Chad Post's Reviews > The City and the Mountains

This is the first Eca de Queiros book that I've read in full, but it definitely won't be the last. The plot is rather simple: a Portuguese man grows up in Paris and is enamored with progress and technology, which leaves him feeling listless (bourgeoisie life is boring!). He then returns to one of his country estates in Portugal and becomes enamored with nature (streams are pretty!), eventually becoming a socialist and trying to help out all of his tenants.

As a parable, the book is a bit thin, and it can ramble on at times. That said it's slightly less realistic than I had expected (Queiros is usually referred to as the Balzac of Portugal or the Flaubert, both of which seem equally apt, and not) and much more intriguing than the plot summary above.

I'm really interested in checking out the untranslated Sintra mystery book, The Maias (supposed to be his masterpiece), and The Correspondence of Fradique Mendes . . . sometime. Way too many books on my shelf right now.