You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was looking forward to "Seeing" as "blindness" is one of my favorite books but was sorely disappointed. It took much longer to get into the content and was not as engaging as Blindness. A disappointment - perhaps attributed to a Seeing having a different translator. Give it a try but be prepared to have you patience tested.
Not as fascinating as Blindness, the book that comes before this one, but also a fascinating look at society and political constructs and behaviors.
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
I recently decided to give this novel a second chance. I first started reading it in the summer of 2020 but soon gave up on it after the first couple of chapters. While I liked the first chapter, Saramago’s style quickly became tedious and, as another reviewer on here put it, I felt as though Saramago was a bit too in love with his satire. Two years later, I do not find the book more enjoyable or enthusing than I did then. Stylistically, it’s a slow book. Sentences are rarely separated by a punctuation mark which means that it’s difficult to know when one character’s line starts and the other’s ends. You have to really pay attention and read carefully. Then, when you’re made your way past the prose, you get to a plot that moves so slowly a snail would win the race. If I found the satire funnier, maybe I’d enjoy the novel more, but, as it is, I find it quite on the nose and done before.
Despite this first bad experience with José Saramago, I’m determined to give him another go. I’m hoping some of his other novels are written in a different style and with a faster plot.
Despite this first bad experience with José Saramago, I’m determined to give him another go. I’m hoping some of his other novels are written in a different style and with a faster plot.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
La prima parte è molto interessante e sorprendente... ma poi? La storia si perde in una lunga digressione che non porta da nessuna parte.
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
reflective
slow-paced