Books by José Saramago
Blindness (Harvest Book)
A stunningly powerful novel of humanity's will to survive against all odds during an epidemic by a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
An International Bestseller • "This is a shattering work by a literary master.”—Boston Globe
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers—among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears—through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of our worst appetites and weaknesses—and humanity's ultimately exhilarating spirit.
"This is a an important book, one that is unafraid to face all of the horror of the century."—Washington Post
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year
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Journey to Portugal: In Pursuit of Portugal's History and Culture
The Nobel Prize–winning author explores his homeland in “this monumental work, a literary hybrid” of cultural history, literary nonfiction, and travelogue (Publishers Weekly).
When José Saramago decided to write a book about Portugal, his only desire was that it be unlike all other books on the subject, and in this he has certainly succeeded. Recording the events and observations of a journey across the length and breadth of the country he loves dearly, Saramago brings Portugal to life as only a writer of his brilliance can.
Forfeiting the usual sources such as tourist guides and road maps, he scours the country with the eyes and ears of an observer fascinated by the ancient myths and history of his people. Whether it be an inaccessible medieval fortress set on a cliff, a wayside chapel thick with cobwebs, or a grand mansion in the city, the extraordinary places of this land come alive.
Always meticulously attentive to those elements of ancient Portugal that persist today, he examines the country in its current period of rapid transition and growth. Journey to Portugal is an ode to a country and its rich traditions.
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The Cave
“[The Cave] is yet another triumph . . . for Portugal’s, or even the world’s, greatest novelist. Read it.” — Washington Post
A genuinely brilliant novel.” — Chicago Tribune
Cipriano Algor, an elderly potter, lives with his daughter Marta and her husband Marçal in a small village on the outskirts of The Center, an imposing complex of shops and apartments to which Cipriano delivers his wares. One day, he is told not to make any more deliveries. Unwilling to give up his craft, Cipriano tries his hand at making ceramic dolls. Astonishingly, The Center places an order for hundreds. But just as suddenly, the order is canceled and the penniless three have to move from the village into The Center. When mysterious sounds of digging emerge from beneath their new apartment, Cipriano and Marçal investigate; what they find transforms the family’s life. Filled with the depth, humor, and extraordinary philosophical richness that marks all of Saramago’s novels, The Cave is one of the essential books of our time.
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The Double
Tertuliano Máximo Afonso is a history teacher in a secondary school. He is divorced, involved in a rather one-sided relationship with a bank clerk, and he is depressed. To lift his depression, a colleague suggests he rent a certain video. Tertuliano watches the film and is unimpressed. During the night, noises in his apartment wake him. He goes into the living room to find that the VCR is replaying the video, and as he watches in astonishment he sees a man who looks exactly like him-or, more specifically, exactly like the man he was five years before, mustachioed and fuller in the face. He sleeps badly.
Against his own better judgment, Tertuliano decides to pursue his double. As he establishes the man's identity, what begins as a whimsical story becomes a dark meditation on identity and, perhaps, on the crass assumption behind cloning-that we are merely our outward appearance rather than the sum of our experiences.
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The Double
The inspiration for the major motion picture "Enemy" starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Denis Villeneuve Tertuliano Máximo Afonso is a divorced, depressed history teacher. To lift his spirits, a colleague suggests he rent a certain video. Tertuliano watches the film, unimpressed. But during the night, when he is awakened by noises in his apartment, he goes into the living room to find that the VCR is replaying the video. He watches in astonishment as a man who looks exactly like him-or, more specifically, exactly like he did five years before, mustachioed and fuller in the face-appears on the screen. He sleeps badly.
Against his better judgment, Tertuliano decides to pursue his double. As he roots out the man's identity, what begins as a whimsical story becomes a "wonderfully twisted meditation on identity and individuality" (The Boston Globe). Saramago displays his remarkable talent in this haunting tale of appearance versus reality.
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The Elephant's Journey
A delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure from prize-winning novelist José Saramago
In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. In José Saramago's remarkable and imaginative retelling, Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, and the royal guard, these unlikely heroes traverse a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars, witnessed along the way by scholars, historians, and wide-eyed ordinary people as they make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy; they brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; across the Mediterranean Sea and up the Inn River; and at last, toward their grand entry into the imperial city.
