Reviews

Blindness by José Saramago

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0deya's review against another edition

4.5

A gripping yet grotesque allegory for humanity, societal structures and the nature of a soul. Reading this was a sickening experience but I still couldn't put this book down. Minus 0.5 stars for the sheer depravity of the sexual violence-some things you just can't unread. Recommend with caution.

brunacarstairs's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

soru_vl's review against another edition

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4.0

Un libro muy difícil de leer, la forma en la que está escrito es algo compleja, como si estuviera todo junto. En lo personal estuvo entretenido, el tema que trataba es bastante interesante.

- Ensayo sobre la ceguera / Blindness, pags. 0

kendallpenn's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

minna_s's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

honnari_hannya's review against another edition

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2.0

CW: Ableism, Sexual Assault, Pandemics

After a pandemic that causes inexplicable blindness sweeps the world, a group of infected people are interned inside a psychiatric ward and experience the breakdown of human society in small scale (that eventually becomes large scale).

This was okay—a classic that I've wanted to read for a while but ended up disappointing me. It has very familiar themes of humanity devolving to their baser instincts when tragedy strikes and disaster happens, with a smidge of "except maybe there is something redeemable in a few select people."

Perhaps it was just me, but I did not appreciate the constant dehumanization of blind people. Even beyond the abuse that they suffer in the novel as part of the story, there were so many instances where this book implied that blind people somehow live less full lives without sight. There was even a section where it said that blind people did not know how to truly love without being able to see. Perhaps acceptable in 1995 when it was written (I doubt it???) but definitely not now.