On Sergio Y. Sergio Y. I loved every word of it". Of books and reading , Vivek Tejuja - India. If they are not, they should be. I gush to everyone I meet about its captivating characters and story. Great literature travels well and this one already has its bags packed. This book was kindly sent to me by Companhia das Letras shortly before I went to Flip, and I actually finished it back in July.
This is one of those books that hits you hard, lingers in your head for days, weeks, leaves you wanting to say so much, but not knowing quite where to start. One day, a troubled high school student named Sergio is referred to him for therapy. Sergio comes from a well-to-do, loving family and wants for nothing, but feels incredibly unhappy. Armando deems him an interesting patient, and agrees to take him on for regular appointments.
One day Sergio abruptly ends his therapy and Armando never hears from him again. She thanks him for everything he did for her son, and informs him that Sergio is now happily living in New York and about to open his own restaurant. He grows obsessed, setting off like a detective to discover where he went wrong, defeated by the feeling that his professional ability has been questioned, wondering whether he truly helped Sergio, despite significant evidence to the contrary including statements from Sergio himself.
The chapters are short and the writing is clear, elegant and direct and moves along at nice clip. Surprisingly, I was left with an overwhelming sense of hope. Elias Fajardo, O Globo , 10 May Sergio is physically a man, but carries within him a feminine soul.
As a diplomat, the author visited prisons, drafted documents on human rights, visited favelas and government offices and had contact with people of many nationalities and ethnicities. The shocking contrasts between cultures and the gains and losses resulting from them caught his attention and has shaped the universe of his fiction.
