The singer, songwriter and playwright Chico Buarque turns 80 this Wednesday (19). With a career spanning almost six decades, the Rio native ventured into various fields of arts, including literature.
Renowned as the author of plays such as “Roda Viva”, “Ópera do Malandro” and “O Grande Circo Místico”, Chico also explored other genres, such as short stories, poetry, and children’s and adult novels.
His literary production was recognized and acclaimed, earning the Rio singer seven Jabutis, including three in the Book of the Year Fiction category, and an honor at the Camões Prize, the main award for literature in the Portuguese language, in 2019.
Do you want to know more about Chico Buarque’s books? A CNN presents you below five works written by the singer.
“Little Yellow Riding Hood” (1970)
The pinnacle of Chico Buarque’s children’s literature, “Little Yellow Riding Hood” was originally published in 1970 and re-released in 1997 with illustrations by Ziraldo, who passed away in April of this year, in his sleep, at the age of 91.
The book tells the story of a girl who lived in so much fear that she missed the opportunity to experience the wonders of life. The cycle is broken when Little Riding Hood faces the big bad wolf, and the story teaches a lesson about courage to the children who read it.
“Estorvo” (1991)
It was only in 1991 that Chico Buarque debuted in the romance genre. “Estorvo” was written on the computer that the singer had received from his then wife, actress Marieta Severo, and tells the story of a narrator who, trapped in an obsession, fluctuates between dreams and real life.
The work had its first print run, which totaled 30 thousand copies, sold out in two days and earned Chico the Jabuti award in 1992, in the Book of the Year Fiction and Romance categories.
“Budapest” (2003)
Chico Buarque’s third novel, “Budapeste” tells the story of a ghostwriter who writes things behind pseudonyms and other living authors. His life is changed when he arrives in the capital of Hungary, the city that gives the work its name and where he finds himself divided between his wife, Vanda, who is in Rio de Janeiro, and the character Kriska, who lives there.
The book also won the Jabutis for Book of the Year Fiction and Romance, in addition to being praised by Portuguese writer José Saramago, owner of works such as “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ” and “Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira”.
“Chico Buarque dared a lot, he wrote crossing an abyss on a wire and reached the other side. Next door are the works executed with mastery, that of language, that of narrative construction, that of simple doing. I don’t think I’m fooling myself by saying that something new happened in Brazil with this book”, wrote the Portuguese native to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
“Spilled Milk” (2010)
A novel published after “Budapest”, “Leite Derramado” tells about an old man, member of a traditional Brazilian family, who tells the story of his Portuguese ancestors and members of the Brazilian oligarchy. The work highlights the decline of the Brazilian elite over the generations.
Chico received two more Jabutis for writing, again for Book of the Year Fiction and Romance.
“German Brother” (2014)
In a bold text, Chico departed from his own family’s narrative to create a novel about the search for a possible German brother requested by the Hollander family, a name chosen in reference to his father, the intellectual Sérgio de Hollanda.
The backdrop of the work is the military dictatorship in Brazil and the legacy of the Holocaust in Germany. The book came in third place in the category of Brazilian Book Published Abroad at Jabuti in 2015.
Chico Buarque retires “Com Açúcar, Com Afeto” after criticism from women
Source: CNN Brasil
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