Luciano Duarte

Literarily speaking, there is no doubt that the didactic and confessional tones are not among the most refined forms, and that they often provoke aversion in experienced readers. However, if we take Tolstoy as an example, we will see that, although they are certainly not his masterpieces, the books he wrote using these tones possess a special charm. It is as if the great auth...

The visual arts possess a special capacity to shock—instantly, unexpectedly—which, from the very first encounter, can create a memory that will never fade. This is, for example, what can happen to someone standing before a sculpture by Aleijadinho for the first time. The moment the eyes fix on the work and grasp its drama, it is as if it pierces them like a bolt of lightning;...

Gilberto Freyre, Mário Ferreira dos Santos, and Otto Maria Carpeaux: three authors who, on their own, could transform Brazil into a new civilization. Add to that, just to stick with them, the dozens of excellent poets the country has already produced, and we would have a broad and fertile literary landscape, sufficient to lay the foundations for a solid intellectual education...

Although the author is likely never entirely satisfied, it is undeniable that, upon finishing a work, when he recalls its beginning—when there was little more than intention and expectation—he must conclude that something special has happened. Sometimes, it is noticing the unimaginable path the creation has taken, and consequently the unexpected outcome, that brings the satis...

When I think of the sannyasis of India, I realize that I have, of course, renounced nothing, that I lead a life of pleasure and comfort, and that I have faced nothing but minor obstacles in pursuing my calling. If, however, I compare my circumstances with what I have become, if I reflect on the natural path I rejected, on an adult life that has amounted to successive defectio...