Pereira però si rende conto che vuole e deve denunciare le ingiustizie della vita. Il linguaggio usato da Tabucchi è piuttosto semplice, caratterizzato dal ricorrente "sostiene Pereira", al quale deve comunque riconoscersi il contributo a generare simpatia e affetto per un personaggio cui non si può non voler bene. A) brief, absorbing and ultimately cathartic story of personal heroism in the face of political tyranny." - Trey Graham, Salon Le pagine della letteratura possono coincidere con quelle della storia, se si ha il coraggio di sconfiggere l’indifferenza dei singoli. Pereira Maintains is the itinerary of a man devoted to literature and journalism, the chronicle of a solitary life and one final instance of courage, a man’s journey from slumber to exile; that is, to reality, the Reviewer maintains. Irving Malin comes to quite a contrary conclusion (in the Review of Contemporary Fiction, see quote above).

However, even he can't ignore the political situation entirely, and it is brought home to him by his young activist friend. The Reviewer maintains she first opened a book by an Italian author, adding that she had met him before. On a beauteous summer day, she opened the book and suddenly she found herself in Lisbon, which was quite different from present-day Lisbon, since the events took place before the Carnation Revolution. The Reviewer maintains that the story was set in the aforementioned city, emblem of the Estado Novo established by Salazar. It’s 1938, the time of the Spanish Civil War. Fascism under Franco of Spain is creeping into neighboring Portugal as well under its dictator Salazar. A kosher meat shop the main character frequents is vandalized by fascist thugs. At the foot of the coffin, on a small lectern, lay a register open to receive the signatures of visitors. A few names had been written there, but none I recognised. Perhaps they were old colleagues, people who lived through the same battles, retired journalists.And the lesson: it is never too late to open your eyes and be courageous and start acting to actually change things. The power of this slim book is inversely proportional to its size and modest, unassuming tone. (...) Tabucchi's spare prose is elegant. Its economy, and the growing sense of foreboding, seize the reader's attention and leave palpable threats hanging. (...) Creagh's translation is, for the most part, fluid and unobtrusive though there are rare clumsy touches." - Leyla Sanai, The Independent Pereira Maintains ( Italian: Sostiene Pereira) is a 1994 novel by the Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi. It is also known as Pereira Declares and Declares Pereira. Its story follows Pereira, a journalist for the culture column of a small Lisbon newspaper, as he struggles with his conscience and the restrictions of the dictatorial regime of Antonio Salazar. Antonio Tabucchi won the Premio Campiello, Viareggio Prize and Premio Scanno in 1994 for the novel. [1] [2] It was adapted into a film, also called Sostiene Pereira, in 1996.

Un uomo normale quindi, non un eroe. E’ il caso che gli fa conoscere un ragazzo insicuro che gli ricorda sé stesso quando era giovane; e forse anche il figlio che gli sarebbe piaciuto avere. Un incontro che inizia a lavorargli dentro lentamente, provocandogli conflitti interiori, domande senza risposta. E’ un debole lui, è solo un giornalista, è solo un letterato. Cosa può fare un letterato di fronte alle ingiustizie che gli stanno intorno? The end is not as clear as either of these two reviewers suggest -- possibly they are correct, but there seems no certainty either way (or some other way). He had chosen Honorine, a story about repentance which he intended to publish in three or four instalments. Pereira does not know why, but he had a feeling this story about repentance might come into someone’s life like a message in a bottle. Because there were so many things to repent of, he maintains, and a story about repentance was certainly called for, and this was the only way he had of sending a message to someone ready and willing to receive it. With Pereira Maintains Antonio Tabucchi has written a short novel with a depth and breadth of ideas that defy its length. Written in deceptively simple, spare prose it has a lightness that is counterbalanced by the weight of its subject matter. I had a smile on my face the whole time I was listening to this novel mostly due to our endearing protagonist, Dr. Pereira, who is a quirky, sometimes unwittingly humourous book editor of a local Lisbon newspaper. He is a widower who has conversations with his wife's picture every day. He has heart problems, high blood pressure and is overweight but enjoys eating omelettes with herbs and drinking lemonade (which is half sugar).

Pereira Maintains is an excellently written compassionate novel but to my chagrin the main hero is somewhat idealized.

