What history?

In 1147, Dom Afonso Henriques and his fellow Portuguese laid siege to the Moors who had occupied Lisbon. Known as the Reconquista, Christian armies including English, French, German and Spanish, were trying to win back land from the Muslims who had taken much of Iberia and Southern Europe since the 8th century. These foreign soldiers were known as the Crusaders.

What is history?

We know our history from historians and the books handed down to us over the centuries. We also know that history is written mostly by the victors. This helps nationalism develop in countries trying to define themselves. What we did in the past is what we shall become or hopefully avoid. Are these truths, stories, hearsay, or just passing accounts?

What are the facts?

What if an editor sought to change a word in a historical tract? A simple word. “Não” or No in English. A negative that defines what didn’t happen. Or what could have happened.

In the Saramago world, what if this editor, Raimundo Benvindo Silva claims that the Portuguese King didn’t ask the Crusaders for their help? What would be the outcome? Could the Portuguese do it on their own? Will that help their nationalism? And what of the losers, the Moors?

What does history say?

History is typically told from the view of the kings, leaders, their immediate followers and families. We don’t hear much about the common man. We don’t hear much about the other side. Except maybe in a novel, written by a certain Portuguese author.

What does love have to do with this?

The old tales of knights and their crusades were known as romances. Nothing like inserting a love story with the editor and his boss. Or how about a love story within the tales of the siege? Does it just come down to love and hate? War and peace? It all seems to fit.

What is real?

We weave ourselves into history. We are not bound by time but only by our desire to become part of our own simple history.

I leave this to Senhor Saramago to address this. “In truth, I believe there is a great division of people who say yes or say no.” You decide.

1.5. Incredibly boring and a big disappointment after Blindness. And this book is supposed to be one of the funnier books of Saramago...

Another Saramago Masterpiece !!

He managed to interweave lots of stories together, the "History of the Siege of Lisbon" as narrated by the historian academic & by the proof-reader, The love story between (Raimundo Silva - Maria Sara) & (Mogueime - Ouroana). And while going back and forth between all those story lines & set of actions he managed to illustrate his other thoughts & reflections ..about names, about history and how it can be narrated, documented and even manipulated with! Not to forget as well his sarcastic language while discussing religious matters and ofcourse the comparison between different religions.
I've liked so many things about this novel, the fact that it wasn't boring, all the time you wanted to read more, to make a mental comparison between the past events & the current ones. I liked the intersection & similarity between characters and above all how the conversations between Maria & Raimundo were that genius..that witty ..that seductive! For a moment I wanted to advice all Arab writers how to write about sex without abusing it, without making you throw-up of their vulgar, unneeded & unnecessary scenes, while Saramago was such a clever dreamy poet while writing about those intimate moments:
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" The memory of that splendid night distracts Raimundo Silva, the surprise of awakening in the morning and seeing and feeling a naked body beside him, the ineffable pleasure of touching it, here, there, softly, as it were one great rose, saying to himself, Slowly, don't awaken her, let me come to know you, rose, body, flower, then those eager hands, that prolonged, insistent caress, until Maria Sara opens her eyes and smiles, when they said together, My love, and embraced".
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So the Siege was successful, the city was taken, the Muezzin was killed, everything was destroyed.. And even if the fictitious characters decided to run away, our main characters (Maria & Raimundo) has decided to stay, so at least love remains.

A last question, was Raimundo here was reflecting Saramago himself?! I found it yes, somehow ..

Pääsykokeisiin luettu, ja piti myös lukea väkisin. Ideasta pidin, mutta Saramagon kirjoitustyyli ei iskenyt ja lukukokemus oli varsin tuskainen.

Que incrível

Literary fiction about a proofreader that significantly alters the meaning of a book by changing one word, such that his revised text states the crusaders did NOT help the Portuguese drive the Moors out of Lisbon in the year 1147. At the suggestion of his newly appointed supervisor, the proofreader then goes on to write his own version of The History of the Siege of Lisbon, using his altered text as a starting point. Since he lives in Lisbon, he can actually visit some of the locations where the Siege took place. The proofreader’s version of history is interspersed with his present-day narrative.

Saramago’s writing is lovely, but the meandering can be distracting. I often had to re-read sections to figure out where the initial thought started and how I ended up so far afield from that thought. He employs long sentences using only commas and periods. Dialogue is embedded in the prose, and there is no indication which character is speaking, so the reader will have to keep track mentally. The author does not differentiate between two story arcs, often moving between them within the same paragraph. There are long paragraphs describing a character’s internal dialogue (for example, of whether or not to make a phone call) that span several pages. The narrator goes off on many tangents, some of which are head-scratchers. In short, this book requires a great deal of patience and concentration.

I found I needed to understand more about Portuguese history to fully appreciate the storyline, so it took me a while to finish this book, since I was constantly looking up events and people that played a role in the actual Siege of Lisbon. Thus, I recommend getting an overview of the historical Siege, as well as the key players involved, before embarking on this novel.

