Five Minutes (novel)

For other uses, see Five Minutes.

"Cinco Minutos" redirects here. For Gloria Trevi's song, see Cinco Minutos (song).

Five Minutes (Portuguese: Cinco Minutos) is the debut novel by Brazilian writer José de Alencar. It was initially published under feuilleton form at the journal Diário do Rio de Janeiro, in 1856.

Plot and setting

The book is written in the form of a letter, addressed to "D.", the narrator's cousin. It tells the story of the aforementioned narrator's love by a woman named Carlota, whose name is only given in the final chapters of the book.

The story begins in Rio de Janeiro City. The narrator, an unnamed man, misses his bus because of a five-minute delay (hence the book's name). Forced to take the next bus, he sits near a woman, falling in love with her at first sight, but he is not able to see her face and deduces she is ugly. Soon after, the woman leaves, telling the man not to forget her; he tries to run after the woman, but loses her. After one month of trying to discover who she is, he finally finds her in a theatre during a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata. He confesses his love for her, but she flees, leaving him a tear-soaked handkerchief.

After many other mishaps, the man finally finds her again and confesses once more; however, she ignores him. Later on, the man receives a letter from the woman, where she says she has been watching him for a long time, but they would never be able to stay together because she has an incurable disease. In the same letter, she says she has left for Petrópolis and, on the following day, would leave to Europe alongside her mother. She asks the narrator to come to her if he wants to live his love.

The narrator leaves Brazil after a brief encounter with her in the Villegagnon Island, and searches for her everywhere, always finding a note from her in the places he visits. Finally finding her, they spend ten days in Europe. Nearly dying, the woman (whose name is now revealed to be Carlota) asks the narrator for a kiss, and after obtaining it, Carlota miraculously recovers from her disease. They marry and, after spending a year in Europe, they return to Brazil and move to a farm in Minas Gerais.

External links

• Download the book (Portuguese)