José Saramago

[Heteronym]

This week I visited a Jos? Saramago exhibition, which covered his life from childhood to modern times, and presented glimpses at drafts and notes regarding his next novel, called ?The Elephant?s Journey,? based on historical facts about an elephant that was brought to Europe during the Middle Ages. So I thought this was a good time for a thread on my favourite living writer.

For me there is only an equal amongst living novelists: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez. Both write magical realism in long, deceptively-meandering, sensuous sentences that can run for several pages, ignoring common punctuation marks. On top of that, Saramago weaves his descriptions with unmarked dialogues, asides, proverbs, philosophical ruminations and ironic observations. The best character in any Saramago novel is always the omniscient narrator. At the exhibition I learned he developed this style while writing his third novel, Levantado do Ch?o, which has never been translated in English. This novel was also his last naturalist novel, the end of his formative years, as some critics call it, which includes Terra do Pecado, the first novel he wrote, in 1947, and Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia, in 1977. Saramago says he didn?t publish a novel in 30 years because he just had nothing worth saying. During this time he worked several menial jobs and perfected his writing publishing chronicles, articles and literary criticism for magazines. He also made a living translating from French.

Saramago achieved worldwide fame in 1982, at the age of 60, with Balthasar and Blimunda, a novel which the UK publishers intelligently marketed as a great love story, although it?s actually about the construction of one of Portugal?s most important architectural landmarks, the Mafra Convent (the original title is translated as ?The Convent Memorial?). Next came his first novel I read, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, about one of Fernando Pessoa?s heteronyms; the humour of the novel comes from treating Reis as if he were a real person. The Stone Raft and History of the Siege of Lisbon were his last two novels to deal openly with Portugal?s history and culture.

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, from 1991,resulted in a controversy that made the writer leave Portugal and set up home in Lanzarote, Spain. The novel was seen as offensive to Christians, so the Ministry of Culture vetoed its entry in a European literary prize list, which Saramago saw as an act of censorship. Although this decision was revoked, Saramago asked the prize jury to keep him out of the list to raise awareness over this matter. This novel is also important because it marks the end of his cycle of historical novels and preludes the universality of his latter work by choosing a more international topic.

Starting with Blindness Saramago initiated what is known as his parable period, in which he eschews geographical, historical and cultural references to the real world in favour of universality. The action in the novel could take place anywhere on Earth, in any city, to anyone. Hence the characters have been described as an allegory for Mankind. Next came All The Names, a parable with Kafkaesque contours about alienation and identity. This was the last novel Jos? Saramago wrote before winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.

In 2001, inspired by Plato?s allegory, he wrote The Cave, an attack on consumerism and the mass production of goods. In 2003 he wrote the poorly-titled The Double (the Portuguese title would be ?The Duplicated Man?, which would avoid immediate comparisons with Dostoyevsky?s The Double), another dissertation about identity and loneliness, about a man who becomes obsessed with meeting a double he finds one day in a movie.

In 2004 there was Seeing, a sequel of sorts to Blindness, and my favourite Saramago novel. The premise is simultaneously simple and astonishing: on a rainy election day, over 80% of the population of a nameless city decides to cast blank votes; and the government, fearing rebellion and acting under the pretence of saving democracy, put the city under siege so that this dangerous idea doesn?t spread to other cities.

Saramago published his last novel in 2005, which according to wiki comes out in 2008 and is titled Death at Intervals.

Has anyone ever read anything by him?

[Stewart]

Has anyone ever read anything by him?
No, not yet. He is someone that I've been wanting to read for, oh, a couple of years now. But I never get around to buying any of his books. Blindness is one that really interests me, though, and since, on my blog, I'm doing a very loose - i.e. non time-scaled - reading of 1,001 books you must read before you die, where he is represented by a few titles, I'm sure I'll get round to him one day.

[Heteronym]

Blindness is arguably his best novel. It's simultaneously a meditation on human frailty, a modern dystopia and a horror novel. If you do read it, you should next get Seeing, which recovers some characters from the first novel.

A perfect introduction to his style, however, would be Death at Intervals. It's the shortest, funniest and most magical of his novels.

[nnyhav]

Has anyone ever read anything by him?

Yes, in approximately this order: All The Names, History of the Siege of Lisbon, Balthasar and Blimunda, The Cave, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, Blindness, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ ...

No doubt the best thing to happen to Portuguese literature since Pessoa; I was hooked after the first above (moreso than with GGM, who's over-rated in my book), but I wouldn't go so far as to say peerless amongst living novelists (I mean, Pynchon & Eco are still kickin', just f'rinstance). Sometimes his voice seems a tad too predictable, falling into an easy pattern of knowing, qualified asides, which has made me hesitant to exhaust his writings ... is there anything I've missed that you'd particularly recommend?

[Heteronym]

Looks like you've missed The Stone Raft and The Double, both of which even I found taxing. I do understand what you mean with predictable: after eleven novels, I find myself guessing his sentences; but this happens with every writer I've read too extensively, from M?rquez to Philip Roth to Borges (especially Borges, who never had a problem cannibalising himself in essays).

But I would recommend Seeing and Death at Intervals: they're short and humorous; the former is especially relevant nowadays with Democracy becoming more and more totalitarian; and the latter is simultaneously a meditation on death, a warning about immortality and a celebration of life.

[miriring]

Hello heteronym,
A good idea to open a thread upon the great writer Jose Saramago.
Yes, I've read all his books - novels, short stories, diaries etc.
Fortuantly I can read Portuguese...
I wrote a monograph upon Saramago which is to be published soon, so I'll be happy to discuss this author (any of his books).
When people ask me from where to start the reading of Saramago's work, I always recommend to start The Gospel according Jesus Christ...if you overcome this book all the others will be easy to read.

[Paul]

I'm fairly new to Saramago, having only read Blindness - which is quite amazing. (Apparently a film has recently been made of that book, by the way).

My plan was to read All the Names next, but having read the synopsis of The Gospel According to Jesus, I'm intrigued by that book. Miriring, when you say this book needs 'overcoming', what do you mean by that? Would it be a mistake for me to read it so early on? I don't want to be put off Saramago if that book isn't representative of his other novels.

[miriring]

Paul, If you read Blindness and you had no problem in reading it, than you will not have any problem in reading all Saramago's books.
People say they have difficulties in reading the long passages with the minimum ponctuation (comma and full stop only)...
All the Names is a great book, one of Saramago's best novel).
Have a wonderful time in reading

[Paul]

I see, miriring. Thanks. I actually really like the way in which it was written. The style seemed to somewhow provide a real impetus to the story itself. I'm quite pleased to hear other books of his are written like that.

As to which of the two books I'll buy next - I'll probably end up doing what I normally do, and buy both.

[Morten]

I'd agree that Blindness is his best. The Double isn't bad either. He's a writer with an unnerving sense of what lurks beneath the surface of civilization, an idea of how little it takes to break that surface and the consequent horror and chaos that would errupt.

[Kingbee]

I read The Gospel According to Jesus Christ first- it took me a while to get into it, not least because Saramago's style is somewhat unorthodox for me at least, but after I got over that hurdle, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I then progressed onto The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (mainly because I also love Pessoa), and found it incredibly taxing and a bit much. In fact, it took me three years and and off to finish it- mainly because it felt like a bit of a chore!

I am now a tad reluctant to read anymore Saramago- because I don't know whether I'll get a GATJC or a YOTDORR. Would be it too simplistic to say that the latter would be more suitable to a Portuguese audience, along with the Stone Raft, etc? My Portuguese friend said that she loved the Stone Raft but that I, as a Brit/Welsh, would find it a bit alienating.

Also, should Blindness be the next one I should progress onto?

[Heteronym]

He's a writer with an unnerving sense of what lurks beneath the surface of civilization, an idea of how little it takes to break that surface and the consequent horror and chaos that would errupt.

He's a lot more than that, though. Blindness is one novel amongst fourteen. Its towering popularity over the others has obscured the fact that Saramago also has great ability to convey humor (Death at Intervals), absurdity (All The Names), romance (The History of the Siege of Lisbon) and family relationships (The Cave). He's one of the most complete writers I know, who understands how humans can simultaneously be decent and vile, ridiculous and special.


If it makes you feel any better, Kingbee, I didn't like The Stone Raft that much either. You'll probably be more comfortable with his post-Gospel work, since the author eliminates all traces of Portuguese culture to make his stories more universal.

[Heteronym]

New novel is coming out soon:

Portugal's Nobel Literature laureate Jose Saramago has announced the completion of his latest work "The Elephant's Journey", based on the real-life epic journey of an Indian elephant named Solomon who travelled from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century.

Saramago's achievement marks a rebirth for the veteran writer, 86, whose flagging health, for which he received hospital treatment late last year, sounded alarm bells in the literary world.

The author describes the book as "a story rather than a novel". It will be published shortly in Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan, and opens with the line: "However incongruous it may seem..."

Saramago has been captivated by the tale for last ten years, ever since he made a visit to Austria and went to eat by chance in a Salzburg restaurant called The Elephant, the author says in a long email interview published recently in the Spanish press.

More... (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/veteran-saramago-reaches-end-of-epic-journey-923263.html)

I'm trying to make 2008 the year I finish reading all Saramago novels: with this one, I just have three more to go.

[nnyhav]

James Wood reviews Saramago's Death with Interruptions (trans Margaret Jull Costa):
Death Takes a Holiday: Books: The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/10/27/081027crbo_books_wood)

[Heteronym]

Is it me or do the British and Americans each have their own translation? Because I've held in my hands this novel translated as Death at Intervals.

[Stewart]

Is it me or do the British and Americans each have their own translation? Because I've held in my hands this novel translated as Death at Intervals.
It's certainly Death At Intervals in the UK, by the same translator. Presumably it's just one of those US quirks where they change the name, like the first Harry Potter book or, say, Philippe Grimbert's Secret to Memory.

[Sybarite]

... Has anyone ever read anything by him

On the basis of your recommendation, Heteronym, I got The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. I started it yesterday and am almost a third of the way through. It's superb.

[Heteronym]

:)

That makes me happy, Sybarite. You'll have to post a review when you're finished.

[Sybarite]

:)

That makes me happy, Sybarite. You'll have to post a review when you're finished.

I will most certainly do that, Heteronym ? and thank you again for the recommendation.

[miercuri]

I read Blindness two years ago and it is undoubtably one of my favourite novels. However I haven't got round to reading anything else by him ever since. I have an English edition of The Double and an older Romanian edition of The Stone Raft. Incidentally, earlier today I ordered All the Names (also a Romanian translation). Which one should I read first?

[nnyhav]

Which one should I read first?
All the Names

[Heteronym]

Yeah, I'd start with All The Names too: it's moving, Kafkaesque at times, a bit absurd too. It's a very complete novel.

[noemi]

Baltasar and Blimunda (Memorial do Convento), try this one first. What lies inside us? Is there any God to save us, any paradise we have to conquer? Or the world is the only Eden we will ever know?

[Heteronym]

A Viagem do Elefante, Saramago's new novel, has just come out, just in time for the Portugal release of the movie adaptation of Blindness: I can't wait to see this movie. Has anyone seen it?

[Sybarite]

:)

That makes me happy, Sybarite. You'll have to post a review when you're finished.

