7 h 29 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man telling you his love story is the person you most need to question?
Old and alone, Bento Santiago builds a house that copies his childhood home in Rio de Janeiro. He wants to bring back his youth, especially Capitu, the clever girl next door. In Machado de Assis’s Dom Casmurro, his memories draw you into a first love shadowed by jealousy—and into the confidence of a man who wants your trust.
As a boy, Bentinho faces a promise he cannot easily escape: his mother, Dona Glória, has vowed to give him to the Church. Capitu looks for a way past the obstacles between them, while family influence and social rank press close. Bento tells their story through brief chapters, jokes, gaps, and direct appeals that keep you watching his words.
What you’ll discover
- A narrator worth watching Follow Bento’s memories while asking what his telling reveals and what it leaves uncertain.
- Capitu’s quick intelligence Meet a girl who thinks hard about the obstacles that threaten her first love.
- A promise against love Feel Bentinho’s struggle between his attachment to Capitu and his fear of hurting his mother.
- Rank behind closed doors Enter a household where dependence, favor, and family standing shape who holds influence.
- Short chapters, lingering questions Move through quick chapters that leave room to doubt, reconsider, and look more closely.
Who will love it
For readers who love narrators whose words invite close scrutiny, first love, jealousy and the mysteries of memory, and anyone curious about Brazilian literature.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An old man rebuilds his childhood home
- A mother's promise hangs over a boy
- The girl next door with the strange eyes
- José Dias sounds the alarm
- Capitu thinks harder than Bentinho
- The seminary and the friend named Escobar
- What the book says about jealousy and memory
- Class, dependence and Brazilian society
- How the story is told and why it unsettles
Who’s who
- Bento SantiagoAlso called Bentinho and later Dom Casmurro, he is the lawyer who tells the story, shy as a boy and watchful as an old man.
- CapituCapitolina, the clever neighbor girl with striking eyes, loves Bentinho and plans to find a way past the obstacles that keep them apart.
- Dona GlóriaBentinho's devout widowed mother, who loves her son but is bound by her vow to give him to the Church.
- José DiasA dependent of the family who flatters in grand words, gives advice and warnings, and holds more influence in the house than his rank suggests.
- EscobarBentinho's quick, charming friend from the seminary, who dreams of business and becomes close to both Bentinho and Capitu.
- Tio CosmeBentinho's uncle, a lawyer and widower who lives in the family house and takes a practical, easygoing view of its problems.
- Prima JustinaA widowed cousin in the household, sharp-tongued and observant, who says plainly what she sees.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 29 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Dom Casmurro
by Machado de Assis · 1899
Bento rebuilds his boyhood home to recapture his youth, but can his memories of Capitu earn your trust?
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Dom Casmurro is a novel by Machado de Assis, published in Brazil in 1899. It is set mostly in Rio de Janeiro in the middle of the nineteenth century, when Brazil was still an empire with slavery and a strong sense of rank.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
An old man rebuilds his childhood home
The story opens in the present, in a quiet suburb of Rio called Engenho Novo. Bento Santiago explains how he got his nickname. On a train, a young neighbor who writes poetry began reading his verses aloud, and Bento fell asleep. When he woke, the young man called him Dom Casmurro in annoyance. Bento says he likes the name and will use it as the title of his book.
He is a retired lawyer who lives with few people around him. His house is not an ordinary one. He has had it built as a copy of the house on Rua de Matacavalos, where he spent his boyhood. He even had the old painted decorations copied, including busts of famous Romans on the walls.
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What is Dom Casmurro about?
It is the memoir of Bento Santiago, an old Rio lawyer who recalls his boyhood, his love for the neighbor girl Capitu, and a mother's vow to make him a priest. He tells it with irony and doubt.
What does Dom Casmurro mean?
It is a nickname given to Bento by a young neighbor. Casmurro suggests someone closed, silent and stubborn, and Dom is a title of respect. Bento adopts the name with some humor as the title of his book.
Why is Bento called an unreliable narrator?
Bento tells the whole story himself, years later, and admits that memory is imperfect. He also shapes events to support what he believes. Readers must decide how far to trust his view of other people.
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).
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