Book Review Essay on “Dancing with the Devil in the City Of God” by Juliana Barbassa
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BOOK REVIEW ESSAY ON DANCING WITH THE DEVIL IN THE CITY OF GOD BY JULIANA BARBASSA
The author Juliana Barbassa has written this book in a thoughtful and beautiful way, introducing the concept of immense violence and the expectations of both the high- and low-class individuals in the society, which have gone unfulfilled. According to the review, Rio de Janeiro is possibly a vibrant and flamboyant city in Brazil but with several negatives such as the lack of law by the Favelas and the contaminated environment of leaking raw sewages (Vieira, 2017). It’s kind of interesting that the author of this book is an expat-Brazilian who only lived in the country briefly in the late ’80s before moving to abroad where she lived for 21 years. This gives the book a unique combination of both the local and city perspective in the author’s writing.
The author is an exceptional writer and journalist who presents the content of her work in a powerful work of reportage. The author takes the reader on a journey of Rio de Janeiro in the 21st century showcasing the dangers, heartbreaks of the locals, and the exciting side of it. The book brings out a personal perspective of the author, which happens when she describes the events of the world cup while referring to “us” instead of “them” (Vieira, 2017). The contents of this non -fiction book is structured in a relatable manner with huge swirls of realities and truths without excess stories around the characters. The characters are brought to light while revealing the aspects and depths of the issues discussed.
The book indicates that the author had a particular assumption that Rio city is among the world’s most exotic cities, drawing from its social structure, culture, and geography, and historical perspective, political and economic disparities. Juliana Barbassa was born in Brazil but spent most of her life abroad until she returned in 2010. She tells the story of her city, which she truly loves, and the problems it has incurred in attempting to become a global capital. This engaging and informative work revolves around the city that Juliana considered chaotic from her childhood, and the assumption is that the best of Brazil is at a higher stake as the whole world watches the transformation (Barbassa, 2015).
The author’s investigations is a more personal one. Her own re-encountering of homes forms the essential narrative thread in the book. This is as well as the strangers whose vital lives she writes about her passionate interest in the Rio de Janeiro future which appears more rooted in the essential concern for her family, who also lives there. The author’s nomadic upbringing as a child of the peristatic kind of executive has instilled one healthy amount of perspective. Having lived in places that are far-flung end such as Masra, Malta and the San Francisco, has most definitely does not in any way suffers from the element of provincialism that works to afflicts the too many of the Rio Biographer how is seduced by the charms, automatically adopt a key defensive posture when anyone is wondering if the Marvelous City might actually not be all that is greater at all (Barbassa, 2015).
Barbassa also shows how the city of getting ready for the Olympic Games has made it possible for the city fathers to reactivate the long discovered policy that is the case in the slum clearances and in which the residents of the favela are removed from their homes to be dumped far from their workplaces and services. This, as their old neighborhoods, is redeveloped into crucial blocks of the luxury condos. Rather than being used as a chance for the alteration for all the citizens, the book argues that Olympics have only served as a cover for the Brazilians eras war on the poor under the semblance of being ready to host a sporting event of such nature. The World cup and the Olympics were, in this sense, a means of offering a false kind of promise of a better city.
Juliana Barbassa used the reporting narrative style to explain the events as they unfolded. The author interviewed city residents while collecting information concerning Brazil’s image as it was experiencing tremendous changes (Barbassa, 2015). She is an excellent reporter who examined the country keenly during the uncertainties giving the reader a clear picture of the rocky times of the Brazilians. There is less or completely no bias that I can mention about her work since her selection of tone is balanced and not entirely positive nor negative of the events. She’s, however, bold enough to point out the increasing inequality that divided the city. The UPP program only benefited specific affluent neighborhoods while the basic sanitation program for the poor was never funded.
The title “Dancing with The Devil in The City of God” is an enticing title with a significant deep meaning. The idea was born from the fact that the city has a statue that can be seen from whichever corner of the town. The author used the iconic redeemer statue to develop the tittle part “The City of God” (Vieira, 2017). The city was dancing with the devil, according to the author, as she was speculating lots of negative outcomes even though the city was transforming to good times due to the mega-series events. This could be interpreted as an enormous gamble the town was taking on the Brazilian economy that was so unstable (Barbassa, 2015).
