Elizabeth Ross's Reviews > The Maias

I found the Portuguese version of this book in my parents' home and got curious to read it because there are very few books set in Portugal and Eça de Queirós is one of those old portuguese writers that is quite famous. A quick look at the book immediately told me I would never be able to read the portuguese version because the language used is far too complex and formal. But I am not the kind of person that gives up easily and ended up finding the translated version on Amazon (I think?!) and ordering it.

Finally I had the book in my hands and could read it! Let's be honest, it is not the easiest of the readings. For someone who doesn't particularly enjoy long descriptions it may even be considered a nightmare (five full pages to describe a freaking house, not to mention the detailed way some of the characters' outfits were described). And at the beginning of the book (during the first chapter, to be exact), I started to regret my decision of buying this book. But that long first chapter allowed me to got used to Eça de Queirós' writing style and start to know when exactly I could skip the descriptions parts. And once I started doing that, the reading became much easier and I started to actually enjoy the book.

I loved the way Eça de Queirós introduced us to the XIX century Portugal. He made it so well that anyone could imagine those places and imagine the characters. I got a little surprised when I realized how critical Eça de Queirós was of the portuguese society, highly praising the French and British ones while strongly condemning the portuguese and its costumes. However, it surely allowed the book to sound even more realistic as our main characters were all Democrats in a country ruled by a King and rich enough to travel to countries that were economically better (being France already a Democracy).

We got to read about many of the most important matters of the time, from the Art field to the Political, with discussions about literature and its new styles, philosophy, politics and religion, offering this book a diversity and dynamic few can be proud of having.

However, not everything is good. For a story that is meant to be a romance, it takes far too much time to present us the woman Carlos fall in love with (they only meet each other in chapter 9). And if, on one hand, it is nice to see a relationship that is actually built step by step, on the other, we can't not call it love at first sight (and poorly done, may I add) as Carlos decides to chase the woman and find a way of being introduced to her, because he needs to know her (like romantically know her) after looking at her once.

And I can't exactly say that the plot "twist" is really a twist because after the very second chapter I could already tell anyone what was going to happen. However, it is quite an original idea and it is executed brilliantly, presenting the struggles, pain, sadness and rage anyone in a position as terrible as Carlos' would have and feel.

Speaking of Carlos, he got me crazy. He and Ega, his best friend. I mean, I've already read about characters I couldn't connect with, characters I liked, characters I hate. But never, never before I got two characters that, in just one book, I couldn't connect with, loved and hated, depending on the moment. They just sounded like they were multiple persons and not just one. I hated Carlos in the beginning, then that hatred became indifference and then suddenly he became so awfully realistic that I started liking him. Ega started the book as an annoying side-kick I couldn't connect with, just to become the character I hated the most, then someone I was actually starting to like, only to become an annoying asshole again, to finally ending the story as my favorite character. That is not how characters should work! You can have mixed feelings towards someone, but not like this, from hatred to love and back to hatred in just a few chapters.

In fact, the only character I could actually like was Carlos' grandfather. He was clearly created to be one of those characters everyone loves and well, it surely worked with me. The man was so extraordinary, so caring, so strong. He didn't deserve what happened to him in the end, he didn't deserve it at all, and it broke my heart.

Overall, do not come for this book looking for an unpredictable plot, because you won't find it. Come for this book looking for a crude and honest representation of a society and characters with far too much money and free time. Come for this book looking for a realistic representation of the consequences of a love that went terribly wrong, without the couple being able to do anything to prevent it. And if you come looking for those things, you surely will find a book worth reading, despite some inconsistencies.

SCORE: 4.00 out of 5.00 stars

You can also find this review on my blog