It's taken a long time, Heteronym, but I've finally done it. :)

And thank you once again for the recommendation.

[tripta]

I am a Saramago devotee as well. I am totally enamoured by his narrative style, usage of grammar, and plots; such ingenuity. I read someone remarking on Saramago coming really close to Pessoa; if you haven't already do give The Year of the Death of Richardo Reiss a try. This narrative takes from Pessoa's death to a year in the life of Richardo Reiss - Pessoa's most famous hetronym. The manner in which Saramago enlives the 'characters', the 'mutilated self', and 'hetronyms' is possessed with precise narrative and intellectual rigour. It makes one wonder who is this book about; Pessoa, Richardo Reiss, or Saramago's Pessoa. The author at once becomes an illusive and authoritative figure.

I am, currently, writing my thesis on Sound. The theoritical chapter on sound begins with a discussion on Blindness; I am attaching it below. If it reads disconnected that is because I have taken out the 'theoritical' bits - justifying its inclusion in my thesis - out :)

Blindness:
In a nameless city the residents find themselves succumbing to an affliction without any apparent reason or warning. In the middle of the day or whilst waiting for the traffic signal, people lose their sight. They find themselves suddenly blind. The affliction soon assumes an epidemic proportion. Though it is never categorically stated, the affliction is taken to pass from one to another through touch. The blindness which people experience is ?not dark but a brilliant, impenetrable white? and, by this virtue, is subsequently referred to as the white evil. Blindness as a collective experience begins to unleash chaos in the city whilst also making those who can still see wary of the contagion. In order to limit its impact, the blind are held hostage in a disused mental asylum at the edge of the city. What follows is a systematic collapse of systems: administrative, infrastructural, social, moral, and ethical. Vagaries of all kinds are resorted to by people to negotiate the world through their blindness; filth, jealously, rage, and violence abound but so do love, magnanimity, and tenderness in its own ?blind? way. The human nature is stretched to its limit; the residents - blind and who can still see - not only question the existing norms but also set newer ones. The blindness does abate - slowly and gradually - but only after a catastrophic encounter between the blind, who escape the asylum, and non-blind. One of the main characters of the book is the doctor?s wife who escapes the predicament. Her husband does not; to be close to him, she feigns blindness. Bearing the burden of witnessing almost-apocalyptic events, she ruminates towards the end as people recover their sight, ?Why did we become blind, I don't know, perhaps one day we'll find out, Do you want me to tell you what I think, Yes, do, I don't think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.?

This, in short, is the plot of Jose? Saramago?s sixth novel published in 1995.

The reflections of doctor?s wife in Blindness, ?I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see?, makes ?seeing? a political act. By introducing two narrative strategies, a] the suddenness with which people lose sight as a punctum of reality and, b] the simultaneous collapse of infrastructural and moral systems, with the onslaught of blindness, Saramago compels the readers to question the validity of the reality based on seeing; is what is seen - taken as reality - meant to be so by those in power; is it the indoctrination of the system to not see what it doesn?t want to be seen; how closely does the systems of morality rely on externality of sight? Through slight - though ingenious - tactics Saramago involves other sense than sight, touch and smell. It is through touch that the affliction is spread - or so it is believed - for the case of the doctor?s wife is a clear anomaly. Once the systems, especially the administrative and infrastructural, start collapsing, the blind are associated with the ever-increasing smell of filth and decay. Though the state tries to control these sensory assaults by limiting the afflicted, these provide a tactile power to the afflicted to subvert the system. In doing so, Saramago displaces the power of authority, knowledge, experience, and reality from the eyes to the rest of the body. The body, with all its sensorial elements, becomes the means to frame reality as well as challenge it.

[liehtzu]

Looks like you've missed The Stone Raft and The Double, both of which even I found taxing.

Oh, man, I recommend everyone read The Double. Taxing, perhaps, but it builds to a payoff that's so good, so unbelievably eyewateringly hilarious, that it's hard not to believe that Saramago wrote the rest of the book just for that finale. The end justifies the means indeed.

[Daniel del Real]

Oh, man, I recommend everyone read The Double. Taxing, perhaps, but it builds to a payoff that's so good, so unbelievably eyewateringly hilarious, that it's hard not to believe that Saramago wrote the rest of the book just for that finale. The end justifies the means indeed.

Totally agree. The Double is an excelent novel with a breath taking finale. I think it has been the last great novel written by Saramago

[Heteronym]

I find Seeing and Death at Intervals far superior. The first, a semi-sequel to Blindness, has one of the most subversive ideas I've ever read: cast blank votes to take down a government. The fear this simple democractic act creates on the rulers and the violence they react with is a fine allegory of our current world.

And the second novel is an amusement about one of the last taboos: death. Paradoxically, it's also Saramago's funniest novel. And possibly his greatest love story. It's so many thing simultaneously, it eclipses the simplicity of The Double.

[Daniel del Real]

Have you guys read his last novel? The topic is very interesting but in some way it really dissapointed me
What are your thoughts on this one?

[Heteronym]

Are you talking about A Viagem do Elefante?

[Daniel del Real]

Are you talking about A Viagem do Elefante?

Yeah, that's the one.
By the way, the texts of his blog will be published in portuguese and spanish. How I didn't see this coming? :D

[Heteronym]

They treat him better in Spain than in Portugal. For one they've never censored his books. And when the Spanish organised a beautiful Saramago exhibition, the Portuguese Minister of Culture didn't even bother to show up. Saramago has made Spain his home and repays all the kindness with simultaneous translations of his work. I understand and admire that.

[kpjayan]

Have you guys read his last novel? The topic is very interesting but in some way it really dissapointed me
What are your thoughts on this one?

Daniel / Heteronym

Death with interruptions - translated by Margerett Jull Costa

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Interruptions-Jose-Saramago/dp/0151012741/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240639011&sr=8-1

Is this the book you are referring to ? If so, I just bought a copy of the same. Looks interesting.

Jayan

[Heteronym]

Read Death With Interruptions. It's a very funny, very well-written novel. It's Saramago relaxing and having a bit of fun really, although still tackling some very heavy themes.

We' actually talking about the novel he wrote after this one, called A Viagem do Elefante, which hasn't been translated into English yet.

Daniel, I also read that Saramago's collection of blog writings won't be released in Portugal after all. There's no release date yet. That leaves me rather sad, seeing how other countries will get it before we do. But in the end they can be read in his blog anyway.

[Daniel del Real]

I don't know if they will still publish it in spanish, I really hope so.
However you guys have the advantage that with his diaries, Cuadernos de Lanzarote, only two volumes were published in spanish and in portuguese they released a third volume. Am I correct on that?

[Igu Soni]

Can anyone please the name the translator(s) to English so I can find the books?

[Heteronym]

Can anyone please the name the translator(s) to English so I can find the books?

Don't you just need the titles? ;)

------------------------------

Daniel, it seems the newspaper I read was wrong: they did publish his blog writings in Portuguese after all. I bought my copy today :D

About the Lanzarote diaries, in Portugal we have five volumes.

[Igu Soni]

Don't you just need the titles? ;)


Is there only one translator?(Judging by your response, yes.) If there is, then I shouldn't have any trouble finding them. Otherwise, I have to find out which one is a good one. That's why I prefer to know the translator too.

[Mirabell]

Still not read any of his books. Damn.

[Igu Soni]

Oh, man, I recommend everyone read The Double. Taxing, perhaps, but it builds to a payoff that's so good, so unbelievably eyewateringly hilarious, that it's hard not to believe that Saramago wrote the rest of the book just for that finale. The end justifies the means indeed.
You really think that it was all for the end? I seriouisly felt there was much more to it.


Totally agree. The Double is an excelent novel with a breath taking finale. I think it has been the last great novel written by Saramago

I disagree. I thought the end had no business being in a book not written by Jeffrey Archer. When he made it funny, he lost out on the creepiness that pervaded the rest of the book. I seriously think he should have ended with just an oblique reference to it.

[Daniel del Real]

You really think that it was all for the end? I seriouisly felt there was much more to it.



I disagree. I thought the end had no business being in a book not written by Jeffrey Archer. When he made it funny, he lost out on the creepiness that pervaded the rest of the book. I seriously think he should have ended with just an oblique reference to it.

I don't think the end was funny, at least that's not what I remember. And I agree the books is not made only for the finale, it brings a lot of intelligent content.

[Igu Soni]

I don't think the end was funny
You're probably right. I was talking about the high-ing effect of an effective blindside and the word 'funny' came out because of the quoted posts. My only point was that he directed too much attention to the blindside and lost sight of the main theme.

[Jayaprakash]

Currently stalled just after the halfway mark in BLINDNESS. This is the most oppressive thing I've encountered since THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus.

[Heteronym]

Yesterday I finished Jos? Saramago's A Viagem do Elefante, his last novel, about the historical journey of an elephant from the Portuguese court to Austria as a royal gift.

This was a milestone for me, for I have now effectively read all 15 novels Jos? Saramago has published so far. And altough I can't help feeling triumphant, I also feel a bit of emptiness because the occasions to enjoy Saramago will become scarcer and scarcer from now on :(

However Saramago has a new novel ready to come out this year. It's called Caim and it's about Cain, God and Mankind. I can't wait! You can read about it here. (http://blog.josesaramago.org/especiales/cain/traducciones/english.html)

[Beth]

Hat's off to you, Heteronym. Bring back your avatar so we can salute him! I may just pick up Seige of Lisbon as my next read, inspired by your thorough scouring of Saramago.

[waalkwriter]

I have only heard his other book titled as "Death with Interruptions" and it is very good. For what's its worth, (absolutely nothing), Harold Bloom considers Saramago the second best living author behind Phillip Roth. Only criticizing him for his political activities apparently, of course I can't muster up much sympathy for someone who is still a Stalinist.

Of course I am a little mystified on the Roth part. I don't consider Roth amazing, I mean good, but amazing, but the greatest living author? Not really. Of course all of Bloom's favorite authors are his age, so he read them when he was younger, (not in Saramago's case of course).

[Daniel del Real]

This was a milestone for me, for I have now effectively read all 15 novels Jos? Saramago has published so far. And altough I can't help feeling triumphant, I also feel a bit of emptiness because the occasions to enjoy Saramago will become scarcer and scarcer from now on :(


I understand you very well Heteronym. Saramago is one of my three favorite writers and I have read all his novels translated to Spanish but one; Hist?ria do Cerco de Lisboa. Why? Same situation that you. I have the sensation that when I'm done with his novesl I'll feel empty. I want to have the hope that there is always new Saramago stuff that I can read and enjoy.
Although his lastest novels have not been as good as the rest of his works, I'm also eagerly waiting for Ca?n.

[Heteronym]

Saramago has also written poetry, plays, short-stories, diaries and articles. I try to console myself with the idea that I still have all those to read, but it's just not the same. By his own admission, his best writing is in the novels.

[Jayaprakash]

After BLINDNESS I'm somewhat scared to read anything else by him. I am awed at his relentless vision of human wickedness, but also unwilling to wade in such depths again.

[Heteronym]

His most humane novel, Levantado do Ch?o, is yet unavailable in English. But hopeless bleakness is not one of Saramago's traits. Humor and absurd is. Seeing, Death at Intervals and The Cave best display his understanding of intimate human relationships. You should start with one of these.

