Seeing by Jose Saramago

[Sofia]

From the Publisher
On election day in the capital, it is raining so hard that no one has bothered to come out to vote. The politicians are growing jittery. What's going on? Should they reschedule the elections for another day? Around three o'clock, the rain finally stops. Promptly at four, voters rush to the polling stations, as if they had been ordered to appear.

But when the ballots are counted, more than 70 percent are blank. The citizens are rebellious. A state of emergency is declared. The president proposes that a wall be built around the city to contain the revolution. But are the authorities acting too precipitously? Or even blindly? The word evokes terrible memories of the plague of blindness that had hit the city four years before, and of the one woman who kept her sight. Could she be behind the blank ballots? Is she the organizer of a conspiracy against the state? A police superintendent is put on the case.

What begins as a satire on governments and the sometimes dubious efficacy of the democratic system turns into something far more sinister. A singular novel from the author of Blindness.


Ok, I FINALLY finished this book! I have heard from several people that this was one of his best, and they really enjoyed it. I don't know, I struggled to finish this book. I guess I was hoping for a few more ties to Blindness....but I will say that at the end it was worth the read. So go ahead and get it Dogmatix...then we can compare :D

[dogmatix]

Ahhh I see you know who your true Saramago buddies are. :wave: I've got to read Speak, Memory with Pontalba and Muggle first but then I'm right on it. It's been on my shelf for a couple of months so it's about time.

[Sofia]

Ahhh I see you know who your true Saramago buddies are. :wave: I've got to read Speak, Memory with Pontalba and Muggle first but then I'm right on it. It's been on my shelf for a couple of months so it's about time.
I know where my loyalties lay :wink:

[Galactic Space Hamster]

This is an author I have been really interested in reading for some time. Maybe some day I'll get around to reading blindness!

[dogmatix]

Saramago is one of a kind.

[Sofia]

Saramago is one of a kind.
that is for sure.

[dogmatix]

Sophia I'm cracking the spine right now. Review to follow :readingtwo:

[Sofia]

Sophia I'm cracking the spine right now. Review to follow :readingtwo:
yayyyyy...can't wait:D

[Sofia]

how ya doing on the book dogmatix?

[dogmatix]

Sorry it's been going a little slow, not because of the book, I've just had a few issues here at the hospital that have been consuming me.

I have started though and it's definitely classic Saramago and a very interesting concept. I'm impressed with the level of tension he has managed to muster within just the first 23 pages. It's got a "wildfire" feel to it and I can just feel martial law comming already.

Funny the more Saramgo I read the shorter his sentences seem. It's a kind of immunity or accommodation that I believe he is trying to achieve. Adds to the immersive quality of his works IMHO.

[pontalba]

Is it necessary to read Blindness to enjoy or understand Seeing ?
I mean, I don't have...er, lotsa books in my TBR stack(s) or anything, but.....just wondering.......:)

[dogmatix]

No. These are independant books.

Pontalba you aren't considering reading some Saramago are you? :smile2: :smile2: :smile2: :smile2: :smile2:


OOOHHHHH I hope so. The Double is my favorite but I also loved All the Names...... okay I've really loved them all.

I've got the day off tomorrow so I'm hoping to get a good chunk of Seeing read. I'll post more.

[pontalba]

I shall investigate...:D

[dogmatix]

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[pontalba]

Just placed my order for Blindness, Seeing and All the Names.
:lurker:

Went back and read the synopsis of The Double...they compared it to some of Nabokov's work.....it was on sale....hardcover.....I mean, really, what choice did I have? None I tell you.....none at all!

[dogmatix]

Jumping in with both feet I see. Yay!!!

[Sofia]

yayyy for Pontalba:jump:
you don't need to read Blindness to understand Seeing, but you should start with it anyway. It's just a better story:D And The Double was really good too. Funny, you pick up a Saramago for the first time, and I picked up a Nobokov for the first time!:lol:

dogmatix, I'm glad to hear it isn't the book that is slow for you....it was a bit for me:blush:

[pontalba]

Well! With you guys so enthusiatic, I figured I was missing something, and I can't stand that!! :mrgreen: :readingtwo: :mrgreen:

Besides you can never have too many books. :hyper:

BTW Sophia, hows Lolita going?

