Book, Nature Reserve[LS]

In ten short stories, Rodrigo Lacerda addresses the theme of the “natural world”. But the “reserve” in its title could also evoke dissimulation and modesty, on the one hand, and on the other the potential destructive power of troops in the rearguard.. The natural world in this book is a world of mystery, violence, beauty and fear.. In a nature reserve, nature is not always an idyll, nor is it always hell.. Includes man, competes with him, provokes him and threatens him. Life forms of touching and compelling simplicity—bacteria, microbes, cancer cells—“perform their biological functions without pleasure or pain, without critical judgment.”. A woman collects a bit of Parisian air in small bottles, and human intruders investigate and emulate the sexual games between orchids and insects.. There is a moment of rapture on a masseur's table, a moment of joy for the body, and there is the fear of death by the sea, just when life seems most intense and intoxicating.. In these moments, and in so many others, Rodrigo Lacerda keeps us in suspense, glued to the text, to this world from which we strangely distance ourselves.. The confidence with which he assumes distinct voices and the skill with which he entangles us in these narratives show, once again, why he is among the most relevant authors in the country.