[Daniel del Real]

Saramago has also written poetry, plays, short-stories, diaries and articles. I try to console myself with the idea that I still have all those to read, but it's just not the same. By his own admission, his best writing is in the novels.

Beside his novels, I've also read the two volumes of Cadernos de Lanzarote, As pequenas mem?rias, O conto da ilha desconhecida and A bagagem do viajante.
I've always wanted to read Terra do Pecado and In Nomine Dei, but I think they're not available in Spanish.

[Jayaprakash]

His most humane novel, Levantado do Ch?o, is yet unavailable in English. But hopeless bleakness is not one of Saramago's traits. Humor and absurd is. Seeing, Death at Intervals and The Cave best display his understanding of intimate human relationships. You should start with one of these.

Thanks, I will try SEEING next, then. Is BLINDNESS somewhat unique among his works, in tone?

[Daniel del Real]

Thanks, I will try SEEING next, then. Is BLINDNESS somewhat unique among his works, in tone?

I think it is the most terrible, obscure and raw of his novels, describing crude events. All the Names can be very gloomy, but you always foresee redemption is possible, and it Blindness it's more difficult see where it can come from. I suggest you continue with All the Names, and then The Cave to finish the trilogy, for me, his best.

[learna]

I read his "Blindness", "The Stone Ruft" and "The Gospel According to Jesus". And what is interesting is that these books are so different. As a rule, writers have their own style that repeats in each their work but Saramago is a great еxception. Different styles, different thoughts. http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/images/misc/progress.gif
Here is an article about him:
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Jose Saramago still going strong (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8104789.stm)

[Daniel del Real]

This is brief note about Saramago presenting his new book Ca?n.
No wonder why I love this man so much

CBC News - Books - Saramago's Bible criticism 'offensive' to church (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2009/10/20/saramago-cain-bible-comments.html)

[Heteronym]

I've been enjoying this controversy from the start. What I love most are the reactions from all the good, knowledgeable Christians who claim Saramago is an ignorant man who didn't get the Bible, and then state he should burn in hell forever.

I'd really like to know where Jesus Christ ever wished one of his enemies to burn in hell forever, but I guess I'm like Saramago, too ignorant to understand this complicated philosophy of unconditional love and turning the other cheek :D

[IBTeacher]

I'm about to teach Blindness to my 11th Grade IB students; in addition, I'm a first-time reader of the text, and I'm finding the shifts in narrative perspective and voice, the many modifiers and page-long sentences, and the seeming lack of reason to the short sentences versus the long, fused sentences to be disconcerting. I'm assuming there's a method to the madness, but why the figurative language used in rather clinical situations? Why the logical, mathematical voice, the didactic preacher voice, and the indecisive schizophrenic voice all in one paragraph? The International Baccalaureate focuses on authorial choices and the effect on the reader, and I would love for some insight regarding structure (the many modifiers, etc.), style, and voice. It would be much appreciated!

[Heteronym]

Boo! It is for statements such as these that Saramago is going to burn in hell!!! :p Personally, I think this militant offensive against Catholicism has outlived its usefulness, particularly in Europe. And what, pray tell, would he choose to substitute the Bible with, to bolster people's flagging spirit? The Communist Manifesto? I think I'll pass.

His public statements are more rabid than the actual novel. He left all the vitriol for the interviews and TV appearences. In fact the novel just asks in a lucid, humorous and commonsensical way some questions that any Christian should make himself: why did God decide to punish Job to prove his faith? Why did God burn down Gomorra and Sodoma with everyone, including the innocent Children who couldn't be sinners yet? Why demand Abraham sacrifice Isaac to show his faith? Are these the actions of a loving God? And so on.

[Raphael Lambach]

He loves to catch holy theme and become them in mundane stories. He had made it with "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" and recently with "Caim". And if I'm not wrong his first book was "Terra do Pecado" (The Land of Sin)

[Heteronym]

Terra do Pecado has nothing to do with religion. The title was forced on a young Saramago by the publisher. The original title was The Widow, which is what the book is about: a widow who falls in love again.

[Raphael Lambach]

Terra do Pecado has nothing to do with religion. The title was forced on a young Saramago by the publisher. The original title was The Widow, which is what the book is about: a widow who falls in love again.

I did not know about that.

[Bjorn]

Publisher tells paper novelist Saramago has died - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_obit_saramago;_ylt=AtYsB81djBZ..I1t1ljPGZWs0NUE ;_ylu=X3oDMTNoNjhnOWU4BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNjE4L2V1 X29iaXRfc2FyYW1hZ28EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3Bvcw MzBHBvcwMxMQRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9y eQRzbGsDcHVibGlzaGVydGVs)

[Heteronym]

Yes, he passed away shortly before one in the afternoon. Portuguese TV news have been talking about him for the past hour.

This is a very sad news. He was my favorite writer and in my opinion he was also the best living writer.

[DouglasM]

All the portuguese language is mourning his death today.

[Raphael Lambach]

Publisher tells paper novelist Saramago has died - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_obit_saramago;_ylt=AtYsB81djBZ..I1t1ljPGZWs0NUE ;_ylu=X3oDMTNoNjhnOWU4BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNjE4L2V1 X29iaXRfc2FyYW1hZ28EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3Bvcw MzBHBvcwMxMQRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9y eQRzbGsDcHVibGlzaGVydGVs)

I've just known it. I am paralized here in my house.

[miercuri]

Very sad news indeed. He lived a long life, yet it seems that his death came too soon.

[Raphael Lambach]

Very sad news indeed. He lived a long life, yet it seems that his death came too soon.


Saramago's work is such an important thng that we can't believe his death really happened.

[peter_d]

The death of legend. Learned it just 45 minutes ago. Very sad news.

It?s a comforting thought, however, that he left so many wonderful books that he will never be forgotten.

[Raphael Lambach]

I lay it on the line that by we don't?have any writer (on Porguese) as perfect and sofisticate as Saramago was. After Machado de Assis had only Saramago, but now this place is empty.

[Scott89119]

What sad news. Right after hearing it I got my copy of Blindness off the shelf and started reading it for the first time. What a stunning writer, readable in his pacing and surprising in the little things he puts in the middle of his long paragraphs. This sentence has for some reason got me going:

"Virtue, should there be anyone who still ignores the fact, always finds pitfalls on the extremely difficult path of perfection, but sin and vice are so favored by fortune that no sooner did she get there than the elevator door opened."

Wow. RIP.

[mesnalty]

So sad. But at least he left behind quite an extensive bibliography. Maybe his death will lead to some of his early works being translated into English, but in the meantime I look forward to reading some of the translated ones I haven't gotten around to (The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, The Double).

[Heteronym]

I'm going to start re-reading Seeing today in his honor. It was one of the first novels I read him and it's one of my favorites.

[Bjorn]

Here's a nice obit:

Jos? Saramago, master of what-ifs | Maya Jaggi | Books | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/jun/21/jose-saramago)

[waalkwriter]

I got this news a little late it appears, but I saw on Wikipedia he had died at age 87. A long life, but yes it does seem short, maybe because he was still so active, and maybe because he didn't really get noticed as a writer until he was nearly 60 years old.

I've only ever read Death With Interruptions, but I liked it a lot. Blindness has been on my list for some time, I shall have to try to pick it up this summer, though first I want to make my way through T.H. White's The Once and Future King series of books which have come very highly recommended to me.

Certainly one of the greatest living European writers.

I wonder what the Portuguese people on here think of President Silva skipping the funeral, (though he was vacationing just a few miles away). I'm personally inclined to think that Saramago would have preferred it that way. I don't think he would have liked to see a right-wing critic of his come to his funeral and wax kindly on his grave, especially a man who tried to censor him and take various awards away at one time, if my understanding is correct, (which it probably isn't).

[Liam]

Certainly one of the greatest living European writers.Um, well, not anymore, :(.

I've only ever read Death With Interruptions, but I liked it a lot.Yes, I remember liking it too, especially the part about the dog.

Blindness has been on my list for some timeUgh, I hated Blindness. Three hundred pages of absolute filth to tell me... what, exactly, that human nature is inherently beastly? You DON'T say!!! I hated the movie version as well.

[waalkwriter]

Yeah, Death With interruptions was good, but it made me very angry. When I came across my first reaction was, SHIT, and then I had to cross out an idea for a future novel, it was a, 'Note to self, someone beat you to this" moment. :D

Hmm, hated Blindness you see? Quick, tell me a novel that you've read and loved and I will spout a completely trivial reason for disliking it :p

The movie version i didn't see, but it did help prove to me that America is way too sensitive and obsessed about political correctness; the American Blind society or whatever attacked the film and launched a public campaign against it because it "demonized the blind", talk about totally missing the point and mischaracterizing the work at the same time.

[Heteronym]

I got this news a little late it appears, but I saw on Wikipedia he had died at age 87. A long life, but yes it does seem short, maybe because he was still so active, and maybe because he didn't really get noticed as a writer until he was nearly 60 years old.

A quick clarification: Saramago published his first novel in 1947, at the age of 25. It was awful and he felt he had nothing to say so he gave up fiction indefinitely. He published his second novel in 1977, and started writing full-time in 1979. His third novel, which for the first time reveals his unique style, came out in 1980. His fourth novel, the 1982 Baltsar and Blinunda, brought him international fame. As you can see, the world had no reason to take notice of him before he was 60. But what is amazing is that between his becoming a full-time writer and a Nobel Prize winner only 18 years passed.


I've only ever read Death With Interruptions, but I liked it a lot. Blindness has been on my list for some time, I shall have to try to pick it up this summer.

A very good novel, one of my favorites. Full of imagination and humor.


I wonder what the Portuguese people on here think of President Silva skipping the funeral, (though he was vacationing just a few miles away). I'm personally inclined to think that Saramago would have preferred it that way. I don't think he would have liked to see a right-wing critic of his come to his funeral and wax kindly on his grave, especially a man who tried to censor him and take various awards away at one time, if my understanding is correct, (which it probably isn't).

Cavaco Silva is a piece of scum, quite simply. And, as Saramago once said of him, a banal man. He was the prime-minister of the right-wing government that censored Saramago and led him to exile himself in Spain. So there was no love between the two. Still, I think he should have been there. He followed the pope around like a puppy when he visted Portugal, but couldn't waste a morning attending Portugal's greatest writer's funeral.

[Liam]

Quick, tell me a novel that you've read and loved and I will spout a completely trivial reason for disliking itWell, I remember reading and really, really loving The Sound and the Fury, :).

the American Blind society or whatever attacked the film and launched a public campaign against it
I hope they had watched it, at least, before launching the campaign.

[waalkwriter]

Hmmm...damn you :p Touche, way to turn that around on me, couldn't use a book like Me, myself, and my Penis :D

[waalkwriter]

A quick clarification: Saramago published his first novel in 1947, at the age of 25. It was awful and he felt he had nothing to say so he gave up fiction indefinitely. He published his second novel in 1977, and started writing full-time in 1979. His third novel, which for the first time reveals his unique style, came out in 1980. His fourth novel, the 1982 Baltsar and Blinunda, brought him international fame. As you can see, the world had no reason to take notice of him before he was 60. But what is amazing is that between his becoming a full-time writer and a Nobel Prize winner only 18 years passed.



A very good novel, one of my favorites. Full of imagination and humor.