I believe the point of this book is to show how fiction can impact the historical record. Participants often leave no written record of their thoughts and emotions, and Saramago explores whether we can truly understand the reasons behind why people acted the way they did after many years have passed.

I have read two other books by Saramago, Blindness and The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, and enjoyed both. As clever as it is, this one just didn’t work as well for me, primarily due to its structure. I found the present-day story more engaging than the alternate history. It isn’t necessarily fun to read this book, but it certainly engages the brain.

حصار مؤلم ... ذبذبات ضياء فجر حارق ...بلغ الموت المدى...مؤذن نادى للقاء ربه لتفترش صلوات رغبه بنصر و رحمه لكن نصل السيف احكم...تم استبدال رب باخر...من اعلى القلعه هبط لاخر مره نهائيا و الى الابد الهلال الاسلامي...ضياع الامل...لا يستطيع احد الفرار من قدره...نساء و اطفال قدر لهم الموت في تلك الليله بوجب الاتفاق الذي تم التوصل اليه بين رب المسلمين و رب المسيحيين...الدم وحده الان يستطيع غسل اسوار لشبونه...في سيمفونيه بيتهوفن فحسب ينادي القدر و يعاود النداء اما في الحياه فلا...كان الموت هو الحقيقه الوحيده القاطعه...و بين موت ساكن و صمت يبدو انه يتنفس...تنتهي تلك الحكايا في التاريخ المكتوب ابدا بيد من بلغنا ما اراد لنا ان نعرف و لكن من يستهويه الشك و المظنون اكثر من المؤكد ماذا نصفه ؟حالم ...من يقول لا بدل نعم...هل تصدق كل ما نقرا واحسرتاه على كل من اتى الى العالم لكي يطيع فحسب...طوبى لمن يقولون لا لان مملكه الارض ربما يجب ان تدين لهم...لكن لا يوجد في الدنيا شر لا ينطوي على خير...نحن جميعنا في حرب ...حرب و حصار...كل واحد منا يحاصر الاخر و محاصر به في الوقت نفسه...لكن الحب هو نهايه الحصار......

The book is over 300 pages long, contains about 75 paragraphs and only one period per paragraph. Typical of Saramago, and in my opinion, very entertaining. He begins with the story of a rather mediocre proofreader who gets annoyed with the over-confident author of a trade history book (hey, I had one of those on my dissertation committee! Just awful). So the proofreader deletes a "not" from a key passage. The dustjacket claims that this changes the course of history, but Saramago is not a Star Trek type sci-fi writer. Instead the book is full of the everyday angst of its undistinguished hero--"Which way should I walk to work today?" and "Should I or shouldn't I dye my hair?" for four or five pages, that kind of thing. It is a lot of fun to read, unless you happen to be going through a serious bout of angst in your own life at the moment.

And what the proofreader does to the history of the siege of Lisbon is pretty amusing, too.

In college I would usually name Saramago as my favorite novelist. His incredibly inventive premises, his books-crossing rumination on the way the flow of time becomes the static representations of history, his dark but gentle representations of the folly of human planning and human ambition.... I find that I have not read one of his books since before his death, somehow, but I'll fix that soon.

I will start by saying that Saramago's signature style is present in full force here - extreme indifference to ordinary rules about sentence and paragraph breaks, leading to vast chunks of texts that look more imposing than they really are. It may not be everyone's thing.

I am not sure that this is a better book than the gorgeous and moving The Stone Raft (though I am confident that both are better than the usual nomination for his best book, Blindness), but I am sure that this is the one that I would recommend to a first time reader. The plot, as you have probably noticed from the main listing here on Goodreads, is about a proofreader tasked with editing a book about the Siege of Lisbon in the Second Crusade, which reclaimed the city from Moorish control. A seemingly passionless middle aged man, an impulsive act of historical vandalism on his part changes the arc of history and his own life, as he suddenly discovers his agency and, to his own surprise, his capacity to love. If you told me a young author had come up with this conceit, I would be very skeptical that it would be pulled off, but it's just beautifully realized here. The intertwining timelines deftly illustrate Saramago's points about history, especially what may be the most consistent lesson in all of his books, the dignity and importance of normal people. It's a beauty, a gem.

Volendo ridurre questo romanzo ad una sola riga, si potrebbe dire che è un' altra storia di amore, di guerra e di letteratura: potrebbe sembrare banale. Ed invece ovviamente Saramago trova il modo di affrontare queste tematiche in maniera forse meno appassionante di altre volte ma sempre originale.

E' la storia del revisore di mezza età Raimundo Silva, che conduce una vita solitaria e senza ambizioni mantenendosi leggendo e correggendo libri altrui e parlando il meno possibile con meno persone possibile. In uno sprazzo di personalità e di energia decide di compiere un gesto di insubordinazione che gli cambia la vita, alterando con un voluto errore di trascrizione il significato del libro che sta correggendo, la Storia dell'Assedio di Lisbona.

