on the side of good. Because Heaven on Earth is populated with all the outcasts, including one who chopped his mistress to pieces. Lack of sympathetic characters is another problem, as you might deduce already. Another man who makes it into Heaven on Earth is a rapist. Worse yet, the lady learns to like it. I tend to get a sore head after so much repeated hammering of message. I squeeze my eyes shut in the blinding light of such naked polemics. The best feature of the story is the Brazilian setting and historical wrap: the one part of the story I enjoyed. But I tend to agree with Shakespeare. The first rule and holy duty of a writer is to entertain. The message has a heck of a lot more power when you sneak it in there. When it's coming through the reader's involvement in the characters and the story. I fully believe a writer can and should postulate whatever argument he wants to in his works. Only don't forget Holy Rule #1. So, swimming against the flood tide of opinion, I'm not impressed. Guess the gold NOBEL PRIZE WINNER affixed to my copy of the book reminds me how political THAT award can be, too. (less) There are books at which we arrive to too soon, books that are forced down our throats by well meaning instructors and friends, books that are passed on with loving grace and books that are clung to relentlessly for years. There are