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the complete review - fiction

Pereira Declares

(Declares Pereira)

by
Antonio Tabucchi

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

A- : powerful, understated novel

See our review for fuller assessment.

  Review Consensus:

  Generally positive, though a number of opinions are not clearly expressed. Note also various interpretations of why Pereira is "declaring" throughout the book.


  From the Reviews:

• "Das Bedeutungsvolle und Hintersinnige, mit dem Tabucchis Büchlein kokettiert, machte es dann auch für nichtitalienische Literaturfreunde reizvoll, denen vor allem die Machart gefiel." - Gustav Seibt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
  
  
• "Why does Tabucchi stress the word declares? He suggests that, even though we don't recognize our little rituals, we are, in effect, declaring ourselves to Others !" - Irving Malin, Review of Contemporary Fiction
  
  
• "Pereira Declares is certainly a work in the high esthetic mode, a historical novel cast in delicately evocative prose and filled with witty references to the great figures of modern European literature. In it Italians could examine their political consciences through an artful image of another country's past. The novel is worth reading not simply because it is ingenious and moving, but because it links politics, commerce and good writing in a way that's rare in this country." - Lawrence Venuti, The New York Times Book Review
  
  
• "(A) brief, absorbing and ultimately cathartic story of personal heroism in the face of political tyranny." - Trey Graham, Salon
  
  
• "An ardent and perceptive Lusophile, the author has neatly contrived both to assume a specific second skin of Portuguese experience during the late 1930s and to present Declares Pereira as something much more general to our shared awareness, a novel about humane responsibilities within a political framework." - Jonathan Keates, Times Literary Supplement
  
  
• "(T)he presence of the political element affects the content as well as the structure and language." - Anthony Costantini, World Literature Today

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       This slim novel is set in the summer of 1938, in fascist Portugal. The dictator Antonio Salazar and his regime are a presence, as is, across the border, equally ominously and casting a broader shadow, Franco and the Spanish Civil War.
       The title refers to a recurring feature of the book: it is presented as a series of declarations by Pereira. "Pereira declares ..." this and then that. It may sound annoying, but Tabucchi (and translator Creagh) manage it extremely well, make it an effective and even haunting device.
       Dr. Pereira is in charge of the culture page of a newspaper, Lisboa, and he tries not to concern himself too greatly with political matters. He lives comfortably, a widower who enjoys literature and eating well. He seems satisfied with the small life he leads.
       Impressed by an article he reads by a Monteiro Rossi Dr. Pereira contacts the young author and offers him a job to "write advance obituaries on the great writers of our times", so that material would be on hand if and when these people actually died. The first piece Monteiro Rossi brings him is on the Spanish poet Lorca, and it is far too political to publish in the climate of the times.
       The sparring between the careful Dr. Pereira and the irresponsible and troublemaking (so Dr. Pereira) Monteiro Rossi continues. Despite the young man's unwillingness and inability to conform to the standards the newspaper editor (or rather the political circumstances) requires, Dr. Pereira tries to be of help to him.
       Pereira continues to translate French stories for publication in Lisboa, dutifully submitting them to the censor for approval. However, even he can't ignore the political situation entirely, and it is brought home to him by his young activist friend. Monteiro Rossi is much more involved in the events of the times, dangerously so, and he suffers the consequences. Staying at Dr. Pereira's the authorities catch up with him before he has time to flee.
       Dr. Pereira is witness to the outrages perpetrated in his home, and it moves him to action, a final noble deed of heroism.
       Tabucchi's understated book is an eery evocation of Fascist Iberia. Harmless Dr. Pereira, whose main pleasures are the enjoyment of fine food (there's a lot of eating in this book) and 19th century French literature, is out of touch with the difficult times. It is a very human portrait, and the final generous gesture shows even such a common, apolitical man capable of the necessary small acts of heroism that such times demanded.
       An impressive, moral book, accomplishing a great deal without hammering home any message too hard. Tabucchi presents his story very well -- it is a fine read throughout. Recommended.

       Note: various reviewers have voiced various opinions regarding the reason why Pereira's story is related in this declarative manner ("Pereira declares ..."). Trey Graham suggests (in Salon) that "gradually, it becomes clear that this narrative is some Salazarist bureaucrat's report on the Pereira-Monteiro Rossi affair, the distillation of an interview (interrogation?) that must perforce have occurred after the events it describes." Irving Malin comes to quite a contrary conclusion (in the Review of Contemporary Fiction, see quote above). Part of Tabucchi's art is, of course, the open-ended ambiguities he likes to leave his readers with. The end is not as clear as either of these two reviewers suggest -- possibly they are correct, but there seems no certainty either way (or some other way). And that is the way it should be.

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Links:

• Feltrinelli publicity page
• DTV publicity page
• Hanser Verlag publicity page
• Psychosynthesis Institute Magazine article

• Escuela de Escritores (Spanish)
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)
• Italia Libri (Italian)
• Jowebzine (French)
• Lire (French)
• The New York Times Book Review
• Salon
• The Second Circle
• Danny Yee's Book Reviews

• IMDb page

• The complete review's Antonio Tabucchi page

• Dreams of Dreams
• The Edge of the Horizon
• Indian Nocturne
• Letter from Casablanca
• The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro
• Requiem

• See Index of Italian literature at the complete review

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About the Author:

       Italian author Antonio Tabucchi was born 23. September, 1943. He is the author of numerous highly regarded works, and is currently a professor at the University of Siena.

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© 2000-2005 the complete review

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