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The Elephant's Journey
A delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure from prize-winning novelist José Saramago
In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. In José Saramago's remarkable and imaginative retelling, Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, and the royal guard, these unlikely heroes traverse a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars, witnessed along the way by scholars, historians, and wide-eyed ordinary people as they make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy; they brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; across the Mediterranean Sea and up the Inn River; and at last, toward their grand entry into the imperial city.
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The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Experience the unforgettable, heartbreaking love story set in post-World War II North Carolina about a young socialite and the boy who once stole her heart -- one of PBS's "Great American Reads".
Every so often a love story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story-it becomes an experience to remember forever. The Notebook is such a book. It is a celebration of how passion can be ageless and timeless, a tale that moves us to laughter and tears and makes us believe in true love all over again...
At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle...
Copies
No copies available.
The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Experience the unforgettable, heartbreaking love story set in post-World War II North Carolina about a young socialite and the boy who once stole her heart -- one of PBS's "Great American Reads".
Every so often a love story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story-it becomes an experience to remember forever. The Notebook is such a book. It is a celebration of how passion can be ageless and timeless, a tale that moves us to laughter and tears and makes us believe in true love all over again...
At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle...
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No copies available.
The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Product Description In a testimony to the lasting power of love, a man tells an elderly woman a story from a faded notebook, his voice relating the heartbreaking tale of two lovers and their fifty-year journey to happiness. About the Author Nicholas Sparks is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Rescue and Nights in Rodanthe, as well as The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, A Bend in the Road, The Guardian, The Wedding, and his moving memoir, Three Weeks with My Brother, written with his brother, Micah. All his books were New York Times and international bestsellers translated into more than thirty languages, and Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, and The Notebook were adapted into major motion pictures. Nicholas Sparks lives in North Carolina with his wife and family.
Copies
No copies available.
The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Experience the unforgettable, heartbreaking love story set in post-World War II North Carolina about a young socialite and the boy who once stole her heart -- one of PBS's "Great American Reads".
Every so often a love story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story -- it becomes an experience to remember forever. The Notebook is such a book. It is a celebration of how passion can be ageless and timeless, a tale that moves us to laughter and tears and makes us believe in true love all over again . . .
At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle . . .
Copies
No copies available.
The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Rediscover the unforgettable, heart-wrenching romance set in post-World War II North Carolina, about a young socialite who can't forget the boy who once stole her heart--now one of PBS's Top 100 "Great American Reads."
Every so often a love story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story-it becomes an experience to remember forever. The Notebook is such a book. It is a celebration of how passion can be ageless and timeless, a tale that moves us to laughter and tears and makes us believe in true love all over again...
At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle...
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No copies available.
The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Thought-provoking and lyrical, The Notebook records the last year in the life of José Saramago. In these pages, beginning on the eve of the 2008 US presidential election, he evokes life in his beloved city of Lisbon, revisits conversations with friends, and meditates on his favorite authors. Precise observations and moments of arresting significance are rendered with pointillist detail and together demonstrate an acute understanding of our times. Characteristically critical and uncompromising, Saramago dissects the financial crisis, deplores Israel’s punishment of Gaza, and reflects on the rise of Barack Obama. The Notebook is a unique journey into the personal and political world of one of the greatest writers of our time.
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The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Experience the unforgettable, heartbreaking love story set in post-World War II North Carolina about a young socialite and the boy who once stole her heart -- coming to Broadway as a musical in February 2024.
Every so often a love story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story -- it becomes an experience to remember forever. The Notebook is such a book. It is a celebration of how passion can be ageless and timeless, a tale that moves us to laughter and tears and makes us believe in true love all over again . . .
At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle . . .
Copies
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$17.99
The Notebook
by Nicholas Sparks, José Saramago
Thought-provoking and lyrical, The Notebook records the last year in the life of José Saramago. In these pages, beginning on the eve of the 2008 US presidential election, he evokes life in his beloved city of Lisbon, revisits conversations with friends, and meditates on his favorite authors. Precise observations and moments of arresting significance are rendered with pointillist detail, and together demonstrate an acute understanding of our times. Characteristically critical and uncompromising, Saramago dissects the financial crisis, deplores Israel’s punishment of Gaza, and reflects on the rise of Barack Obama. The Notebook is a unique journey into the personal and political world of one of the greatest writers of our time.
