Visceral in the stories violence. A live baby dismembered. Men murdering their wives and vice versa. The gang violence is brutal in the slum in a battle for supremacy in the drug trade. The characters of Hellraiser in the 1960s, Sparrow in the 1970s and the evil insane Tiny and his battle royal with Knockout and Carrots in the 1980s. The randomness of death, cycle of violence with children evolving into gangsters doesn’t change. It is black versus white with the racism. The police are completely...

This book is a first-class milieu study, social novel and critique at the same time. Growing up (criminally) in a Brazilian ghetto suburb. Some escapes the milieu, the others perishes in it. Be sure to read and even better: definitely watch the movie. Great book, great cinema

الرواية دي حافلة جدًا و فريدة جدًا من نوعها و مبنية علي أحداث حقيقيةبالنسبة ليا اول مرة اقرا رواية جرائم و عصابات زي الافلام اللي بنشوفها و بتبقي كلها علي هذا الموضوع بس. الرواية كانت صعبة شوية في تتبع الشخصيات لانك المفروض تبقي واخد بالك و انت بتقرا من خمس اوكار مخدرات مختلفه و مين تبع وكر مين و مين فيهم متحالف مع مين بس اللي خلاها صعبة شوية مش صعبة جدًا هو الأسماء المميزة جدًا لكل افراد الرواية تقريبًا. الأسماء أول مشكلة هتقابلك في الرواية هتحسهم مبتذلين جدًا و ده هيهدد بانه يفصلك من الرواية ب...

Film definitely better

گفتن این حرف که اینحرف که اینجا Imdb نیست خوبه اما
دقیقا فیلم و کتاب یه داستان و روایت میکنه
داستان زندگی یه عکاس در شهری تو حومه ریو که توام با فقر و فلاکت وخشم و قتل و ...
شهر تقسیم بر دو شده
دو سری خلافکار که در راس قراردارن و بقیه مردم که طرفدار یا حامی شونن
هر روز قاچاق مواد
قتل و اتفاقا عجیب
یه قسمت جالب داره (عاشقانه) یکی از سردسته ها به یه دختر که نافرجام موند
در اخر تبهکارا به دست پلیس می افتن و پسرک راوی خبرنگار می شه و ...
جز 250 فیلم برتر

Una lettura difficile sia per la violenza onnipresente dalla prima all'ultima pagina (e sapere che si tratta più di una cronaca che di un romanzo non aiuta) sia per l'interminabile numero di personaggi (poliziotti e banditi indistintamente) che si avvicendano con nomi che sembrano tutti uguali e che fanno tutti (o quasi) la stessa cosa (ammazzano, rapinano, spacciano, violentano, si ubriacano, si drogano). Locandina del film brasiliano del 2002 diretto da Fernando Meirelles e Katia Lund, present...

The dumbest ending I have ever read in a book. However, the action was dark and fast paced and I did find myself in shock/awe/disgust at different point in the novels. Everyone died (ehh for the most part) except for the person I really wanted to which was annoying. I stopped reading for a while and tried to pick it back up but I struggled because I really forgot where I left off- try to read it straight though. Still a good book though, very vivid descriptions.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. While the plot may be confusing, the main theme of violence through adversity and evil as a mainstay (in the slums) is well expressed and carried through the generations - this is evident when depicting characters who have known nothing but corruption, violence and squalor for their respective lives. Despite the convoluted plot, it's entertaining enough to follow and you can't help but feel for so many characters and their plight. Maybe the translation from Portuguese to...

After reading "City of God" my perception has definitely changed in the way that MEN, no, BOYS...are so easily swayed by evil and the evils of the world. The young men in the book succumbed to be products of their harsh environment because their mentality was "kill or be killed" or "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." The novel was written in a way where there was not a particular "linear" story line. It was scattered and jumpy which added to Brazil's City of God's unpredictable and disheartening ...

Not comparable to the film, by any means. In this ONE case, the film is probably better than the book. With that said, the film wouldn't be so great if the book wasn't written first, to provide a story for the film to be based off of. And yes, I just ended that sentence with a preposition. :)At any rate, the book has soooo many characters (almost like a Tolstoy novel!) and people are dying at an unhealthy rate, it's a little difficult to keep track of who wronged who and who's serving up revenge...