Cavaco Silva is a piece of scum, quite simply. And, as Saramago once said of him, a banal man. He was the prime-minister of the right-wing government that censored Saramago and led him to exile himself in Spain. So there was no love between the two. Still, I think he should have been there. He followed the pope around like a puppy when he visted Portugal, but couldn't waste a morning attending Portugal's greatest writer's funeral.

Isn't Silva Prime Minister again now?

And on one hand I could say I agree with you, insofar as this is the funeral of a titanic figure in the Portuguese arts and high circles, but on the other I am rather inclined to disagree. I am often sickened by people making up and being kind and saying nice things when people die, eulogizing them in the grave. Keep believing what you believe is what I say. Gore Vidal wrote a wonderful eulogy for William Buckley, titled "Rest In Peace in Hell: William Buckley" and ended on a note of something like, 'And if there is a hell somewhere, be certain that he is roasting in it with the fires of the ignorance and hate he spent his life helping to flame'. :D Loved it!!! That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about, and he was the only big figure willing to slam the SOB.

Getting back to Saramago, I can't say I think he would have wanted Silva at his funeral, so maybe Silva was right not to attend.

And to ask a note on Portugal, is it really Religious? Like Conservative Catholic? I've always had an image of it like Italy; 40% fervently Catholic, another 20% loosely and liberally so, and the remaining 40% other religions or no religion at all. Do Progressives and socialists play well there?

[Heteronym]

Just a note, no one calls him Silva in Portugal. That'd sound strange to a Portuguese :D We always call him Cavaco Silva. And at the moment he's our president. He was prime-minister in the early '90s, then disappeared from politics for a while, and a few years ago ran for presidency and won.

And I don't think the Portuguese know what the hell they are: the government will as indifferently pass legislation on abortion and gay marriage as it will greet the pope with open arms. The Portuguese are your typical christians: won't attend church, don't know the bible, but they'll be all indignant if someone offends a religion they seldom practice but occasionally remember to profess :rolleyes:

[altai]

I am puzzled by the people's fascination with Saramago. I tried Blindness cos it seemed everybody loves it, it started nice and I was expecting a sort of Kafkian explosion of a grotesque nightmare but then somewhere midway during the rape scene it just all fell apart, I couldn't suspend any disbelief any longer, the actions of the characters lost any credibility and the whole thing turned to farce. it it felt that he just didn't ave anything else to say and yet the book continued for more than hundred pages of the same kind of useless action with the same simple morale

I found done review on Amazon, which basically sums up all my problems with Saramago in a better way:

Amazon.com: Gary Malone's review of Blindness (Harvest Book) (http://www.amazon.com/review/RSHID9GAI8CST)
/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0156007754&nodeID=#wasThisHelpful

[Refus de Sejour]

I found done review on Amazon, which basically sums up all my problems with Saramago in a better way:

Amazon.com: Gary Malone's review of Blindness (Harvest Book) (http://www.amazon.com/review/RSHID9GAI8CST)
/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0156007754&nodeID=#wasThisHelpful


Terrible review, for a number of reasons:

- The usual banal complaints about "gimmicks" leveled against anything that departs from the status quo. Think about it - once upon a time, paragraph breaks and quotation marks could have been dismissed as "gimmicks."

- Ridiculous assumptions about the author ("a man who had neither the talent nor inclination to develop it" - "lack of commitment" etc), that are simply embarrassing - it's kinda like watching someone confidently claim that Picasso invented Cubism "'cause he didn't know how to draw."

- And then there's clunkers like this: "Therefore it is impossible for the author to escape the accusation that he has some explaining to do." Uh, maybe in Malone's world that counts as a devastating pronouncement. For anyone who appreciates ambiguity or indeterminacy of meaning - not to mention the traditions of surrealism, absurdism, or even so-called "magical realism" - it's facile in the extreme.

[Amoxcalli]

Not to mention that he explicitly attacks Saramago for a style that he believes that doesn't flow in his English translation. I haven't read the English translation, so I can't comment on it, but if its prose doesn't flow, that's more likely to be a fault of the translator than of Nobel laureate Saramago.

Only (minor) fault of Saramago's novel is that I think he cut off the novel too early. I'd be interested to see what would happen to the city after the blindness. But you know, I can forgive him that. Excellent novel.

[Refus de Sejour]

Not to mention that he explicitly attacks Saramago for a style that he believes that doesn't flow in his English translation. I haven't read the English translation, so I can't comment on it, but if its prose doesn't flow, that's more likely to be a fault of the translator than of Nobel laureate Saramago.

Only (minor) fault of Saramago's novel is that I think he cut off the novel too early. I'd be interested to see what would happen to the city after the blindness. But you know, I can forgive him that. Excellent novel.


I haven't read Blindness, but in The Double and The Cave (the former I have read, the later skimmed on a library shelf) the prose flows beautifully in translation.

[Elie]

I finished reading Blindness very recently and I adored it. Couldn't put it down, read it in two or three sittings and didn't start another novel for at least a week afterwards, which is unusual for me, because I was too busy thinking about it.

Now I'm reading The Double and I'm finding it to be very hard work. I keep picking it up, putting it down, not really motivated to read it. I'm still only around the 120-page mark despite the fact that I must have had it on the go for a couple of weeks now. Should I bother finishing it or is it going to come good in the end? I hate abandoning books, but this one is really testing my patience..

[Daniel del Real]

I finished reading Blindness very recently and I adored it. Couldn't put it down, read it in two or three sittings and didn't start another novel for at least a week afterwards, which is unusual for me, because I was too busy thinking about it.

Now I'm reading The Double and I'm finding it to be very hard work. I keep picking it up, putting it down, not really motivated to read it. I'm still only around the 120-page mark despite the fact that I must have had it on the go for a couple of weeks now. Should I bother finishing it or is it going to come good in the end? I hate abandoning books, but this one is really testing my patience..

Keep on reading it. I found the ending astonishing.

[Heteronym]

I agree. Continue to read and you'll find a great ending.

If you persevere and if the novel doesn't put you off Saramago, I'd also recommend Death at Intervals, which is hilarious, and All the Names, which for me surpasses Blindness.

[Daniel del Real]

I just finished re-reading Memorial do Convento and it was a marvelous experience, much better than the initial one. This novel is one of a kind even in Saramago's production. Certainly another must if you want to understand and fully appreciate Saramago.

[Refus de Sejour]

Now I'm reading The Double and I'm finding it to be very hard work. I keep picking it up, putting it down, not really motivated to read it. I'm still only around the 120-page mark despite the fact that I must have had it on the go for a couple of weeks now. Should I bother finishing it or is it going to come good in the end? I hate abandoning books, but this one is really testing my patience..

Persist. The novel changes tone and pace quite significant at about the half way point. Personally, I liked the first half more than the last; but you might be the opposite :)

[Heteronym]

I just finished re-reading Memorial do Convento and it was a marvelous experience, much better than the initial one. This novel is one of a kind even in Saramago's production. Certainly another must if you want to understand and fully appreciate Saramago.

I don't know. It's one of my least favorites. The relationship between Blimunda and Baltasar never convinced me, although I was heartbroken at the ending.

Saramago, however, displays a wide knowledge of Portuguese history in this novel. The sections dealing with the construction of the convent, told through the lives of the workers, practically slaves, who built it, are amazing!

Daniel, have you ever read Levantado del Suelo?

[Daniel del Real]

Yes, I have. I thought it was a good novel but opposed to most of Saramago's novels I never found any fluency to read it and there I lost one of Saramago's biggest achievements: naturality of his prose. Thus I was never able to connect to the book and I can barely remember what is all about. I remember the general panorama about the country men from the Alentejo, but that's it. Maybe I should schedule it for a re read on a coming 18th of the month. This October I'll re read A Jangada de Pedra.

[Elie]

I finished it in the end. Definitely got more interesting at the end but I think chances of me re-reading it are slim.

[littératuresansfrontières]

It is strange to read this because it is exactly Blimunda and Baltasar (I read it in french and the title was: Le Dieu manchot) that hooked me to Saramgo and not what you call as his more universal work :).

I started with Blindness (L'aveuglement) having read so many good reviews of it. I liked it a lot but then I was hoping for more from a Nobel prize laureate.

I then read All the names (Tous les noms) and then I started getting appreciating the writer more and more. I simply loved it. But then again, I wanted more.

Then came Blimunda and Baltasar and I was completely blown away. I have to confess that I love novels with historical context but this novel contained almost everything I wanted: historical context, love, sarcasm, political criticism, religious criticism etc.... etc... in addition to the great Saramago style.

From that point, I became a huge fan of Saramago (I read his blog regularly). I was deeply saddened when he left us this past summer.

I have to admit though that I am far behind in reading his novels. To the above mentioned, I recently added: The history of the siege of Lisbon (L'histoire du si?ge de Lisbonne) and I loved it too. Just the idea behind the book is genius!

So, Heteronym, what should I read next?

[lenz]

So, Heteronym, what should I read next?

Sorry to interrupt, Heteronym, but Saramago's The Double is this month's Book Club selection. Ive started it and find it very different from Blindness - much lighter in tone perhaps. There is a thread for it at the bottom of the home page.

[Heteronym]

So, Heteronym, what should I read next?

Well, I'd say you've read some of his best already. Now if you want more historical novels, you may try Le Voyage de l'?l?phant, L'?vangile selon J?sus-Christ (full of religious criticism) or L'Ann?e de la mort de Ricardo Reis (amaizng novel about the poet Fernando Pessoa).

I also recommend La Lucidit? (brilliant political criticism) and Les Intermittences de la mort (his funniest novel).

[littératuresansfrontières]

Well, I'd say you've read some of his best already. Now if you want more historical novels, you may try Le Voyage de l'?l?phant, L'?vangile selon J?sus-Christ (full of religious criticism) or L'Ann?e de la mort de Ricardo Reis (amaizng novel about the poet Fernando Pessoa).

I also recommend La Lucidit? (brilliant political criticism) and Les Intermittences de la mort (his funniest novel).

Many thanks! I will look into these titles closely. I would love to read all his work actually.

I just don't want to read them one after the others! I tried it with other writers before and it does not work well that way with me.

[Heteronym]

I've read all his novels; my only regret is that I'll never again know the pleasure of reading a Saramago novel for the first time :(

[littératuresansfrontières]

I've read all his novels; my only regret is that I'll never again know the pleasure of reading a Saramago novel for the first time :(

Question: I usually read Saramago in French. I can read Spanish too. However, I am a much slower reader in Spanish.

Is there any particular reason I should go out of my way and read the Spanish translation? I know Saramago made sure to have a Spanish version ready of his books very early on....

[Daniel del Real]

Many thanks! I will look into these titles closely. I would love to read all his work actually.

I just don't want to read them one after the others! I tried it with other writers before and it does not work well that way with me.

You can also try A Caverna (The Cave) and finish his so-called trilogy (Ensaio sobre a Cegueira, Todos os Nomes & A Caverna). A really worthy read more in the vein of his last year's novel than the 80's ones.


Question: I usually read Saramago in French. I can read Spanish too. However, I am a much slower reader in Spanish.

Is there any particular reason I should go out of my way and read the Spanish translation? I know Saramago made sure to have a Spanish version ready of his books very early on....

