Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: The author has an enchanting way of writing. I was glad to see that his extensive and profound knowledge of the Portuguese language was properly translated. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to get to know the works of Jose Saramago. He is a great author; Portugal's best.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, Fine, We'll Find Another Place (Iberia)
Review: THE STONE RAFT was the first book I read written by Jose Saramago and I loved it. All of Saramago's books are, in a sense, fables, and most of them (not all) contain a bit of comedy or whimsy (though nothing to the extent of Italo Calvino's books).In THE STONE RAFT, the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) is breaking away from the rest of Europe and drifting out into the Atlantic. Saramago also infuses his writing with a healthy dose of magical realism, but it's a different kind of magical realism than that employed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I think it should be...Saramago is European while Garcia Marquez is South American and Portugal is very different from Colombia. The five protagonists of THE STONE RAFT--three men and two women--all encounter "something strange" right before the cracks in the Pyrenees are discovered and Iberia begins to float away and this "something strange" definitely encompasses magical realism: Joana Carda scratches the earth with an elm branch and all the dogs begin barking; Joaquim Sassa picks up a heavy stone and is able to hurl it far, far out into the Atlantic; old Pedro Orce, in Spain, feels the earth trembling when he stands; when Jose Anaico goes for a walk, a flock of starlings follow him and darken the sky; Maria Guavaira begins to unravel a sock only to find the thread just keeps going on and on and on, seemingly without end. Saramago also employs magical realism in the way these five characters meet and begin their journey together. Joaquim Sassa and Jose Anaico even travel to Spain to find Pedro Orce, then they all return to Portugal to find the two women. When they visit the place where Joana Carda has drawn a line in the earth with an elm branch, they encounter a dog with a blue thread in its mouth who eventually leads them to Maria Guavaira. (And, by the way, they keep the dog who makes the journey with them.) Relationships of varying kinds and degrees are formed among these five people who set out together in an old truck just looking for a way to survive. Two of them will form a romantic relationship and one of them won't even survive the journey around Iberia. There's a lot of humor and irony in THE STONE RAFT but most of it is wry and understated. There are also several political allusions. Saramago, himself, has said that it was continental Europe's low opinion and dismissive attitude of Iberia and its desire to "leave Iberia out of things" that led him to write THE STONE RAFT. And, in the book, continental Europe does seem pleased when Iberia starts to float away. Since it's floating away from them and poses no physical threat, they feel "it's not their problem." But whose problem is it? When the peninsula first breaks away, it's traveling west at about eighteen kilometers a day--not so much, really, but it's apparent that it'll definitely slam into the Azores if the present state of things keeps up. Initially, the US and Canada seem to want to be helpful, but when Iberia spins around and heads northwest instead, the US and Canada are less than welcoming about the prospect of Iberia invading "their" territorial waters. Saramago seems to be warning us that once you're displaced (either singularly or collectively), finding a new "home" won't be so easy and you'll pretty much be on your own. Saramago's trademark prose is evident in THE STONE RAFT. The only punctuation he uses are commas and periods and his sentences and paragraphs can go on for pages and pages. At first glance, this might seem like it's difficult reading, but it's not. It's really very easy. Saramago isn't a "hard" read at all and his prose has a definite rhythm all its own. Once the reader gets caught up in his torrent of words, those words carry him along through the story, almost effortlessly. I've now read all of Saramago's works of fiction and I think THE STONE RAFT is probably his "lightest" book. Even thought it deals with serious subject matter, it does it with humor and a light touch. I found the book thought provoking, but in a delightful sort of way. It is definitely never ponderous. If you've never read Saramago, THE STONE RAFT might be a good place to start. BLINDNESS is usually thought of as his masterpiece, but THE STONE RAFT is lighter and more enjoyable. It doesn't demand quite as much from the reader.
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Summary: a modern day pilgrammage
Review: This book is The Odyssey, a bit of magic realism, an allegory, The Canterbury Tales, and a modern day pilgrammage all in one. This pilgrammage actually traces more or less backwards some of the route of the actual trek to Santiago de Compostela. As you have read from other's summaries, this tale, set against the backdrop of Spain's joining the ECC, starts with a literal split: Spain and Portugal break off from France. This of course leaves several humorous possibilities and ironies which Saramago is quick to exploit. After years of Portugal being more or less Spain's tail, it gains new prominence as the rotation of the peninsula changes. Not only is the peninsula's float halted before the impending collision with the Azores, the whole peninsula rotatates to the right so that the Algarve ends up pointing north. During all this, we follow a group of travelers, all of whom seemed to have a hand in the mischief. Although I liked Blindness better overall, this book does reflect many of the same themes. One important message seems to be that humans get used to whatever horrible conditions they are forced to live with. In Blindness of course, everyone is forced to deal with the abhorent conditions following the sudden attack of blindness on the whole populace. Here, people are forced to deal with world catastrophe, annihilation (the threat of), looting, stealing, and a total breakdown in the system. Saramago loves to show us how close our civilized society is to breakdown with just minor changes to our living conditions. There were parts that I thought dragged a bit in the narrative (although his writing his so great that you may not mind and I feel guilty even pointing it out), but things picked up during the final pilgrammage to the sea. At this point, the journey completed, the peninsula stops its northward drift. Lots of good satire, allegory, and irreverence here. A first time reader may want to start with Blindness before undertaking this book.
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