Gli cambia la vita ma non nel senso che si aspetta, da persona che si vede solo come meccanismo di un sistema: la giovane dirigente dell'azienda per la quale lavora da questo gesto di ribellione di accorge di lui, e se ne sente attratta. Ne nasce un rapporto sentimentale, ma anche la sfida letteraria di riscrivere l'Assedio di Lisbona (la città nella quale si ambienta il libro) supponendo vera l'affermazione pubblicata in modo errato nel testo originale (ovvero che la città Lusitana fosse stata liberata dai Mori senza l'aiuto dei crociati come in realtà avvenne).

L'intreccio è ben costruito dall'autore per permettergli di parlare di ciò che più ama, a partire dalla sua città. Lisbona dev'essere una città incantatrice, per sedurre col suo clima solare, le sue piazze, i suoi vicoli e le rive del suo fiume due scrittori del calibro di Saramago e Tabucchi. Leggendo la appassionata descrizione delle calli e delle porte della città vecchia vista da Raimundo, sembrava di dover incontrare seduto a un qualche bar il signor Pereira con l'immancabile limonata allo zucchero.

La storia sentimentale tra Raimundo e la direttrice Maria Sara (assai più giovane e spigliata di lui) è umanissima e sempre molto discreta, anche quando affronta senza paura il tema della sessualità. Fa molta simpatia la goffaggine del vecchio umono di lettere nell'affrontare sentimenti e pensieri ai quali non è abituato, alla quale fa da raffronto il piglio sicuro e deciso della giovane dirigente (che tuttavia non si fa sedurre dal protagonismo becero dei bulli di turno, ma corre dietro a quella scintilla di profondità che ha visto scoccare nell'errore voluto del revisore). Resterà affascinata dalle pagine che Raimundo scriverà sulla conquista cristiana di Lisbona, scritte per lei e su di lei (impossibile non notare il paralllelismo tra il soldato e la cortigiana medievali ed i due protagonisti).

Saramago sottolinea molto bene la difficoltà dello sforzo creativo, amplificata dalll'ambivalenza con la passività del lavoro di revisione che aveva presentato in precedenza: ovviamente non rinuncia a tirar fuori il suo feroce sarcasmo nel condannare (giustamente) la guerra di religione di cui si sta parlando.

Doveva essere un romanzo di guerra e invece è un bel romanzo d'amore. L'amore per una città baciata dal sole, dalle dolci sponde del Tago e dalle bellissime colline; l'amore di un uomo di mezza età che riscopre carattere e personalità grazie al fascino ed allo stimolo di una donna che ha saputo valorizzarlo.
Un amore presentato in modo degno di un premio nobel, che si manifesta con intensità ed in tutte le sue parti senza mai essere nè volgare nè sdolcinato.

Solo che io voglio sapere come si chiama il cane. Il randagio morto di fame che Raimundo Silva incontra nel suo passeggiare per la scalinata di S. Crispim e che decide di aiutare; il randagio che si toglie lo sfizio di adottarlo come suo nuovo padrone e di accompagnare la nuova coppia all'inizio del loro vivere insieme.
E tu non gli dai neanche un nome? Mezza stella in meno. No, dai no.

Historical science and the real past of the mankind…

It has always struck me that history is not real life, literature, yes, and nothing else…”

The History of the Siege of Lisbon is a spread and ironic contemplation on the theme of credibility of history as science. Indeed, it is enough to change, delete or add a single word in some historical manuscript and the entire described event will be seen in a different light or will turn into its own opposite…
And how often, copying original texts in their scriptoriums, did monastic scribes change them to their own liking or adjust them according to the current beliefs and religious fashions?

Certain authors, perhaps out of conviction or an attitude of mind not much given to patient investigation, hate having to acknowledge that the relationship between what we call cause and what we subsequently describe as the effect is not always linear and explicit. They allege, and with some justification, that ever since the world began, although we may have no way of knowing when it began, there has never been an effect without a cause, and every cause, whether because pre-ordained or by some simple mechanism, has brought about and will go on bringing about some effect or other, which, let it be said, is produced instantly, although the transition from cause to effect may have escaped the observer or only come to be more or less reconstituted much later.

José Saramago wrote this novel also to illustrate such complex and nonlinear causality.
But there is more to it, The History of the Siege of Lisbon is as well the history of the siege of the female heart…

It would not take much learning to observe, as much today as in those medieval times, despite the Church’s disapproval of classical similes, how Eros and Thanatos were paired off…

Both cities and female hearts must be conquered by siege.

کتاب بشدت خسته کننده و کند پیش میرفت و تموم کردنش مث کابوس شده بود واسم
داستان درهم و روایت چندداستان باهم و موضوعات گاها بی ربط و نویسنده که نتونسته بود از پس پیشبرد داستان خوب عمل کنه " این هم از اراده خیرخواهانه ای بود که ما را وامیدارد تا چیزی را تحمل کنیم که تنها حسنش این است که تحمل ناپذیر (ٌ290)" است
واقعا تحمل ناپذیر