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The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
From Nobel Prize–winner José Saramago, “a capacious, funny, threatening novel” of wandering souls and political upheaval in 1930s Portugal (New York Times Book Review).
The year is 1936, and the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar is establishing himself in Portugal, edging his country toward civil war. At the same time, Dr. Ricardo Reis has returned home to Lisbon after a long sojourn in Brazil. What’s brought him back is word that the great poet, Fernando Pessoa, has died. With no intention of resuming his practice, Reis now dabbles in his own poetry, wastes his days strolling the boulevards and back streets, engages in affairs with two different women—and is followed through each excursion by Pessoa’s ghost.
As a fascist revolution roils, and as Reis’s path intersects with three relative strangers—two living, one dead—Reis may finally discover the reality of his own chimerical existence.
Called “a magnificent tour-de-force, perhaps one of the best novels published in Europe since World War II” (Bloomsbury Review) and “altogether remarkable” (Wall Street Journal), The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis is a PEN Award winner.
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The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
A wry, fictional account of the life of Christ by the Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, “Illuminated by ferocious wit, gentle passion, and poetry” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). For José Saramago, the life of Jesus Christ and the story of his Passion were things of this earth: a child crying, a gust of wind, the caress of a woman half asleep, the bleat of a goat or the bark of a dog, a prayer uttered in the grayish morning light. The Holy Family reflects the real complexities of any family, but this is realism filled with vision, dream, and omen. Saramago’s deft psychological portrait of a savior who is at once the Son of God and a young man of this earth is an expert interweaving of poetry and irony, spirituality and irreverence. The result is nothing less than a brilliant skeptic’s wry inquest into the meaning of God and of human existence.
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The Stone Raft
When the Iberian Peninsula breaks free of Europe and begins to drift across the North Atlantic, five people are drawn together on the newly formed island-first by surreal events and then by love. “A splendidly imagined epic voyage...a fabulous fable” (Kirkus Reviews). Translated by Giovanni Pontiero.
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The Tale of the Unknown Island
Nobel Prize–winning author Saramago departs from his usual dense, linguistic style to write a "mischievous and thoughtful satire on ruling elites and bold dreamers, cast in the form of revisionist fairy-tale" (Kirkus Reviews).
"A man went to knock at the king's door and said, Give me a boat. The king's house had many other doors, but this was the door for petitions. Since the king spent all his time sitting at the door for favors (favors being offered to the king, you understand), whenever he heard someone knocking at the door for petitions, he would pretend not to hear . . ."
Why the petitioner required a boat, where he was bound for, and who volunteered to crew for him, the reader will discover in this delightful fable, a philosophic love story worthy of Swift or Voltaire.
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All The Names
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
José Saramago's mesmerizing, classic narrative about the loneliness of individual lives and the universal need for human connection.
Senhor José is a low-grade clerk in the city's Central Registry, where the living and the dead share the same shelf space. A middle-aged bachelor, he has no interest in anything beyond the certificates of birth, marriage, divorce, and death that are his daily routine. But one day, when he comes across the records of an anonymous young woman, something happens to him. Obsessed, Senhor José sets off to follow the thread that may lead him to the woman—but as he gets closer, he discovers more about her, and about himself, than he would ever have wished.The loneliness of people's lives, the effects of chance, the discovery of love—all coalesce in this extraordinary novel that displays the power and art of José Saramago in brilliant form.
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The History Of The Siege Of Lisbon
In this “ingenious” novel (New York Times) by “one of Europe’s most original and remarkable writers” (Los Angeles Times), a proofreader’s deliberate slip opens the door to romance-and confounds the facts of Portugal’s past. Translated by Giovanni Pontiero.
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Seeing
"The clarity and compassion of [Saramago's] vision make Seeing worthy of its name." —Washington Post
"I have never read a novel that gets so many details of the political behavior that we for some reason insist on calling 'organized' so hilariously and grimly right." —Chicago Tribune
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. 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. But are the authorities acting too precipitously? Or even blindly? The word evokes terrible memories of the plague of blindness that hit the city four years before, and of the one woman who kept her sight. Could she be behind the blank ballots? 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.
