Illusioni e disillusioni in Histórias de Macau, di Altino Tojal

The forty stories of Histórias de Macau, whose publication is part of a series of anthologies by Altino do Tojal published by Imprensa Nacional – Casa da Moeda between 2005 and 2014, could form the framework of a book without surprises, featuring the journey of a narrator conversing with a taxi driver on the way to Lisbon Airport, his experiences in the Special Administrative Region, and, in the end, the silent return with the curious taxi driver. However, the way the writer constructs a symbiosis between his long literary experience and some imaginary elements deeply rooted in the local life of Macau surprises us, due to the intertwining of different perspectives and narrative times. The sensitivity, quite sharp, shown towards certain issues concerning the region of Macau seems to emanate, mainly, from the stories "O Grilo de Pi" and "Orvalhinho" (Tojal 2009), in which a cultural translation emerges that deepens certain aspects of social inequalities.