dire che ADORO questo libro è decisamente riduttivo

I tried, I just could not get into this book. Too bad. He is a fabulous author.
The other books I read by him were translated beautifully. This was a bit too awkward. Sorry! ( )

In this expansive and digressive book, Amado takes on the church, candomblé, politics, the police, sex, race, class, journalism, and a lot more. He does this through two interlinked plots and a lot of digressions.

The first plot involves the director of the Museum of Sacred Art in Bahia (who is also a priest) who has arranged an exhibit of statues of saints; the highlight of the show is to be a statue of Saint Barbara of the Thunder which he has had transported by boat from a parish further up a river. But then things go awry. At the boat dock, Saint Barbara (who is also thought of as Yansan, in the way that the former African slaves in Bahia, and elsewhere, combined Christian saints with African gods), turns into a living being and walks up the ramp and into the city. Of course, the police and the church higher-ups, when notified, think the statue has been stolen, and cook up elaborate plots of renegade and "communist" priests selling statues of saints and other church property to fund their nefarious activities.

The other plot is the reason Saint Barbara Yansan has returned to the city. She wants to rescue teenaged Manela who is tormented by her rigorously Christian aunt Adalgisa who has cared for her since her parents died; she also wants to punish Adalgisa. Manela had previously accompanied her other aunt, Gildete, to a celebration, with dancing and music, and there she met Miro, a taxi driver, and fell in love with him (he had been in love with her for some time). Needless to say, Adalgisa disapproves of Miro, because he is poor, a taxi driver, and darker than they are (they sort of pass for white, although there are very few really white people in Bahia). She ultimately takes strong, even shocking, measures to "protect" Manela.

Mixed in with these two plots are many many other stories, including the trials of Adalgisa's marriage to a former soccer star, Danilo; the various levels of police, including the "secret" police and their connections to the CIA; a priest who has gotten into trouble for opposing the big landowners and supporting the poor farmers and his fascination with a particular woman; two married society ladies who cut a broad swath through a huge variety of men; the priest from the town that Saint Barbara Yansan came from and his flotilla; the various kinds of journalists; and a French TV channel that wants to film Bahian singers and a carnival.

The action of the novel takes place over the two days between the arrival, and disappearance, of Saint Barbara Yansan and the opening of the show in the museum, plus lots of flashbacks and back stories. It is impossible, for me, anyway, to give an idea of the convolutions of the plot, but I enjoyed most of them and think Amado must have had fun writing this book. I had fun reading it.

Il trasferimento della statua di Santa Barbara (identificata con Iansã) è l'inizio di un'avventura che vede schierate - come nelle altre opere del ciclo bahaiano - le due forze contrapposte del meticciato e della "bianchezza" (intesa come sfruttamento, oppressione e repressione sessuale). L'intervento di Iansã (Eparrei Oyá) libererà Manela e Damiana da una religiosità vissuta come sofferenza e negazione del desiderio, riportandole nella comunità del candomblé, e salverà Abelardo dalla morte, trasformandolo in un "prete intero" in senso umano e politico.
Santa Barbara dei fulmini è un omaggio alla cultura meticcia di Bahia che sembra però sul punto di svanire, svilita dai "moderni africanologi mezze calzette", dalla speculazione edilizia e dall'avanzare di una società consumistica. All'amarezza per il declino di Bahia si associa, nel finale, quella causata all'incomprensione della critica:
"Notoria è l'incapacità dell'autore a rinnovare ed innovare ... a rivoluzionare la struttura da feuilletton della narrativa"
i romanzi di Amado potranno anche essere "scartafacci dal linguaggio limitato, vuoti di idee, popolareschi", ma mi trasportano a Bahia e mi hanno fatto conoscere gli Orixas e tanto mi basta. ( )

Un clérigo organiza el viaje de una estatua de "Santa Bárbara, la del trueno" (en realidad es Yansa, diosa del río Níger, de los truenos y los relámpagos) a la ciudad de Bahía. Apenas el barco toca el puerto, la Santa sale caminando y se pierde en la ciudad, donde participa del candomble, y con un objetivo: liberar a Manela.