The title is appropriate and delivers the promise it carries. The book ends with the 2014 World Cup, and the mood was surprisingly ambivalent. Protesting teachers were beaten by cops in front of the national soccer team, for instance (Barbassa, 2015). The country needed to engage in a public relations campaign to get Brazilians excited about hosting the World Cup. Many felt it was too costly and was flat out bad for the country. They came around – but then the team lost.
The major aim and scope of the book lie in the historical context of Rio, including social, economic, and political events and developments that took place during the 2016 Olympic Games and 2014 world cup preparations (Barbassa, 2015). These sporting events brought about drastic changes from corrupt leadership, drug trafficking, and wars to a brighter future of more vibrant neighborhoods and global capital. The book portrays the inside perspective of a native daughter. She introduces the reader to the city people full of ultimate aspirations, hunger, violence, and also sheds light on the future of the city they are struggling to build.
Juliana Barbassa calls Rio de Janeiro home, but she spent much of her young life following her family around the Middle East (Talbot, 2018). When she decided to move back to Rio as an adult, she found a city trying to transform itself into a player on the global economic map, thanks to oil, the World Cup and the Olympics. Her book “Dancing with the Devil in the City of God” gives us Rio’s history and attempts to explain how the land of samba, soccer, and carnival got to its present state of gaping economic inequality, heavy-handed police tactics, political corruption, crumbling infrastructure and potential environmental disaster (Barbassa, 2016). The book also shows what steps were taken to get the city ready for the 2014 World Cup and what still needs to be done for the 2016 Olympics.
However, it would have been useful for the author to include other issues facing Brazil today to grab the mind of the readers. There are plenty of other problems to deal with within the country. There is a massive criminal network Red Command, considerable pollution, enormous corruption, and red tape that make survival hard (Barbassa, 2015). There are ridiculous housing prices that put Silicon Valley to shame. There are overlooked poor and marginalized sex workers. The recent focus on the Big Sporting Events worsens many of the existing problems or at least causes them to be forgotten.
The book ends in a more eutrophic of the Lula years, has offered a way to the massive economic incompetence and the political scandal that is associated with the leadership of Dilma Rousseff’s. The Game is bound to take place with Brazil In the grips of the economic recession. As she does he survey of the city, she returns home to Barbassa finally makes a sad conclusion that Rio embodied this sense that Brazil’s moments might be passing before it even arrived. It is, however, unfortunate the Brazilians society has a considerably longer history of failing in the delivery of its potential. In focusing on Rio as it prepares for the Olympic Games, The book offers the outsider with a perfect snapshot of why that is the scenario.
Conclusion
This book had resonance for me since I have been visiting Rio since the 1990’s, have friends there, and have seen first-hand some of the problems the author outlines. I have also seen the better aspects of the beach life that has been bringing tourists to Copacabana and Ipanema since Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers did “Flying Down to Rio” in 1933. Ms. Barbassa gives us the highs and lows of life under the watchful eye of the Cristo atop Corcovado. The last section of Barbassa’s book defines the countrywide individuality disaster after the 7-1 loss to Germany, in which Brazilians query their status as the país do futebol—the republic of soccer. There is a view that cautiously hopeful that the city will get through the Olympics and use the momentum to keep improving. The alternative is just too depressing to consider.
Work cited
Barbassa, J. (2015). Dancing with thdevilil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro on the Brink. Simon and Schuster.
Barbassa, J. (2016). Dancing with thdevilil in the city of God: Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Dream. Simon and Schuster.
do Prado Valladares, L. (2019). The invention of the favela. UNC Press Books.
Talbot, A. (2018). Book Review: Rio 2016: Olympic Myths, Hard Realities.
Vieira, E. R. (2017). Rio de Janeiro e os jogos Olímpicos: uma cidade reinventada.