Today, June 18, 2010 at the age of 87 and close to his wife Pilar Del Rio, Jose Saramago, nobel Laureate of Literature 1998, died in the island of Lanzarote, the Canary Island in Spain.
Saramago's work is no lees than brilliant, with his incredible imagination and prose was able to create worlds that are common to understand and believe, but as well magical; like in " Ensayo Sobre la Ceguera" (Blindness) 1995 which narrates this weird Blindness contagious disease - everyone gets blind- and amazingly since there is no way to differentiate the people ( except from their voice ) there are no given-names in this history just attributes becomes their "Tags" like : The Doctor's WIfe, The Blind Kid, The Blind Young Girl and so on, focusing in the Doctor's Wife ( the only one immune to this disease of blindness) and the only hope for a group of blind people, she must endure a lot of task that put her in the role of savior-mother and the only one that can see how disastrous things can be in a world with no eyes.
In "El hombre Duplicado" ( The Double) 2003, Saramago shows that two identical mans - with no blood relation whatsoever- are willing to change their life , a cautionary tale that ask you to be happy with your self as the way you are. with a no less than a tragic and crazy end.
And many other books, the last one "Cain" 2009, create some controversy in Portugal and Spain when Saramago was criticized by a Catholic Church Official saying that some comments of the writer where offensive to the bible, on the book launch, the writer said that the Bible is ''a catalog of cruelty and of what's worst in human nature.''
No further opinion on that comment, none the less, Saramago was a Prolific writer, a unique painter with words that created worlds that were a reflection of our selves, the contradiction of good and evil, sadness and joy, God - Godless and pagan, common man and Jesus, a dark humor. He was able to reflect the nature of the Human Being and portrait in all it's glory.
Farewell Saramago......!!!!!!!
Le roi est mort ....Vive le roi !
Bibliography
Title | Year | English title | Year | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
Terra do Pecado | 1947 | |||
Os Poemas Possíveis | 1966 | |||
Provavelmente Alegria | 1970 | |||
Deste Mundo e do Outro | 1971 | |||
A Bagagem do Viajante | 1973 | |||
As Opiniões que o DL teve | 1974 | |||
O Ano de 1993 | 1975 | The Year of 1993 | ||
Os Apontamentos | 1976 | |||
Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia | 1977 | Manual of Painting and Calligraphy | 1993 | ISBN 1857540433 |
Objecto Quase | 1978 | |||
Levantado do Chão | 1980 | |||
Viagem a Portugal | 1981 | Journey to Portugal | 2000 | ISBN 0151005877 |
Memorial do Convento | 1982 | Baltasar and Blimunda | 1987 | ISBN 0151105553 |
O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis | 1986 | The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis | 1991 | ISBN 0151997357 |
A Jangada de Pedra | 1986 | The Stone Raft | 1994 | ISBN 0151851980 |
História do Cerco de Lisboa | 1989 | The History of the Siege of Lisbon | 1996 | ISBN 015100238X |
O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo | 1991 | The Gospel According to Jesus Christ | 1993 | ISBN 0151367000 |
Ensaio sobre a Cegueira | 1995 | Blindness | 1997 | ISBN 0151002517 |
Todos os Nomes | 1997 | All the Names | 1999 | ISBN 0151004218 |
O Conto da Ilha Desconhecida | 1997 | The Tale of the Unknown Island | 1999 | ISBN 0151005958 |
A Caverna | 2001 | The Cave | 2002 | ISBN 0151004145 |
O Homem Duplicado | 2003 | The Double | 2004 | ISBN 0151010404 |
Ensaio sobre a Lucidez | 2004 | Seeing | 2006 | ISBN 0151012385 |
Don Giovanni ou o Dissoluto Absolvido | 2005 | |||
As Intermitências da Morte | 2005 | Death with Interruptions | 2008 | ISBN 1846550203 |
As Pequenas Memórias | 2006 | Memories of my Youth | ||
A Viagem do Elefante | 2008 | The Trip of the Elephant | ISBN 9789722120173 | |
Caim | 2009 | Cain |
[edit]
Recent Comments