Pereira, our main character, is a journalist having his mid-life crisis. His wife died a few years ago and he regrets that they never had children. He’s aging, lonely, overweight. He writes about art and literature and seems so disconnected from the political winds that a couple of friends, one a priest, tell him “stop living in another world; go out and see what’s happening all around you.” At night he tells his wife’s photo about his day and asks her opinion about things. Sullo sfondo di questa storia c'è un Portogallo schiacciato dal giogo della dittatura salazarista, un paese quasi "sospeso" in un limbo a se stante, apparentemente ignaro di quanto i fuochi dell'imminente Seconda Guerra Mondiale stiano covando in tutta Europa. Smorzate giungono anche le notizie dalla limitrofa Spagna, insanguinata dalla guerra civile che vede coinvolti repubblicani e franchisti. Un conflitto che interessa più o meno indirettamente buona parte delle nazioni del Vecchio Continente. António Ferro. [The Portuguese Department of Propaganda-SPN, later called the Portuguese Information, Culture and Tourism Department - SNI, was created by Antonio Ferro to create strategies for ideological propaganda. A surprising amount of this tense, impassioned novel, with no word wasted, is concerned with literature, as Pereira contemplates translating a story by Daudet or a chapter of Bernanos's Diary of a Country Priest. But the miracle of these references is that they are absolutely integrated into the dramatic logic of this superb, darkly-lit novella that manages to show how everything is warped into politics at a moment of extremism and infamy.For me it was really clever because that phrase made me think he would be arrested in the end, but then he seems to foil the censors and make his heroic declaration and probably be on his way to live in France… and yet the use of that narrative device raises a much more menacing possibility, as you say. It stops it from being a purely happy, heroic ending and makes it something more sinister and uncertain. I hadn’t thought of that other possibility, of him testifying against fascism – that’s also a possibility. François Mauriac “for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life.” (1885 – 1970). Growing apprehension, however, is assisted by something oblique and disjointed in the prose -- the slight lag behind words and phrases experienced even in excellent translations." - Ophelia Field, The Observer And I blurted almost the same instant, "Oh I had a .............. ermm ..... (gently crushing my eyelid)… hang on, I think….. (dropping my palms to my lap)… ah well, it was good and that's enough for one outing, isn't it, mamma?" Dr. Pereira is witness to the outrages perpetrated in his home, and it moves him to action, a final noble deed of heroism.

Written in a specific form, statement or maybe, as the publisher suggests, an interrogation, with repetitive phrase Pereira maintains , it is a beautiful and haunting tale about the man who at all costs is trying to avoid politics and troubles and at the same time remain decent man. It's also a tribute to the brave man ready to risk own life to protest against the evil and power of an insane ideology; the thing is going on in 1938, in the shadow of Nazi activities in Spain and Italy. E dunque, pur non essendo più tra i vivi, regolarmente Antonio Tabucchi vive: lo fa presentandosi coi baffi da dentro le pagine di un quotidiano, partecipe ancora del contemporaneo, mettendo il piede nella porta delle cose che succedono. Come ogni personaggio, fa il pendolare tra la morte e la vita, va avanti e indietro impunemente rendendo visibile ciò che non si vede, trasformando le parole in vita vera, in corpo, in sensazioni. Tabucchi's celebrated masterpiece is an ode to courage and solidarity in the face of political oppression. Pereira Declares is certainly a work in the high esthetic mode, a historical novel cast in delicately evocative prose and filled with witty references to the great figures of modern European literature. In it Italians could examine their political consciences through an artful image of another country's past. The novel is worth reading not simply because it is ingenious and moving, but because it links politics, commerce and good writing in a way that's rare in this country." - Lawrence Venuti, The New York Times Book ReviewAfirma Pereira que outros defendem o jornalismo como uma arma contra os regimes opressivos, permitindo difundir ideias novas e escritas revisitadas. Tabucchi racconta una piccola grande storia di coraggio nella Lisbona del 1938: a distanza di due anni la situazione era peggiorata, la guerra civile spagnola ferveva e divideva le nazioni coinvolgendo anche il Vaticano, i venti liberticidi erano violenti e in Portogallo la dittatura salazariana era sempre più forte. The word “maintains” has a defensive quality to it, too. It suggests that Pereira’s account is suspect, but nevertheless he maintains that this is how things happened. It suggests that he’s being accused of something, and is maintaining his innocence. If the novel had been called “Pereira Said”, it would have been very different. “Pereira Maintains” gives a more uncertain feel to the narrative, and heightens the interest. So much can be communicated by just a couple of words, in the right hands. For me, the clever use of this narrative technique was worth the admission price alone. He comes to believe in a theory his doctor advances, of the Confederation of Souls. According to the theory, we have not a single soul but several, all of which battle against each other but ultimately submit to the domination of a single ruling ego. His doctor believes that Pereira is seeing the overthrow of one ruling ego by another.