Fado Alexandrino (Antunes, Antonio Lobo)

I've been going to central Portugal for 20 years and this novel has expanded my understanding of the Portuguese more than any other. The colonial wars of '70s, the almost 50 years of Portugal's dictatorship which cut Portugal off from the rest of Europe have shaped the psyche of the Portuguese. Its a strange country and the people are too! Atunes brings this strangeness to vivid life in this novel. It was bleak reading but totally mesmerising, a real immersion into Lisbon, pre the tourist invasion, through the life stories of the 4 army guys told through a very drunken reunion in the mid 80s. The translation is amazing, though I doubt that Atunes uses the same phrase about cars skidding over the tramlines over and over! The language is incredible, the metaphors! Mostly though I admired this book because I understood the world of these protagonists- it was that good. Also it was funny sometimes which helped me get through as it's a brutal story of a brutal time.