كالعادة جمال الأهداء إلى بيلار في بداية الرواية يزيدها رونق على رونق فهي بيلار التي لم تتركه ليموت :



الكهف ..... جوزيه ساراماجو

أننا لا نعرف أكثر بكثير عن تعقيدات الحياة إذا ما عكفنا بجد على دراسة تناقضاتها بدلًا من أن نضيع وقتًا طويلًا في أوجه التماثل و التناسق التي يفترض فيها أن تعبر عن نفسها بنفسها .

يعني إيه أسلوب روائي متفرد ؟ يعني الكاتب يأخذك في رحلة طويلة , تختلط فيها الواقعية بالرمزية بالفلسفة العميقة , لينجح في النهاية بكل سلاسة في توصيل رسالته العظيمة في أقوى صورها.

ساراماجو : الكاتب المؤمن برسالته الإنسانية , البليغ في توصيلها , الناجح في التأثير على حياتنا , من قال أن الصفحات المسطورة لا تلعب دور في تكوين عقولنا ؟ إذا فلماذا قدّسها الإله و أقسم بها في تنزيله ؟
لقد أقسم بها الرب لعلمه بأن صفحة مكتوبة من يد مخلوق نابغ قد تؤدي دور رسالة دينية ما .

ساراماجو هو ذلك الإنسان النابغ , ورواياته هي صفحات عظيمة و كلماته رسائل بالغة التأثير.

ببساطة مطلقة : هي رواية عن الإنسان في شتى صوره , الإنسان البسيط المطحون تحت مدنية زائفة وحضارة لا تحترم آدميتنا , الإنسان بسليقته وطبيعته المسكينة , الضعيف والقوي في آن واحد , الرافض لمصيره المستسلم له , ليظل يحارب في الحياة إلى أن يوافيه أجله.

فهكذا هي الحياة , إنها مليئة بكلمات لا تستحق النطق بها , أو أنها استحقت ذلك في وقت ما ولم تعد تستحقه , فكل كلمة نقولها تنتزع مكان كلمة أخرى أكثر جدارة منها , و تكون كذلك ليس لذاتها , و إنما للعواقب المترتبة على قولها.

الكاتب خبير بالحياة , متمرس في فهمها ومعيشتها , ليست الحياة الراقية المليئة بالنعم , بل حياة التقشف والصعوبات , فعبر عنها بأبلغ ما يكون.
الأقلام الشيوعية ياخوانا هي الأعظم بلا استثناء , إيمان نابع من داخل السطور , و قضية يدافعون عنها إلى الموت .
العمق الفلسفي أضاف للرواية الكثير , فصنع مزيج مبهر بين الحياة الصاخبة و المثالية المرغوبة لتنتج لنا عمل أدبي من الطراز الرفيع.

الترجمة : ترجمة صالح علماني , بس.

Again, this is a beautiful text from Saramago. I have rediscovered this particular style; the author describes his characters and situations as seen above. Bringing with the humor of second-degree commentary, suggesting that the characters lead their existence while specifying that it controls at the very end, they become like an all-powerful god.

In "The Cave," Saramago describes our world as an extension of Plato's cave. We are chained to the bottom of the cave, fascinated by the shadows cast on it and convinced that it is the real world. Through this novel, I read an indictment of our consumer society, which is futile and superficial, governed by merchants, and creates useless and mortal needs.
We never know what the Center is, who these people are, and who governs. Cipriano Algor, the potter, has relations only with officials, subordinates, and sub-chiefs. His son-in-law, Marçal, was recruited as a resident guard without understanding why these guards were in the Center. Throughout the novel, we can only think of the world of Kafka. Notably, this exchange between a sub-chief and Cipriano, who irresistibly thought of the fall of the Kafka Trial:
"My dear sir, I suppose you do not expect me to tell you the secret of the bee, I've always heard that the secret of the bee does not exist, Of a mystery, of a false mystery, of a fable that must be reinvented, of a tale that could have been but has not been. You are right, the secret of the bee, Not exist, but we know it. "
This quote notes Saramago's particular style, which introduces dialogue exchanges using only commas, punctuation points, and capital letters.
Saramago parallels the chained bodies found at the bottom of the cave under the Center and the clay figurines made by Cipriano and his daughter. But unlike corpses, which represent us chained to the wall at the bottom of a cave, puppets symbolize a new man. Free in this sense, they took out the oven, an image of the cave, exposed outside, and the rain processed the sludge and the sun dust, returning to their natural origin in an endless cycle of creation.
(A Beautiful Book, like all the writings of Saramago).

