One of the great masterpieces of Portuguese literature. The portrait of a landlocked country in the Estado Novo.

When the wolves howl is a courageous book, taking into account the time which covers the era when it was edited and the shameless writing of the author. It is one of my favorite readings, by describing a country that never came to know, nor want. To understand that, I have to go back in time to the year of 1958, in the so called New State. This literary adventure had a very high cost to the writer Aquilino Ribeiro. His boldness was to challenge the regime through his writing, which had the immediate effect of an arrest warrant in his name and that all books were seized. Censorship came forcefully and the writer was considered persona non grata by Salazar. For the rest of the world, however, the author was loved beyond measure. His name was proposed for the Nobel Prize for literature at the time, an application containing more than one hundred names linked to Portuguese culture and public figures. Let us then, immerge on the story that raised such uproar at the time. Manuel Louvadeus is a man who returns to his hometown after ten years that run out on a breath, Arcabuzais, in the hills of kites, this beloved Beira. He had left behind a hard and impoverished life, with the promise of wealth in the Mecca of Brazil. The man, who goes to meet its origins, is not the same. He brings no wealth, returns as a richer human being, more cultured, with another view of the world around him. It is a man who rebels against the existing authorities, in defense of a people wronged by the law on vacant lots. A new legal framework that enforces the expropriation of community land to plant pine trees. A decision that ignites the anger of the mountain people, who depend on these lands for their daily survival. The rebellion begins. The central government, although far makes felt its heavy hand on the insurgents. What follows is a portrayed without subterfuge, without nuance, of the functioning of the political system at the time. It is the portrait of a great country, illiterate, impoverished and censored. Why wolves howl? Again, I prefer to be a spoilsport! To find out why this title, sorry, you will have to read this book. Happy reading!