Scan barcode
A review by katykelly
Caim by José Saramago
5.0
I must look up more by this author. An irreverent but not overly mocking tour of the Old Testament, based on the stories, with Cain doomed by his act of familial homicide to wander the Earth, observing mankind and giving us his take on the Lord and his Creation.
It starts, as all such stories do - at the Beginning. With a man and a woman, and their children. Having recently read the Bible in full, it all seemed very familiar and at the same time not at all like the source material.
We don't just get the bare bones of the stories and characters - we see how Cain feels about his brother, longer conversations with God, we take a trip with Cain through Sodom, to the Tower of Babel, and to a valley where a man and his family are building a really big boat...
I loved this. I read the audio version, and thoroughly enjoyed the spirited and slightly snide narration. I enjoyed the author's interpretation of the stories and his views on religious dogma, as expressed through Cain after watching humanity's rise and fall for hundreds of years. The translation was excellent, at no point in time did I realise it was written in another language!
Will now look for others by the author. An excellent, irreverent read that gave me a lot to chew over and a fascinating interpretation from Inside The Bible.
It starts, as all such stories do - at the Beginning. With a man and a woman, and their children. Having recently read the Bible in full, it all seemed very familiar and at the same time not at all like the source material.
We don't just get the bare bones of the stories and characters - we see how Cain feels about his brother, longer conversations with God, we take a trip with Cain through Sodom, to the Tower of Babel, and to a valley where a man and his family are building a really big boat...
I loved this. I read the audio version, and thoroughly enjoyed the spirited and slightly snide narration. I enjoyed the author's interpretation of the stories and his views on religious dogma, as expressed through Cain after watching humanity's rise and fall for hundreds of years. The translation was excellent, at no point in time did I realise it was written in another language!
Will now look for others by the author. An excellent, irreverent read that gave me a lot to chew over and a fascinating interpretation from Inside The Bible.