The Neighbor - Machado de Assis

BRAZILIAN LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION #3
The Neighbor
Roger Mello
+5
years
The Neighbor
Roger Mello
Illustrated by Graça Lima and Mariana Massarani | Translated by Laurie Anne Carpenter
Those that pass by the street of Restlessness, number 38, don’t realize it, but...
The neighbor man from 101 has coffee while he looks at animal engravings.
The neighbor lady from 102 has already returned from the marathon.
The neighbor man collects old vinyl records from the 50s.
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The Neighbor | Roger mello
The neighbor lady stores old things that she can’t find later.
He traveled the entire world.
She has a bookcase the size of the world.
He waters plants on the windowsill, dressed in a deep sea diving suit, and when he
reads comic books, he always loses track of time.
She is still going to learn to play the clarinet, and her clock hasn’t worked for
a long time.
Four forty: he leaves with his canary for a walk.
Twenty before five: she finally takes the clock to get fixed.
This is the only time they meet.
In the hallway: good afternoon, good afternoon, how have you been? How is the
weather? And that’s it.
Twenty to Six: he is back, building a paper city.
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The Neighbor | Roger mello
A little after six: she brought home a “Manual of the Modern Chemist”. The repair
of the clock, once again, is left for tomorrow.
He invented a rainmaking machine, and the neighbor lady doesn’t know.
She feeds a rhino under the sink, and the neighbor man has no idea.
He has a niece almost the same age as her grandson.
She has a grandson two fingers shorter than his niece.
The other day, the neighbor’s niece paid him a visit.
On the exact same day that the grandson came to spend the day with the
neighbor lady.
Four Forty: the neighbor goes out with his canary. His niece snoops.
Twenty to Five: The neighbor lady took the clock to be fixed. Her grandson observes.
Open doors and an irresistible invitation: coffee with comics watering can all the
books in the world Manual of the Modern Chemist lot of old stuff plants animals
clarinet old vinyl records
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The Neighbor | Roger mello
from the 50s marathon clothes rainmaking machine rhino fotos from the entire
world engravings engravings engravings deep sea diving suit paper cities...
After the niece and the grandson have gone home,
the silence rehearsed a half dozen dance steps.
While he has his coffee, the neighbor man imagines all the things that exist on the
other side. One of these days he is going to invite the neighbor lady to come in.
If he invites her, she will accept.
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The Neighbor | Roger mello
The book
The Neighbor
Roger Mello
• Original title: Vizinho, vizinha
• ISBN: 9788574061498
• Publication year: 2002
• Original publishing house:
Companhia das Letras
• Number of pages: 36
• Total printing in Brazil: 217.000 copies
Synopsis
Neighbors shows what separates
and what unites the denizens of a
metropolis. At 38 Disturbance Street,
things are pretty quiet. In apartment
101, a boy reads a comic, has breakfast
and builds a paper town. He doesn’t
even notice the noise from the girl
in 102, who plays clarinet, keeps a
pet rhino under the sink and collects
books and old knickknacks. They
only meet in the afternoon, out in
the hallway, when they say hi and
talk about the weather. When they’ve
gone about their business in town,
they’re back to their respective junk,
keepsakes and manias. How are they
ever going to break the solitude?
Awards
FNLIJ, “Altamente Recomendável
categoria criança”, 2002; selected for
PNBE in 2012; selected for “Programa
Alfabetização na Idade Certa” (2012).
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The Neighbor | Roger mello
The author
José Roger Soares de Mello
• Pen name: Roger Mello
• Other books:
Carvoeirinhos, Companhia das Letras 3.000 copies.
Contradança, Companhia das Letras 3.000 copies.
Meninos do mangue, Companhia das
Letras - 35.201 copies.
Zubair e os labirintos, Companhia das
Letras - 1.800 copies.
The illustrators
Mariana Medeiros Massarani
• Pen name: Mariana Massarani
Mariana Massarani has a degree
industrial design, having studied
etching at the Modern Art Museum of
Rio de Janeiro. She started working
as an illustrator in a newspaper in
Rio, Jornal do Brasil, and now she is a
graphic artist, an illustrator and author
of more than a hundred children’s
books. Her work was presented at the
Bolonha Fair in 1990 and 1992, and at
Bratislava in 1993 and 2007. She won
the Jabuti Award, Adolf Aizen Award
and a FNLIJ award.
communication at the Escola de
Belas-Artes (UFRJ) and has a masters
from Pontifícia Universidade Católica
(PUC-RJ). Since 1985, she has worked
with graphic design and has illustrated
over fifty books, many of which have
received awards.
Maria da Graça Muniz Lima
• Pen name: Graça Lima
Graça Lima was born in Rio de
Janeiro, in 1958. She studied visual
The translator
Laurie Anne Carpenter
Laurie Anne Carpenter was born in
the United States and has lived in São
Paulo since 1985. She holds a BA in
English from Wheaton College, Illinois,
and has done graduate studies at
both USP and PUC-SP. She taught
high-school English and drama at an
American school in São Paulo until
she retired from teaching in 2012 in
order to travel and dedicate her time
to writing and translating. She has
translated both fiction and non-fiction.
Publication rights
Ana Paula Hisayama
Companhia das Letras
Rua Bandeira Paulista, 702, cj. 11
04532-002 - São Paulo - SP
Tel: 3707 3516
[email protected]
www.companhiadasletras.com.br