His translations to Spanish are magnificient due to the work of his wife Pilar as a translator. As Saramago was writing the novel Pilar was simultaneously translating to Spanish and that is why his novels always came together in both languages at the same time. Early translations from Saramago's ouvre were also in very good hands with Basilio Losada.

[littératuresansfrontières]

His translations to Spanish are magnificient due to the work of his wife Pilar as a translator. As Saramago was writing the novel Pilar was simultaneously translating to Spanish and that is why his novels always came together in both languages at the same time. Early translations from Saramago's ouvre were also in very good hands with Basilio Losada.

This makes perfect sense now. A while ago, I read an interview with Saramago where he said that he writes sentences as they come to him and rarely edits or changes a line after putting it on paper (or on the computer!). This makes sense with what you said about this is his wife being able to simultaneously translating his works and partially explains his unique style!

[Daniel del Real]

Today has been 4 months that Saramago died.
I keep honoring him and yesterday I started a re read on The Stone Raft. It is also great that we are dedicating him the book of the Month with The Double.

[Efoj]

You can also try A Caverna (The Cave) and finish his so-called trilogy (Ensaio sobre a Cegueira, Todos os Nomes & A Caverna). A really worthy read more in the vein of his last year's novel than the 80's ones.

I've never heard about them as a trilogy, can you tell me more about the reasons that make you group them (besides being from the 1990s)?

[Daniel del Real]

I've never heard about them as a trilogy, can you tell me more about the reasons that make you group them (besides being from the 1990s)?

It is often called the trilogy of the end of the century. These novels written in the late 90's, early 00's deal with what Saramago thought was the decaying of human societies as the XX century comes to an end. In all of these three books, there is a harsh criticism to today's normal life and a strong question to where we're going. It is not a typical trilogy with one same story to be developed in three books; it doesn't even share the same characters, places ir situations, so don't expect that in this trilogy.

[Heteronym]

I've never heard of it as a trilogy either, although I hear Blindness marking the beginning of his 'parable' period, which continues into Death at Intervals. Well, no reason to worry too much about these things; what matters is that all his novels are great!

[Daniel del Real]

In a day like today, in 1922 José Saramago was born. It would have been his 88th birthday, one that he was never able to live. A lot of celebrations and tribute are happening right now around the globe, remembering one of the greatest literary figures of the XX century. Reading Todos os Nomes.

[Heteronym]

Yesterday in Portugal they released a documentary called 'José & Pilar' about the writer's relationship with his wife. I'm only watching it next week but I heard on TV that it's already a success in Brazil.

[Daniel del Real]

Yesterday in Portugal they released a documentary called 'José & Pilar' about the writer's relationship with his wife. I'm only watching it next week but I heard on TV that it's already a success in Brazil.

Read about this documentary in the news. I hope we'll be able to watch it soon here in Latin America.

[Daniel del Real]

In the tribute offered by FIL 2010 to José Saramago, his wife and translator Pilar del Río was present at the event. She mentioned the future actions of the foundation and it touched the topic of future publications. His first novel, the one written when he was 25 years old, Terra do Pecado, that has never been translated into Spanish will be published. She also mentioned of a novel that followed this one, written when Saramago was aprox 27, named Claraboya. Saramago said that he didn't want it to be published when he was alive but he said it was no problem if it was published after his death. I had no idea this novel existed. The third book, or part of a book, is the one that he was writing a the moment of his death, dealing with armaments: Alabardas Alabardas Espingardas Espingardas.
Three new Saramago novels for the Spanish market, and sure, later for the English. A combination of the earliest and the latest. I expect a very different Saramago in his early novels (maybe just Heteronym have read Terra do Pecado) but anyway, I'm a big fan and I plan to read every word this great man wrote in his brilliant and long life.

[Stephni]

I've just started Death at Intervals (my first Jose Saramago) and I am finding the long sentences much easier than I thought I would. It is more stream of consciousness than the strict complex David Foster Wallace style sentences that I expected from reading the forum. I am a bit curious about the rhythm of the writing and are wondering if the translator managed to capture the Portuguese in the English or the essence of the author's style. (Translator is Margaret Jull Costa.) It does make me wish I could read it in the original form. Maybe I should have accepted that invitation to go to Mardi Gras in Brazil that one time :o

[Daniel del Real]

I've never heard of it as a trilogy either, although I hear Blindness marking the beginning of his 'parable' period, which continues into Death at Intervals. Well, no reason to worry too much about these things; what matters is that all his novels are great!

Hey, I knew I have read it somewhere and finally I found it in the book Saramago en sus Palabras. This is my translation so don't expect a great accuracy:

"The Cave closes an involuntary trilogy initiated with Blindness and All the Names. It wasn't a trilogy I conceived it like that since the beggining, but inside the diversity of themes in the three novels there is an intention of unity that consists in telling how is the current world to the author, the life we're living though."

Época, Madrid, January 21 2001

[Heteronym]

So yesterday I tried something a bit different by Saramago: one of his plays; specifically his first play, written in 1979, called A Noite (The Night). It takes place during the night of 24 of April 1974, at a fascist newspaper. As the editor in chief is informed that the military are in the streets staging a coup, there's a different revolution within the newspaper, as two groups are formed: the pro-government, which wants to censor the news, and the pro-coup, which wants to publish the news of the coup.

It's worth taking into consideration that Saramago at the time was working at a newspaper, and he had written for newspapers during the dictatorship, so he had ample experience about how newspapers were run under censorship.

I liked the play very much, it has many of his touches: an attack on pseudo-intellectuals who support dictators, a monologue on the use of the mass media for propaganda that seems taken straight from Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent, only it was written 9 years before; the difficulty to be a dissenting voice; and the power the blue-collared workers can have in the process of democracy; true to his working class roots - Saramago also worked as a printer before graduating to newspaper writer - he shows the men running the printing machines opposing the 'learned' journalists who defend the regime; as Saramago points out, it's those workers who get the newspaper out; the journalists may write it, but whoever runs the prints decides whether it comes out or not.

The play format also shows that Saramago has a knack for good dialogue, a talent that tends to get buried under his amazing prose, but which gets the spotlight here.

[Flower]

Yesterday I received "The elephant's journey" by mistake from a bookclub. I have never read Saramago before but I see from all the posts here that I am in for a treat, so I won't return the book. :)

[Daniel del Real]

It's a shame that, from what I know, none of his plays have been translated into Spanish. I'm sure that after his death, new translations will be coming out little by little. Pilar said last December that the first translation of Terra do Pecado will come short and also the previously unreleased youth novel Claraboia.
Have you read In Nomine Dei? I've heard it's also an excellent play.

[Heteronym]

A Noite is the only play I've read so far; I'm planning on reading them chronologically, so it may take a while to get to In Nomine Dei, his fourth.

Terra do Pecado is great for the introduction the old Saramago wrote for it; very tongue-in-cheek, he notes that its young author (25 when he published it) doesn't seem to have a bright literary future ahead of him.

I'm anxious to read Claraboia; I wonder if it's so bad that Saramago decided never to publish it in life.

[Daniel del Real]

Is there an edition in Portuguese with the 4 plays or you have to read them separately?

[Heteronym]

A collected edition would be a fine idea, but at the moment they're all sold individually. And he wrote 5 plays in fact.

[littératuresansfrontières]

I also recommend La Lucidit? (brilliant political criticism) and Les Intermittences de la mort (his funniest novel).

I just finished La lucidité and it is absolutely a great political satire. Thanks Heteronym for suggesting it.

The only thing that bothered me in this novel is the "underdevelopment" of some characters like the mayor of the city. The mayor that sounded at the beginning of the novel like one of the most promising main characters disappears completely toward the middle and the end of the story.

The link to Blindness is brilliant and as usual, I loved Saramago's acute sense of humor and sarcasm.

[Heteronym]

Seeing moves to the whim of Saramago's satire, it doesn't submit to the tyranny of characters. So characters came in and exit the novel in unpredictable ways, participating only long enough to fulfil their roles. There are no main characters, even if many are promising, because this is about a city living collectively. I think Saramago realised that exacerbated individualism is one of the greatest malaises of the modern time and that it's time we start thinking as a community again. That's why no one character takes over the narrative. To solve the problems that affect the city the whole city must come together, and I found the scenes that describe the joint efforts of the civilians the best parts. The problem of the city, of course, is politics, electing representatives, in other words the problem is a cult of personality, of putting hopes on others to solve our problems.

I think the novel was ahead of its time and no one quite understood it then. But now, with the crisis of democracy, the rising abstention numbers in elections and the generalised mistrust of politicians, this novel is becoming cautionary, prophetic even.

[Heteronym]

Today marks the first anniversary of José Saramago's death, who left us on the 18th of June 2010.

I'm going to celebrate him today by reading The Tale of the Unknown Island.

[Heteronym]

Hm, couldn't find my copy, so I started reading Journey To Portugal, a travelogue Saramago wrote in the '80s about his extentsive journeys through Portugal, from North to South, West to East.

Daniel, it may interest you to know that Pillar said in a recent interview that she's working on the Spanish translation of Saramago's theatre. So be patient.

And this year Saramago's unpublished novel will come out!

[Liam]

Today marks the first anniversary of José Saramago's death, who left us on the 18th of June 2010.

I'm going to celebrate him today by reading The Tale of the Unknown Island.Um. Why don't you just go to church and light a candle for the sake of the poor man's soul?

[Daniel del Real]

I'm honoring him by reading Death at Intervals. It's the last of the 12 works I've read every 18th to pay him a tribute during


Hm, couldn't find my copy, so I started reading Journey To Portugal, a travelogue Saramago wrote in the '80s about his extentsive journeys through Portugal, from North to South, West to East.

Daniel, it may interest you to know that Pillar said in a recent interview that she's working on the Spanish translation of Saramago's theatre. So be patient.

And this year Saramago's unpublished novel will come out!

I've heard about the unfinished novel to be published in 2012 in Spanish, the one he was writing when he died. I don't know if you're referring to this one or to Claraboia.
Anyway, great news about the theatre in Spanish, thanks for the news Heteronym.

[Heteronym]

Um. Why don't you just go to church and light a candle for the sake of the poor man's soul?

Reading beats going to churches.

Daniel, Claraboia, his 1953 novel, comes out this year; his unfinished novel comes out next year: I've heard it's really just thirty of forty pages, though.

[Liam]

Or you can be REALLY cool and do both, :).

[Daniel del Real]

A very interesting article about Saramago written by her English Translator Margaret Jull Costa was published by Granta online:

http://www.granta.com/Online-Only/saramago

(http://www.granta.com/Online-Only/saramago)This comes previous to the publication of the Saramago's early novel Levantado do chão (Raised from the Ground)


I've just finished translating Levantado do chão (Raised from the Ground), published in 1980 and hitherto untranslated into English. It was in this novel, as he himself commented, that Saramago first found his unique style and voice.Still a while before Raised from the Ground is available, but you can already pre-order from Amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1846552494/ref=nosim/completereview07).

[Heteronym]

That's great! Raised From The Ground is one of his best novels! One of the two I've read twice, the other being Seeing. It's Saramago at his most communist, but it's possibly the most artistic communist novel ever written. It follows three generations of a working class family from Alentejo, one of the poorest regions in Portugal, from the final years of the monarchy to the Carnation Revolution of 1974, and it's basically a history of the labor rights movement in Portugal, seen through the eyes of ordinary people. It's one of the few novels that has made me cry.

