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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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 feel guilty only giving this book a rating of four, since it's very impressively written and Jose Saramago is pretty clearly some kind of genius, constructing a book which seems to me a little like a cat's cradle large and complicated enough that it must take at least six hands to hold it. He's extraordinarily confident, very sure and deliberate in every word that he writes, with good reason. It's this sense of safety - that Saramago is incapable of fumbling - that helped me to get through the first sixty or so pages, which is about how long it took for me to feel comfortable reading his very unique writing style.
Storywise, it's about the aftermath of a citywide popular election in which over 80% of the people cast blank ballots. There's an element of myth or fable here - the book is peppered with actions spontaneously performed on a mass scale by thousands of people led by no official organizing body. The conflict between the people and their government is mirrored in the implied conflict between the dream logic world inhabited by these citizens and the harsh bureaucratic realism of the ministers attempting to quash the "rebellion."
Anyway it's pretty super, and it probably deserves a higher rating than a four but really my experience reading it was more one of admiration than love. For the most part it didn't work its way under my skin (partly due to the dearth of characters?), even though it's unarguably a superb achievement. Also the ending dragged me down considerably. Saramago has plenty of good things to say along the way, but by the ending his main thesis is that he is an old man who wants to be an idealist but has seen too many beautiful things die.
Storywise, it's about the aftermath of a citywide popular election in which over 80% of the people cast blank ballots. There's an element of myth or fable here - the book is peppered with actions spontaneously performed on a mass scale by thousands of people led by no official organizing body. The conflict between the people and their government is mirrored in the implied conflict between the dream logic world inhabited by these citizens and the harsh bureaucratic realism of the ministers attempting to quash the "rebellion."
Anyway it's pretty super, and it probably deserves a higher rating than a four but really my experience reading it was more one of admiration than love. For the most part it didn't work its way under my skin (partly due to the dearth of characters?), even though it's unarguably a superb achievement. Also the ending dragged me down considerably. Saramago has plenty of good things to say along the way, but by the ending his main thesis is that he is an old man who wants to be an idealist but has seen too many beautiful things die.
Una de las mejores piezas de literatura con las que me he podido encontrar, a pesar de haber sido publicado antes de que yo naciera, las temáticas que este libro maneja son casi que ominosamente actuales.
Como compañía de Ensayo Sobre la Ceguera hacer un gran trabajo de profundizar en los mismos temas pero desarrollando nuevas perspectivas, de manera explícita, concentrándose más en dinámicas de poder y en la condición humano como es usual, pero presentando contradicciones y yuxtaposiciones de la democracia misma con las que todos nos deberíamos enfrentar.
Mucha gente debería leer este libro!
Como compañía de Ensayo Sobre la Ceguera hacer un gran trabajo de profundizar en los mismos temas pero desarrollando nuevas perspectivas, de manera explícita, concentrándose más en dinámicas de poder y en la condición humano como es usual, pero presentando contradicciones y yuxtaposiciones de la democracia misma con las que todos nos deberíamos enfrentar.
Mucha gente debería leer este libro!
os meus pensamentos e review em vídeo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB0UtZDpYAg
Stunning. Chilling. Disturbing.
Perfect reading for our current political crises; and possibly one of the best books I've read by one of my favorite authors.
In depth review forthcoming.
If you'd like to read my micro-review (including an ironic poster I saw after reading this) -- please go to http://instagram.com/nateisdreaming
Perfect reading for our current political crises; and possibly one of the best books I've read by one of my favorite authors.
In depth review forthcoming.
If you'd like to read my micro-review (including an ironic poster I saw after reading this) -- please go to http://instagram.com/nateisdreaming
A book that could have been written about the current and possible state of many of the world's 'democracies'. Saramago depicts how easily 'fake news' and an attitude of 'governing as if people don't matter' leads to hubris, abuse of power and dictatorship.
Sin nombres, sin diálogos señalados, protagonistas de los que no sabes nada después de unos capítulos, una redacción compleja y un crudo final: la perfecta continuación de una historia que ha generado una inmensa expectativa. La ceguera blanca vuelve para atemorizar al pueblo que hace cuatro años se desmoronó, pero esta vez de una forma equivalentemente inesperada: la aplastante mayoría del padrón electoral votó en blanco. De maneras tan impredecibles nos reencontramos con los protagonistas que en un pasado lucharon por sus vidas, y ahora luchan por mantenerlas.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No