Originally published 1852 Genre Novel | ||
 | ||
Novels The Posthumous Memoirs, O Cortiço, Dom Casmurro, Vidas Secas, O Ateneu | ||
Memoirs of a Police Sergeant (Portuguese: Memórias de um sargento de milícias) is a satirical novel written by the Brazilian author Manuel Antônio de Almeida. It was first published in 1852.
Contents
The book is full of picturesque descriptions of Rio de Janeiro's life in the early 19th century, including popular feasts and holidays. The book is considered to be an outstanding work in the Brazilian Literature, because of its almost grotesque humor against some Brazilian institutions, like the Army, the Church and is considered, besides a literary masterpiece, an important source of Brazilian history.
Plot
The novel is set at around 1808 (as long as the first line line is something like "It was in the Time of the King") and it tells the colorful story of a problem child (Leonardo), since his parents first meet, until his childhood, in a hypocrite and corrupt society. Leonardo grows up into an amoral, reckless young man until he is arrested by the police and given the chance of becoming an officer instead of serving his sentence.
Editions
A recent edition in Portuguese (New York, NY: Luso-Brazilian Books, 2005) has the ISBN 0-85051-504-1.
A recent English edition titled Memoirs of a militia sergeant: a novel (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) has the ISBN 0-19-511549-X.