Incidentally, this year we also saw the publication of a 'lost' novel, Claraboia. Saramago wrote it in the 1950s, but it was never published; years later it resurfaced but he decided it should only be published after his death. And I already got it for my birthday :o

[Daniel del Real]

Incidentally, this year we also saw the publication of a 'lost' novel, Claraboia. Saramago wrote it in the 1950s, but it was never published; years later it resurfaced but he decided it should only be published after his death. And I already got it for my birthday :o

Great, let me know what you think, though I'm sure it's going to be a very different novel compared to what we know from him. The Spanish edition is going to be released in spring with the translation of Pilar del Río. Can't wait to put my hands on it.

[pesahson]

Apparently The Double is to be turned into a movie. The filming is set to begin in May 2012.

"Jake Gyllenhaal is set to pull double duty as the two leads in the thriller An Enemy. Variety reports that Gyllenhaal is in negotiations to star as “a dysfunctional history teacher who accidentally discovers his exact double on a rented DVD, seeks him out and ends up turning both of their lives upside down.” Denis Villeneuve, who was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for his pic Incendies, is onboard to direct. The film is based on the novel The Double by Jose Saramago, and Javier Gullion is set to write the script."

[Heteronym]

I keep wishing Fernando Meirelles would adapt Seeing. It'd be awesome to have Julianne Moore back, and the story is very relevant to our times. Still, any adaptation of Saramago leaves me excited.

[altai]

(contains spoilers)
wow, I see Saramago gets a lot of love on this forum, and particularly his Blindness. It is the only novel of his that I've read and it seems many people here think it's his best work. So I guess I don't need to read his other ones, because for me it was a total flop. It starts intriguingly, an unnamed land, unnamed plague, everybody goes blind except just one woman. We never get to know why she didn't go blind, but, hey, this is just one of the many glaring plot holes in the book.

Untill about half of the book I was actually liking it. The writing style is simple, not like Paolo Coelho, but Ok. Moralism just seeps through the text on every page, but OK. They refuse to use their real names as though blindness deprived them of their identity. Ok, I can deal with that. The tension mounts as they are herded in the hospital and the conflict intensifies as they start fighting for food and power and I expect a macabre explosion of violence, but then, when the seeing woman allows herself and other women to get gang raped I just can't suspend my disbelief any longer. I mean it's ok to invent a phantasmagoric world ruled by certain principle. I can accept that they all went blind except her, it's the author's world. But still it's a novel on humanity, on human action, on the motives of human action, on the human nature. But the human action in this book is so hard to swallow, it's just ridiculous. I don't think any woman in the real world, and a resolute one as the doctor's wife in the book, would let herself be gang raped by a bunch of blind men. It's just too much to accept. I understand Saramago needed a sordid sacrifice for the plot, but he should've come up with a different scenario. Since that rape scene the whole novel just falls apart and till the end, where, surprise, they regained their vision as unexpectedly as they had lost it it's just a parody of itself. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I couldn't get over the ridiculousness of the plot. One has to believe in the characters to sympathize with them. It's like exploitation movies. You understand which emotion the author is trying to exert from you, but you see through the seams and you just can't let yourself get tricked.

PS. I've just realized I'd already posted a similar post in this thread a couple of years ago. But hey, I wasn't so outspoken then, so I won't delete this one.

[Liam]

It's not just you, Saramago very rarely produced "serious" literature. But he was, and I'll give him that, an amazing and unique stylist--there's no one out there that can write like Saramago, except maybe Elfriede Jelinek in her "brighter" moments. But his plots are ridiculous. I couldn't stomach Blindness for that very reason; but I had better luck with Death with Interruptions--very funny and humorously written. I recently picked up one of his last books on sale--the one about the elephant--so we'll see how that turns out. But this is just to say, you are not wrong. I've been a serious student of literature for almost a decade now, and read all kinds of things professionally, but his fiction doesn't strike me as serious--and this has nothing to do with my personal tastes and/or quirks.

[Heteronym]

Harold Bloom has more decades of study behind him, and he disagrees, Liam ;)

What would you call serious literature then?

[Liam]

Harold Bloom is one of those stellar academics whose opinions I happen to respect (mostly because, despite being uber-famous, he sticks to literature, unlike his colleague Chomsky who sticks his nose into everything that is and isn't his business), but I thought Bloom's "future canon" list was a bunch of nonsense.

No one can predict the list of future classics; time alone can decide. In the 1850s, Americans probably thought that The Lamplighter was going to be read forever, and Moby Dick not at all.

I don't happen to see any value in Saramago's scatology. His unique and suffocating style, which is perfectly suited to most of his narratives, yes, but the actual narratives are quite ridiculous, exposing his basic lack of understanding of human nature. Saramago was never a realist, but always an allegorist, and the latter always have it easier because they don't have to understand, not really, how human psychology works. They can simply create symbolic narratives filled with symbolic figures making grand symbolic gestures, and it ends there.

My other charge against Saramago is that there is no spiritual growth in his characters whatsoever. No one really changes, they all stay the same at the end of the book, and I find this intolerable. The last two books I read by him, Blindness and Death with Interruptions, the characters were exactly the same on the last page as they were on the first; I think this is lazy and soporific, and proof manifest that he was a bad reader of people.

If you can't convincingly write about human psychology, if human psychology bores you (which I think it does, because Saramago is always only interested in HIS view of things), perhaps you just shouldn't be a writer. Or if you are at least don't complain if your books are forgotten within the next couple of decades due to their lack of psychological depth.

Oh, and fyi, wallowing in misery and shit is not depth, and there's plenty of the former in Saramago masquerading as the latter.

[Daniel del Real]

You can't judge an author by only two novels. I've read all his novels, some of them twice and I can say that studying over 10 years of literature can reduce to nothing when the person instead of analyze is only giving mere factless opinions basing himself in in his self thought greatness. Not very smart dedicating so much of your precious time to an author you dislike. Go ahead and keep on writing about your medieval gems no one else care about.

[Liam]

Some opinions need no facts since we're not disputing dates or places, but rather the quality of this writer's writing, which depends on a reader's taste, yes.

I don't think I have dedicated "much time" to an author I dislike, but how would I have been able to dislike him prior to reading him, answer me that? I've read two of his novels in full, and part of a third, before forming my opinion. His range is quite limited, so I don't think I am being unfair in picking two works from his "later" years as opposed to the early or middle ones.

No offence, Dan, but my "writing about my medieval gems no one else cares about" is what got me into a good graduate school. Do that first before rushing in with insulting one-line putdowns.

[Liam]

^^However, lest it should seem that I am being unnecessarily harsh on him, I'm willing to give him another chance: I have The Elephant's Journey on order from Amazon, and if you have any suggestions from his early/middle periods, I'm all ears. It may very well be that I chose the wrong two books by Saramago to start with. The Woods people managed to change my opinion on Bernhard, after all, maybe you'll succeed in doing the same thing with this Portuguese Munchkin.

[altai]

I don't happen to see any value in Saramago's scatology. His unique and suffocating style, which is perfectly suited to most of his narratives, yes, but the actual narratives are quite ridiculous, exposing his basic lack of understanding of human nature. Saramago was never a realist, but always an allegorist, and the latter always have it easier because they don't have to understand, not really, how human psychology works. They can simply create symbolic narratives filled with symbolic figures making grand symbolic gestures, and it ends there.

My other charge against Saramago is that there is no spiritual growth in his characters whatsoever. No one really changes, they all stay the same at the end of the book, and I find this intolerable. The last two books I read by him, Blindness and Death with Interruptions, the characters were exactly the same on the last page as they were on the first; I think this is lazy and soporific, and proof manifest that he was a bad reader of people.

If you can't convincingly write about human psychology, if human psychology bores you (which I think it does, because Saramago is always only interested in HIS view of things), perhaps you just shouldn't be a writer. Or if you are at least don't complain if your books are forgotten within the next couple of decades due to their lack of psychological depth.

Oh, and fyi, wallowing in misery and shit is not depth, and there's plenty of the former in Saramago masquerading as the latter.
very well said! I understand that sometimes people get really offended when their pet writer is criticized, so it's pointless to argue about those things since instead of a dialogue you get knee jerk reactions all the time. I usually rest my case immediately and move to with other affairs.

[Stiffelio]

Liam, perhaps you are being a bit too harsh on Saramago based on the two and a half books you've read. Your analysis correctly reflects the late Saramagoan manierisms. After his commercial success with Blindness his writing became rather formulaic and repetitive, and I can see how it can irritate some readers. But he was not always like that. His earlier novels were a lot better, especially in the areas of plot and character development; his metaphors were deftly meshed within the flow of the novels. I particularly recommend that you read Balthasar and Blimunda and The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis. And, please stay away from The Elephant's Journey: it's his worse scrapping-the-bottom-of-the-jar lit.

[Heteronym]

No protagonist in Franz Kafka's novels grows either.

[Eric]

I have not yet read anything by Saramago, so I risked reading Altai's spoiler posting #138. I'm afraid it has made me even less likely to read anything by Saramago, despite the calls of "but he's not so bad really" from others.

[Heteronym]

You probably wouldn't have liked the style or the content, or the humour, Eric, so it's a wise decision.

[Eric]

But no matter, I shall read all your comments, then judge whether I fancy reading any Saramago at all. I get the feeling he's yet another hyped author because someone has made a film of his novel, and he won the Nobel in 1998. And, of course, because he was a Communist, which makes some people think he must be a kind of demigod.

Is he, as Altai and Liam seem to hint at, just another fantasy horror author? Or is there more profundity in his work? Does he blind people by tarting up horror as a "profound insight into human psychology"?

The translator herself is bound to talk up the book, because she translated it. Did she choose it herself, or was she given the assignment to translate because there is a film in the offing, and the publishers want to make a killing on the book as well, once the film is out? That's the way that things work, nowadays. As soon as they make a film of a book, the publisher goes into overdrive to make a profit too.

[Eric]

Here's a comment from that interview with the translator, whose URL was posted here several postings back (#133):


One cannot help but see this egalitarian approach to both punctuation and narration as an expression of Saramago’s declared anarcho-communism and atheism, as cocking a snook at orthodoxy and authority, be it God or Government, and as a way of privileging the spoken voice, the ordinary human voice. Saramago’s dense pages of prose may look daunting, but once you step in, you are immediately swept along on that seamless flow of thought and utterance, all the while chivvied and cheered on by a genial and garrulous narrator, eager to involve you in the narrative process, and occasionally confessing to certain narratorial misdemeanours – like jumping ahead of the plot – or apologising for not being able to spend more time with certain secondary characters, about whom he could tell us more, if only he had the time . . .

Egalitarian punctuation and narration, eh? And a bit of atheism for good measure. What the translator seems to be suggesting is that most people will find him unreadable on their first encounter with his work, but if you persevere with his egalitarian punctuation and narration, you will see the light. I'm sure that the removal of capital letters helps society to reach equality...

[Heteronym]

My mom, who left school after the 6th grade and is a mere receptionist, has never had trouble understanding and enjoying Saramago, and laughing at his humor. Remarkably, during my college years I met a couple of teachers who found him 'difficult'.

[Eric]

Your mum may actually be intelligent and perceptive. Education guides these qualities, but they have to be there in the first place.

