أنا بحب النوعية دي من الرويات , النوعية المتشائمة السوداوية الكئيبة , اللى بتكون أقرب للواقعية من أي شئ آخر , فالواقع سخيف لن تقدر على التعبير عنه إلا من خلال كتابة سوداوية تواجه ذلك السخف.

الرواية عبارة عن مجموعة من المصائب , مصيبة إثر كارثة وهكذا , فتجد أن الرواية في النهاية مآساة إغريقية جديرة بالتسجيل.

وتسجيل الكاتب لتلك الأحداث كان في غاية الظرف , تسجيل سلس مؤثر حقيقي للغاية .

ويبدو أن الكاتب قد بذل مجهود جبار لكي يخرج لنا مثل هذا العمل ففي النهاية يرى الكاتب أن :

(الكتابة عملية صعبة للغاية , إنها من المسئوليات الكبرى , يكفي التفكير في العمل الشاق الذي يحتاجه الترتيب الزمني للأحداث , أولًا هذا , وبعده ذاك , أو , لو كان متوافقًا مع الفعل المطلوب , فحدث اليوم موضوع قبل فصل الأمس , وألعاب أخرى ليست أقل خطورة , كتابة الماضي كما لو كان يحدث الآن , والحاضر كما لو كان مستمرًا بلا نهاية , لكن مهما بذل المؤلفون من جهد , هناك قدرة لا يمكنهم إعلانها , أن يضعوا في وقت واحد شيئين وقعا في ذات الوقت . )

وقد برع في ذلك للغاية , فالأحداث متداخلة بصورة مكثفة ولكنه متقنة , الكاتب يمسك بخيوط عمله بابداع .

العمل معقد عميق , تتداخل فيه الشخصيات مع الأحداث مع براعة الوصف لينتج لنا عمل مميز للغاية.

لقاء آخر مميز مع الساحر البرتغالي .

This was the first book by Saramago I've read, and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
I feel as if I've just come back from a long trip. Saramago's quixotic narrative brings to life five characters whose lives become connected after a series of strange, dream-like natural events centered around the Iberian peninsula breaking off of mainland Europe. His writing is beautiful and the narrator's self-consciousness in telling their story I find especially appealing.
(p.5)"Writing is extremely difficult, it is an enormous responsibility, you need only think of
the exhausting work involved in setting out events in chronological order, first this one,
then that..."
He has a lot of love for his characters and the way he endears them to himself, and by extension, the reader. Reminds me of (my favorite author) Italo Calvino in that way.
Ultimately, he has a lot of compassion for human foibles and the smallness of our place in the midst of things.
Wish I could read Portuguese. This was an english translation.

Uma cadeia de acontecimentos sobrenaturais liga cinco (ou deverei dizer seis?) mágicas personagens e desencadeia uma mística viagem, salteada de reflexões sobre os mundos que rodam à nossa volta e dentro de nós.
Agarrou-me tarde e sem muita força, mas fez-me ficar.

"It’s not a question of believing or not believing, everything we go on saying is added to what is, to what exists..."

I'm a bit on a Saramago reading train, reading his less known works. This one took me by surprise in so many positive ways. It is so clever, satirical and funny and at the same time it is full of deep life philosophy and beautiful and strange magical realism.

The extraordinary event of a whole Iberian peninsula breaking off Europe and floating away is so clever and bonkers at the same time. During this remarkable and catastrophic event, five people experience unusual phenomena and are inexplicably drawn to each other, with a help of an unusual dog, to say the least. We follow their actions as well as the actions of the political sphere of the Iberian peninsula and Europe and North America, towards which the former peninsula is headed.

Political, geographical and social consequences of this event are so interesting to observe. Amidst all the chaos and tragedy there are new opportunities for humanity and connection.

The satire of political behavior in a crisis is so on point and great humorous criticism of inefficiency and grab of power. On the other hand, the portrait of different people, especially the main characters explores the depths of human connection and search for the other. But we have utter loneliness portrayed as well. And the huge guardian dog.

The ending was a bit strange (that's saying a lot considering this book), but a part of it was really moving. We actually don't get all the answers, just glimpses to make our own conclusions.

When you also consider Saramago's impeccable style, I'm surprised this book doesn't have more buzz about it.
The audio version reader's style was something to get used to, but it paid off. All recommendations if you want both depth and entertainment with a lot of food for thought.

