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Senhor José has worked for many years at the Central Registry as a file clerk. The Central Registry is a massive labyrinthine building that holds records of all births, deaths, and marriages. Senhor José has the ability to secretly access the building after hours, where he collects information about famous people and returns them before anyone notices. One day he comes across a card about an unknown woman, and he becomes obsessed with learning more about her life.
The main character is an eccentric person, who talks to the ceiling, which becomes a clever device for imparting necessary information to the reader. This is a novel about loneliness and the need for human connection. It is about identity and the uniqueness of each life. I enjoyed the humor at the expense of the bureaucracy. Saramago’s style will not be for everyone. He employs lengthy stream-of-consciousness sentences with few natural breaks in the narrative. Conversations are embedded within paragraphs. If you enjoy stories that feature humble quirky characters, and have something to say about human nature, this is a good one to pick up.
The main character is an eccentric person, who talks to the ceiling, which becomes a clever device for imparting necessary information to the reader. This is a novel about loneliness and the need for human connection. It is about identity and the uniqueness of each life. I enjoyed the humor at the expense of the bureaucracy. Saramago’s style will not be for everyone. He employs lengthy stream-of-consciousness sentences with few natural breaks in the narrative. Conversations are embedded within paragraphs. If you enjoy stories that feature humble quirky characters, and have something to say about human nature, this is a good one to pick up.