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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Around the World Reading Challenge: PORTUGAL
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Really interesting book with a pretty unique structure. Set in 18th-century Portugal, it follows the lives of several interconnected people, focusing primarily on Baltasar and Blimunda. The magical realism aspects were fascinating, and I very much enjoyed the blend of historical fiction. Still unsure how I feel about the ending, but overall I thought this was a really intriguing read and I'm glad to have picked it up!
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Really interesting book with a pretty unique structure. Set in 18th-century Portugal, it follows the lives of several interconnected people, focusing primarily on Baltasar and Blimunda. The magical realism aspects were fascinating, and I very much enjoyed the blend of historical fiction. Still unsure how I feel about the ending, but overall I thought this was a really intriguing read and I'm glad to have picked it up!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The original Portuguese title, “Memorial do Convento”, hints that José Saramago intended to focus foremost on society and history in this 1982 novel. The English translation, “Baltasar & Blimunda” forces the attention onto the passionate love between two ordinary people living in extraordinary times. If we ignore the titles altogether, we dive into a complex work of historical fiction that dares to expose the injustice of monarchs, the hypocrisy of religion, and the hardships endured by the poor at the hands of earthly and divine authority.
The Palace-Convent of Mafra was built in nearly forty years in the eighteenth century. The novel starts with the promise of its construction made by King João V of Portugal to a group of Franciscan friars that allegedly helped his wife conceive their first child. Saramago kicked off his story with an insinuation that would force the author’s excommunication, but given that he chose as his protagonists an illiterate one-armed foot soldier, a Jewish woman that has extra sight, and a priest that values science over faith, it is evident that Saramago had no loyalty to the Catholic Church.
It is hard to find works of literature that better ridicule the church with all of its artifice and traditions. The endless parades and ceremonies become an exuberant spectacle meant to impress the poor and keep the rich in their position of authority. The prayers and acts of blessing are nothing but antiquated formalities in idolatry. The inquisition and the dogmatic reasoning are signs of the institution’s ignorance of the truth. Until the very last line, the church fundamentally causes the greatest evil to humanity, and it is up to ordinary individuals to find salvation through persistence in believing in their power to change the world and the love they share towards each other.
Saramago was not angry in his exposition. On the contrary, he described with honesty and good will the courage that makes people achieve the work of giants. The deaths and personal sacrifices are facts that only enhance the greatness of the human will. It is those wills that make the impossible an actual reality. Miracles are ultimately just an output of human ingenuity.
This defence of humanism makes “Baltasar & Blimunda” an enjoyable and thoughtful read. The lamentation of history is turned into a celebration, firing up our senses to allow us to perceive beyond the façade of institutions or the rigidity of the written word. The reader gains the ability to question which points of view are important in history. Are the decisions of kings worthy, are religious rites relevant, or is it all just a result of human agency, sometimes triggered by desperation and sometimes by excitement? The answer becomes apparent with every turning of the page, but always implied and never enunciated.
Saramago’s episodic structure allows for the ideas to have a comfortable and controlled flourishing. Enhanced by the writer’s mix of sentence structures and narrators, the emotions are triggered to act alongside the intellectual flow, leading to expectant satisfaction, even when faced with literary over-indulgence or overconsumption of unnecessary details. Possibly rushed and unfinished, “Baltasar & Blimunda” is a novel that impresses with its sheer scope to find goodness in society, and it finds it in the emotional connections each of us develop with a fellow being. The love we carry towards others and the memory we cherish of those that cared for us in the past is the only history worth remembering.
The Palace-Convent of Mafra was built in nearly forty years in the eighteenth century. The novel starts with the promise of its construction made by King João V of Portugal to a group of Franciscan friars that allegedly helped his wife conceive their first child. Saramago kicked off his story with an insinuation that would force the author’s excommunication, but given that he chose as his protagonists an illiterate one-armed foot soldier, a Jewish woman that has extra sight, and a priest that values science over faith, it is evident that Saramago had no loyalty to the Catholic Church.
