This was a great short story collection that I breezed through and wanted more stories! The stories were well-written and unique. I am definitely going to look for more from this author.

This was a fairly quick read of short stories highlighting life in Brazil. Life there is not easy, it is hard, drug filled, and violent. It is a miracle that anyone lives to adulthood. The subject matter is fairly serious, however, the short (about 10 or so pages per story) format allows them to just breeze by. However, the first story is very heavy with the slang, so it was hard to get into, but the other ones were much better. I would recommend this for people interested in Brazil and how people live in Rio de Janeiro's poorest of neighborhoods.

29-year-old Geovani Martins is already a literary sensation in Brazil, celebrated for his "New Realism", and "The Sun on My Head" was a major hit in his home country. The short story collection consists of 13 gripping, atmospheric tales about everyday occurrences in a favela - and Martins knows what he's talking about: He himself grew up in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and only went to school for four years before starting to work menial jobs. In his stories, he shows people trying to make a life for themselves, to belong, to deal with their surroundings - the themes are highly relatable, but the events are set in a very specific environment. There is no kitsch, the question of dignity arises from what happens to the characters, what they experience, which is a very engaging approach.

We meet killers, dealers, gangs, a healer, a graffiti artist, corrupt policemen, children, there are tons of guns and drugs, there is poverty and fear, and there is an indistinct threat looming over everybody, stemming from the knowledge that there is no reliable enforcement of any rules in the favela. Rio is shown as a city at war with itself, its society deeply divided between rich and poor ("It's all too close and too far. And the more we grow, the taller the walls become."). The whole atmosphere Martins evokes - the heat, the haze, the tension - reminded me of the movie "City of God" that also depicts the cycle of poverty and violence, a dynamic that is the actual ruler of the favelas.

Martins' language is very distinct: Unsentimental and straightforward, and apparently, the original Portuguese is strongly influenced by slang, which is of course fitting. This book is fascinating and disturbing, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Brazil or more generally in societies that lose cohesion. I once traveled to Brazil for work, and one evening, my colleagues there started to tell me some shocking stories, closing with "you Europeans have no idea what average people here have to deal with". I'm sure they were right, and we certainly should know, or at least try to know more. Martins book is a an excellent starting point.

(...there's also a German edition: Aus dem Schatten)

Giovani Martins' quick, incisive portraits of inhabitants of Rio de Janero's famed favelas ring true as he lived that life. Some are written in first-person patois, some, third person, and what they hold in common is the dream of making a life possibly through football, the national obsession, but reality is getting by through drugs which are as prevalent as the sun that beats relentless down, burning away hope. Escaping is only for the few, and here's hoping Martins is one so that more can come from him.

I am mildly impressed with what THE SUN ON MY HEAD is offering — mild, in that I’m used to more “poetic” language and impressed in that some of these stories are still astonishing despite the lack of it. I am an admittedly impatient reader — I don’t like long books really, lol — so I like that these stories are no more than 8-10 pages each and cater to my attention span. While the prose isn’t necessarily “beautiful,” because it’s not meant to be, it is incredibly visceral — “dealing with inward emotions” — and I like this a lot. It’s not what I’m used to but I’m intrigued by Martins’ descriptions of favela life. However, I’m not sure if some of its beauty was lost during the translation process, as it’s considered a sensation in Brazil. Still, what’s most fascinating is that these stories are very masculine, “machismo.” Fathers try to keep their families alive, drugs and shady men stalk every street corner, boys with guns, gang violence exploding day and night — all very gritty, harrowing things I haven’t experienced first-hand. Despite being male, I’ve never quite “understood” masculinity outside what’s fed to us in the media but I like that a handful of the stories expose the softer edges of manhood, that it doesn’t always have to be defined by violence and a tough exterior but a will to lead and protect and survive. And for that, it's certainly going to be one of my favorite debuts this year.