PositiveFull StopOverall, the narratives are examples of their time. Deeply urban, they’re representative of a shift in Brazilian literature that would, in its contemporary production, choose metropolitan cities as its main stage. An existentialist dread runs throughout the narratives as they are marked by an exploration of the self, expressing the fears of a generation facing incredible challenges ... those elements that seem cliché — the young, insecure gay man who is berated, and later seduced, by an older, masculine, dominant military figure — serve to ridicule those in power. This is a way of removing the militaryfrom its moral pedestal ... Many of the other stories in Moldy Strawberries work in this key, touching both on the questions of homosexuality and the dictatorship. Consequently, they give insight into Brazil in the latter half of the 20th century.
Julián Fuks, Tr. Daniel Hahn
MixedFull Stop... the writer not only confuses Sebastián’s biography with his own, but the last third of the work is heavy on a metaliterary discussion that undermines much of the fictional aspect of the story ... If the novelist has come to be known for his autofiction, there is an immense drive in Occupation to look upon other human experiences. In the narrative, there exists a need to open oneself to others to be occupied by them ... Sebastián looks upon others’ misfortune, but the novel does not structure itself around some sense of condescending pity that spotlights people’s personal trauma. If anything, what is highlighted is the characters’ strength and will to survive. It could, in fact, be said that in Fuks’ prose occupation and resistance walk hand-in-hand.