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Blindness (Movie Tie-In)
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and assaulting women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit.
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Death with Interruptions
On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This, understandably, causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, funeral directors, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebrationflags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits homefamilies are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral directors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots.Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love?
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Death with Interruptions
Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago's brilliant novel poses the question—what happens when the grim reaper decides there will be no more death? On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This of course causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration—flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home—families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots.
Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love?
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Skylight
by José Saramago, Margaret Jull Costa
“The inklings of Saramago’s style swell throughout . . . Skylight shines.” — New York Times
“Unmistakably Saramago . . . There is no shortage of wonders to be found in [Skylight].” — Washington Post
“A fascinating and startlingly mature work . . . The book is a gem.” — Boston Globe
Lisbon, late 1940s. The inhabitants of a faded apartment building are struggling to make ends meet: Silvio the cobbler and his wife take in a disaffected young lodger; Dona Lídia, a retired prostitute, is kept by a businessman with a roving eye. Humble salesman Emilio’s Spanish wife is in a permanent rage; beautiful Claudinha’s boss lusts for her; Justina and her womanizer husband live at war with each other. Happy marriages, abusive relationships, jealousy, gossip, love—Skylight is a portrait of ordinary people painted by the master of the quotidian, a great observer of the immense beauty and profound hardship of the modern world.
“The gifted young Saramago makes these characters click together in a way that's extremely sympathetic.” — NPR, All Things Considered
“It was only a matter of time before a work of such extraordinary honesty and perception would make its way into the world.” — San Francisco Chronicle
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Skylight
by José Saramago, Margaret Jull Costa
A previously unpublished novel by a literary master, Skylight tells the intertwined stories of the residents of a faded apartment building in 1940s Lisbon. Silvestre and Mariana, a happily married elderly couple, take in a young nomad, Abel, and soon discover their many differences. Adriana loves Beethoven more than any man, but her budding sexuality brings new feelings to the surface. Carmen left Galicia to marry humble Emilio, but hates Lisbon and longs for her first love, Manolo. Lidia used to work the streets, but now she’s kept by Paulo, a wealthy man with a wandering eye.
These are just some of the characters in this early work, completed by Saramago in 1953 but never published until now. With his characteristic compassion, depth, and wit, Saramago shows us the quiet contentment of a happy family and the infectious poison of an unhappy one. We see his characters’ most intimate moments as well as the casual encounters particular to neighbors living in close proximity. Skylight is a portrait of ordinary people, painted by a master of the quotidian, a great observer of the immense beauty and profound hardships of the modern world.
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Raised From The Ground
"Essential...A novel that resounds with relevance for our own time." —New York Times Book ReviewFirst published in 1980, the City of Lisbon Prize–winning Raised from the Ground follows the changing fortunes of the Mau Tempo family—poor landless peasants not unlike Saramago’s own grandparents. Set in Alentejo, a southern province of Portugal known for its vast agricultural estates, the novel charts the lives of the Mau Tempos as national and international events rumble on in the background—the coming of the republic in Portugual, the two world wars, and an attempt on the dictator Salazar’s life. Yet nothing really impinges on the grim reality of the farm laborers’ lives until the first communist stirrings.
Raised from the Ground is Saramago’s most deeply personal novel, the book in which he found the signature style and voice that distinguishes all of his brilliant works.
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Raised From The Ground
A multigenerational family saga that paints a sweeping portrait of twentieth-century Portugal
First published in 1980, the City of Lisbon Prize–winning Raised from the Ground follows the changing fortunes of the Mau Tempo family—poor landless peasants not unlike Saramago’s own grandparents. Set in Alentejo, a southern province of Portugal known for its vast agricultural estates, the novel charts the lives of the Mau Tempos as national and international events rumble on in the background—the coming of the republic in Portugual, the two World Wars, and an attempt on the dictator Salazar’s life. Yet nothing really impinges on the grim reality of the farm laborers’ lives until the first communist stirrings.
Finally available in English, Raised from the Ground is Saramago’s most deeply personal novel, the book in which he found the signature style and voice that distinguishes all of his brilliant work.
