива хората един по един, а колкото повече убива, толкова повече хората ще продължат да се раждат, да растат, да се раждат отново, да се смесват и т.н. И никой кучи син няма да ги спре!“.

„Нещастието е издръжливо дърво; филиз, набучен в земята, не иска особени грижи, расте, разклонява се, среща се навсякъде. В двора на бедняка, приятелю, нещастието избуява, там не се задържа друго растение. Ако човек няма закалка и здрава кожа, ако няма мазоли отвън и отвътре, безсмислено е да се захваща с боговете, не съществува магия, която да послужи. Още нещо ще ви кажа, но не за да се хваля или да превъзнасям силата на нямащите, а защото това е чистата истина – само беднякът има смелост да понася нещастията и да продължава да живее“ – из „Тереза Батиста, уморена от битки“

„Да харесаш някого е лесно, случва се, когато най- малко очакваш, един поглед, една дума, един жест и огънят лумва, изгаря гърдите и устата; трудно е да се забрави, самотата изяжда човека; любовта не е трън, който се изважда, тумор, който се изтръгва, любовта е непокорна, нестихваща болка, убива отвътре“ – из „Тереза Батиста, уморена от битки“.

„Животът беше хубав – човек трябваше само да го живее“.
...more

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Jun 18, 2010 Michael rated it really liked it

Shelves: aa-brazillit, translation, amado-jorge, modernlit, aa-latin-americalit, zz1964, literature, masculinismlit

.??? sometime 90s: i wish i was a night owl with these friends, even now when i can be reasonably aware of embedded misogyny, aware of errors of machismo, aware women are more than counters in a game of manliness, not your enemy if not your love…

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Dec 25, 2017 Bob Newman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brazilian-literature

A flockin' beauty !

The word "picaresque" was invented for the novels about the demi-monde of Bahia, Brazil, written by Jorge Amado. All of them contain characters you hate to part from, characters that will live forever in the world of fiction, the characters of novels like "Tieta", "The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell", "Gabriela: Clove and Cinnamon", "Jubiaba", "Tent of Miracles", "Home is the Sailor", "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" and many others. The lowlifes of that city in northeastern A flockin' beauty !

The word "picaresque" was invented for the novels about the demi-monde of Bahia, Brazil, written by Jorge Amado. All of them contain characters you hate to part from, characters that will live forever in the world of fiction, the characters of novels like "Tieta", "The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell", "Gabriela: Clove and Cinnamon", "Jubiaba", "Tent of Miracles", "Home is the Sailor", "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" and many others. The lowlifes of that city in northeastern Brazil come to life--all the cardsharpers, whores, thieves, frog catchers, sailors, food vendors, drunks and neer-do-wells. Most of them might stray from the letter of the law occasionally, some of them normally. They might quarrel, steal, or prostitute themselves, but they are never mean, never vicious or oppressive. These are tales, after all, and they represent a world--not the real world of Brazil, but the world inside Amado's head, a great place to be I think. In Amado's Bahia, the women are strong and charming, nearly always beautiful and certainly generous with their favors. The fish stew is always great, and rum flows like water. Only the cruel police and the venal politicians dupe the people, betray anyone for money, and oppress their fellow men. OK, maybe the stories are not so realistic, but they are extremely entertaining. You can't put these books down. And Amado respects and builds up the Afro-Brazilian religion known variously as Macumba or Candomble, the religion which joins the West African religious system known as Vodun to Catholicism. The colorful life of this religion is woven throughout almost every one of Amado's novels. SHEPHERDS OF THE NIGHT is no exception.

The novel is divided into three sections, but interlinked. In the first, we read about the brief marriage of Corporal Martim, a rake and dealer of marked cards who marries a beautiful, but jealous and domineering ex-prostitute while he is on the lam out in the sticks. His friends look aghast at this travesty of his real, uncommitting nature, and amidst a rum-induced haze decide to do something about it. The second part tells of the christening of the Negro Massu's son, conceived with a woman who dies young, leaving Massu, assisted by his grandmother, to raise the boy. The tale involves a Catholic priest who cannot recall his own origins in the Macumba rituals. Amado tells us how deep the roots of this syncretic culture really are. The third section deals with a land invasion by the poor folks of Rampa do Mercado. They illegally occupy lands owned by a rich Spaniard and despite attacks by the police, manage, through political machinations and pure determination, to hold onto them. There must be a sacrificial victim however.......
If you have never read Jorge Amado, this is a good place to start. If you have read any of his other works and liked them, you'll definitely like this one too. It's a flockin' great read. ...more

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Jul 14, 2020 Rafaele rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: américa-latina, brasil, homem, língua-portuguesa

O Compadre de Ogum é perfeito.

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Dec 30, 2015 Dan rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction-20th-century, reviewed, free-archive-org

"Shepherds of the Night" by Jorge Amado, translated from the Portuguese by the late Harriet De Onis, is three interconnected short stories about a dozen or so mainly poorer common folks in the state of Bahia ("bay") bordering the Atlantic coast in northeast Brazil. Bahia is the historical and cultural heart of Brazil and retains the greatest African (and Portuguese) imprint in custom and culture. The population is genetically about half African, over a third European, and many of the remaining N ...more

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May 07, 2016 Nestor Jimenez rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: latin-america

El bautizo del hijo del negro Massu y el padrinazgo de Ogum paga la novela. Hace mucho que no me reia tanto...que entrañable es Jorge Amado

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About Jorge Amado

Jorge Amado

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Jorge Amado de Faria was a Brazilian writer of the Modernist school. He was the best-known of modern Brazilian writers, his extensive work having been translated into some 30 languages and popularized in film, notably Dona Flor and her Two Husbands, (in Portuguese, Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos) in 1978. His work dealt largely with the poor urban black and mulatto communities of Bahia.
(Wikipedia)

J ...more