It is hard to find works of literature that better ridicule the church with all of its artifice and traditions. The endless parades and ceremonies become an exuberant spectacle meant to impress the poor and keep the rich in their position of authority. The prayers and acts of blessing are nothing but antiquated formalities in idolatry. The inquisition and the dogmatic reasoning are signs of the institution’s ignorance of the truth. Until the very last line, the church fundamentally causes the greatest evil to humanity, and it is up to ordinary individuals to find salvation through persistence in believing in their power to change the world and the love they share towards each other.
Saramago was not angry in his exposition. On the contrary, he described with honesty and good will the courage that makes people achieve the work of giants. The deaths and personal sacrifices are facts that only enhance the greatness of the human will. It is those wills that make the impossible an actual reality. Miracles are ultimately just an output of human ingenuity.
This defence of humanism makes “Baltasar & Blimunda” an enjoyable and thoughtful read. The lamentation of history is turned into a celebration, firing up our senses to allow us to perceive beyond the façade of institutions or the rigidity of the written word. The reader gains the ability to question which points of view are important in history. Are the decisions of kings worthy, are religious rites relevant, or is it all just a result of human agency, sometimes triggered by desperation and sometimes by excitement? The answer becomes apparent with every turning of the page, but always implied and never enunciated.
Saramago’s episodic structure allows for the ideas to have a comfortable and controlled flourishing. Enhanced by the writer’s mix of sentence structures and narrators, the emotions are triggered to act alongside the intellectual flow, leading to expectant satisfaction, even when faced with literary over-indulgence or overconsumption of unnecessary details. Possibly rushed and unfinished, “Baltasar & Blimunda” is a novel that impresses with its sheer scope to find goodness in society, and it finds it in the emotional connections each of us develop with a fellow being. The love we carry towards others and the memory we cherish of those that cared for us in the past is the only history worth remembering.
I guess I'm just not at the level to read and appreciate Nobel literature winners.
Avevo abbandonato questo libro anni e anni fa, non riuscendo a leggere il testo - eppure altri libri di Saramago li ho apprezzati e sono riuscita ad andare avanti, con questo molta fatica. Contenta di essere riuscita a terminarlo questa volta. Adoro questo romanzo mezzo storico, dove si dà ampia giustizia ai nomi non noti della storia, agli ultimi o ultimissimi che però sono essenziali per i grandi fatti storici. Gente semplice, che affronta la vita quotidiana che può essere interrotta perché un re e dei sacerdoti hanno deciso che bisogna costruire un grande tempio e serve manodopera. Io non immaginavo però di essermi affezionata così ai due protagonisti principali e la fine mi ha lasciato un po' con l'amaro in bocca... fine purtroppo prevedibile, ahimè.
I'm not a huge fan of magical realism, but I did enjoy Jose Saramago's "Baltasar and Blimunda." What really makes this book sing is the characters, which are interesting and complex... and despite being enmeshed in the story, distracted me from the elements that I liked less.
This was not an easy read... Saramago's sentences and paragraphs are long... but usually fairly interesting. Overall, I found him to be an interesting, if long-winded writer.
This was not an easy read... Saramago's sentences and paragraphs are long... but usually fairly interesting. Overall, I found him to be an interesting, if long-winded writer.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Really more 3.5 stars than 4; the slow, plodding plot would have pulled it down to 3, but Saramago's breezy descriptions of a time long past pulls it up somewhat.
I loved the set-pieces: a royal procession, the moving of a massive stone, and of course the Passarola itself. The real-life Domenico Scarlatti and especially Bartolomeu de Gusmão were fascinating characters. The love stories I found a little trite, and the book dragged early on a bit, but - unlike [book:The Stone Raft], I wouldn't mind reading this one again.
I loved the set-pieces: a royal procession, the moving of a massive stone, and of course the Passarola itself. The real-life Domenico Scarlatti and especially Bartolomeu de Gusmão were fascinating characters. The love stories I found a little trite, and the book dragged early on a bit, but - unlike [book:The Stone Raft], I wouldn't mind reading this one again.
non so se scrive sempre così, ma non è che Saramago mi faccia proprio impazzire in questo libro, anche se ho trovato la storia molto bella facevo fatica a seguirla a volte...
Despite the slow start to this book, I am now enjoying the last third of the story.