But I don't fancy reading ʒuˈzɛ sɐɾɐˈmaɣu myself (i.e. Zhoozeh Seremaghu). But I can see why some people turn him into a kind of secular saint: anarcho-communist, anti-establishment, pessimist, egalitarian punctuation, proletarian background, Nobel Prize, atheist, emigré, lost novel, i.e. all the things that appeal to the average university student of literature, when at an age that they react against everything. If he was so anti-establishment, why did he accept the Nobel from the hands of the Swedish king? He should have refused it on principle.

[Heteronym]

The problem, Eric, is that you think you know Saramago from a couple of soundbytes you heard - egalitarian punctuation, atheism, anti-establishment, that have nothing to do with his writing. Egalitarian punctuation is just something silly someone wrote about his style, but it doesn't make any sense; Saramago just writes long sentences, like many writers before him, and it shouldn't be taken seriously. Likewise, his atheism is barely absent from his work except for two or three novels, and as for his anti-establishment, on the contrary, he was very much involved in the establishment, performing his civis duties of commenting and criticising what he believed was wrong in society and in the world. He was very much against apathy and was often involved in many social causes. If thinking that Bush and Berlusconi are criminals is being anti-establishment, I guess there's really no hope for you, Eric.

[tyucelboru]

As a new member of the team, I just wanna write what I think about the punctuation of Saramago. I read most of his books. At first I felt puzzled because of reading a text with only a few punctuation. However after reading his other books, I discovered that he is extraordinarily creative, then I began putting the punctuation on my own to focus on the subject itself. Now I feel very comfortable, and he became one of my idols.

[Liam]

For what it's worth, here (http://readnobels.blogspot.com/2012/07/cain-by-jose-saramago.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ReadTheNobels+%28Read+the+Nob els%29)'s an unprofessional review of S's last book, Cain.

[Heteronym]

A review of his short-story collection, The Lives of Things. (http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=4172)

[Flint]

I've read all Saramago fiction works (I mean his mature fiction - I never plucked up the courage to read juvenalia like Land of Sin) in the original Portuguese and I would say he has some very good ones, some decent ones and some just barely acceptable ones. For me his best novels are Ricardo Reis - for style and use of language - and Blindness - the idea, the narrative structure, the ability to describe in a convincing way. His worst are his last novels - the Death thing, the Elephant thing and the Cain thing, when he was obviously no longer in shape to write proper books.
I've enjoyed many things in all his books: his use of language (I don't know how this comes out in translation because I always read him in the original, but I've been told that he has been competently translated into English), his dialogues, his ability to make you feel you're there...
On the other hand, all his books have things that I've found irritating (but then I'm an easily irritated reader) and passages that would have required a strict scissor-wielding editor.

[Heteronym]

Terra do Pecado wasn't that bad, indeed it was better than Cain in my estimation. But I just don't understand why so many people dislike Death at Intervals: it's so funny, it has so many incisive observations about the impact of immortality on human society, and towards the end becomes such a moving love story. For me it's his last great novel.

[herenerves]

O homem duplicado was just such an amazing book, from the first sentence to the last. The end was so shocking!

[Daniel del Real]

Agree with you Heteronym, it is a severe critic for human existence but without the sordid and violent dystopic ways of Ensayo sobre la Ceguera. In this book Saramago's weapon are the extreme irony, sharp comments and very well balanced sense of humor.

[perry]

I just finished "The Double", I'd never read anything by Saramago before. He does have a unique style and I love how he adds humor in the book, but I almost felt like I read two different novels: there is a big difference in tone and pace between the first part (until we meet the double) and the second part (after we've met him). Strangely enough, although the first part consisted mostly of the professor's thoughts while the second part was more action-filled, I liked it more when it was just the professor and us. Still a good novel overall, but the sudden change in its tone threw me off a bit. I liked the twist in the end too.

[Cleanthess]

I second Flint's opinion that Ricardo Reis is the best of Saramago. More exactly, it is the best of Saramago in his superficially superficial style where he writes in a deceivingly light way about deep things. There is also the resonant style where he writes in a very formal, poetic language that disguises the void of reality. The best I've read on this style is Baltasar and Blimunda (aka Memorial do Convento).

Reading a summary of the plots of novels is mostly useless as a tool to gauge whether we'd like a writer or not. Ditto for reader's reported opinions like: 'Stephen King is The Man!', '50 Shapes of Grapes will rock your world!', 'Naruto is the greatest thing since Dante, take my word for it!' To get someone to see the Moon, if that person has never seen the Moon, the best course of action is to point to the Moon, not to describe it; same for literary works, it's better to show than to tell. In that spirit, let me quote 3 samples from Memorial do Convento and Ricardo Reis to get a taste of what Saramago does best.

From Baltasar and Blimunda:

"The slab was enormous and rectangular in shape, a massive block of unpolished marble set on two trunks of pine, drawing closer we would undoubtedly hear the sap groaning, just as we hear, at this very moment, the groan of fear escaping from the men's lips, as the colossal dimensions of the stone came into full view. The officer from the Inspectorate General comes up and places his hand on it, as if he were taking possession of the stone in His Majesty's name, but if all these men and oxen are unable to provide the necessary strength, all the King's power will be as wind, dust, nothingness. However, they will do their best. This is why they have come, this is why they have abandoned their fields and labours (...) the inspector may rest assured that no one here will let him down."

From Ricardo Reis:

"Among those books he found one from the library of the Highland Brigade, a book he had forgotten to return. If the Irish librarian notices the book is missing, grave and grievous accusations will be made against the Lusitanian nation, a land of slaves and brigands, as Byron once quipped, and O'Brien will concur. Insignificant local transgressions often give rise to resounding and universal consequences. But I am innocent, I swear it was merely forgetfulness on my part and nothing more. He placed the book on his bedside table, intending to finish it one of these days, 'The God of the Labyrinth' by Herbert Quain, also Irish, by no unusual coincidence."

Notice how 'An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain' by Borges is being playfully referenced.

As read from a newspaper:

"a sixteen-year-old girl has died of smallpox, a pastoral flower of bucolic innocence, a lily cruelly severed from its stem and so prematurely. I have a foxhound bitch, not a purebred, who has already had two litters and on both occasions she was found eating her young, not one escaped, tell me, dear editor, what should I do. In reply to your question, dear reader, the cannibalism of bitches is generally due to malnutrition during the period of gestation. The dog must be well fed with meat as her staple diet. (...). If this does not change her habits, there's no remedy, either destroy the dog or do not allow her to mate (...). Now let us try to imagine what would happen if women suffering from malnutrition during pregnancy, starved of meat, bread and green vegetables, which is fairly common, were also to begin eating their infants. After trying to imagine it and having confirmed that such crimes do not occur, it becomes easy to see the difference between people and animals. (...) Now, what name would be suitable for the bitch. (...), the right name, one which comes from Ugolino della Gherardesca, that most savage, lusty nobleman who ate his children and grandchildren, there are testimonies to this (...) in the Divine Comedy, chapter thirty-three of the Inferno. Therefore let the bitch who eats her young be called Ugolina, (...) Ugolina do not kill me, I am your son."

[Flint]

Fancy discussing Saramago, one of my very favourite writers of all time, in an English speaking forum!

So, Heteronym, Terra do pecado wasn't that bad after all. Well, thank you, I might go and read it then.

Herenerves, I'm afraid you and I are not going to agree about O Homem Duplicado - that big omniscient narrator makes a shift of focus too big for my taste, at the end of the book.
Anyway, Herenerves and Perry, I agree it's a good novel and I had a good time reading it.

Daniel, about Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira, you will agree it's a great (and frightening) book. Such an outlandish tale, but sooo credible!

Cleanthess, I subscribe what you say about Saramago's style (styles). By the way, good English translations.
(Saramago's Spanish translations -funny considering how close Spanish and Portuguese are, or precisely because of that- have not always been so fortunate, I think).

[Cleanthess]

Fancy discussing Saramago, one of my very favourite writers of all time, in an English speaking forum!
In a world where so much is going wrong it IS a privilege and a joy to discuss a magician like Saramago. To me he resembles Garcia Marquez in the fact that they both hide a lot of wonderful surprises under the surface of their writing, so much so that I have missed many of them on a first and even on a second reading; their command of technique and lack of "show-offiness" in their best work is nothing short of humbling to amateurs like me.
I wish the translations were mine, they are by the great, late Giovanni Pontiero who brought Saramago and Lispector into English.

[Eric]

Cleanthess, have you got anything specific to say about Saramago? You use rather a lot of other people's ideas, but what to you yourself think about specific Saramago books? That would be more interesting to know. Nev er mind the plot summaries, read the books.

[Flint]

In a world where so much is going wrong it IS a privilege and a joy to discuss a magician like Saramago. To me he resembles Garcia Marquez in the fact that they both hide a lot of wonderful surprises under the surface of their writing, so much so that I have missed many of them on a first and even on a second reading; their command of technique and lack of "show-offiness" in their best work is nothing short of humbling to amateurs like me.
I wish the translations were mine, they are by the great, late Giovanni Pontiero who brought Saramago and Lispector into English.
Giovanni Pontiero was a great translator. More recently, Margaret Jull Costa has done some great translation work too on Saramago - she has also translated Pessoa and Lidia Jorge.

[Cleanthess]

Cleanthess, have you got anything specific to say about Saramago? You use rather a lot of other people's ideas, but what to you yourself think about specific Saramago books? That would be more interesting to know. Nev er mind the plot summaries, read the books. Fair enough, Eric. I've coasted a lot on my posts by quoting others without contributing anything original other than a translation here and there.
Well, at least on my post about Saramago there was some method to my madness. I quoted the key passage inside the Ricardo Reis novel (the one about the God in the labyrinth book) and I pointed out to distracted readers how Saramago was referencing a Borges short story about Herbert Quain.
The reason why this particular quote is the key to the novel is because in it Saramago is letting the readers know that he's challenging them to solve the mystery that the Book contains, and, that he has provided enough clues for the attentive reader to guess what is the meaning of the ending of the Book.
In the Herbert Quain short story Borges theorizes about a detective novel where the unraveling of the mystery by the detective is wrong and only a few readers will guess the right solution based on a key sentence inside the book. A few lines below the Ricardo Reis passage I quoted, Saramago stresses: Quain, Quem, Quien, Who. And then he asks : " a labyrinth with a God, what kind of god? what kind of labyrinth? who is this labyrinthine God". A few lines below my second quote, the one about the newspaper, Saramago tells how the newspaper mentions that Fernando Pessoa is the creator of Ricardo Reis (mind you this is being read by Ricardo Reis, who then wonders if the one who wrote that absurd statement is lying or dreaming?)
Now, those three clues allow the Borges-obsessed reader to guess what the end of this novel would be, because Saramago is subtly referencing a famous short story where in a nightmare somebody comes to kill Borges and allows Borges to take a book along for the journey. Borges and the killer end up in a labyrinthine, crepuscular world where Borges wakes up from the dream and leaves the killer in that strange world alone, with only the book that Borges carried.
I don't want to spoil any more of the Ricardo Reis novel. I'll just say that my theory explains why Ricardo Reis has continued to live even after Fernando Pessoa's death. How the apparent solution to the mystery of the book (The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis) is the wrong one and how readers who know which one is the key sentence inside the book (the figure in the carpet) can unravel the puzzle.
I hope this counts as an original thought about a Saramago book.

