The best books of Brazilian literature
The top 3 according to 0 votes from people: Dom Casmurro · The Devil to Pay in the Backlands · The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas. (Updated Sep 8, 2026.)
The Brazilian novels and books that appear most in the canon and in recent lists such as Folha's 200 books to understand Brazil (2022), from Machado de Assis to Itamar Vieira Junior.
Automatically translated (original in Português). See the original
Top 20
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1
Dom Casmurro
Machado de Assis, 1899. Bentinho, Capitu and her 'undertow eyes': did she betray him or not?
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2
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands
João Guimarães Rosa, 1956. Riobaldo, Diadorim and the devil in the sertão; second on Folha's list.
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3
The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
Machado de Assis, 1881. A dead author narrates his own life; a landmark of Brazilian realism.
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4
Child of the Dark
Carolina Maria de Jesus, 1960. The diary of a waste picker in the Canindé favela; first among Folha's 200 books.
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5
Barren Lives
Graciliano Ramos, 1938. Fabiano, Sinhá Vitória and the dog Baleia fleeing the drought.
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6
The Hour of the Star
Clarice Lispector, 1977. Macabéa, a north-eastern migrant in Rio; the last book published in the author's lifetime.
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7
Macunaíma
Mário de Andrade, 1928. The 'hero without any character', a rhapsody of Brazilian modernism.
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8
Rebellion in the Backlands
Euclides da Cunha, 1902. The War of Canudos told by a reporter who witnessed it.
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9
Captains of the Sands
Jorge Amado, 1937. Street children in Salvador; burned in public by the Estado Novo regime.
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10
The Slum
Aluísio Azevedo, 1890. A Rio tenement as a living organism; the great naturalist novel.
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11
São Bernardo
Graciliano Ramos, 1934. Paulo Honório, a landowner who destroys everything he loves.
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12
Crooked Plow
Itamar Vieira Junior, 2019. Two sisters in the Chapada Diamantina; Jabuti and Oceanos prizes and a best-seller.
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13
The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma
Lima Barreto, 1915. The nationalist major who proposes Tupi as the official language.
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14
The Passion According to G.H.
Clarice Lispector, 1964. A woman, a cockroach and a mystical experience in an apartment.
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15
Dead Fires
José Lins do Rego, 1943. The decline of Paraíba's sugar mills.
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16
Time and the Wind
Erico Verissimo, 1949–1962. Two hundred years of Rio Grande do Sul's history in three parts.
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17
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
Jorge Amado, 1958. Ilhéus, cocoa and the migrant Gabriela.
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18
The Year Fifteen
Rachel de Queiroz, 1930. The 1915 drought in Ceará, written when the author was 19.
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19
Ancient Tillage
Raduan Nassar, 1975. André, the Lebanese family and forbidden desire, in poetic prose.
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20
Iracema
José de Alencar, 1865. The 'virgin with honey lips' and the founding myth of Ceará.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (2)
Torto Arado já entre os clássicos, que livro maravilhoso.
Quarto de Despejo tão alto, que bom! Carolina Maria de Jesus merece todo reconhecimento.