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A review by queer_bookwyrm
Blindness by José Saramago
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 ⭐ CW: sex work, violence, unwanted touching, rape, descriptions of blood, open wounds, and feces, animals eating corpses, quarantine
Blindness by José Saramago is a fiction novel translated from Portuguese to English. I won't lie, this was a rough read for me. The author doesn't use any dialogue tags nor does he even have any of differentiating dialogue from prose other than a comma (of which there are a lot, so good luck) and a capitalized letter. This was a slower read for me, because I often had to reread passages the be sure I understood the dialogue. The story itself was interesting, and I might have enjoyed it more as a movie.
Out of nowhere people are being struck blind, seeing only white instead of darkness. No one knows why or how this occuring, but it seems contagious, so they start some pretty extreme quarantine measures. The first people to go blind are rounded up and placed in an abandoned mental institution without help, doctors, or guidance. They are even barred from leaving by the military, who uses force when they feel threatened.
We follow a core group of people whose names we never learn. We witness the atrocities they witness and experienced when their time in quartile turned to chaos and robbed them of their dignity. Only one person hasn't gone blind, a woman referred to only as the doctor's wife. She alone carries the burden of sight for so many people.
This book was ultimately a story of loss. Loss of sight, loss of dignity, loss of life, loss of civilization, and the futility of it all. I'm glad I read this, but I'm good on reading another book formatted in this way. It might have been alright as an audiobook, if you do those.
Blindness by José Saramago is a fiction novel translated from Portuguese to English. I won't lie, this was a rough read for me. The author doesn't use any dialogue tags nor does he even have any of differentiating dialogue from prose other than a comma (of which there are a lot, so good luck) and a capitalized letter. This was a slower read for me, because I often had to reread passages the be sure I understood the dialogue. The story itself was interesting, and I might have enjoyed it more as a movie.
Out of nowhere people are being struck blind, seeing only white instead of darkness. No one knows why or how this occuring, but it seems contagious, so they start some pretty extreme quarantine measures. The first people to go blind are rounded up and placed in an abandoned mental institution without help, doctors, or guidance. They are even barred from leaving by the military, who uses force when they feel threatened.
We follow a core group of people whose names we never learn. We witness the atrocities they witness and experienced when their time in quartile turned to chaos and robbed them of their dignity. Only one person hasn't gone blind, a woman referred to only as the doctor's wife. She alone carries the burden of sight for so many people.
This book was ultimately a story of loss. Loss of sight, loss of dignity, loss of life, loss of civilization, and the futility of it all. I'm glad I read this, but I'm good on reading another book formatted in this way. It might have been alright as an audiobook, if you do those.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Blood, Excrement, and Vomit
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment