Avalovara – Lins Osman (2025)

In 1973, a new unmistakable voice in Portuguese burst into the predominantly Hispanic choir of Latin American authors: the novel Avalovara by Brazilian Osman Lins quickly achieved well-deserved fame, at least in the world unbound by the hypocritical puritanism of authoritarian regimes. The story of a romantic relationship between one man and gradually three women is also a story of searching for a higher meaning and cosmic order of existence spanning between South America and the old continent with its culture; above all, however, it is a stunning song of love as a hope for the world's revival in times of unfreedom. The openly geometric construction of the novel's form gives shape to the linguistic magma in the most intense moments, which flows with the unstoppable force of freshly created words, corresponding to the powerful relentlessness of romantic desire and its fulfillment. Osman Lins created an open language of physical love with a nearly mystical reach, a language that has never been seen before and knows no impure words or situations, as all are elevated to the level of poetry in impressive poetic images, making Avalovara a modern equivalent of the Song of Songs.
One of the giants of Brazilian literature of the last century, Osman Lins (1924–1978) is in Czech...