José Henrique Bortoluci – författare

In What Is Mine, sociologist José Henrique Bortoluci uses interviews with his father, Didi, to retrace the recent history of Brazil and of his family. From the mid-1960s to the mid-2010s, Didi’s work as a truck driver took him away from home for long stretches at a time as he crisscrossed the country and participated in huge infrastructure projects including the Trans-Amazonian Highway, a scheme spearheaded by the military dictatorship of the time, undertaken through brutal deforestation. An observer of history, Didi also recounts the toll his work has taken on his health, from a heart attack in middle age to the cancer that defines his retirement. Bortoluci weaves the history of a nation with that of a man, uncovering parallels between cancer and capitalism – both sustained by expansion, both embodiments of ‘the gospel of growth at any cost’ – and traces the distance that class has placed between him and his father. Influenced by authors such as Annie Ernaux and Svetlana Alexievich, What Is Mine is a moving, thought-provoking and brilliantly constructed examination of the scars we carry, as people and as countries.

Partint de converses amb el seu pare, que va ser camioner durant cinquanta anys, José Henrique Bortoluci basteix un delicat assaig literari que recorre la història recent de Brasil i de la pròpia família. A través d''una prosa elegant i emotiva, ens mostra els episodis més significatius d''aquest país, com ara la construcció de la carretera Transamazònica, però també l''acostament d''un fill cap al pare, a qui cuida en l''últim tram de la vida.Aquest llibre no és tan sols un aplec exquisit d''anècdotes de carretera, de reflexió sociològica i d''àlbums familiars; és un mapa perfecte que ens orienta per les carreteres emocionals i històriques d''un país tan vast com divers, i ens en descobreix la immensitat.