[Sofia]

I haven't started it yet....:o it's on my list right after ghost story....and then another that I forgot the title!:mrgreen:

[pontalba]

Jumping in with both feet I see. Yay!!!
:mrgreen: I've also got all the Nabokov's....but have only read about half so far. :readingtwo: :readingtwo:
So many books too few hours..........:motz:

[pontalba]

I haven't started it yet....:o it's on my list right after ghost story....and then another that I forgot the title!:mrgreen:

I just can hardly wait for reactions.....:lurker: :hyper:

Patience was never my best quality............:roll:

[dogmatix]

:mrgreen: I've also got all the Nabokov's....but have only read about half so far. :readingtwo: :readingtwo:

You and I are the same. This need to have a "complete" set of whatever. I mean they just look so much better on the shelf that way.:mrgreen:

Sophia what do you think about Saramago's use of the word "we"? He has his uncanny ability to throw that word into a sentence where it's grammatically incorrect and nonsensical and yet it works beautifully and serves to make the story more intimate. When I read Saramago it's like I'm sitting in dark room with him watching the story unfold and there he is saying "Ooohh now watch this part, this is important because later...."

[pontalba]

You and I are the same. This need to have a "complete" set of whatever. I mean they just look so much better on the shelf that way.:mrgreen:

I know exactly what you mean. Symmetry is so important.
I mean maybe another hurricane will come through, and I might not have access to Amazon or any bookstore.....what then!!
We have to think of all the possibilities.........;)

Oh I have also heard that the doctors have pills for that as well.....:mrgreen:

[pontalba]

I received my four Saramago novels today from Amazon. Will get on Seeing as soon as I finish Nabokov's The Defense. My reading time has been limited some the last week or so, and of course I was sidetracked a bit by the Reichs.....so anyway, in a few days I will be starting. :D

Amazon must truely think I am 3 different people from my "history" there. LOL

[Sofia]

Sophia what do you think about Saramago's use of the word "we"? He has his uncanny ability to throw that word into a sentence where it's grammatically incorrect and nonsensical and yet it works beautifully and serves to make the story more intimate. When I read Saramago it's like I'm sitting in dark room with him watching the story unfold and there he is saying "Ooohh now watch this part, this is important because later...."
i totally agree....it's as if he is speaking directly to me.....I like that

[dogmatix]

Well I'm a bit further on now and this sentence really gave me serious chills

"In the end they'll say you lied, you'll deny it, you'll swear you told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and that might be true, you didn't lie, you just happen to be a very nervous person, with a strong will, it's true, but you are nevertheless a tremulous reed that shivers in the slightest breeze, so they'll connect you up to the machine again and it will be even worse, they'll ask if you're alive and you'll say, of course I am, but your body will protest, will contradict you, the tremor in your chin will say, no you're dead, and it might be right, perhaps your body knows before you do that they are going to kill you."

eerie...

I also love when he says that "inalienable rights" should only be employed in "homeopathic doses....drop by drop.......you can't come here with a pitcher overflowing...." In otherwords you can't exercise your rights in any way which will be effective. It's more the principle of having rights rather than acually using them to achieve any goal. How ironic and insightful.

Back to the book:readingtwo:

[dogmatix]

I was up half the night reading.....Okay the government's cleary insane and interested in it's own survival here. Saramago is making such a powerful statement about how limited the power of the peple in a democracy really could be if they allow it. Or do they have a choice?

"All your suffering will have been futile, all you stubborness in vain, and then you will understand, too late, that rights only exist fully in the words and on the piece of paper on which they were recorded, whether in the form of a constitution, a law or a regulation, you will understand and, one hopes, be convinced, that their wrong or unthinking application will convulse the most firmly established society, you will understand at last, that simple common sense tells us to take them as a mere symbol of what could be, but never as a possible concrete reality"

Another great line:

"..they are preparing to hold a demonstration. What on earth do they hope to achieve by that, demonstrations never achieve anything, if they did, we wouldn't allow them..."


So Saramago is exploring here the power of peaceful protestation in the extreme. I'm excited to see if the public will be able to "hold out" and not resort to violence as the government clearly has.

[Sofia]

wait till you get to the end! I was stunned!

