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Seeing by Jose Saramago


Sofia

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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

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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:

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  • 3 weeks later...

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.

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No. These are independant books.

 

Pontalba you aren't considering reading some Saramago are you? :dunno::motz::):D: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.

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

:dunno:

 

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!

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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!:dunno:

 

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

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I haven't started it yet....:smile2: it's on my list right after ghost story....and then another that I forgot the title!:dunno:

 

I just can hardly wait for reactions.....:motz::)

 

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

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:) I've also got all the Nabokov's....but have only read about half so far. :dunno::motz:

 

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.:D

 

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...."

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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.:dunno:

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.....:motz:

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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

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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

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