n  ” due debolezze non fanno una debolezza maggiore, ma una forza nuova.”n


Cipriano Algor sta guidando il camioncino con a fianco il genero Marçal Gacho.
I due, dalla provincia, stanno raggiungendo la città principale attraverso un percorso concentrico: dalla Cintura Agricola alla Cintura Industriale.
La méta è il Centro: il mastodontico complesso commerciale; cuore pulsante economico e sociale.

Un romanzo che ho letto molto lentamente perché richiede parecchia attenzione.

La contrapposizione tra il mondo artigianale (rappresentato da Cipriano e la figlia Marta, con il loro lavoro di vasai) e quello del commercio contemporaneo, ha tempi e modi opposti.
Da un lato un mondo di valori e l’umanizzazione del lavoro; dall’altro la dimensione cieca e sorda che si muove solo sui i binari del profitto.

” vedeva che il mondo è fatto così, che le menzogne sono tante e le verità nessuna, o qualcuna, sì, ce ne sarà pure qualcuna, ma in continuo mutare...”


Un mondo di schiavi che non hanno coscienza di esserlo e bloccati nella loro posizione non possono voltare il viso verso ciò che è la realtà.
La società contemporanea illude di poter conservare la propria personalità mentre agisce sull’omologazione di massa.

Il mito della caverna con cui Platone andava a spiegare la dicotomia tra mondo sensibile mondo delle idee si applica a questa società basata sull’inganno perpetuo.

Saramago ricrea questa modello e ci indica la strada per liberarci.
Non basta accorgersi di quanto siano false certe impalcature, occorre anche slegarsi le mani ed avere coraggio di vivere in modo diverso.

Profondo ed ostico.
Esattamente quello che mi aspettavo da uno dei miei autori preferiti.

(PS- come in Cecità anche qui c'è un cane che sa consolare l'umano che piange!!)



"Ho vissuto, guardato, letto, sentito, Cosa c’entra leggere, Leggendo, si viene a sapere quasi tutto, Anch’io leggo, Qualcosa, dunque, dovrai pur saperla, Ora non ne sono più tanto sicura, Allora dovrai leggere in altra maniera, Come, Non serve per tutti la stessa, ciascuno inventa la propria, quella che gli sia più consona, c’è chi passa tutta la vita a leggere senza mai riuscire ad andare al di là della lettura, restano appiccicati alla pagina, non percepiscono che le parole sono soltanto delle pietre messe di traverso nella corrente di un fiume, sono lì solo per farci arrivare all’altra sponda, quella che conta è l’altra sponda, A meno che, A meno che, cosa, A meno che quei fiumi non abbiano due sole sponde, ma tante, che ogni persona che legge sia, essa stessa, la propria sponda, e che sia sua, e soltanto sua, la sponda a cui dovrà arrivare"

“Cipriano Algor put the spade down and plunged his two hands into the ashes. He touched the thin and unmistakable roughness of the fired clay. Then, as if he were helping at a birth, he grasped between thumb, forefinger, and middle finger the still buried head of a figurine and pulled it out. It happened to be the nurse. He brushed the ashes from her body and blew on her face, as if he were endowing her with some kind of life, giving to her the breath of his own lungs, the beating of his own heart.” - José Saramago, The Cave

Protagonist Cipriano Algor, an artisan living in the country with his daughter and son-in-law, sells his handmade tableware to the Center. The Center’s agent tells Cipriano his services are no longer required, so he attempts to find another way to make money from his skill as a potter. It is a story of everyday life involving a family, a stray dog, a budding relationship, and how these people deal with change.

