First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

Tent of Miracles introduces us to perhaps Amado’s richest creation – the late, lovably roguish Pedro Archanjo: street-corner Socrates, devoted anthropologist, cult priest, dean of the demi-monde, bon viveur and indefatigable apostle of miscagenation. Yet Archanjo’s “discovery” by one James D. Levenson – gringo, lover, Nobel Laureate – plunges Bahia into fantastic intrigue. Is Archanjo a savant, a seducer of women exquisite beyond the praise of poets, a rum-sodden scoundrel or a redeemer of magical powers?

Happy Friday everyone! I hope everyone is ending the workweek on a high note. I hope you were all able to accomplish all the tasks you set at the start of the week. As for me, I just returned from my trip to Vietnam where I spent the last five days visiting wonderful places, from the capital city of Hà Nội to the hill station of Sa Pa. This is my second time visiting Vietnam, making it the first country I visited twice. As always, it was a delightful experience. Actually, during my first trip to our Southeast Asian neighbor, I promised myself I would return. Over five years later, I made good on this promise. My first trip was rather short. Anyway, I hope everyone will have a great weekend.

Capping the workweek is a fresh First Impression Friday. I just realized that this is going to be my last for September. Whoa. In a couple of days, it will be October. How time flies. With the year approaching its close, I hope the rest of the year will be brimming with good news. Before the year ends, I pray you get repaid for your hard work. I hope that everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. After spending a month and a half reading works of African literature – my first since 2021 – I commenced a literary journey across South America. The last time I had one was back in 2021 as well. From the Caribbean with Maryse Condé’s The Gospel According to the New World, I am now in Brazil, reading Jorge Amado’s Tent of Miracles.

It was while browsing through the book catalog in the bookstore that I first came across the Brazilian writer. I dismissed him at first but after several more encounters, I relented and decided to give his prose a try. This opportunity came during the height of the pandemic when I made his novel Showdown part of my first full-fledged foray into South American literature. It was a lush and compulsive story that led me to make Tent of Miracles part of my second foray into South American literature. Originally published in Portuguese in 1968 as Tenda dos Milagres, Tent of Miracles forms part of a collective Amado referred to as “The Bahia Novels”. These are works exploring the region’s past.

I just started reading the book. As such, I haven’t gotten much detail nor have I formed a deep impression of the story. Nevertheless, the novel’s opening chapters have apprised me of some of the story’s basics. It comes in the form of a documentary or a conquest to understand a seminal historical picture, at least in the context of the story. The chronicler came in the form of Dr. James D. Levenson. Dr. Levenson is an American professor who traveled to Brazil to research and document the life and story of Pedro Archanjo. Archanjo, celebrating his 100th birthday, was a reclusive community leader. He was also a scientist.

It was also Dr. Levenson’s goal to write a foreword for a translated book of Archanjo’s works; the book’s opening pages already came in the form of a foreword. Dr. Levenson, an honoree of the Nobel Prize, has become a devotee of Archanjo whose writings the American believed are seminal parts of mulatto literature. To achieve his goal, Dr. Levenson enlisted the assistance of Brazilian poet Fausto Pena. Pena will help tell the story of Archanjo. How the story develops is something I am looking forward to.

One of the first things that I noted about the book was how different it is from Showdown, at least where the literary structure is concerned. I am, however, not going to be surprised if Tent of Miracles will explore the same subjects as Showdown did. Showdown descended into the lowest rungs of humanity to capture a paradise that blossomed in the middle of the wilderness. Tent of Miracles, however, is a little cosmopolitan. My interest was piqued by two primary layers. The first one pertains to Archanjo. How significant is his role in the story? Or is he going to be an ephemeral character who will be a literary device to be used to explore other more meaningful or more important subjects?

The second layer I am interested in is how Dr. Levenson’s adventure going to shape up. He is, after all, a curiosity – with his intellectual pursuits – who dropped in out of the blue. Who is he? What drew him to Archanjo? Besides these burning questions at the back of my mind, I am also curious about where the book derived its title. Is the tent of miracles a physical place? Why do I suspect that it is related to Archanjo; he is a scientist after all. But with Archanjo being a scientist, doesn’t “miracles” contradict his natural – at least I assume it to be – tendency? There are still a lot of pages I have to plow through. I am hoping these pages will provide me with the answers I am looking for.

There are a lot of things to look forward to. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!