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Manual Of Painting And Calligraphy
From the Nobel Prize winning author―a novel that takes us into the last days of Salazar's dictatorship when a second-rate artist is commissioned by a wealthy client to paint a portrait and the political and intellectual struggles that ensue.
Manual of Painting and Calligraphy was José Saramago’s first novel. Written eight years before the critically acclaimed Baltasar and Blimunda, it is a story of self-discovery set against the background of the last years of Salazar’s dictatorship. A struggling young artist, commissioned to paint a portrait of an influential industrialist, learns in the process about himself and the world around him. The brilliant juxtaposition of a passionate love story and the crisis of a nation foreshadows all of Saramago’s major works. A must-have for any devotee of the great Portuguese Nobel laureate, Manual of Painting and Calligraphy is now available in the United States.
"Taut and compelling." ― Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Beautifully realized, heartbreakingly honest." ― Providence Journal-Bulletin
“Almost impossible to put down.” ― Austin American-Statesman
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Small Memories
“Small Memories is a . . . nourishing last gift from a great writer.”—Washington Post
Shifting back and forth between childhood and his teenage years, between Azinhaga and Lisbon, this is a mosaic of memories, a simply told, affecting look into the author’s boyhood: the tragic death of his older brother at the age of four; his mother pawning the family’s blankets every spring and buying them back in time for winter; his beloved grandparents bringing the weaker piglets into their bed on cold nights; and Saramago’s early encounters with literature, from teaching himself to read by deciphering articles in the daily newspaper, to poring over an entertaining dialogue in a Portuguese-French conversation guide, not realizing that he was in fact reading a play by Molière.
Written with Saramago’s characteristic wit and honesty, Small Memories traces the formation of an artist fascinated by words and stories from an early age who emerged, against all odds, as one of the world’s most respected writers.
“Like a nostalgic progenitor bestowing his wealth of life experience upon a younger generation, Saramago digs deep into his peasant roots to sketch a rough outline of the little boy who would become one of the greatest Portuguese-language writers”—Portland Oregonian
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Cain
“Suitably disturbing—and a pleasure to read.” — The Scotsman
In this, his last novel, José Saramago daringly reimagines the characters and narratives of the Old Testament, recalling his provocative The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. His tale runs from the Garden of Eden, when God realizes he has forgotten to give Adam and Eve the gift of speech, to the moment when Noah’s Ark lands on the dry peak of Ararat. Cain, the despised, the murderer, is Saramago’s protagonist.
Condemned to wander forever after he kills his brother Abel, Cain makes his way through the world in the company of a personable donkey. He is a witness to and participant in the stories of Isaac and Abraham, the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Moses and the golden calf, the trials of Job. The rapacious Queen Lilith takes him as her lover. An old man with two sheep on a rope crosses his path. And again and again, Cain encounters a God whose actions seem callous, cruel, and unjust. He confronts Him, he argues with Him. “And one thing we know for certain,” Saramago writes, “is that they continued to argue and are arguing still.”
A startling book—sensual, funny—in all ways a fitting end to Saramago’s extraordinary career.
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Cain
The last novel by Nobel Prize–winner José Saramago, Cain daringly reimagines the characters and narratives of the Old Testament.
Saramago's tale runs from the Garden of Eden, when God realizes he has forgotten to give Adam and Eve the gift of speech, to the moment when Noah’s Ark lands on the dry peak of Ararat. Cain, the despised, the murderer, is Saramago’s protagonist.
Condemned to wander forever after he kills his brother Abel, Cain makes his way through the world in the company of a personable donkey. He is a witness to and participant in the stories of Isaac and Abraham, the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Moses and the golden calf, the trials of Job. The rapacious Queen Lilith takes him as her lover. An old man with two sheep on a rope crosses his path. And again and again, Cain encounters a God whose actions seem callous, cruel, and unjust. He confronts Him, he argues with Him. “And one thing we know for certain,” Saramago writes, “is that they continued to argue and are arguing still.”
A startling book—sensual, funny—and in all ways a fitting end to Saramago’s extraordinary career.
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The Lives of Things
Combining bitter satire, outrageous parody and uncanny hallucinations, this collection of José Saramago’s earliest stories from the beginning of his writing career attests to the novelist’s imaginative power and incomparable skill in elaborating the most extravagant fantasies. Each tale is a wicked, surreal take on life under dictatorship: in ‘Embargo’ a man drives around a city that is slowly running out of petrol; ‘The Chair’ recounts what happens when dictator Salazar falls off his chair and dies; in the Kafkaesque ‘Things’ the life of a civil servant is threatened as objects start to go missing.
