Elvira Bugár

A Fabulous Love Story?: Intertextual Influences in John Updike's Brazil Elvira Bugár

John Updike's Brazil is a fascinating piece of work to read. It is so captivating that you simply cannot put it down. It seems to be a fabulous twentieth- century love story of a rich, white girl and a poor, black boy whose love is stronger than the conventions of the country and thus, it overcomes all obstacles. The plot is full of action just like a movie film incorporating scenes from erotic love to horrifying death. A part of the novel resembles a kind of 'time travel' through several centuries in the history of Brazil. We can encounter adventurers looking for gold in the gold-mines of South America, Indian tribes kidnapping children, colonists wandering the backlands and even a shaman as the book cannot even do without magic. Can all this be true in a twentieth century setting or is it fiction? This book gives the answer through a thorough study of Brazil's history, economy, social structure and civilization.