*seals lips*

[Sofia]

went to the library book sale yesterday (again) and the very first book that caught my eye......The Stone Raft by none other than Saramago!! I was so excited, as I had borrowed this book from the library twice and never had gotten around to reading it. Brand-new hardcover for a mere $2.00!!:yahoo:

[dogmatix]

That's great! I'm sure I paid WAY more for my copy. We should read it together in a couple of months.:readingtwo:

[Sofia]

That's great! I'm sure I paid WAY more for my copy. We should read it together in a couple of months.:readingtwo:
great idea.....:D

[pontalba]

Marvelous Sophia! :smile2:

I tried to find a Saramago at our Library Sale and had no luck. :irked:
But I did find another Auster....Moon Palace, er plus 20 others......:lurker:

[Sofia]

Marvelous Sophia! :smile2:

I tried to find a Saramago at our Library Sale and had no luck. :irked:
But I did find another Auster....Moon Palace, er plus 20 others......:lurker:
I know the feeling. I came away with a good 20-25 myself....plus about another 15 for my daughter:blush:

[pontalba]

:lol: :clapping:

[pontalba]

I have tried all afternoon to slip into Seeing. I just can't.
I was falling asleep at p. 19, skipping at p.20, and scanning,
going back by p.27. I got to p. 32, I gave up.

It's just not my cuppa. I can't even completely say why, aside from
the fact it bores me. Perhaps I am not being fair to the book, but that
is the way I feel.

I've scanned a bit of All The Names and that looks more interesting to me. So I'll tackle that one a bit down the road. So it looks like there
will be Saramago in my future, just not Seeing.

[muggle not]

I have tried all afternoon to slip into Seeing. I just can't.
I was falling asleep at p. 19, skipping at p.20, and scanning,
going back by p.27. I got to p. 32, I gave up.

It's just not my cuppa. I can't even completely say why, aside from
the fact it bores me. Perhaps I am not being fair to the book, but that
is the way I feel.

Time to start reading a James Lee Burke. One thing that is quaranteed, you will not be bored. :D

[pontalba]

Time to start reading a James Lee Burke. One thing that is quaranteed, you will not be bored. :D
There is pontalba pulling Heaven's Prisoners from the shelf.
Maybe a Burke thread would be a good idea, started by the resident expert.....muggle.....;)

whoops.....found it!

[Sofia]

I have tried all afternoon to slip into Seeing. I just can't.
I was falling asleep at p. 19, skipping at p.20, and scanning,
going back by p.27. I got to p. 32, I gave up.

It's just not my cuppa. I can't even completely say why, aside from
the fact it bores me. Perhaps I am not being fair to the book, but that
is the way I feel.

I've scanned a bit of All The Names and that looks more interesting to me. So I'll tackle that one a bit down the road. So it looks like there
will be Saramago in my future, just not Seeing.
Pontalba...when you are ready to try Saramago again...try Blindness first. Then try Seeing again after. You don't have to read them in order to get it...but maybe that'll help you get more into it.

[pontalba]

I think part of the problem is that I cannot stand anything political. Then there is the plot. /sigh/ It is like a rehash of every conspiracy theory that was written ages ago.

I have hopes for the other one though, All the Names. :)

[dogmatix]

Just remember Pontalba I realy didn't like Lolita (shame I know) but I loved Speak, Memory and it was only with your persistent recommendation that I even picked it up.

If you wan't non politcal and fabulous I would strongly recommend The Double first. It's my favorite Saramago and I promise no politics.

[dogmatix]

Okay Sophia I just finished up. What an ending!

It's as if the superintendant knew he was bound to be killed and martyred himself as a final solution. I loved the images of the fountain woman waiting for the water to flow. And what a surpirse... after the interior minister was fired I thought, "Great now thing will get back to some normalcy and sense will rule and then out of nowhere the wife of the doctor is killed by the very same man. Great, great ending:readingtwo:

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we pracice to deceive"

So Stone Raft in a couple of months then? ;)

[pontalba]

Just remember Pontalba I realy didn't like Lolita (shame I know) but I loved Speak, Memory and it was only with your persistent recommendation that I even picked it up.

If you wan't non politcal and fabulous I would strongly recommend The Double first. It's my favorite Saramago and I promise no politics.
OK, I do have The Double as I'd bought it at the same time as the others. So I'll try that one after the next Nabokov in line, and the Burke.
Thanks dogmatix. :)

[Sofia]

So Stone Raft in a couple of months then? ;)
it's a deal! Let me know when:)