Upfronts: Blood-drenched Beard

By Daniel Galera

From Brazil’s most acclaimed young novelist, the mesmerizing story of how a troubled young man’s restorative journey to the seaside becomes a violent struggle with his family’s past

—So why did they kill him?

—I’m getting there. Patience, tchê. I wanted to give you the context. Because it’s a good story, isn’t it?

A young man’s father, close to death, reveals to his son the true story of his grandfather’s death, or at least the truth as he knows it. The mean old gaucho was murdered by some fellow villagers in Garopaba, a sleepy town on the Atlantic now famous for its surfing and fishing. It was almost an execution, vigilante style. Or so the story goes.
It is almost as if his father has given the young man a deathbed challenge. He has no strong ties to home, he is ready for a change, and he loves the seaside and is a great ocean swimmer, so he strikes out for Garopaba, without even being quite sure why. He finds an apartment by the water and builds a simple new life, taking his father’s old dog as a companion. He swims in the sea every day, makes a few friends, enters into a relationship, begins to make inquiries.

But information doesn’t come easily. A rare neurological condition means that he doesn’t recognize the faces of people he’s met, leading frequently to awkwardness and occasionally to hostility. And the people who know about his grandfather seem fearful, even haunted. Life becomes complicated in Garopaba until it becomes downright dangerous.

Steeped in a very special atmosphere, both languid and tense, and soaked in the sultry allure of south Brazil, Daniel Galera’s masterfully spare and powerful prose unfolds a story of discovery that feels almost archetypal—a display of storytelling sorcery that builds with oceanic force and announces one of Brazil’s greatest young writers to the English-speaking world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Mar 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9780143192244

Book preview

ONE

He sees a bulbous nose, shiny and pockmarked like tangerine peel. A strangely youthful mouth between a chin and cheeks covered in fine lines, slightly sagging skin. Clean-shaven. Large ears with even larger lobes that look as if their own weight has stretched them out. Irises the colour of watery coffee in the middle of lascivious, relaxed eyes. Three deep, horizontal furrows in his forehead, perfectly parallel and equidistant. Yellowing teeth. A thick crop of blond hair breaking in a single wave over his head and flowing down to the nape of his neck. His eyes take in every quadrant of this face in the space of a breath and he could swear he’s never seen this person before in his life, but he knows it’s his dad because no one else lives in this house on this property in Viamão and because lying on the floor next to the man in the armchair is the Blue Heeler bitch who has been his dad’s companion for many years.

What’s that face? asks his father.

It’s an old joke. He gives his usual answer with the barest hint of a smile:

The only one I’ve got.

Now he notices his dad’s clothes, the tailored dark grey slacks and blue shirt with long sleeves rolled up to the elbows, with sweaty patches under his arms and around his bulging belly, sandals that appear to have been chosen against his will, as if only the heat is stopping him from wearing leather shoes. He also sees a bottle of French cognac and a revolver on the little table next to his reclining chair.

Have a seat, says his dad, nodding at the white two-seater imitation-leather sofa.

It is early February and no matter what the thermometers say it feels like it’s over a hundred degrees in and around Porto Alegre. When he arrived he saw that the two ipê trees that kept guard in front of the house were heavy with leaves and drooping in the still air. The last time he was here, back in the spring, their purple-andyellow-flowered crowns were shivering in the cold wind. Still in the car, he passed the vines on the left side of the house and saw several bunches of tiny grapes. He imagined them transpiring sugar after

Reviews for Upfronts

[muddyboy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an English translation of a book written by a foremost author from Brazil. The novel is about a young man who while visiting his dying father gets his imagination stirred by stories about his grandfather who left the area many years before and was rumored to be dead. When his father dies he adopts his dad's dog and goes on a quest to find out what really happened to his grandfather. The book is well written and translated as the young man learns both about his grandfather but also about himself.

[garyseverance-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Blood Drenched Beard is the fourth novel by Brazilian writer and translator (English to Portuguese) Daniel Galera. The 374 page book is the story of a young man who travels from Porto Alegre to Garopaba to investigate the mysterious death of his quiet, reclusive, athletic grandfather. The unnamed protagonist is also an athlete, a man of action, who has a neurological disorder related to a problem at birth. He is able to recognize faces only when the images are retained in short term memory that decay and are lost in about 30 seconds. Even if he pays attention and studies a face carefully, he cannot store the image in long term memory making it available for recognition later. This problem forces him to live in a short window of time for facial recognition of other people, and this suits his life of movement and action as a competitive swimmer, runner, and bicyclist.The fresh look at people each time he meets them forces the young athlete to pay attention to voices and body language giving him more accurate information than most people about the motives and emotions of other people, in the moment. Facial expressions can be misleading, and chronic mistaken attributions of others can be made based on first impressions. On a more global basis, the athlete realizes that long term memories of people about events in a small town like Garopaba are often faulty, based on first impressions, and can lead to fear and aggression. Brief samples of behavior that do not meet the expectations of the residents often cause psychological and violent rejection of new arrivals in the small town. The athlete’s grandfather may have been the victim of this distorted perception of his intentions and may account for the man’s disappearance.The novel is wonderfully translated from the Portuguese by Alison Entrekin, seamless in its consistent syntax and insightful/intelligent in its semantics. Every sentence is evocative of life in southern Brazil. Although the protagonist has problems recognizing faces, he is a reliable perceiver of the social and physical environment of the coastal city of Garopaba. The reader is immersed in an authentic depiction of the culture, architecture, and natural environs of this area of the country. It reminded me greatly of people and areas in and around Santiago, Chile that I visited years ago. The realistic and unique descriptions of the interaction and dialog of young adults rang true to me given my past experiences in South America. Blood Drenched Beard is an excellent novel, and I intend to read more of the work of Galera and Entrekin.

[melinda_hence · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An incredibly rich read in intricate atmospheric details, a narrative requiring the reader to enjoy the journey not just the destination. Beautifully written combining, mystery, existentialism, complexities of relationships, love, self discovery, myth, legend, memories, YES! Somehow is all meshes together creating a memorable reading adventure with an unforgettable protagonist.Despite the hodgepodge the narrative offers, it possesses a subtle complexity, rather captivating and hypnotic. The protagonist digs deep without dragging casualties down with him. Heavy in meaning, yet obtainable in exteriority.Simplistically potent best describes the lush prose, challenging the reader until the very end. Those craving a true literary experience offering a tableau of cerebral engagement – this author along with his accomplished work is for you.Daniel Galera, a rising voice in Brazilian literature, remember the name, savor his work.

[knittingmomof3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For anyone looking for a complex and excellent work of literary fiction for after the holidays, may I suggest the beautifully written book by Brazilian author Daniel Galera, Blood Drenched Beard. The title is dark and the book description is equally dark; a son whose fathers shoots himself and his subsequent journey south to Garopaba, a nice and quite fishing village off the Brazilian coast where his grandfather mysteriously disappeared decades earlier. Admittedly one may be wondering why I would recommend such a grim sounding work of literary fiction as a good after the holidays to read, simple, because it is a book one needs to concentrate on, and have the time to marinate in Galera’s exceptionally atmospheric work of existential literary noir. Blood Drenched Beard is not a short book, coming in at just under 400 pages and is meant to be read slowly, as the storylines play out, which gives the reader time to digest what is being discovered and will offer a plethora of topics for discussion groups to talk about. I highly recommend anyone who enjoys exceptionally well-written fiction to watch for the release of Blood Drenched Beard.