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High Art
by Rubem Fonseca, Translated by Ellen Watson
Original title: A Grande Arte
Original language: Portuguese
| Country: Brazil |
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| Publisher Unknown | | Pub. Place: UK | | List Price: £9.95 | | Not available for ordering |
| Published by Carroll & Graf | | Pub. Date: 1987 | | Pub. Place: USA | | Format: Paperback | | List Price: $7.95 | | Not available for ordering |
| Published by Harper: NY | | Pub. Date: 1986 | | Pub. Place: USA | | Format: Paperback | | Not available for ordering |
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High Art is a ‘literary detective story’ set in Rio with political and historical touches involving rich old Brazilian families and right-wing loonies. The male protagonists take plenty of time out for sexual adventures, usually with prostitutes, while the narrative marches on via murders, intrigues and mysteries. There are some very atmospheric bits and pieces, sandwiched between the detectivery and debauchery, which capture the unique —combination of squalor and wealth, power and powerlessness that is Brazil.
Within the frenetic and abbreviated irrealism of the detective story lies some acid social comment; seeing the decor of a designer flat — smoked glass, giant aquarium, built-in wardrobes — the cynical private eye describes it as ‘Playtime for parvenus in an underdeveloped country’.
Homicide was located in a dilapidated building on Avenida Presidente Vargas. From the window in Raul’s office you could see the endless line of cars filling the wide avenue that linked the Zona Norte to downtown. The building’s walls were dirty and full of holes. Frayed emergency electrical wiring snaked across the floor. The foyer door had broken hinges and looked about ready to fall off. In the corner, on a piece of newspaper, sat a wooden box of ashes, cigarette butts, and dried spittle. The floor Raul worked on was divided by partitions that formed small cubicles where clerks took depositions from defendants and witnesses. The cops wore cheap, informal sports clothes. 103
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