8 h 43 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 43 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your new fortune buys every kind of attention except the affection you crave?
Rubião, a provincial schoolteacher in Barbacena, cares for the eccentric philosopher Quincas Borba. When he inherits the philosopher’s wealth and the care of his dog, also named Quincas Borba, he heads for Rio de Janeiro. Money promises comfort and importance. But Rubião has little experience of the people who gather around it.
Cristiano Palha draws close and becomes involved in managing Rubião’s money. Palha’s wife, Sofia, becomes the focus of Rubião’s consuming romantic hopes. Around them, Machado de Assis builds a world of dinners, gossip, and careful appearances. Friendship, business, and desire become dangerously tangled, while a questioning narrator moves between sympathy and mockery.
What you’ll discover
- A fortune without safety Follow a generous man who mistakes interested attention for the promise of a secure life.
- Love clouded by hope Watch Rubião’s hopes gather around Sofia, whose social skill gives him little certainty.
- A philosophy of winners Encounter Humanitism, Quincas Borba’s system that treats conflict and suffering as parts of a larger struggle.
- Society under sharp scrutiny Enter dinners and visits where ambition shapes appearances and people overlook what matters.
- Laughter close to pain Feel the pull of dark comedy that makes the pursuit of money both absurd and cruel.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy satire with a human heart, stories about money, vanity and social climbing, and narrators who wink at the reader.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dying philosopher teaches Rubião his doctrine
- The will leaves everything to a dog's keeper
- Rubião takes the potatoes and goes to Rio
- Sofia, Palha and the first strawberries
- Two lunch guests show how a rich man is used
- A moonlit garden and a major's endless talk
- Palha counts his debts and Camacho counts his votes
- Money drains while the guests multiply
- Two love triangles and one badly dropped letter
- A narrator who laughs, argues and wanders
Who’s who
- RubiãoA kind, simple schoolteacher from Minas who inherits a fortune and moves to Rio, where he longs for Sofia and for admiration.
- SofiaThe beautiful wife of Palha, who enjoys being admired, wants to rise in society and handles her husband and her admirers with skill.
- Cristiano PalhaA stock broker and merchant who spends more than he earns, befriends Rubião on a train and uses his money while smiling.
- Quincas BorbaQuincas Borba is an ailing philosopher who teaches Rubião his doctrine and wants his namesake dog cared for.
- Carlos MariaA handsome, cool young man who lives on his inheritance, collects admiration and treats the world as an audience.
- Maria BenedictaSofia's quiet country cousin, who learns city manners and adores one man in silence.
- Dr. CamachoA career politician and newspaper owner who wants to be a minister and keeps asking Rubião for money for the cause.
- Major SiqueiraA talkative retired officer who rambles through every conversation, while his unmarried daughter Dona Tonica hopes for a husband.
Formats and delivery
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- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Quincas Borba
by Machado de Assis · 1891
A schoolteacher inherits a fortune on one odd condition: look after a dog named Quincas Borba.
Medium level5–10 hours to readDeutsch
Excellent
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In short
A schoolteacher from Minas Gerais stands at a window above the bay in Rio, counting his luck. A year ago he was poor.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dying philosopher teaches Rubião his doctrine
In Barbacena, Rubião, a former schoolteacher, nurses his friend Quincas Borba through a long illness. He closes his boys school to do it.
The sick man is still full of talk. He has named his dog after himself, because his doctrine finds one shared life in every creature. Then he tells a story of two tribes and one field of potatoes. If both share the field, both starve. If one destroys the other, the winner crosses the mountain and finds more food.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1891
- Language
- Deutsch
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Assis, Machado de. Quincas Borba. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/quincas-borba.
Assis, M. de. (2026). Quincas Borba. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/quincas-borba (Original work published 1891)
Assis, Machado de. Quincas Borba. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/quincas-borba.
@book{assis2026quincas,
author = {Assis, Machado de},
title = {Quincas Borba},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/quincas-borba},
note = {First published 1891}
}
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What is Quincas Borba about?
It follows Rubião, a schoolteacher who inherits a fortune from his philosopher friend on the condition that he care for the man's dog. He moves to Rio, falls for Sofia and is drawn in by friends who want his money.
What does Humanitas mean in Quincas Borba?
Humanitas is the philosopher's name for a single life force found in everything. He argues that individuals are only passing bubbles, so war, plague and loss are all useful, and the winner deserves the spoils.
Do I need to read The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas first?
No. Quincas Borba stands on its own, with a clear story and a lively narrator. It helps to know that the philosopher appeared in the earlier novel, but the book explains him fully.
The author
Machado de Assis
1839–1908 · Brazilian novelist and poet
Machado de Assis was a Brazilian writer born in Rio de Janeiro in 1839. He lived there until his death in 1908. He wrote novels, short stories, poetry, and plays. His novels include Helena (1876), The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (1881), Quincas Borba (1891), and Dom Casmurro (1899).
More by Machado de Assis
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