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An Unexpected Light
Nobel Prize winner José Saramago tells a quiet and poetic story, an excerpt from his book Small Memories, of a lasting childhood experience of simple, soulful joy.
The narrator's memories of a lost childhood paradise focus on two glorious days when he helped his uncle take some piglets to the market in Santarém. They traverse dusty roads, sleep in a barn and awake to a miraculous moonglow, and hear the animals in their “infinite conversations.” The journey, the night, the wind, the light. . . . This poetic story is an unforgettable adventure narrated by José Saramago and presented alongside Armando Fonseca’s fanciful and evocative illustrations.
A very special gift for readers of all ages.
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Claraboya
Amanece en Lisboa. En una ma ana de mediados del siglo XX, la mirada del novelista se asoma a la ventana de un vecindario. Se anuncia un d a no muy diferente de los dem s: el zapatero Silvestre, que abre su taller; Adriana, que parte hacia el trabajo mientras en su casa tres mujeres inician otra jornada de costura; Justina, que tiene ante s un largo d a jalonado por las disputas con su brutal marido; la mantenida Lidia; y la espa ola Carmen, sumida en nostalgias... Discretamente, la mirada del novelista va descendiendo y, de repente, deja de ser simple testigo para ver con los ojos de cada uno de los personajes. Cap tulo a cap tulo, salta de casa en casa, de personaje en personaje, abri ndonos un mundo gobernado por la necesidad, las grandes frustraciones, las peque as ilusiones, la nostalgia de tiempos que ni siquiera fueron mejores. Todo cubierto por el silencio tedioso de la dictadura, la m sica de Beethoven y una pregunta de Pessoa: Deberemos ser todos casados, f tiles, tributables? . Saramago termino de escribir Claraboya a los treinta y un a os y entrego el manuscrito a una editorial de la que solo obtuvo respuesta cuarenta a os m s tarde, cuando era un escritor consagrado. La escritura minuciosa y paciente retrata con maestr a una poca marcada por la desesperanza. Claraboya anticipa de un modo deslumbrante los elementos del universo Saramago, as como las virtudes que ser n el germen de tantas obras maestras. En el texto se oye la voz de Jose Saramago, se reconocen sus personajes, se identifican la lucidez y la compasi n que seg n la Academia Sueca distinguen su obra. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Dawn breaks over Lisbon one mid-20th century morning. The novelist looks out the window in a neighborhood; there is nothing to indicate this day will be any different: Silvestre, the shoe-maker, opens the door to his workshop, Adriana leaves for work while in her home three woman begin another full day of sewing, Justina is looking at another long bout of fighting with her brutal husband; Lidia, the kept woman, and Carmen, the Spaniard, lost in nostalgic thoughts... Discreetly, the novelist's gaze travels downward. Suddenly, he stops being a humble witness to become each one of the neighborhood's characters. With each chapter he jumps from one house to the next, from one person to another, to reveal a world ruled by need, by great frustrations and small illusions, by a longing for a time that wasn't any better than this one. Everything is cloaked by the dreary silence of the dictatorship, Beethoven's symphonies, and a question from Pessoa: Should all of us be married, futile, and taxable? Saramago finished writing Claraboya when he was 31 years old. He delivered the manuscript to an editorial only to receive a response forty years later, once he was an already established and renowned author. The patient and highly-detailed writing masterfully portrays an era marked by despair. Claraboya anticipates the dazzling elements of Saramago's universe and the virtuous mind that will later give birth to a wealth of masterpieces. In these pages we hear Jos Saramago's voice, recognize his characters, and identify the clarity and compassion that, according to the Swedish Academy, distinguish his work.
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Ensayo sobre la ceguera/ Blindness (Spanish Edition)
Ensayo sobre la ceguera es la ficción de un autor que nos alerta sobre «la responsabilidad de tener ojos cuando otros los perdieron». «Dentro de nosotros hay algo que no tiene nombre, esa cosa es lo que somos.»
