For forty years of writing, John Updike has gained enormous popularity in the United States and around the world. His name is firmly established in the gallery of titans of American literature - such as Steinbeck, Faulkner, Hemingway. Updike's novel "Brazil" can be called a modern interpretation of the legend of Tristan and Isolde. True, the action has been moved from the harsh Celtic valleys to Latin America, and the characters are much more frank in expressing their feelings, but the main thing remains - true love overcomes all barriers: racial and class intransigence, hunger, need.