This book requires patience, as the meaning of The Cave is not apparent until the end. It is not for anyone looking for plot-driven action. As is typical of Saramago, it is written in stream-of-consciousness without quotation marks or separation of dialogue, so the reader has to keep track mentally. He strings together a series of words to convey many shades of meaning.

It is a story of human (and animal) connections in uncertain times, how people can deceive themselves, and how we maintain our illusions rather than confronting the truth. It is a social commentary on the increasing artificiality of our world. I think it is particularly pertinent to our present time.

I embark annually on a project to read five works from a notable author. This year I picked Portuguese author José Saramago, recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature. This is the fifth of five for the year. I just loved it and am adding it to my list of favorites.

-------------------------------------------------
In case anyone is interested, these are the others I have read. His work is consistently high quality.

José Saramago: 2020
- Blindness - 4 stars - My Review
- The Stone Raft by José Saramago - 4 stars - My Review
- The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis - 4 stars - My Review
- The History of the Siege of Lisbon - 3 stars - My Review

The Cave is a tender novel about the love between a father, his daughter, son-in-law and dog whose simple way of life is threatened by "The Center." It is also a scathing indictment of consumer culture. Like the prisoners in Plato's cave, the residents of the nearby Center experience only the flat outlines of real life.

Saramago writes with few paragraph breaks and no quotation marks. Although I found the blocks of text difficult at first, soon, I was pulled into this lovely, scary novel. I finished this a couple days ago and can't stop thinking about it.

كدأبهِ ساراماغو، على الأقل في «العمى» و «كل الأسماء» و «انقطاعات الموت» يعمل على تشريح علاقتنا بالدولة الحديثة، المتغوّلة، الباردة، المادية، بأذرعها الأخطبوطية الأبدية، التي تسمى أيضًا؛ بيروقراطية.

حكاية صانع خزف تجاوز الستّين، يعيشُ مع ابنته وصهره، يخسر هويته الوحيدة التي يعرفها - هوية الخزّاف - عندما تفقد الخزفيات قيمتها السوقية بعد ظهور البلاستيك.

بقدر ما تبدو الرواية مثل رحلة لرجلٍ - يصرُّ النظام الرأسمالي على تحويله إلى فائض بشري - يحاول إعادة صياغة حياته، فهي أيضًا مشاغبة فلسفية لكهف أفلاطون، لحقيقة أننا مجرد أشخاص يحدقون في الظلال ويتوهمون المعرفة.

لا أحتاج إلى الاستفاضة حول أسلوب الكاتب في الكتابة؛ الفصول تكتب كصكوك متّصلة بالكاد تمنحك فرصة للتوقف، مرهِقة وممتعة معًا. الحوارات المسرودة المعجونة مع كل شيء آخر، والقدرة على التفلسف والتجريد والتأمل بأريحية يُحسد عليها.

هذه هي الرواية السادسة التي قرأتها لساراماغو، لكنني قررتُ أنها تجيء في المرتبة الثانية، بعد العمى، في تأثيرها، ربما أنني حلمتُ بشخصية الخزّاف ليلة أمس، واستيقظت قلقة عليه.

La Caverna, del gran nobel portugués José Saramago, publicada en 2000, es una meditación profunda sobre temas como la alienación, la globalización, el consumismo y la pérdida de identidad en la sociedad contemporánea.

Nos presenta a Cipriano Algor, un anciano ceramista que se enfrenta a los cambios en su vida y en su negocio debido a la llegada de un nuevo centro comercial a su ciudad. La trama se desarrolla en un ambiente distópico donde el progreso industrial y comercial ha eclipsado los valores tradicionales y las relaciones humanas auténticas.

