Practical Lessons from the Manual of Carioca Judaism according to Paulo Blank

Abstract

In addition to proposing to account for a life story or part of it, the formative novel needs to accommodate to a series of other classifications that are sometimes coupled to one or more particular categories. Such is the novel Mentch, a arte de criar um homem (Mentch, the art of creating a man), by Paulo Blank, which proposes to include in little Paulo’s formation all the virtues of being a Jewish boy in Rio de Janeiro in last century’s 50s, as well as the typical experiences of the city at that time. The book can be approached under other categories, as a novel of maturity dressed in Bildungroman clothing or as a typical work of Jewish culture. The appreciation of the novel lends itself to unraveling aspects of the instigating Jewish universe of Rio de Janeiro at that time.