Personally, I was hooked within 15 pages- and thats from someone who is prepared to read 100 pages by an unknown author before giving up entirely.
Unfortunately, the 2 follow up novels [it is part 1 of a trilogy], are not as good in my opinion.
For me it is similar to “TheMatrix” movie trilogy in that part 1 can be pretty much viewed as a “stand alone” “all in one” “great” item , and parts 2 and 3 being somewhat of a let down- but of course, others will have differing opinions on this matter.
Onebornfree, Bob Murphy regularly documents instances of police brutality on his blog, I’ve read a lot of them and I agree that they’re horrible. Nonetheless, I think if you’re going to make such claims I’d have to ask you for proof. I understand that the films I recommended aren’t documentaries and that there’s probably been some deviations from the truth, but I’ve got many friends who have lived in Brazil who have experienced things that the average American or European wouldn’t even dream of.
Like I said, I don’t doubt that a lot of horrible things go on in the USA or in any other developed nation for that matter, and I also really don’t wish to disrespect anybody by telling them that they’ve had an easy life free from such atrocities. But I think you’re doing a great disservice to many people if you wish to compare the life of an American to the life of somebody living in Brazil, much less to somebody living in the favelas.
Jon, well, that’s what it says on my passport, but I wouldn’t consider myself to be British.
To others who have commented on this post, watch those films if you haven’t already. They’re films, I’ll grant that, but most people will tell you that they’re an accurate description of a lot of what goes on in these places. When you see the sheer number of kids being forced into violence and living their lives without knowing their father, it’ll really put things into perspective. Besides, they’re really great movies.