The City and the Mountains

Queirós, Eça de, 1845-1900Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.5

Word count: 422K words
Chapters: 43

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Cidade e as Serras by Eça de QueirósAuthor: Queirós, Eça de, 1845-1900,Language: Portuguese, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Apr 21, 2006

Editor's review

The City and the Mountains is a novel by the Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós, here in the Project Gutenberg public-domain electronic edition. The work is built around the contrast between urban civilization and life in the mountains, continuing the author's signature irony and his detailed observation of social customs, with polished language and dramatically vivid dialogue. Its value lies in the literary way it presents the ambivalence of the late nineteenth-century Portuguese intelligentsia toward modern city life: fascinated by its conveniences and novelties, yet doubtful of its emptiness. As you read, note the narrator's different handling of city scenes and rural daily life, and the gentle skepticism behind the irony. It works well as an introduction to Portuguese literature or as supplementary reading for the study of late nineteenth-century European society and culture, and is also suited to readers who enjoy social novels of manners and prefer to savor a book slowly.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers new to Portuguese literature who want to know Eça de Queirós
Literary readers who enjoy social novels of manners and ironic writing
Readers studying late nineteenth-century European ideas of city and countryside
Readers who need a public-domain Portuguese text for language study

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and strong narrative conflict
Readers with little patience for nineteenth-century social customs
Readers with no Portuguese at all who are unwilling to use a translation

Reading tips

Learn first about the author's era and Portuguese society, then enter the text; the targets of the irony become clearer.
Pay attention to the contrast between the city and the mountain settings; read the related passages side by side to see how the theme unfolds.
There is a great deal of dialogue; read passages aloud to feel the rhythm of the language and the ironic tone.
If the Portuguese is difficult, use a reliable translation to follow the plot, then return to the original to savor the wording.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is this book about?

Judging from the title and the author's style, the work is built around the contrast between urban civilization and life in the mountains, using the characters' experiences to present both fascination with and doubt about modern city life, while continuing the author's ironic observation of social customs. For the specific plot, rely on the original text; as you read, follow the main thread of the city-versus-countryside contrast.

Can I read it without any Portuguese?

The original is in Portuguese, so reading it directly requires some knowledge of the language. Without that, you can first use a reliable translation to understand the plot and themes, then go back to passages in the original; you can also treat it as Portuguese study material, starting with short passages and reading them alongside a translation.

Is this book suitable as an introduction to Portuguese literature?

It can serve as one. Eça de Queirós is a major Portuguese novelist, and this book's polished language and clear irony show his style. The nineteenth-century social background may, however, feel distant to first-time readers; it is best to read an introduction or background material before starting the text.

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About the author

Queirós, Eça de, 1845-1900 Author

José Maria de Eça de Queirós (Queirós, Eça de, 1845–1900) was a Portuguese novelist, and thirteen of his works are held in this collection. Public information is limited, and details such as his exact birth and death dates and nationality could not be confirmed. Judging from his representative works, he was skilled at building narratives against a backdrop of social customs: Os Maias is subtitled "episodes of romantic life," O Primo Bazilio is labeled a "domestic episode," and O crime do padre Amaro is described as "scenes of devout life," showing his preference for examining private emotions and family ethics within concrete social settings. His writing combines irony with realism, often using his characters' fates to reveal tensions between city and countryside and between faith and desire; A Cidade e as Serras, A Illustre Casa de Ramires, and the story collection Contos reflect similar concerns. His works have had a lasting influence on Portuguese realist literature.