- History, Fiction, Description and travel, Fiction, historical, general
In this vivid, powerful novel, Chatwin tells of Francisco Manoel de Silva, a poor Brazilian adventurer who sails to Dahomey in West Africa to trade for slaves and amass his fortune. His plans exceed his dreams, and soon he is the Viceroy of Ouidah, master of all slave trading in Dahomey. But the ghastly business of slave trading and the open savagery of life in Dahomey slowly consume Manoel's wealth and sanity.
Log it
Sign in to log this.
Character
Grave, classical in form, earnest and bleak.
- gravecomic
- classical in formformally daring
- earnestironic
- warmbleak
- cooloverwhelming
Who loves it, who doesn't
No profiled raters yet.
Ask the title
A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
No reviews yet.
About the book
- Author
- Bruce Chatwin
- First published
- 1980
- Pages
- 142
- Publisher
- VINTAGE (RAND), Hanser, J. Cape
- Editions
- 12
- Language
- French, Spanish, English
- ISBN
- 9780140112900
Where to read
Libraries first: a card gets you most books for nothing. Each opens that service’s page for this title.
On Open Library, 2 have read it and 6 want to.
“THE FAMILY OF Francisco Manoel da Silva had assembled at Ouidah to honour his memory with a Requiem Mass and dinner.”
Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 1940 – 18 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, *In Patagonia* (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, interested in bringing to light unusual tales. He won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel *On the Black Hill* (1982), while his novel *Utz* (1988) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2008 The Times ranked Chatwin as number 46 on their list of "50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945". (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Chatwin))
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
The Reformatory 202386% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
The sound of things falling 201384% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
Furious Hours 201984% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
The Fountains of Silence 201983% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
Serena 200882% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
Both grave, earnest, classical in form.
For Whom the Bell Tolls 194082% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
Last Call 202182% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai 201183% alikeFilm · Both grave, classical in form, earnest.
Nightmare Alley 194783% alikeFilm · Both grave, classical in form, earnest.