Lead Review

• Book: Invisibles
• Location: Brighton, Rio de Janeiro
• Author: Ed Siegle

It’s not simply a merry dash through lovely colourful Rio and does not present the favelas as peopled by cheerful, happy-go-lucky ragamuffins. We see the bloody consequences of corrupt leadership, from the petty gangsters who roam Rio’s streets and bars through to loathsome military leaders who think nothing of throwing people into prison without charge and torturing them for their own selfish reasons.

And perhaps more disturbingly, Siegle doesn’t shy away from the consequences of mythologizing those who no longer play any part in our lives. He shows that no matter how much you may miss an absent father, no matter how towering a figure he might be in your life, he is only as flawed and as human as the rest of us. Looking for a legend in your own lifetime is bound to end in disappointment.

Perhaps we should adopt the motto of the more sanguine Gilberto and Nelson – ate a morte, pe forte! –Booksquawk

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