Turns out I didn’t know that much about Brazil?? 

focuses on the performance that those in the upper classes feel like they have to put on to maintain their wealtha and status. rich people will tell themselves anything to make themselves believe they are good people. don’t understand why the author couldn’t have written a proper ending, felt it was quite abrupt.

a brief review for a brief book. role play is just about 110 pages, but it packs sooooo much in, and i completely loved it!

role play is a stream of consciousness novella narrated by vivian, a rich 32 year old brazilian woman who professes to be middle class despite her family’s multiple homes, staff, designer clothes and furniture, ultra-rich and powerful friends, and history of holding esteemed diplomatic positions. vivian is an incredibly strong voice. she’s blunt, acerbic, a bit snarky, largely out of touch, yet incredibly funny. 

vivian’s astringent disposition aside, witnessing an instance of classist violence prompts reflection and rumination, and this novella is largely made up of anecdotes, musings, and consideration of her past and present life, brazilian society, wealth, class, and privilege. 

although this line of thinking is sprinkled with some rather poignant and touching realizations about family, inequity, violence, and the endless race of earning various forms of social and economic capital, vivian’s empathy and desire to change are both stunted. she can be callous and unlikable, but vivian’s numbness to the horrors of the world (and apathy about her own role in those horrors) captures the truth of a pervasive modern desensitization to the state of the world. 

and! i say again!! this book is FUNNY. it may contemplate darker more serious topics but it does so with a sharp satire and petulance! 

this was an absolutely exceptional translation from portuguese (maybe one of my favorite translations i’ve ever read????) and i will be running to read anything else  writes!!!!

Firstly, I’d like to say that I hated the ending. Secondly, I’d like to say the book was short, which I appreciated, but I’m not exactly sure what it was trying to do. There were some interesting discussions about class and a refreshing self awareness, but overall, I was unimpressed. I didn’t hate it at all but it just wasn’t what I’d hoped for.