Résumé
Résumé de Quincas Borba
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
You will enjoy this book if you like witty narrators, studies of social climbing, love seen with a cool eye, and characters whose small vanities and big dreams drive the plot.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
A man inherits a fortune, and with it a dog and a strange philosophy. Quincas Borba, by Machado de Assis, follows Rubião, a kind schoolteacher from the hills of Minas Gerais who moves to Rio de Janeiro in the 1860s. There a pair of new friends, a lovely woman and a crowd of hungry guests all take an interest in his money. The narrator jokes, speaks straight to you and wanders into asides, yet never loses sight of his people. The result is a sly, funny and sad look at money, vanity and desire. It opens with Rubião gazing over the bay, then looks back to a deathbed and a tale about two tribes and a field of potatoes.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A dying philosopher teaches HumanitasFree
- 2A strange will makes Rubião rich
- 3A train ride begins a dangerous friendship
- 4A night in the garden goes wrong
- 5Politics, partnership and a new circle of friends
- 6Rubião spends, hopes and doubts
- 7A wedding, a fall in fortune, and a shift in the mind
- 8What the book says about wealth, vanity and delusion
- 9A narrator who talks to you
Point clé 1 sur 9
A dying philosopher teaches Humanitas
In Barbacena, Rubião closes his school to nurse his friend Quincas Borba. The care is real. A dog shares the sick man's bed, and the philosopher has given it his own name.
One day the dying man explains his doctrine. Humanitas, he says, is a single hidden principle that lives in everything, and people are only bubbles in boiling water.
Then comes the tale of the potatoes. Two hungry tribes face a field that can feed only one, and the winner survives. Rubião barely follows, but the lesson sinks in and will return.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Rubião
- A provincial schoolteacher and Quincas Borba’s companion, he enters Rio society with inherited wealth and romantic hopes.
- Quincas Borba
- An eccentric philosopher and Rubião’s friend, he teaches Humanitism and owns a dog bearing his name.
- Sofia
- Cristiano Palha’s socially accomplished wife, she becomes the focus of Rubião’s increasingly consuming romantic attention.
- Cristiano Palha
- Sofia’s business-minded husband, he befriends Rubião and becomes involved in managing the provincial newcomer’s money.
- Quincas Borba (dog)
- The philosopher’s namesake dog becomes Rubião’s charge under the terms attached to his unexpected inheritance.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 79,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 15 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Quincas Borba
What is Quincas Borba about?
It tells of Rubião, a kind teacher who inherits a fortune and a dog from the philosopher Quincas Borba, moves to Rio de Janeiro, and is drawn into love, politics and spending as people around him take advantage of his wealth.
What is Humanitas in Quincas Borba?
It claims that one universal principle lives in all things, that individuals are like bubbles in boiling water, and that conflict is useful because the winner survives.
Do I need to read The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas first?
No. The philosopher Quincas Borba first appears in that earlier novel, and the narrator mentions it, but this book tells its own complete story about Rubião, so you can start here and follow everything.
Why is the dog named Quincas Borba too?
The philosopher gave the dog his own name because he believed Humanitas lives in all creatures and because he hoped to survive in the name of his pet. The will then makes the dog's care a condition of the inheritance.
What is the main message of Quincas Borba?
The book shows how money, vanity and self-interest shape friendship and love, and it tests the idea that the strong deserve to win. It does so with humor, short chapters and a narrator who comments on his own characters.