Não é todo dia que se quer ouvir uma crocante fuga de Bach, mas todos os dias se quer comer. A fome é o único desejo reincidente, pois a visão acaba, a audição acaba, o sexo acaba, o poder acaba - mas a fome continua. Sentar-se à mesa com os amigos, saborear o seu prato preferido e se entregar ao prazer de comer, louca e apaixonadamente. Depois? Depois a morte. Mas isso só parecia acentuar a delícia de sabores irrecusáveis, o paladar em estado de exaltação, a bênção de um destino escolhido. O Clube dos Anjos, de Luis Fernando Verissimo, é uma insólita e bem-humorada celebração da gula. O livro conta a história de dez homens que se entregaram a esta afinidade animal, a fome em bando - sem temer a morte. Na verdade, a perspectiva de morrer só aumentaria, para eles, o prazer na comida, e o desafio filosófico da gastronomia: a apreciação que exige a destruição do apreciado.

This is a nice tale of gluttony and death, a parable of some sort. However, I felt that near the end, the platitudes of a detective story were becoming too apparent for what is essentially a non-detective story.

Upfront, I was expecting more from this book and when I finished it I felt a bit disappointed. However, since then I have discussed the story with a friend (who recommended it to me in the first place :-)) and found that there was more into it than I first thought. Perhaps I should reread it one day.

Some thoughts from the book will remain with me however, like the statement that gastronomy is the greatest form of art, since it's the only one where `destruction equals admiration'. :-) ( )

The narrator of this short book, Daniel, is a member of a very exclusive society of gourmands: He and nine other men regularly meet at each other's houses to feast on the most delicious, exotic, flavorful meals they can create. The club hasn't met recently due to some bad blood between the members, but then Daniel meets the mysterious chef Lucídio, who agrees to cook for them. The club members all converge on Daniel's apartment and are delighted to find that Lucídio's cooking is the best they've ever tasted. But then one of the guests mysteriously dies the next day -- and the meal Lucídio had prepared was that guest's favorite dish. The club continues to hold more dinners, and another member dies after each one. Yet for some reason, Daniel and his friends can't resist experiencing these exquisitely perfect meals, even with the knowledge that each bite could be their last.

From the moment I read the epigraph of this creepy little novel, I was hooked: "All desire is a desire for death. -- A possible Japanese maxim." Verissimo wasn't being lazy in his attribution; the saying is actually referenced in the novel, and it highlights Daniel's unreliability as a narrator. From the start, he warns us that he might be making up the whole story, and then he goes on to give a brief philosophy of the detective novel. So you'll know within the first two pages whether you'll like this book or not; I thought it was weird and thought-provkoking and very good! My library shelves it in the mystery section, which doesn't make sense to me, since "whodunit" is clear from the outset (well, kind of). But watching the motives slowly unfold was interesting and surprisingly suspenseful. I should also point out that this book is set in Brazil, and the main characters are a great microcosm of Brazilian society. I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely recommend it, as well as Verissimo's other novel, Borges and the Eternal Orangutans.

Intrigerend verhaal over eten, leven en sterven, en de spanning daartussen. Een groep vrienden in Brazilië heeft al jaren een eetclub maar de meeste van hen zijn in de loop der jaren aan lager wal geraakt, of op z'n minst een beetje ingekakt. De spirit is eruit. Maar in het boek eten zijn om de beurt hun 'laatste' gerecht, en beleven daarmee iets bijzonders. Het begint met een bizarre ontmoeting van de hoofdpersoon (tevens ik-figuur) met een man die beweert lid te zijn van een genootschap dat eens per jaar een diner bijwoont in Japan, om de zeer giftige fugu (kogelvis) te eten. Hij kan ook nog eens verrukkelijk koken. Het verhaal heeft meerdere lagen, o.a. een homosexuele liefdesrelatie die een rol speelt, maar door de vele namen raak je af te toe kwijt wie wie is. ( )

De engelenclub is een heerlijke roman, spannend tot de laatste beet.
Volledige bespreking via http://wraakvandedodo.blogspot.com/2011/06/luis-fernando-verissimo-de-engelenclu... ( )