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A Brazilian Lord of the Flies, about a group of boys who live by their wits and daring in the slums of Bahia
A Penguin Classics
They call themselves “Captains of the Sands,” a gang of orphans and runaways who live by their wits and daring in the torrid slums and sleazy back alleys of Bahia. Led by fifteen-year-old “Bullet,” the band—including a crafty liar named “Legless,” the intellectual “Professor,” and the sexually precocious “Cat”—pulls off heists and escapades against the right and privileged of Brazil. But when a public outcry demands the capture of the “little criminals,” the fate of these children becomes a poignant, intensely moving drama of love and freedom in a shackled land.
Captains of the Sands captures the rich culture, vivid emotions, and wild landscape of Bahia with penetrating authenticity and brilliantly displays the genius of Brazil’s most acclaimed author.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
A Penguin Classics
They call themselves “Captains of the Sands,” a gang of orphans and runaways who live by their wits and daring in the torrid slums and sleazy back alleys of Bahia. Led by fifteen-year-old “Bullet,” the band—including a crafty liar named “Legless,” the intellectual “Professor,” and the sexually precocious “Cat”—pulls off heists and escapades against the right and privileged of Brazil. But when a public outcry demands the capture of the “little criminals,” the fate of these children becomes a poignant, intensely moving drama of love and freedom in a shackled land.
Captains of the Sands captures the rich culture, vivid emotions, and wild landscape of Bahia with penetrating authenticity and brilliantly displays the genius of Brazil’s most acclaimed author.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
7 Reviews
3.5
Cooper
Created about 1 month agoShare
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finley
Created 6 months agoShare
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“started off slow but was really good once it picked up. very impactful despite the simple writing style / translation.”Reviewed in:book club!
Believable charactersDiverse charactersMulti-layered charactersEasy to readAddictiveTwistyBeautiful settingImmersive settingThought-provokingSexual assault
Milena
Created 6 months agoShare
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Characters change and growDiverse charactersMulti-layered charactersDescriptive writingEasy to readAddictiveRealistic settingComing of ageThought-provokingViolence
L. 🍉
Created 8 months agoShare
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“I think I'll give this book a second chance sometime.”
Believable charactersMulti-layered characters
Soph Lama
Created 9 months agoShare
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“Another really really great 5 star read!
This novel is widely known as Jorge Amado's Brazilian Lord of the Flies which I've never read, but from what I've gathered they are both about gangs made up of boys. Learning the history of Brazil alongside the stories of the boys in this book taught me so much about South America in a very accessible way. For a classic, this was quite a page turner. Amado's writing style was witty and innovative and made me care about the state of Bahia, a place I had never heard of before. He forces you to empathize with gang members by providing personal context that feels too close for comfort. I've noticed that classics don't typically have happy endings, but they are somewhat satisfying. I was left with a deep sense of melancholy upon finishing, but Captains of the Sands is a book I see myself rereading many times. I would recommend!”
About Jorge Amado
Jorge Amado (1912–2001) was born in the state of Bahia, Brazil, whose society he portrays in such acclaimed novels as Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands.
Gregory Rabassa (translator; 1922–2016) was a National Book Award–winning translator whose English-language versions of works by Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortázar, and Jorge Amado have become classics in their own right.
Colm Tóibín (introduction) is the bestselling author of numerous novels, including the Costa Award–winning Brooklyn and the Pulitzer Prize and Booker Prize finalist The Master.
Gregory Rabassa (translator; 1922–2016) was a National Book Award–winning translator whose English-language versions of works by Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortázar, and Jorge Amado have become classics in their own right.
Colm Tóibín (introduction) is the bestselling author of numerous novels, including the Costa Award–winning Brooklyn and the Pulitzer Prize and Booker Prize finalist The Master.
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