Un hombre parado ante un semáforo en rojo se queda ciego súbitamente. Es el primer caso de una «ceguera blanca» que se expande de manera fulminante. Internados en cuarentena o perdidos en la ciudad, los ciegos tendrán que enfrentarse con lo que existe de más primitivo en la naturaleza humana: la voluntad de sobrevivir a cualquier precio.
Ensayo sobre la ceguera es la ficción de un autor que nos alerta sobre «la responsabilidad de tener ojos cuando otros los perdieron». José Saramago traza en este libro una imagen aterradora y conmovedora de los tiempos que estamos viviendo. En un mundo así, ¿cabrá alguna esperanza?
El lector conocerá una experiencia imaginativaúnica. En un punto donde se cruzan literatura y sabiduría, José Saramago nos obliga a parar, cerrar los ojos y ver. Recuperar la lucidez y rescatar el afecto son dos propuestas fundamentales de una novela que es, también, una reflexión sobre la ética del amor y la solidaridad.
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Ensayo sobre la ceguera / Blindness (Spanish Edition)
Ensayo sobre la ceguera es la ficción de un autor que nos alerta sobre «la responsabilidad de tener ojos cuando otros los perdieron».
«Dentro de nosotros hay algo que no tiene nombre, esa cosa es lo que somos.»
Un hombre parado ante un semáforo en rojo se queda ciego súbitamente. Es el primer caso de una «ceguera blanca» que se expande de manera fulminante. Internados en cuarentena o perdidos en la ciudad, los ciegos tendrán que enfrentarse con lo que existe de más primitivo en la naturaleza humana: la voluntad de sobrevivir a cualquier precio.
Ensayo sobre la ceguera es la ficción de un autor que nos alerta sobre «la responsabilidad de tener ojos cuando otros los perdieron».
José Saramago traza en este libro una imagen aterradora y conmovedora de los tiempos que estamos viviendo. En un mundo así, ¿cabrá alguna esperanza?
El lector conocerá una experiencia imaginativa única. En un punto donde se cruzan literatura y sabiduría, José Saramago nos obliga a parar, cerrar los ojos y ver. Recuperar la lucidez y rescatar el afecto son dos propuestas fundamentales de una novela que es, también, una reflexión sobre la ética del amor y la solidaridad.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
During the town elections of a nameless city, most of its inhabitants, by their own individual choices, decide to exert their voting rights in an unexpected way. The dirty and sneaky officials in power start making arrangements to eliminate the guilty parties; and if they cannot find any, they will have to make them up.
The protagonists of this new novel, a policeman and the woman who was able to maintain her sight in the novel Blindness, are samples of the moral heights that these anonymous citizens are able to reach when they decide to exert their freedom. Saramago, a writer who has become the awakening conscience of a time blinded by the mechanisms of power, sends out an alert: "There may be a day when we will have to ask, Who has signed this in my name?" That day may very well be today.
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El evangelio según Jesucristo / The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (Spanish Edition)
José, en lugar de ser carpintero sin ningún tipo de inquietud, es recreado por el autor como un personaje complejo y fascinante, atormentado por la culpa y el arrepentimiento por haber preferido salvar a su hijo antes que alertar a la población sobre las intenciones de Herodes. El evangelio según Jesucristo, que tanto sorprendió al mundo católico, presenta una visión mundana de los hechos relativos al Nazareno: las circunstancias de su nacimiento, los primeros interrogatorios a su madre, los encuentros con ángeles y demonios, el descubrimiento del amor junto a María Magdalena, los diálogos existenciales y la angustia por saber cuál es el verdadero sentido y función de su existencia ante los ojos de Dios... «Mi libro, es una verdad, una historia de encuentro de Jesús con Dios», afirma José Saramago, que coloca todas las dudas posibles en la cabeza de Cristo, un hombre escogido para una misión que no esperaba realizar. «El evangelio según Jesucristo basta para dar a Saramago un lugar en la biblioteca universal y en la memoria de los hombres.» The Nation ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Rather than portraying Joseph as a mere carpenter, José Saramago recreates the man as a fascinating and complex character, tormented by guilt and remorse for electing to save his child over alerting the population of Herod's intentions. The novel that shocked the Catholic world presents a mundane vision of the events surrounding Jesus of Nazareth, from his birth and the discovery of love to his existential crisis on the meaning and role of his life.
