Jose Saramago

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I barely can think of him like a comunist reading his books! He looks very good, dreamer man, while in real life sometimes he said too "strong" things.
But he is one of my favorite.

>>By giù   (Monday, 3 Feb 2003 16:10)



giu - being a communist doesn't make you a bad man. Saramago's strength is his rootedness in ordinary peoples' lives, with the intellect to see beyond the immediate. Add to that his seductive style, and his erudite humour, and you can see why he won the Prix Nobel. As the US and UK slide into war, the metaphor of "The Cave" is all too relevant: Plato for the "post-modern" world, as it slides into barbary. Keep on with Jose.

>>By steve   (Thursday, 13 Feb 2003 23:31)



i think that he has focused on an accidents which has happened every day with a big bloff.his whriting has a little bit
comedy accompanied sadness.i love all the names and the character of a registration office's staff.he was very clever and timid.but funy

>>By sara   (Saturday, 1 Mar 2003 20:25)



I envy him - his books are even read by people who can neither read nor write.

>>By Juana   (Monday, 24 Mar 2003 23:04)



Saramago can say everything he wants with only a sentence. He is a master and surely someone who has many things to teach all of us.

>>By Xoli   (Thursday, 17 Apr 2003 05:36)



Certainly he has much to teach us. Share his books.

>>By Rory   (Monday, 12 May 2003 19:59)



Jose Saramago is master of expression. With his unique style of writing, he allows us to experience profound thoughts along with the characters in the stories. He challenges what history has overlooked through common sense and human nature. I love his books and would love to get my hands on some poetry!

>>By Karen   (Wednesday, 14 May 2003 17:49)



I think tha is imposible to catalogate Saramgo, its not important.His capabiliti for extract the magical things that are part of awer life, the sensivility to expres the horor and the magic of the human being... to me is enaugh.
i apologise for the errors,I dont speak english.

>>By carolina   (Tuesday, 8 Jul 2003 19:32)



Well...I am portuguese. Of corse I like to read his books.

>>By theodoramaffat   (Saturday, 27 Sep 2003 08:02)



Saramago, one of the greatest writers of all times. Read all his Books and there isn't one I'd point out as being better than another

>>By Tiefkuhler   (Friday, 30 Jan 2004 21:45)



the year of the death of ricardo ries was and is a great book by jose saramago. it was fascinating to read because of Saramago's refusal to use paragraphs or quotations marks or any kind of punctuation save the comma and the period. it was creatively courageous in a curiously anti-courage like way. for example, in the middle of a dialogue crucial to the story saramago will go on some tangent about the character's love of chocolate or hatred of the color gray. when Saramago's characters speak you are never sure, not really, which one is speaking and then you realize it doesn't matter. this is magical realism of the highest order. in his book , the year of the death of ricardo reis Saramago has the protagonist visited by a ghost. this ghost,(who becomes what is called a fetchlife, that is a spectre appearing on earth to take the protagonist's life and carry it away with him), this ghost has nothing ghostlike about him. nothing spooky or otherwordly. in fact he is a drab, almost boring person who seems to have nothing to say. yet he and the protagonist walk out together in the last page of the book, walk out of the book, and out of the reality of the book. if i remember what i also found so charming about the book was that it started and ended with the same sentence. i have read saramago's other works and found them all to have merit, but none effected me the way the year of the death did . i love him.

>>By pestlequix   (Sunday, 1 Feb 2004 03:00)



As everyone here, I also am a great fan of Saramago's work. The first book I read was Blindness, which I concluded was brilliantly written because of the lack of punctuation. I've gone on to read other books of his and realized that this style of writing wasn't limited to Blindness. As much as I love his style of writing and his stories, I often wonder if some of his stories could be improved with more grammatical structure or would we lose the essence of what is Saramago? ... and then there are somethings you don't want to touch.

Can anyone suggest other authors with similar styles?

>>By retropansy   (Thursday, 14 Oct 2004 21:24)



Posted the folloeing in the "saramago" thread, and now I see this one, so here it is again:


I finished reading Blindness a few weeks ago. I loved the way he structured his sentences and paragraphs. Is this the way all his books are written (and/or translated into English)? Or did he do this specifically for this book? I could see why he might have done that, I think it really suits the situation the characters are in, not knowing who is saying what. But by the end, you know the characters well enough that you can almost tell who is saying what and what bits are only being thought even before he tells you.

I'm thinking of All The Names as my second Saramago, only because I saw a pristine-looking used copy for sale. Should I go for it or read something else by him first?

>>By Spiff   (Tuesday, 19 Oct 2004 04:50)



All the Names is pretty good, there are a lot of different themes throughout it. It's really well thought out and everything is done with a purpose. I don't want to say too much about it... but definately check it out.

You'll get hooked on Saramago.

>>By retropansy   (Wednesday, 20 Oct 2004 19:24)



I have only read "The Gospel According to Jesus" in its entirety....and I took some time with that due to the depth of the material....certain shadings....ambiguities (as I perceived them). I read a goodly portion from "Blindness" but the book was too REAL for me....there seemed to be an almost unrelenting attack on the Human Condition....or perhaps I forsaw that the book would present that "condition" as too irreconciliably unredeemable. What I read (especially when the letters/words which consititute it) effects me deeply....whether it be High or Low Art. It's the same for me with film. I have been quite curious about "Year of the Death" for quite some time. I am a fan of Pessoa so that in itself might be good reason to look at "Reis".
It's not a criticism at all ..... I used to regularly drop off reading books to their conclusion due to fact that I was simply trying to read too many books at one time. I have mellowed out by now.....and am a bit more selective. Is anyone here familiar with the writings of Rosa.....just wondering how Saramago might compare to Rosa....stylistically and/or thematically.
Thanks for Your patience and attention.
Your Friend in Letters ---
(the palindromic) Sator

>>By satorotas   (Wednesday, 20 Oct 2004 22:33)



O saramago é um bom rapaz, apesar de só escrever bem, e muito bem.
Hope you all read more portuguese literature. For example: Mário Henrique Leiria.

That´s all folks

>>By clorofilazul   (Monday, 20 Dec 2004 13:09)



I have only read his "the year of the death of ricardo reiss". a friend suggested it for he believed that the book's main character teaches you how to maintain sanity in a world where one has only himself/herself to fall back upon......after reading the book I think my friend was right. One can find refuge in one's shadow

>>By saki   (Friday, 15 Dec 2006 11:48)



i read "the gospel according to jesus christ" and "the blindness". found them both very powerfull. i find him a very honest writer, one that dares thinking and questioning out loud some things that many wouldn't and would probably avoid even thinking about them.
his point of view and the stories he tells might seem quite pessimistic, but once you realize that's the way things are, the only thing that can keep you going is analizing and questioning.
i hope this makes sense to you

>>By piaf   (Monday, 22 Jan 2007 04:03)



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