Reviews

Caim by José Saramago

strategineer's review against another edition

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4.0

Old Testament fan fiction written by the militantly atheist Jose Saramago.

Color me intrigued.

Cain, the murderer of Abel, wanders around iconic moments from the Old Testament (Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, Sodom, Jericho, etc.) and points out how the God of the Old Testament is fucked up and not worth worshipping.

This is kind of a weird one. I don't think Jose Saramago is going to be converting anyone with this text. It's short, if you're curious and a fan of Jose Saramago, go for it.

korol_rezni's review

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4.0

Saramago speaks fluent sarcasm. Even too much for me. The thing that bothers me is the lack of punctuation and paragraphs. I know that is the style of him but ugh. Despite everything else I’ve enjoyed reading the book.

malynn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

mr_augusto's review against another edition

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challenging lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nemonade's review

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challenging reflective medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No

apleiades17's review against another edition

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5.0

"Te înșeli, niciodată nu e opusul lui târziu, opusul lui târziu e prea târziu."

morett's review against another edition

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funny reflective fast-paced

3.5

criss's review against another edition

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challenging funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

mmejiaaar's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

i am someone who is fascinated by the story of cain and abel simply because the concept of brotherhood/sisterhood haunts me: you are the person who knows me best because you have known me the longest, because you have been my ally and my enemy and my shadow and my inspiration. i thought this book would be something along those lines, the never ending grief of killing the part of yourself that is outside yourself, but it was almost the opposite; a satirical book that features cain in every important biblical moment up to noah’s ark, a constant battle and questioning of god’s every move and action (rightfully so).
the lack of separation in the dialogues makes it hard and slow to read and some of the critiques are, for lack of a better word… annoying, but overall a very interesting retelling of the bible

eliine's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0