Saramago utiliza su característico estilo narrativo, marcado por largas oraciones y diálogos sin signos de puntuación, para sumergir en la mente y las experiencias de los personajes. A través de la historia de Cipriano y su hija Marta, Saramago explora la lucha entre lo antiguo y lo nuevo, lo artesanal y lo industrial, lo humano y lo mecánico.

El centro comercial, símbolo de la modernidad y el consumismo desenfrenado, actúa como un espacio opresivo que amenaza con destruir la identidad y la autonomía de los habitantes que lo circundan. La caverna del título funciona como una metáfora tanto del refugio interior de los personajes como de la alienación y el aislamiento que experimentan en la sociedad moderna.

A medida que avanza la narrativa, Saramago examina las implicaciones éticas y sociales de la globalización y el capitalismo, así como la naturaleza del arte y la creatividad en un mundo dominado por la producción en masa y la uniformidad. La búsqueda de sentido y conexión humana en un entorno cada vez más impersonal y deshumanizado es otro tema central de la novela.

En general, la novela va de:

Alienación y aislamiento: Los personajes se sienten alienados y desconectados en un mundo dominado por la tecnología y el consumismo, lo que los lleva a buscar refugio en su propio interior.
Globalización y capitalismo: Saramago analiza los efectos destructivos de la globalización y el capitalismo desenfrenado en la vida cotidiana de las personas y en la identidad cultural.
Arte y creatividad: La novela reflexiona sobre el valor del arte y la creatividad en un mundo obsesionado con la producción en masa y la eficiencia económica.
Identidad y autenticidad: Los personajes luchan por mantener su identidad y autonomía en un entorno que valora la uniformidad y la conformidad.
Ética y Moralidad: Saramago plantea preguntas profundas sobre la ética y la moralidad en un mundo donde el beneficio económico a menudo se coloca por encima del bienestar humano.

La prosa magistral de Saramago, combinada con su aguda crítica social y su profundo sentido de la humanidad, hace de "La Caverna" una obra impactante y reflexiva que invita a cuestionar los valores y las prioridades de la sociedad contemporánea.

¿La recomiendo? Sí, sin duda. Y de repetir.

Si dice che ogni persona è un'isola, e non è vero, ogni persona è un silenzio, questo sì, un silenzio, ciascuna con il proprio silenzio, ciascuna con il silenzio che è.

IL CENTRO è una struttura gigantesca,labirintica,in continua espansione,che sembra fagocitare famelica tanto gli spazi ,quanto le vite delle persone del paese.
IL CENTRO è pieno,in esso c'è tutto ciò che credi ti possa servire:difatti è pieno di negozi di ogni genere(il cui motto è "ti venderemmo tutto quello di cui hai bisogno,se non preferissimo che tu abbia bisogno di cio' che vendiamo") di attrattive avveniristiche e di svaghi,di moderne abitazioni con ogni comfort,e tutto quanto è sempre ben sorvegliato/spiato,per garantire la sicurezza...
Ma,a ben vedere,il CENTRO é un luogo sostanzialmente vuoto
,anzi è UN NON-LUOGO,perché ogni cosa è artificiale,plastificata,
l'aria stessa è purificata,la temperatura è mantenuta costante,e così pure l'illuminazione.
Il CENTRO è solo un luogo di anonimato e di solitudini affastellate,
in cui è impossibile sentirsi a casa...

Casa può essere solo quel posto che tu ami
come un albero ,se potesse,amerebbe le radici che lo nutrono e lo fanno crescere
come la casa del gelso nero,la casa della fornace
per Cipriano Algòr e sua figlia Marta.

