Reviews - Baltasar and Blimunda

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370 reviews for:

Baltasar and Blimunda

José Saramago

3.81 AVERAGE

thebooktarian's review against another edition

2.0

Acho que ódio é uma bela palavra para representar aquilo que sinto neste momento.

_palavrascomalma_'s review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

dukegregory's review against another edition

5.0

Pure magic. I choose to believe this fiction is history, since history, as is, is already enough of a malleable fiction. Raucously funny, romantically operatic, politically incision, satirically precise, stylistically idiosyncratic, musically sonorous. Such rhythm and verve. The original Portuguese title is better, but what can you do? Baltasar and Blimunda are central figures, but the convent is the key around which everyone and everything (major characters, minor characters, histories, fantasies) revolves. It's a postmodern vision of the historical novel as a construction of biased political fiction and a deconstruction of the notion of a known, verifiable past. I leave the text smitten. Having only read Blindness (love!) and Death with Interruptions (more reserved), I have come to expect Saramago to work in the speculative fable mode: something fundamental suddenly changes for all humanity... how do we respond? No issue with that, but Baltasar and Blimunda has really rocked me with how separate it is from that perception of his work I have projected after only two books. This is a rollicking, immersive imagining of early-eighteenth-century Portugal and the colonial/royal megalomania that leads to one of the most famous buildings in the country to this day as well as immeasurable suffering. Great book.

amongthefaithless's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

caty075's review against another edition

2.75

Foi um livro diferente, li para as aulas de português, mas na minha opinião as pessoas fazem parecer a história muito pior.
Existe toda uma situação que por ser português e escrito já a algum tempo não vai ser bom, mas superou as minhas expectativas.
Envolvi-me com as personagens e fiquei indignada com o final.
Foi uma experiência diferente e um tanto ou quanto difícil de ler devido à pontuação, mas foi bom.