[Flint]

Cleanthess, are you Chris Rollason?
http://www.themodernword.com/borges/borges_papers_rollason_02.html

[Heteronym]

Cleanthess, I subscribe what you say about Saramago's style (styles). By the way, good English translations.
(Saramago's Spanish translations -funny considering how close Spanish and Portuguese are, or precisely because of that- have not always been so fortunate, I think).

They're translated by Pilar, his wife. They must be good because Saramago, in Lanzarote, received mostly mail from Spanish-speaking people praising him for his novels, more than the Portuguese did :D

[Heteronym]

I second Flint's opinion that Ricardo Reis is the best of Saramago. More exactly, it is the best of Saramago in his superficially superficial style where he writes in a deceivingly light way about deep things.

Reading his five diaries, it becomes obvious two novels in particular marked his career: The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, and The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis. Wherever he goes, whoever he speaks to, it's always Ricardo Reis that's brought up. George Steiner was a huge fan. What he's done for the fame of Fernando Pessoa abroad can never be measured.

And I agree it's his best novel, not my favourite, but the best novel he ever wrote, and also my first of him, it was hard, and perhaps because of that I didn't like it as much as I've liked others, but even then I could see the genius, it was unlike anything I had ever read, and whatever the difficulties, there was something there that kept me going, reading one novel after the other.

[Flint]

They're translated by Pilar, his wife. They must be good because Saramago, in Lanzarote, received mostly mail from Spanish-speaking people praising him for his novels, more than the Portuguese did :D
It's funny, because the two Saramago Spanish translators whose work I have seen are true textbook examples of two classic types of translators: the 'literary' and the 'literal'.

Basilio Losada was an old school translator concerned above all that his translations sounded well - his aim was to 'translate beautiful'. As a result, as is usually the case with that type of translators, he often makes quite unnecessary problems for himself (eg, paraphrases where no paraphrasis is needed), and takes liberties like castilianising Portuguese words (often in cases where there's a perfectly valid Castilian word to be used). For me, one memorable example of this type of translating is his rather bad rendering of the opening of 'O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis' - one of the most beautiful pieces of Portuguese narrative-descriptive prose ever.

Pilar del Rio, for her part, belongs to the 'school' of the 'literal' translators. Her aim is to produce a Spanish text that is as close as possible to the original Portuguese text. Which is ok, but sometimes, well, her translations sound too literal, again -funny enough- like castilianised Portuguese.

Maybe I'm being unfair, and the problem is that translating into languages that are quite similar these things happen more often, or they're more easily spotted.

[Cleanthess]

Cleanthess, are you Chris Rollason?
http://www.themodernword.com/borges/borges_papers_rollason_02.html

I wish man. Chris Rollason is an actual intellectual; me, I'm just a dude posting on an internet Forum.
Thank you for directing me to that extremely valuable resource: "The Modern World", I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of fun exploring it.
Back to the matter at hand; in the article you link, Mr. Rollason gives away the seemingly correct unraveling of the mystery that I mentioned before as planted by Saramago to confuse the readers (remember this is a labyrinthine book by design):
Borges "claimed the phantasmagoric Quain as a virtual heteronym, the 'author' of his own story 'Las ruinas circulares' ('The Circular Ruins'), in which a man discovers he is no more than a character in someone else's dream ('comprendió que él también era una apariencia, que otro estaba soñándolo' -- 'he realised that he too was an appearance, that another was dreaming him' ) -- as Ricardo Reis, too, is ultimately an imaginary being dreamt by another, by Fernando Pessoa."
At this point I must give a spoiler warning. The right solution, at least as I read it, lies on a different Borges story, one written on the same year as Saramago was writing the Ricardo Reis book: "Las hojas del cipres" (the leaves of he Cypress tree) from "Los Conjurados", published on January of 1985. I already told the gist of that story before.
Let me add just a couple more points to justify my different interpretation of the Ricardo Reis novel. In my second quote from the Ricardo Reis book, you can read: "Ugolina don't kill me, I'm your son"; this, when applied to the relation between Reis and Pessoa, seems to be a reference to Miguel de Unamuno's classic "Niebla" (Mist) where the main character begs Unamuno not to kill him: "Don Miguel, for God's sake, for the love of your sons, I want to live, to be myself!". This after he has threatened to kill his creator; Unamuno's response:
"And you dare to suggest to kill me? You? Me? To be killed by one that I created?(...) I cannot take anymore of this, (...) you will die."
The second point I'd like to make is: please notice who is carrying a book along, and what book it is at the end of the Ricardo Reis novel. In the Borges story, Borges carries the book and Borges survives and scapes from the ghostly, nighmare world, not the man who intends to kill him; in the Ricardo Reis novel, Ricardo Reis carries the book, not the ghostly Fernando Pessoa; but the novel finishes before we see the resolution of the trip that Reis and Pessoa are about to take. (Hint, there is one place in the novel where the resolution is foreshadowed).

[Flint]

The reference to Unamuno's Niebla sounds very pertinent. Actually Unamuno is mentioned in the book. Unamuno, who, by the way, as you very well know, lived in Salamanca, close to Portugal, and was very interested in Portuguese affairs - and had some correspondence with Fernando Pessoa.

Another example that comes to my mind of a novel's character interacting with the author would be the protagonist's of Coetzee's Slow Man.

[RASimmons]

Back to the matter at hand; in the article you link, Mr. Rollason gives away the seemingly correct unraveling of the mystery that I mentioned before as planted by Saramago to confuse the readers (remember this is a labyrinthine book by design):
Borges "claimed the phantasmagoric Quain as a virtual heteronym, the 'author' of his own story 'Las ruinas circulares' ('The Circular Ruins'), in which a man discovers he is no more than a character in someone else's dream ('comprendió que él también era una apariencia, que otro estaba soñándolo' -- 'he realised that he too was an appearance, that another was dreaming him' ) -- as Ricardo Reis, too, is ultimately an imaginary being dreamt by another, by Fernando Pessoa."
At this point I must give a spoiler warning. The right solution, at least as I read it, lies on a different Borges story, one written on the same year as Saramago was writing the Ricardo Reis book: "Las hojas del cipres" (the leaves of he Cypress tree) from "Los Conjurados", published on January of 1985. I already told the gist of that story before.
Let me add just a couple more points to justify my different interpretation of the Ricardo Reis novel. In my second quote from the Ricardo Reis book, you can read: "Ugolina don't kill me, I'm your son"; this, when applied to the relation between Reis and Pessoa, seems to be a reference to Miguel de Unamuno's classic "Niebla" (Mist) where the main character begs Unamuno not to kill him: "Don Miguel, for God's sake, for the love of your sons, I want to live, to be myself!". This after he has threatened to kill his creator; Unamuno's response:
"And you dare to suggest to kill me? You? Me? To be killed by one that I created?(...) I cannot take anymore of this, (...) you will die."
The second point I'd like to make is: please notice who is carrying a book along, and what book it is at the end of the Ricardo Reis novel. In the Borges story, Borges carries the book and Borges survives and scapes from the ghostly, nighmare world, not the man who intends to kill him; in the Ricardo Reis novel, Ricardo Reis carries the book, not the ghostly Fernando Pessoa; but the novel finishes before we see the resolution of the trip that Reis and Pessoa are about to take. (Hint, there is one place in the novel where the resolution is foreshadowed).

I'm a little confused about your reading of the book. What, exactly, is your unraveling of the mystery, and how is it different than "standard" readings of the text? Unless I am missing something, you don't actual explain your interpretation of the text, except to point out the clever references to Borges.


EDIT: Let me clarify. I have read the book, in fact fairly recently so I remember it well. Even though I missed the more clever references to Borges, I still understood Reis as a character created by Pessoa, an imaginary being. In your view, is this the "standard" reading, or have I not unraveled the mystery? Sorry, I just found your post here confusing, I am not quite sure what you are getting at.

[Cleanthess]

To say it plainly, my reading is that Reis went on living after Pessoa, his creator died.
I think that Saramago was hinting at the possibility that just as Unamuno intended to make his creation die and as Borges' enemy intended to kill Borges during their walk into the night world, so Pessoa intended to make Reis die during their walk into the night. And that by referencing three of Borges stories Saramago was giving us the clues to read the ending of his novel that way (after first mistakenly coming to the wrong conventional interpretation, of course :)).

So, for example, the reference to the God in the Labyrinth of Herbert Quain is a reference to a work by Borges that according to Wikipedia:
An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain is a fictional essay surveying the following works, written by fictional deceased Irish author Herbert Quain:

The God of the Labyrinth (1933), a detective story in which the solution given is wrong, although this fact is not immediately obvious
April March (1936), a novel with nine different beginnings, trifurcating backwards in time
The Secret Mirror, a play in which the first act is the work of one of the characters in the second act
Statements (1939), eight stories which are deliberately calculated to disappoint the reader; The Circular Ruins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circular_Ruins) is supposedly an extract from the third story, "The Rose of Yesterday"


As for the Circular ruins, another Borges' story referenced in the novel, according to wikipedia:

An experienced wizard retreats from the world to a location that possesses strong mystical powers: the circular ruins. There, the wizard tries to create another human being from his own dreams. Sleeping and dreaming longer and longer each day, the magician dreams of his young man. Years pass and the wizard creates the boy piece by piece, in agonizing detail. The wizard calls upon the god Fire to bring his creation to life. Fire agrees, as long as the wizard accustoms his creation to the real world, and that only Fire and the wizard will be able to tell the creation from a real human. His creation is sent to a distant temple of the god Fire, and becomes famous as, because it is not real, it can walk through fire unharmed. The wizard hears of this, but at length he awakes to find the ruins ablaze. As he ultimately walks into the flaming house of Fire, the wizard notices that his skin does not burn. "With relief, with humiliation, with terror, he understood that he too was a mere appearance, dreamt by another."

And finally, there is the other Borges' story I mentioned in my previous posts, the one that parallels and foreshadows the end of Saramago's novel, but that goes further into events, by showing what happens after the two main characters take the walk into the night (that is, one of them escapes from the other).

To fully prove my interpretation of the novel would take too long a post, and because I had to leave out a lot of details and direct quotes maybe my meaning did not come out completely clear in my previous posts. Anyway, I was not trying to spoil the ending or impose my views, but merely hinting at one possible interpretation that a close reading of the relevant Borges stories as related to the novel would suggest is the one that Saramago intended.
Sorry for the long post.

[RASimmons]

Ah, I see. I understand your analysis, now. Thanks for clarifying!

[Heteronym]

In case anyone's interested, I'm doing a José Saramago Month (http://storberose.blogspot.pt/search/label/Jos%C3%A9%20Saramago%20Month) in my blog, to mark his 90th birthday.

[kpjayan]

Great.. I will read one of his books along with you.. The Double and Stone Raft are lying in my shelf untouched.

[pesahson]

I have The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis and I'm waiting for a library copy of The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, so I will probably read them in the next month. Great blog by the way. It shows you put a lot of work into the posts. Impressive!

[Heteronym]

Great blog by the way. It shows you put a lot of work into the posts. Impressive!

I try, I really do. This event is leaving me exhausted, though :D