#luoghi e non-luoghi

دخمه داستانی که آخرش خوب و شوکه کننده تمام می شود و کتابیه که بخوبی در مورد مرگ و سرنوشت و زندگی و عوامل تاثیرگذار بر انها حرف میزند و در آهر هم نتیجه خوبی و حس خوبی به مخاطبش می دهد، یک حس عجیب ناشی از اتفاقاتی که در آخر داستان می افتد که میتونه مخاطب رو به این فکر فرو ببره که آیا چاره کار و غلبه بر تنهایی، کاری است که قهرمان داستان یعنی پیرمرد می کند یا نه.....قهرمان داستان مهاجرت و تغییر مکان را انتخاب می کند که شاید بنظرم بهترین گزینه ممکن بووود....
این اولین کتابم از ساراماگو بود. سبک خوبی داشت خوشم آمد،
منحصربه‌فرد آثار ساراماگو استفاده از جملات بسیار طولانی است، که گاه در درون آن زمان نیز تغییر می‌کند. او از میان علائم نگارشی تنها از نقطه و ویرگول استفاده می‌کند و از سایر علامات که مثلاً جمله سئوالی را مشخص می‌کند یا آن را در گیومه می‌گذارد و... مطلقاً می‌پرهیزد. گفتگوهای شخصیت‌های داستان را پشت سرهم می‌نویسد و مشخص نمی‌کند که کدام جمله را چه کسی گفته و به ندرت یک پاراگراف را تمام می‌کند.

یک پاراگراف خوب کتاب دخمه:
«موقعیت هایی در زندگی پیش می آید که انسان باید سکان کشتی خودرا به دست جریان سرنوشت بسپارد،درست مثل اینکه قدرت مقابله در برابر امواج آن را ندارد. در این صورت ممکن است خیلی زود متوجه شود که جریان آب رودخانه،به نفع او بوده است. این موقعیت را تنها خود خود او درک می کند. ممکن است شخص دیگری صحنه را ببیند و فکر کند که کشتی در حال غرق شدن است، غافل از اینکه هرگز آن کشتی چنین ناخدای استوار و محکمی نداشته باشد. خدا کند موقعیت ما هم یکی از همین رویدادها باشد. خیلی زود این موضوع را خواهیم دانست.ما باید خود را در جریان اتفاقات رها کنیم. بعضی مواقع فرا خواهد رسید که ما احساس می کنیم جریان رودخانه به نفع ماست.»
کتاب خوبی بود..

2 stars = Meh. Intriguing enough to finish, but not enough to like it.

It is true what people say, the young have the ability, but lack the wisdom, and the old have the wisdom, but lack the ability.

In my quest to become more familiar with Portuguese culture, I decided to read a book by José Saramago, one of the most popular novelists in Portugal and a Nobel prize winner. I was told this novel was a good place to start, and was drawn to the dystopian theme centered around the dangers of unfettered capitalism and the slave-like cage it encloses around workers.

The author at times has an incredible way with words - prose that makes you stop and ponder it for its brilliance and beauty before moving on in the story. But that is really the only positive thing I have to say.

... the best way of killing a rose is to force it open when it is still only the promise of a bud.

While some readers will not mind, I detested the format of the novel which did not include quotation marks or even new lines for new speakers, and only a miniscule number of paragraph breaks in the entire book. Mostly, it was 10-15 page chapters that consisted of one long unbroken paragraph, primarily in a stream of consciousness format. Paragraphs are chapter length, and sentences are paragraph length. It was utterly painful to read despite the interspersed lovely prose, as evidenced by the four months it took to complete this 320 page novel. For example, here is ONE sentence pulled from one of the paragraph chapters:

