excerpt
“Covered in purpurin, the mulatto woman gleams on the pavement, shining more than the sun.
Like Romeo for Juliet. Like João when he speaks of love. Because he loves the word. Without
it no Romeo no Juliet would exist. He exists only because he says: ‘The sky is where Juliet
lives.’ She because she says: ‘The most beautiful stars envy my Romeo’s eyes.’ Without the
word not Romeo or Juliet or João or I, nor this reveler who needs the lyrics of the
samba, the word, to be the sun of noon and midnight.”
synopsis
O clarão is a novel inspired by the life of publicist Carlito Maia, who was born in the state of Minas Gerais and lived in São Paulo. As communications director for TV Globo, he launched the career of singer Roberto Carlos and deserves to be called “the friend of friends.”
Peace is the greatest legacy that this book can have, for it exalts friendship. And peace is the calling of friends. Neither desires to vanquish the other. It prefers always to tie.
Besides being a seeker of peace, a friend is by definition a protector. He brings light when passion blinds us – the passion for money, for success, the passion of hatred… He brings happiness by desiring our contentment, by respecting our freedom, by accepting difference. The most precious blessing is the friend who, besides protecting and bringing contentment, makes us love life. Precisely by recognizing its value, O clarão also focuses on death. In doing so, it teaches us not to waste time
and not to squander existence.
Whoever does not deny death prolongs his time of life and that of others. By not unleashing war and by not taking unnecessary risks. By avoiding accidents and thus escaping the worst of endings, namely a violent death, to which in our times we are ever more subject. From beginning to end, the novel demonstrates that a friend is the angel we seek and that life merits our devotion.
history
THE EIGHT LAUNCHINGS
O clarão is a novel about friendship, deeply rooted in Brazilian popular culture, which the book exalts. For it is through Carnaval that Ana, the protagonist, understands how important death is to give value to life. In opposition to the current trend to deny death, it makes use of the King Momo festivities to lead Ana to a realization of how valuable life is. It is the samba that brings light to Ana in her despair at facing the possibility of losing her friend João. And Noel Rosa’s lyric: “When I die/ I want no tears or candles/ I want a yellow ribbon/ with her name on it.” This is why a tribute to Joãosinho Trinta was held at the National Library in Rio de Janeiro. Joãosinho and Betty were friends from past Carnavals, and the book was offered to fifty members of the Grande Rio samba school, who appeared wearing the“shirt of the friend,” thus introducing the beats of drums into the cultural temple of the elite. At the event at the National Library, in addition to the launching of the book, there was an exhibition of phrases, “Sayings of the Friend.” It was the point of departure for the Friendship Project in the Third Millennium, which with the same structure toured eight locations in Brazil.
The project had its second appearance in São Paulo on April 25, at the Conjunto Nacional. At six p.m. the second showing of Sayings of the Friend was inaugurated. The then president of the Workers Party (PT), José Dirceu, sent from Brasilia a letter of homage to Carlito Maia, who inspired the novel, was one of the founders of the party as well as communications director for Rede Globo, and the man who as publicist launched Roberto Carlos and the Jovem Guarda group. Following the inauguration, Betty took part in a book signing at Livraria Cultura, and Zé Celso spoke to the press on the importance of friendship for Teatro Oficina. Afterwards, the text of the book was read to the public by one of the actors in the troupe. The actress Maria Fernanda Cândido was at the event, which TV Globo covered as it had in Rio. The third event was in Salvador, Bahia, at the State Public Library. The exhibition was inaugurated once more, and prior to the launching Betty spoke about her friend’s knowledge. The psychoanalyst Ivete Villalba presented a brief intellectual résumé of the author, emphasizing three moments: the introduction of Lacanian thought in Brazil, the publication of O Papagaio e o Doutor, and the launching of O clarão, with which she attempts to spread the ideal of friendship.
After Bahia, Betty went to Minas Gerais to inaugurate the exhibition at the Luís de Bessa Public Library, where a chorus of teenaged girls welcomed it in an event coordinated by the Sempre um Papo [Always a Chat] program of the journalist Afonso Borges. Following the brief talk, the Secretary of Culture, Angelo Oswaldo, spoke with gratitude for the homage to Carlito Maia, a native of Lavras in the state of Minas Gerais, characterizing the launching of O clarão as a pilgrimage.
The fifth appearance of the project was in Curitiba, capital of the state of Paraná, where the exhibition was installed in the lobby of the Public Library of Paraná and Betty had the pleasant surprise of seeing in a display case the review written by Frei Betto, in which he compares the book to “a literary ikebana.” In Curitiba, also, the exhibition was inaugurated with a choral group.
The sixth event, in Florianópolis, capital of the state of Santa Catarina, took place in the United Center of Culture, with the book launching preceded by a presentation by the writer Salim Miguel, who spoke of the author’s literary journey, pointing out the difference between the satirical O Papagaio e o Doutor and the lyrical O clarão. The next-to-last capital where the exhibition was inaugurated in conjunction with the launching of the book was Porto Alegre, in Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul. This took place at the Casa de Cultura Mário Quintana, with an introduction to the work by the coordinator of the libraries and a round table in which the critic Flávio Loureiro spoke of O clarão as the first long prose poem in Brazilian literature and highlighted the good humor that permeates the work, running contrary to Brazilian literary tradition. Loureiro praised the dragonfly, a character in the book, calling it a metaphor as important as the “undertow eyes” of Machado de Assis’s Capitu in Dom Casmurro. Before the final launching, in Brasilia, Betty met in Curitiba with the Secretaries of Education of Brazil to present the work and suggest that reflection on friendship be made a part of the school
curriculum. To teach the ethics of courtesy and through it to control violence in society. In the nation’s capital, the launching was covered by two newspapers: Correio Braziliense and Jornal de Brasília, with the latter running a special supplement on friendship. TV Nacional also covered the event.
opinion
“A beautiful plot, almost a confessional elegy. A triumphant explosion of the worship of brotherhood.”
Fábio Lucas, letter, March 2001
“A work that is moving for the beauty of the text and for the emotion it transmits. It is part of an inspiring project (Friendship in the Third Millennium) that, in the case of Brazil, comes at a crucial moment, a moment in which it is necessary to neutralize the wave of hatred, of suspicion, of violence that is sweeping the country…”
Moacir Scliar, letter, Porto Alegre, March 31, 2001
“The love of friends belongs to the sphere of essence, which remains inalterable beyond ephemeral appearances.”
Nelly Novaes Coelho, preface to the book
“A literary ikebana.”
Frei Betto, Folha de S. Paulo, Ilustrada, April 28, 2001
“There is in Brazilian literature no great prose poem. And it seems to me that this great prose poem is O clarão.”
Flávio Loureiro Chaves, address at the book launching in Porto Alegre, May 15, 2001
“The writer builds her plots in a laconic, minimalist, lean manner, striving to render the phrase as haiku. Everything short. Everything brief. But everything profound and serious. Betty Milan creates an unequaled new path in Brazilian literature. She has created a style. There is a Betty Milan way of narrating.”
Deonísio da Silva, Observatório da Imprensa, Internet, June 6, 2001
“O clarão translates into the literary mode something essential, something that underlies friendship. It shows the relationship between two people, and their relationship to the word – the word that can unite people and humanize relationships.”
Claudio Willer, O Escritor, June 2001
areas of interest
Littérature / Psychologie / Psychanalyse
critical reaction
where to purchase
Saraiva (portuguese – printed) | Livraria Cultura (portuguese – e-book) | Amazon (portuguese – e-book)