{"product_id":"vastlands-the-crossing","title":"Vastlands: The Crossing","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY COLM TÓIBÍN\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Dramatic, wildly colourful and continuously interesting'' \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''A veritable linguistic tour de force'' MARIO VARGAS LLOSA\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1956, Brazilian author João Guimarães Rosa published what would become his magnum opus, \u003ci\u003eGrande Sertao: Veredas\u003c\/i\u003e. South American literary critics were astounded by this ground-breaking ode to the backlands of Brazil, declaring it the Brazilian \u003ci\u003eUlysses\u003c\/i\u003e. Guimarães Rosa’s astounding work would take the Latin American literary world by storm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOriginally translated as \u003ci\u003eThe Devil to Pay in the Backlands\u003c\/i\u003e in 1963, \u003ci\u003eVastlands\u003c\/i\u003e is a single sweeping retrospective monologue from the point of view of Riobaldo, a former \u003ci\u003ejagunço\u003c\/i\u003e – a mercenary or bandit – recounting his life in the backlands of inland Brazil. Raised in poverty by a single mother, Riobaldo receives a basic education before forging his own path within the deeply embedded machismo of the backlands, buoyed by his incredible military abilities and sheer tenacity. His story is a twisting narrative of fraught longing and the flux of power in a lawless state, of old feuds and new betrayals, exiles, Faustian pacts and precarious hierarchy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNow, over sixty years since its only English translation and seventy years since its initial publication in Portuguese, multi-award-winning literary translator Alison Entrekin renders Guimarães Rosa’s feat of linguistic engineering in kaleidoscopic prose, offering the key to this beloved yet often-overlooked masterpiece to a new generation of readers.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57502237557109,"sku":"9781037212581","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781037212581.jpg?v=1786781058","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/vastlands-the-crossing","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}