If simplicity really is a virtue, no idea could be more virtuous than this, as you will soon see, Sir, Cipriano Algor would say to the head of the buying department, I’ve been pondering what you said about having two weeks to remove the stock taking up space in the warehouse, it didn’t occur to me at the time, probably because of my excitement when I saw that there was a slight hope that I might be allowed to continue as a supplier to the Center, but then I started thinking about it and thinking about it, and I realized that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to fulfill two obligations at once, that is, to remove the crockery and make the dolls, yes, I know you haven’t yet put in a firm order for them, but just supposing that you did, it occurred to me, purely as a precaution, to suggest an alternative that would leave me free during the first week to get on with making the dolls, I would then remove half of the crockery in the second week, go back to the dolls during the third week, and remove the remaining crockery during the fourth week, I know, I know, you don’t have to tell me, I’m not pretending that there isn’t another option which would be to start with the crockery the first week and then alternately, in sequence, dolls, crockery, dolls, but I think, in this particular case, one should take into account the psychological factor, everyone knows how different the state of mind the creator is from that of the destroyer, of someone who destroys, and if I could start making the dolls, that is start with creation, especially in the excellent frame of mind in which I find myself now, I would face with renewed courage the hard task of having to destroy the fruits of my own labor, because having no one to sell them to or, worse still, not even being able to give them away, is tantamount to destroying them.

I also learned that I could not possibly care less about pottery or learning how pottery is made. I hope I never read a book about a potter or pottery ever again as this one provided more than enough fodder on this mind numbing subject for a lifetime.

There are some things that are only said once and never again and you hear those words in your head until the last days of your life.

While this one was unfortunately a dud for me, because of his talented way of putting words together, I would read another Saramago novel so long as it was in audio format to avoid the atrocious formatting, and if the plot never came close to discussing pottery at all, whatsoever.

... time is a master of ceremonies who always ends up putting us in our rightful place, we advance, stop, and retreat according to his orders, our mistake lies in imagining that we can catch him out.
-------------------------------------------
First Sentence: The man driving the truck is called Cipriano Algor, he is a potter by profession and is sixty-four years old, although he certainly does not look his age.

Favorite Quote: They say that time heals all wounds, but we never live long enough to test that theory.

مراجعة قصيرة للرواية ومقاربة مع روايات أخرى على قناة دودة كتب

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xl9t...

Um dos melhores livros de Saramago, após receber o Nobel. Um livro que nos interroga sobre o momento que vivemos, que toca o fundo da profissão que escolhemos, que nos interroga sobre o dia de amanhã dessa mesma profissão, mais fundo do que isso, interroga se somos apenas o que essa profissão é, ou podemos ser mais... São vários os temas que Saramago convoca para questionar o mercantilismo e a velocidade a que este nos ultrapassa a cada dia, mas o livro é mais do que isso, é todo um trabalho de grande enredo sobre uma família, num mundo indiferente. Os personagens são profundamente retratados, enquanto tudo o mais fica destratado, desconsiderado. A cidade ou o "Centro" como entidades abstractas servem a qualquer leitor, e exigem que este faça o seu trabalho de leitor, construa o mundo que rodeia esta família, se reveja a si e ao seu mundo no meio deste mundo desenhado por Saramago. É o próprio narrador que o diz a meio do livro,

“Terás então de ler doutra maneira, Como, Não serve a mesma para todos, cada um inventa a sua, a que lhe for própria, há quem leve a vida inteira a ler sem nunca ter conseguido ir mais além da leitura, ficam pegados à página, não percebem que as palavras são apenas pedras postas a atravessar a corrente de um rio, se estão ali é para que possamos chegar à outra margem, a outra margem é que importa, A não ser, A não ser, que, A não ser que esses tais rios não tenham duas margens, mas muitas, que cada pessoa que lê seja, ela, a sua própria margem, e que seja sua, e apenas sua, a margem a que terá de chegar,”

Acabo por dar 4.5 em 5, porque me parece que se alonga um pouco a meio do livro com os aliteramentos e os jogos de palavras, habituais no seu trabalho, aqui usados como exercício de estilo mas mais do que isso, como construção do enredo próprio daquilo que faz as relações entre pessoas de uma família. Julgo também que a Caverna aparece demasiado tarde, quase a dar a sensação que é preciso começar a fechar a narrativa, apesar de até poder fazer todo o sentido, já que é no final que todo aquele mundo começa a ganhar forma dentro de nós, e o mito pode surgir com maior força e pujança, ganhando um sentido que nos consome muito para além do fim da última página.