Blindness

Rating:
Summary: surrealism isn't dead
Review: Ok, the book isn't punctuated as I know punctuation. It's a bit harder to get through than your favorite author. It has a couple of "Why didn't he (she) do ..." But the result is quite an acomplishment.

I believe that the title of a book should relate to the subject matter in some way, and this example cannot be more accurate. It's about healthy people ripped of their vision and turned blind. Healthy people rendered handicaped, then average, then the human condition shows it's true face. At first, you might have to re-read sections to find out who said what (to me it's no different than becoming acquainted with an English film that has a dialect I'am not used to, after a few minutes, you get used to it and adjust). Often you want to know more about the character (whether blind or with sight) that the author doesn't divulge. Each and every character is interesting.

Not for the everyone, but very effective writing. No real suprises here, but not very predictable either.

Rating:
Summary: It'll Never Put You Down
Review: I started "Blindness" because I was fasinated with the apocolyptic story; how would I feel? what would I do? Saramago's unique punctuation and story telling allow you to slip yourself easily into the story. True, some parts will be too graphic for some tastes, but it fits within the perspective that Saramago writes of the end of the world. When I was finished, my questions changed; how do I feel? what do I do? I put down this book weeks ago, but I still think about it frequently. It has not put me down.

Rating:
Summary: Overated!
Review: I chose this book for a book club, and all the members want to quit. The story line appeared to be interesting and thought provoking, but the lack of paragraphing and punctuation resulted in the book being difficult to read. It reminded me of required reading for college. I did not like the book and would not recommend it to anyone, even to the most sophisticated reader.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Chilling!
Review: This is one of the most twisted novels I have ever read. Jose Saramego has written a very disturbing and intelligent novel.

In a mysterious city, a man loses his sight in his car while waiting for a traffic light to change. But, and this is very interesting, instead of living in darkness, he can only see white. Exasperated, his wife takes him to a hospital, but then everyone in the hospital, including his wife, becomes blind. Everyday, more and more people become blind, and they are immediately sent to an insane asylum.

There are some interesting things in this novel. For instance, how come the characters don't have names? What city are they in? Everything is nameless, and I'm sure that it is done with a purpose. I know for a fact that it is symbolic, for I have read many novels with symbolism and magical realism.

This is -- without a doubt -- one of the best novels that are out there today. Saramego is a genius! I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: piercing study of humanity
Review: Not for the squeemish. It's as if Samarago puts you in the drivers seat of a Demiurge who decides, for whatever reason, to deprive all human beings of their sight, save for one lone woman. Samarago realistically examines how fragile and artificial society is and how easily it can collapse; in the light of that collapse, he portrays the depths and heights human beings are capable of. Enlightening and often nauseating, but important literary work. If you enjoy literature that challenges you and helps you to grow as a individual, this book is for you. If not, well, there's always Harry Potter...

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: Having read The Year of the Death of Riccardo Reis I picked up this book expecting something similar - well written prose, characterisation which allows you inside the mind of the people you are introduced to in the novel, but perhaps a sense of the exhibition of someone's craft without the involvement that a true classic can bring.

This book only failed on the last point. It was spellbinding - a vivid and breathtaking portrait of the destruction of society in a crisis it simply cannot accomodate. The dismantling of the day to day aspects of our lives which, until Mr Saramago describes their loss, you are barely aware of their existence, let alone your need for them to keep your own sanity, leads to a growing sense of horror, revulsion and fear. More than once I could barely keep reading, appalled at what was being described to me, only to continue, amazed at the level of Saramago's writing. Gripping, and highly recomended.

Rating:
Summary: A Great High-Wire Act
Review: This was a machine generated duplicate review that I am try to have removed from the database.

Rating:
Summary: Great start, but . . . .
Review: I was intrigued at first, but the novel is so relentless in its intensity that I was exhausted after the first 30 pages.

Blindness is fascinating, provocative, difficult, and sometimes painful to read--even the manner in which it is written is frustrating. The writing is dense, with few paragraphs and few chapters. There are no quotation marks to tell you who is speaking or to whom they are speaking. This can be an interesting device in a novel, but here it is maddening. Now I know that Saramago does this deliberately; he wants the reader to participate, to acknowledge how unbearable it would be to not know where you are, who you are with, what anyone might be doing--but as a reader, 327 pages of this is just too much. Clearly Saramago was attempting to place the reader in an uncomfortable and complicated position--reader as voyeur and judge, but he beats every point into the ground. I didn't feel enlightened, I felt bludgeoned.

I also had the feeling that something great might have been lost in translation. There are points in the book, entire passages, which seem uneven, as if the voice and tone had changed. Apparently there were several translators at work on this book, one of who died before its completion. It makes for a frustrating read.

Despite moments that are remarkable for their vision and understanding of the human condition, Blindness is not quite worth the journey.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worthy of the Nobel
Review: This was probably one of the best books I have ever read (along with Ishmael). It really forces one to think about what it means to be human and also to consider the animal in each of us. The writing style (limited punctuation, which some find distracting) only serves to pull the reader deeper into the story and the mindet of the characters. The ending may be a little too optimistic, but perhaps that's just what we need in this cynical world.

Rating:
Summary: Setting Lets Us See Through the Blind
Review: Jose Saramago's "Blindness" tells a story where all rules of the world today do not apply. The story starts off telling about a normal businessman who is taken over by a strange and horrifying illness; he is suddenly struck blind. The blindness begins to spread rapidly, from one person to another. It seems to doctors that there is no rhyme or reason to how the illness spreads. The only things that are known about the illness are the fact that instead of the victim seeing black, they see white. The blindness also seems to spread like the common cold, attacking anyone who comes into contact with the affected. The world names the virus as the "white blindness". Those who are affected with the illness are sent to an abandoned insane asylum where they are to live out the rest of their days with others who have been attacked with the blindness. This is where life as perceived today holds no bar on what happens. There is no law in this place, and people are free to do whatever they feel fit. Since they cannot see, the setting is very detailed and precise. The author uses many, many small and intricate details to help the reader see as if they were blind.

When the victims are first retained in the small asylum, they are unaware of what is to happen to them, and even where they are. All that the reader is allowed to see is what the setting feels, smells, and tastes like. There is no daylight or any other sights that people are used to seeing. The setting presented to the reader and the victims is one of complete and utter despair. The cries and moans of the blind ring throughout the many rooms of the asylum. Smells are described as being old and musty; the long lost smells of an asylum that had been abandoned long ago. The blind grope their way through the halls of the asylum and explore what they now must accept as their home. The floors are cold and hard, there is a rope strung though the halls so that they might find their way back to their beds. The rooms are obviously made of tile because the cries and moans of the victims ring through the halls for an eternity. Years later, the asylum is in turmoil. Without the existence of law, the home of the blind is eventually taken over by evil, greedy blind men and women. There is an extreme heat that is felt by all who live in the asylum. Fire erupts and forces all the inhabitants to crawl across the heated floor to an escape. The smoke cannot be seen, but it is felt and smelled. It chokes the blind, and instead of seeing the smoke and fire, they are forced to feel it to avoid it. They escape to the outside world in which they used to live. The world, however, is not how they remembered it. It is eerily silent. There are no birds chirping, no children laughing, no noise at all except for wind whistling through the barren landscape. The world as they knew it had been transformed into a barren and desolate place. The blindness has taken over the community and killed everyone. These people who had lived in exile for years where all that remained. They learn to see the world by touch and smell. "Blindness" helps for all to see what the blind go through every day by not letting the reader see. The setting is presented through all senses except sight. This book is informative and very interesting. Everyone should read this book to see the world from a different point of view.