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La flor más grande del mundo / The Biggest Flower in the World (Spanish Edition)
Si las historias para niños fueran de lectura obligada para los adultos, ¿seríamos capaces de aprender lo que, desde hace tanto tiempo, venimos enseñando?
Un bello relato para niños... y para adultos, de José Saramago, Premio Nobel de Literatura.
La flor más grande del mundo narra la historia de un niño que, recorriendo el mundo, encuentra una flor marchita. «¡Oh! No hay agua por aquí, esta flor morirá». Y entonces comienza a buscar agua por el mundo, se aleja de su casa y atraviesa paisajes desconocidos buscando la forma de salvar la flor.
Un cuento cargado de fuerza y energía y un texto repleto de símbolos y enigmas. Con ilustraciones de João Caetano que contribuyen a mantener la fuerza y la poesía del relato.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
If children’s stories were required reading for adults, would we be capable of learning that which we’ve been teaching for so long?
A beautiful tale for children—and adults—by José Saramago, Nobel Prize laureate in Literature.The Biggest Flower in the World tells the story of a child who, while traveling the world, finds a withering flower. "Oh! There is no water here. This flower will die." So he starts to search for water around the world; he journeys far from home and crosses unknown landscapes looking for a way to save the flower.A story loaded with strength and energy and a text full of symbols and mysteries. With illustrations by João Caetano that help maintain the tale’s power and poetry.
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Ensayo Sobre La Ceguera (Biblioteca) (Spanish Edition)
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" whose victims are confined to a vacant mental hospital, while a single eyewitness to the nightmare guides seven oddly assorted strangers through the barren urban landscape.
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Baltasar and Blimunda
From José Saramago, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Baltasar and Blimunda is a "brilliant...enchanting novel" (The New York Times Book Review) of romance, deceit, religion, and magic set in eighteenth-century Portugal at the height of the Inquisition. Portugal, 1711: an amorous friar is pursued naked through the rubble-strewn streets of Lisbon; an enthusiastic procession of flagellants roars with pleasure over the damnation of adultery; a royal prince uses hapless sailors for target practice; and women dressed in colorful finery watch as lapsed converts and sorcerers are put to death by flames. In the midst of the terrors of the Inquisition and the plague, a seemingly mismatched couple discover the wonders of love. This poetic tale, graced with exquisite historical details and full of magic and adventure, is a tapestry of human folly and human will.
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El Viaje Del Elefante (60 Aniversario de Alfaguara) / the Elephant's Journey
José Saramago narra el insólito viaje del elefante Salomón a través de la Europa del siglo XVI
Una aventura épica llena de humanidad, humor y sabiduría
«Siempre acabamos llegando a donde nos esperan». --Libro de los Itinerarios
A mediados del siglo XVI el rey Juan III ofrece a su primo, el archiduque Maximiliano de Austria, un elefante asiático. Esta novela cuenta el viaje épico de ese elefante llamado Salomón que tuvo que recorrer Europa por caprichos reales y absurdas estrategias.
El viaje del elefante no es un libro histórico, es una combinación de hechos reales e inventados que nos hace sentir la realidad y la ficción como una unidad indisoluble, como algo propio de la gran literatura. Una reflexión sobre el sentido de la vida humana, con sus afanes, desvelos y ambiciones, con su irremisible final, en la que el humor y la ironía, marcas de la implacable lucidez del autor, se unen a la compasión con la que José Saramago observa las flaquezas humanas.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
José Saramago recounts the astounding voyage of Solomon the elephant across Europe in the sixteenth century.
An epic adventure full of humanity, humor and wisdom
"We always arrive at the place where we are expected."--Book of Itineraries
In the mid sixteenth century, King João III gifts an Indian elephant to his cousin, Archduke Maximilian of Austria. This novel imagines the epic travels of Solomon and his handler across Europe, following royal whims and absurd strategies.
The Elephant's Journey blends real and fictitious events into an inseparable whole, as only great literature can do. A reflection on the meaning of human life, with its desires, worries and ambitions, and inevitable end, it showcases the humor and irony that characterize Saramago's prose, as well as his compassion for human weakness.
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