''Angústia'' is a book by Brazilian author

Graciliano Ramos Graciliano Ramos de Oliveira () (October 27, 1892 – March 20, 1953) was a Brazilian modernist writer, politician and journalist. He is known worldwide for his portrayal of the precarious situation of the poor inhabitants of the Brazilian ''sert� ...

published in 1936. Tells the life of Luís da Silva, a man very stunned and confused with his own life. One day, he meets Marina, his new neighbour, a beautiful girl with whom he falls in love. From this point, the monotony of his life is abruptly changed for a voluntary thought about the family, the childhood and the present, when Julião Tavares, a rich man, fell in love with Marina. The book is narrated in first person, where the protagonist is the narrator. He suffers from an

existential Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

angst Angst is fear or anxiety ('' anguish'' is its Latinate equivalent, and the words ''anxious'' and ''anxiety'' are of similar origin). The dictionary definition for angst is a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity. Etymology The word ...

— the main themes of the story; the reader is affected by it through the character, the character through the author.

Style

Though the book is considered modernist, the author also makes use of

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

and Naturalism. His theories about

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

are shown when he describes the angst of the main character, Luís da Silva: suffering, anxiety, a feeling of sickness. It's curious to say but there's an influence from the psychoanalysis, too, when the imagined disease of Luís da Silva begins to change his behavior and his sense of reality. Thus,

is one of the greatest authors of Brazilian modernism, transcending regional limits with his literary style, in comparison with Marcel Proust.

References

Brazilian romance novels 1936 novels {{Brazil-lit-stub