4.5/5

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews...

E se um cataclismo ocorresse e a Península Ibérica se separasse da Europa? Seremos mais ibéricos ou europeus? Poderemos ser ambos, ou teremos que prescindir de um para sermos o outro?

É com esta premissa que o romance de Saramago se desenvolve, aplicando uma crítica sócio-politica, dado que o romance foi escrito numa altura em que Portugal e Espanha aderiram à Comunidade Económica Europeia.

Uma série de eventos ocorrem inerentes ao cataclismo, juntado um grupo de 5 pessoas e um cão. Vamos ao longo do livro descobrindo o que torna especial cada uma destas personagens, com recurso a ironia e sarcasmo Saramago deixa-nos a pensar em algumas temáticas tais como a situação política do nosso país numa Europa, o facto de os países ibéricos nunca estarem preparados para catástrofes, o machismo ainda evidente no país na década de 80 (e ainda nos dias de hoje).

Não desgostei de todo do livro, embora tenha sido de difícil leitura... Saramago é sempre um génio a escrever, mas neste romance não me agarrou tão bem como nos outros.

Citações:

"As vidas não começam quando as pessoas nascem, se assim fosse, cada dia era um dia ganho, as vidas principiam mais tarde, quantas vezes tarde de mais, para não falar daquelas que mal tendo começado já se acabaram"

"Ninguém consegue viver para além do seu último dia"

"Invejar o que só parece ser, é trabalho perdido"

"Se uma pessoa, para gostar doutra, estivesse à espera de conhecê-la, não lhe chegaria a vida inteira."

"Não, eu não sou o nome que tenho"

İber Yarımadası, bir gün anakaradan ayrılıp Atlantik Okyanusu’nda ilerlemeye başlarsa ne olur? Konusu ve üslubu ile tam bir Saramago kitabı. Tüm o detaylar, irdelemeler, ironi; derinlikli bir hayal gücünün sonucu.
Fakat ben hızlı bir okuma yaptım (yapmayı tercih ettiğim bir okuma şekli değildir), zira yazara giriş için uygun kitaplardan biri olduğunu düşünmüyorum. Detaylar yordu, coğrafyayı ve siyasi tarihini çok iyi bilmemek ironileri anlamlandırmamı zorlaştırdı, karakterlerin ruhuna tam olarak bürünemedim. Benim aksime, gerekli tüm şartları sağlıyorsanız tam olarak hakim olacağınız bir eser olabilir ya da artık Saramago’dan okuyacağınız pek kitap kalmamışsa tercih edilebilir.

“hayat insanlar doğduğunda başlamaz, öyle olsa her gün kazanılmış bir gün olurdu, hayat çok daha sonra ve genellikle de çok geç başlar, başlar başlamaz biten hayatlardansa hiç bahsetmeyelim, ki bir şairi şunu söylemeye itmişlerdir, Ah olma ihtimali olanların tarihini kim yazacak.”

«Os homens e as mulheres, estes, seguirão o seu caminho, que futuro, que tempo, que destino. A vara de negrilho está verde, talvez floresça no ano que vem.»

Such an interesting concept for a book, yet it was SO BORING! I loved the first 20 pages, and then, POOF, it was gone. I was all like, "Dude, where did you go? I thought we were cool!" And the book was all like, "Sorry dude, I gotta be me."

Using as pillar the opposite of Portugal's accession to EU, Saramago managed to create an ironic political allegory, spiced up with mythological elements and his now familiar fine humor. In other words, another masterpiece :)

3,75*

Todos sabemos que ler Saramago não é fácil.
Mas é sempre uma “experiência”
Eu consumo Saramago devagar. Como quem não quer chegar ao dia em que direi “já li todos os livros de S”.
Este talvez seja dos que gostei menos até hoje.
E talvez seja aquele que tem uma leitura política mais evidente.
Mas fico sempre deslumbrada com a forma como desenvolve as ideias das suas realidades imaginadas. Os pormenores são deliciosos. Pega na ponta de um fio e esmiuça com criatividade cada ideia da narrativa.
A versão que li estava cheia de gralhas o que é tão desagradável… sabemos que a pontuação em Saramago é uma…. aventura(?) l. Mas erros ortográficos num bom romance é uma chatice!